23 Habits of Successful People

According to the Positive Psychology People, “Habits are rituals and behaviors that we perform automatically, allowing us to carry out essential activities such as brushing our teeth, taking a shower, getting dressed for work, and following the same routes every day without thinking about them. Our unconscious habits free up resources for our brains to carry out other more complex tasks like solving problems or deciding what to make for dinner.”

Whatever area of life you might find yourself in, the habits you develop over time go a long way in determining the quality of your life. This is why it is essential to develop and maintain good, healthy habits. Once cultivated, these habits guarantee a successful, happier, and more fulfilling life.

Here are some good habits of successful people you can develop as a person. Have fun identifying what appeals to you, and what speaks to you the most and work towards implementing them into your daily life today!

Here we go!

1. Learn to Set Goals

There are a lot of things you could get done if you just know exactly what you want to do. By defining your goals, and setting them, they become easy to accomplish. Without clearly defined objectives, it is very complicated to move forward, to know what the next action to take is, or even to find the motivation to move forward!

The best method of setting goals known to man is the SMART Goal Setting. I strongly encourage you to check it out and apply it whenever you need to set goals.

2. Learn to Organize and Plan to Achieve Your Goals

There’s no limit to the things you can accomplish if you learn how to organize yourself and plan concretely to achieve your goals. Organization is not an innate talent that some carry in their genes (and of which others will remain deprived all their life). The art of organizing is a skill that is learned and mastered through practice and the establishment of good habits! So don’t hesitate to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty.

3. Learn to Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

Set small challenges for yourself from time to time. Things you would not usually do. You don’t have to go to extremes, like going skydiving. Simple little gestures like sharing your stuff often make all the difference and allow you to keep an open mind to the rest of the world. This will be instrumental to your growth as a human being.

4. Eat Healthily

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “You are what you eat” constantly. Eating a healthy diet helps you stay fit, helps you maintain a high energy level, and also get better sleep. Eating healthy also includes eating on time, and not depriving yourself of the essential meals of the day.

5. Learn to Say No

There is a common misconception that saying no translates to you being selfish and unyielding. But the contrary is the case. Learning to say no means learning to put yourself before everyone else. It is learning to recognize what is good for us, and what is not. Like all habits, it is something which is difficult at first, but which is learned, and finally mastered. And remember: if you don’t say no for yourself, no one will do it for you!

6. Make a Vision Board

Making a vision board will help you stay focused and motivated. The vision board has extraordinary power. It is there to remind you what the vision is on the days when it will lose meaning for you, and you are about to lose focus. It keeps your eyes on the prize because with the vision board, you literally keep your long-term goal in front of you and it is a powerful tool to re-motivate you on your “no” days.

7. Learn to Manage Your Time

There’s a saying that goes, “We all have 24 hours in a day.” This is absolutely true, but it is no lie that some people are making more use of their time than some others. Why? Excellent time management. Without a calendar, and a schedule, it’s your time that controls you, not the other way around. Give yourself the means to tame your time and plan, and optimize your days at best. Start by setting yourself working hours or duration for a task that you are about to perform and you will immediately see the difference.

8. Keep an Open Mind

The world is evolving every second. Things are not like they used to be before. In fact, things are not like they used to be five years ago! You must learn to keep an open mind and be willing to unlearn some of the ideologies you were raised by. Also, be ready to relearn some things you thought you knew, and learn new things you never even knew existed. The code is to be open to LEARN, UNLEARN, and RELEARN.

9. Listen More, Talk Less

The more you advance in your life journey, the more you begin to realize that there is not much man can accomplish without communication. In fact, there’s no progress without human communication of some sort. It remains the key to everything. Knowing how to listen more attentively than speaking, and being willing to accept all opinions even when they are so different from what you are used to are key elements in opening up to others and growing as a human being.

10. Learn to Exercise Regularly

Constant exercise is the key to a healthy, beautiful life. Nobody asks you to be an Olympic champion or to do three hours of bodybuilding per day. But integrating a small sports practice into your daily life (it can even be just 20 minutes of walking) remains beneficial for your health, allows you to ventilate your brain, and let off steam physically. Not to mention that it helps you sleep better at night!

11. Learn to Smile

Smiling has more therapeutic benefits than you can even begin to imagine. Yes, there might be a lot of reasons why smiling is the last thing on your mind right now, but our smiles should not depend on external elements, but instead, on our internal state of mind. Good energy and good vibes begin with the decision to appropriate these states of mind. Smiling is one gift that keeps on giving. It gives to you and gives to others too.

