The 10 Habits of Successful People

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1 The 10 Habits of Successful People Would you want to know what the principles are for being successful? I am sure that we all want to have more money, more fulfilling relationships, more happiness and more freedom to pursue our dreams and goals in life. What it takes to succeed The truth is that successful people have some behaviors in common even though they might succeed in different career fields and might have different educational and/or cultural backgrounds. So what is their secret (or secrets)? Simple, the key to their success is their daily habits. Of course we know that habits are not easy to change. Otherwise how come our New Year resolutions won t always go as planned? Instead of trying to get rid of your old habits (the ones you wish they don t exist) try to add new effective habits that are practiced by successful people one by one. This ensure you gradually start replacing the bad ones with the good ones. It is very hard to get rid of a bad habit so introduce new and good ones instead and it will replace the bad habits over time. Success is very simple and systematic: just keep repeating the good habits that successful people follow. The key is to focus on your day to day activities which over time accumulates to giving you the success you want. Following are the ten habits that are common among the successful: Habit 1: a clear understanding of the purpose in everything you do. Although the emphasis is on the results of your actions, but also you should pay a lot of attention to the purpose of your actions as well. A clear purpose helps in achieving results while you are enjoying the process at the same time. Enjoy both the journey and the goal.

2 People tend to react to situations or don t have a clear purpose in mind when doing something. They do things out of habit, or as the situation requires them to do. Instead make a firm decision to clarify what your goals and vision are for the future. This helps guide you to every actions that you are going to do every single day. For example, before you start checking your s or start working, ask yourself: What is the goal of this particular action: does it contribute to something to my goal and/or purpose? Your goal and purpose is like a compass and your actions are all geared towards following the compass. Without the compass, you will be drifting aimlessly on the waters of life. Successful people knows what they want to achieve so naturally all their actions are timed to help them fulfill those goals (they have a compass to guide them). So get your compass ready! Habit 2: Make quick and decisive decisions. Winners tend to make quick and decisive decisions but if they like to change it afterwards then they would carefully considered the pros and cons before they change it. The average person often make a decision but they easily change it afterwards e.g being unfocused. As a result, they don t accomplish much. Tip: Winners are able to make quick decisions, because they are very much aware of their value hierarchy, purpose and beliefs and knowing their priorities and goals first hand. Habit 3: Excellent listening abilities. Pay less attention to what people are saying in the literal sense, but try to listen what they actually try to say but didn t: learn to read between the lines. It helps if you naturally has the ability to sense other people s emotions and feelings.

3 Habit 4: Set specific dates for your plan. Make it a habit to write down the things you would like to accomplish for the next day, by week, month and year and prioritize the list. That way the time allocated to the task will be in accordance with its importance. Let you be the one to manage the time and not let time manage you. Habit 5: Maintain a diary. The first diary rule is to maintain flexibility, and use the diary as a way for reexpression of your ideas. It is a tool for you to translate your thoughts and ideas in a tangible form. Second, let your thoughts flow free and try not to be too concerned with grammatical errors. Flow and creativity is encouraged and that can only happen when you are not concerned with editing or errors. Third, use the diary to write down your important values, to record special moments and events. This give you the chance to record what is going on in your life. Fourth, use it to write down any issues you have and the different ways you try to resolve it. That way you can reflect back to see if you have improved your problem solving ability while keeping track of your own thought processes. This exercise will improve your own problem solving ability. Plus you can always look back and see how you have analyzed a situation or problem in the past and if you can improve on it. A great product I recommend and personally use for doing journaling is the Journal Software. Habit 6: Do the things you love. I know this phrase sounds like a cliche but it is true: all successful people are doing things they want to do the most and manage to earn well through it: Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, the late Mr. Steve Jobs and Oprah Winfrey are just a few examples of their success as a result of their passions.

4 So ensure you balance your passion and dreams with practicality. Ask yourself: Is it possible to structure your passion in a way that can add value to other people and there is a demand for it? There is no point in pursuing a passion where people are not interested in paying you. In that case, eep that passion as a hobby. Remember that your financial worth is a reflection of how much value you have added to other people lives. Habit 7: Master the basics. Instead of trying to learn many different things at one time, focus on mastering the things you already know. The basics are like foundation on which further knowledge and skills can be built. A shaky foundation is a recipe for disaster if you want to add more stuff onto it. So get the basics right and you will be able to handle the more complicated aspect of your job and career. Not only is this applicable to your career, but it applies to other aspects of our lives. Habits 8: Use the power of self-suggestion. Don t underestimate the power of talking positively to yourself. Make it a habit to say something positive like: I love the way I look, I love myself no matter what etc etc.. to yourself, preferable in the morning and evening. If you do this long enough, soon you will see the difference it makes in your life. Habit 9: Exercise. Physical exercises or even a brisk walk every day will help you to think more clearly and enable you to see the same problem from a different angle. The primary reason that my husband and I got a dog is that it forces us to walk him every day and give us the chance to do physical walking on a regular basis.

5 Habit 10: Have a strong purpose. All successful people have a life mission where they want to contribute and make a difference in the world. Their main motivation is not money and paradoxically their non-monetary focus brings them the wealth and fulfillment that they are seeking for. Be clear on the reasons why you do certain things like starting a business or going for a certain career. Do not let money be the main motivation factor; you need a stronger purpose to help you overcome obstacles in your chosen path. Trust me, they will come but if you have a strong why, you will find ways to overcome then. If your only goal is to make money, as soon as you encounter any obstacles, you will throw in the towel because the Why is not strong enough to keep you going and face the challenges that might be presented to you in the future. Conclusion Success is the synergy of having the right habits in place: have a goal and vision, devise a goal plan, both long term and short term, take action, pay attention to feedback, tweak and maintain a positive attitude are all like separate ingredients in a great recipe. Once you practice each one of these habits and let it become second nature to you, definitely improvements will be seen in your goal achievements and being successful. Copyright Jennifer Zhang. All Rights Reserved.