What are the routines or daily habits of successful people? This is one of the questions I tried to answer in my recent collaboration Rebecca Livermore, The Daily Entrepreneur.
This is a big question, and an important one, for anyone trying to achieve success. In today’s post, fans of “The Daily Entrepreneur”, and those just wanting a few ideas on how to achieve more success in their lives, are in for a treat with another viewpoint on this topic, featuring the health and mindfulness rituals of success.
Adnan is a businessman, marketer, blogger and author with a lot of experience building and keeping his own entrepreneur daily routines. Enough from me, take it away Adnan….
The way we care for ourselves mentally and physically has as much to do with success as any entrepreneurial routines. In this article we cover the body, mind and spirit of the entrepreneur.
What are the routines or daily habits of successful people?
The Misconception:
Many people think entrepreneurs are machines. We eat, drink, sleep and digest work 24/7. We believe we have to be ‘on’ constantly and burn ourselves out in order to reach success. We don’t. We are our own worst enemy when it comes to feeling guilty about how much work we needed to be doing in order to justify our days off.
Making sure we are not killing ourselves in the interim is the key to our success. An entrepreneur will have nothing left to give to our business or clients if we burn ourselves out!
So, what do successful entrepreneurs do?
They make sure they create and maintain daily health and well-being routines. Sticking to it has its many rewards. You have to simply prioritize the important aspects of your life to create a balance.
Not everything that works for you will work for someone else. You have to come to the determination of what works best for you. Only you know what your priorities are.
Don’t make the mistake that so many others make. Don’t try and model your priorities around someone else. You are like a finger print and are vastly different from others.
Daily Morning Routine Examples:
If you are a morning person then capitalize on that. Wake up and be ready to seize the day! If you are lousy in the middle of the day then take a few hours off—take a nap or read for fun, meditate. Do whatever gets you back on track.
Exercise in the Morning
Many people may not desire a daily exercise routine, but it is very important. We have found, through polls and interviews, that most successful entrepreneurs have an exercise routine. Even if it is just walking.
Getting the blood flowing with some light daily exercise is the key to a healthy head that is clear and ready to work. Blood flow and lymph circulation are essential for a clear mind and healthy body. We have to have a healthy mind in order to process the information we will be collecting all day. A home exercise routine is the perfect way to get this blood flowing.
Eat Breakfast!
The fact that everyone says this is the most important mean of the day is no myth. It’s essential. Your body has been resting and healing itself all night.
So, now it needs fuel other than coffee and stimulants to get started. If you don’t eat well in the morning you’ll experience fatigue crash by the early afternoon. This just kills productivity.
Get Up Before the Family
Most successful female entrepreneurs will actually get up one hour prior to the family in order to get some time to themselves. There is a lot to be said for this.
The best rituals are the ones that will put you in the mood you need to be in for the day. If by chance you start off your day badly or negatively in any way, you will snowball that into your day for sure.
There is truth the the old adage of “waking up on the wrong side of the bed”. Start your day positively and with energy and your day will follow the same way, like falling dominoes.
Crazy Routines of Successful People:
Winston Churchill, one of the former Prime Ministers of England had an unlikely routine. However it is a great example of tailoring what works for your success and it will certainly pull you out of your 9-5 grind.
Churchill would begin his day in bed until 11:00am. He woke at 7:30. He was brought his breakfast, made his secretaries take dictation and read his mail.
He stopped by his office space in the house for about an hour and then, ate lunch from 1:00 to 3:30 pm with colleagues and family. Discussed his day and made small talk over a 3-4 course meal.
He believed that quality time made him better at what he did. He worked until roughly 5pm and engaged in a nap for about an hour and a half. Then, he worked until dinner at 8pm. This is with the same family and his guests. He would then work for another hour or so before turning in again.
This is not a goal for everyone to strive for, but an example of how you can model many of the “normal” routines into any abnormal lifestyle. The important part is making these routines and rituals a part of your everyday life.
More Entrepreneur Daily Routines:
Set Goals at the Start of your Workday (whenever that may be)
Setting goals at the start of your workday is one of the fundamental habits of successful people.
First, give yourself a list of choices.
If you meditate and exercise then make it an either or choice. Give yourself plenty of flexibility so you don’t feel in a forced rut.