12. Learn to Work Smart and Be Productive

Sometimes, working extra hard does not equate success. Learn that you don’t always have to do things the hard way. There are more efficient ways to optimize your productivity and ensure you make the most out of your experience. Learn to work smart, use tools and resources at your disposal, and be the best you can possibly be wherever you find yourself – school, work, your community, church, etc.

13. Find an Accountability Partner

I believe you understand the concept of an accountability partner. Well, if you don’t, It is about having a person, a partner whom you trust to regularly keep you informed of your respective progress on your objectives and to also motivate each other in the event of slack.

It is a powerful habit that can really help you move forward (since you are accountable to someone for accomplishing the goals you set for yourself). It is one of the surest and fail-proof ways of ensuring success.

14. Learn to Let the Past Go

Learn to say to yourself every morning, “This is a new day, and every day is a new beginning.” Every morning when you get up, a new day awaits you. Start it by taking a fresh look at yourself and your abilities. What defined you yesterday doesn’t have to define you today if you don’t want to. It is not because the day before was not up to it that it cannot be. Every day is a new start, an opportunity to do better than the day before. Let go of past regrets and mistakes. Except you are a time traveler, you must understand that what has happened, has happened, and there is nothing you can do to change it. The only place to go is forward.

15. Observe Your Bad Habits

Just like good habits can be cultivated, bad habits also cultivate with time. Make a list of these bad habits you do every day. As they say, the first step to defeating your enemy is to identify them first. Identify these habits (that you do every day) that have negative consequences for you or your daily life, and try to gradually replace them with their good versions.

16. Learn to Always See the Good in the Bad

In every single thing that happens to us, even with the most negative things, there is a lesson to be learned. A benefit that will be identified later on. We may not see it, or not understand it right away, but it is still there! And learning to identify it helps immensely to reinforce one’s positive mood on a daily basis.

17. Invest in Yourself

This is one habit that will never go out of style. The sum total of what you become tomorrow is totally dependent on what you put in today. Quite simply, what you sow is exactly what you would reap. Investing in you is certainly one of the greatest gifts you can ever give yourself.

Invest in training, invest in your health, in your academics, invest in your family, invest in your business, in your brain, and be rest assured that you will get it back a hundredfold.

18. Stop Making Excuses for Yourself

It is essential that you stop making excuses for your misbehaviors all the time. This means that you do not take responsibility for whatever happened, and that stance will forever be detrimental to your growth. Learn to identify the part you played in an event, and take responsibility for it. You can only get better from it.

19. Learn to Manage your Finances

Learn to manage your finances with a master’s hand. Your relationship with money must be healthy, stable, and firm. It is crucial for your personal life and even your business (if you have one) that you are able to know where the money goes, how it comes in, and how it is managed. We recommend that you keep a table with all your expenses for a month or two. It will allow you to realize how your money is coming in, where it is going, and how best to manage it.

20. Be a Person of Integrity

How awesome would it be to be someone everybody trusted with the truth. A popular saying that never goes old says, “A good name is better than gold.” Even when it seems like the whole world is against you and what you believe in, continue to stand for the truth. It will be your anchor when the storms start to rage, and it will be a shelter for you when the times are cold. Remember, if you stand for nothing, you will fall and fall so hard for anything.

21. Surround Yourself with Success

Create an ecosystem of success by surrounding yourself with successful people wherever you go. Surround yourself with people who have already accomplished the goals you want to achieve. It can be virtual or real but arrange for these people to be in your daily life, either by consuming their content, attending seminars, or even becoming their mentees if you’re lucky. You will see how quickly your mindset will change, and how quickly you will evolve. Hanging around people who don’t do anything but pull down your dreams will put an end to those dreams, and leave you longing for what you never had. Don’t forget that birds of the same feather flock together.

22. Don’t Stop Reading

Read, read, read! We all know that reading is so essential, and there’s not much you can do if reading is not included in your daily, or at the very least, weekly routine. Fiction, non-fiction, documentaries, journals, essays, or blog posts, whatever you choose to read, help develop your vocabulary, improve your spelling, open your mind, and develop your skills.

23. Sleep Well

The state in which we fall asleep has a huge impact on the quality of our sleep, and the state in which we wake up the next day. To fall asleep in a positive frame of mind, list 3 things in your day for which you are grateful and let your unconscious do the work overnight. You will definitely wake up pumped up, and ready for a new adventure.

Like all good things, these habits come with time. Sometimes, you might catch yourself slipping up but never worry. What matters is that you are able to recognize the slip, and get back on track immediately. Cultivating these habits, and maintaining them will surely open the doors to new levels of a successful and thriving life.

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