If you are a night owl—then try to get the bulk of your work done at night. You can even work this around deadlines you have with clients if you work smart.
Choose the beginning of the week for prioritizing your schedule for rest of the week. Mondays can be for that.
If you are the type of person that likes weekends off—this is a great way to make it feel as if you have another off day to just reorganize your week! This will give you the energy you need for what you need to do the rest of the week. You would be surprised at the psychological impact a Monday has.
There has been songs made about it like “Manic Monday” etc… so, you know that if you view Mondays as a hectic day—then it will be. If you are this type of person—make it a better Monday by using it as a lead in to the week and not a fully fledged business day.
You may just see that your week is a lot better and you are so much more productive. This way, the weekend can be yours. All yours.
Creative Work May Be Best When Tired
When you’re tired, sometimes you may fare better doing whatever creative work you have. Make sure you are putting off any strenuous administrative work at that time. Now, your body clock will tell you a lot of things. One, it will tell you when to sleep, eat and work.
You may or may not have the luxury to do everything according to your body clock. If you can though, listen to it as much as possible. Even if it’s one to two times a day. You’ll feel so much better and think so much clearer if you aren’t working through hunger or fighting off tired.
Watch Your Alarm Clock
Believe it or not—the way we wake up has a lot to do with the alarm clock sounds we wake up to. That incredibly harsh generic alarm clock sound can send waves of stress through our body’s.
The best alarm clocks are those that mimic nature like chirping birds or water falls or pleasant classical or meditation music. (See one here)
Winding Down from Work
Winding down from work takes a routine that works for you specifically. and successfully disengages you from the work day.
Winding down from work takes a routine that works for you specifically. The best advice out there is to disengage from the work day. This means all electronic equipment being turned off. After a certain hour, no notifications are on and nothing gets checked.
Make sure that if you have family that may need to get to you that you have a certain ring tone for them as well as a text tone. This way, if you need to speak to them you can and ignore the rest. It’s important that we are closed off from the world at night. Sleep and total relaxation before bedtime is essential.
If you have some issues winding down from work, practicing mindfulness may help. Read this post, How to Practice Mindfulness to find out more about mindfulness and how to use it to help you achieve greater success and happiness.
Write in a Journal
Yes write in a non business journal. Do the “Dear Diary” type of personal journaling and make it positive. Write your gratitude for what you have accomplished and not only that—what you have taken for granted that you have in your life right now.
It doesn’t matter how silly it looks or sounds. It doesn’t matter how large or small it is. It can be about the weather was great today and I am so grateful.
My kid brought home a B on their report card and I am so grateful today. I have healthy senses to hear and see all the beauty around me on my walk today—I am so grateful for that! After you’ve done this for so long—maybe a matter of weeks—you’ll see a change—a big change.
Being an entrepreneur or a successful business person is more about how you take care of yourself than it is about any business strategy. It’s a general lifestyle because each thing will affect something else. You are made successful by being clear minded and focused on what you need to accomplish.
You can’t be an innovator if you are battling sleep deprivation or malnutrition. If we have ill health of the body, mind or spirit we cannot be fruitful. It’s interesting and comforting to know that from the least to the best entrepreneurs the advice is not that different at all.
Set Aside Time for Reading (Non-fiction)
Successful people are never too busy to read.
They make sure reading is a priority. They may read newspapers and blogs on the way to work. They often set aside time to read nonfiction in the evenings.
A big part of staying successful is staying informed and they need to do all this reading to keep informed on all latest information.
Most successful entrepreneurs have read the books on this entrepreneur book list, as well as many of the other choices from the complete 250 book list. Be sure to check out these great books. See what you have read and what could still help you to grow your education.
Daily Habits of Successful People
My thanks to Adnan Ramzan for sharing this article. Adnan is the founder of themarketingguy.net, a blog on business, entrepreneurship and marketing. He also has a book available on Amazon titled, The Success Story: Discover and Learn How Ultra Successful People Work and Achieve the Results they Want. Check out his blog and book to find out more.
Please share your thoughts on the daily habits of successful people in the comments below. Feel free to share your views on success and what daily habits will help you to achieve the success you desire.
Source: developgoodhabits.com
