Introduction
If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, these 10 habits can make a difference.
These aren’t just words of advice; these are real-life examples and tips about how to achieve success in your business endeavors.
If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you must first focus on the timeless principles of fairness, integrity, honesty and human dignity.
To be successful, individuals need to lead themselves, influence others, engage with them, and continually improve and renew their skills.
Personal change is a process that requires effort and determination, and change involves both positive and negative aspects, but it’s important to remember that progress is always possible.
It’s essential to stay focused on your goals and not be afraid to take risks to achieve them. Remember, there are many different ways to achieve personal change, and no one approach is better than the others.
It’s essential to be patient with yourself and never give up on your dreams or goals.
I hope this list of top 10 habits helps you on your journey towards being an entrepreneur extraordinaire!
1. Get out of your comfort zone
There is no incentive for individuals to push their performance to new heights within their comfort zone, and it is here that people engage in risk-free routines, resulting in a plateau in their development. However, the notion dates all the way back to the realm of behavioral psychology.
Robert Yerkes and John Dodson conducted one of the earliest tests demonstrating a relationship between anxiety and performance in 1907.
They discovered that when mice were given increasing intensity electric shocks, they became more motivated to finish mazes – but only to a point. They began to hide rather than perform after they crossed a certain threshold.
Humans exhibit similar behavior. This is logical, as the alternatives for responding to anxiety-provoking stimuli are: fight (face the challenge), flight (escape/hide), or freeze (become paralyzed).
Successful entrepreneurs are always looking for ways to challenge themselves and push their boundaries. They know that getting out of their comfort zone can benefit their productivity and well-being, and this is why they constantly try new things and take on new challenges.
2. Find time to relax
It’s worth noting that relaxing – via meditation or deliberately ignoring distractions – is another frequently mentioned characteristic of successful people.
Again, while relaxing comes more readily to structured people, it may be more of a natural outcome for some than a conscious choice.
It is also possible that “taking a breath” is a technique for the successful person to prepare for the upcoming exertion mentally. Indeed, one of the first stages in achieving a meditative or calm state is to focus for 3 to 5 minutes on your breathing.
A centered moment focusing on the rhythm of your breath alleviates stress and keeps you present, focused, attuned and aligned with your objectives.
3. Find a hobby
Learning new languages, launching an online company, enrolling in online courses for entrepreneurs, or engaging in online money-making activities are all examples of hobbies.
Every successful entrepreneur has a hobby that contributes to their growth and happiness. Hobbies are an excellent method to connect with others who share similar interests, which may be beneficial in networking as well.
How do you find a hobby if you don’t have one?
Consider the following:
- Check Groupon. Enroll in and attend random classes, events, and courses for the sake of discovery to see whether you have an interest in them.
- What are the interests of others in your social circle? What are the interests of the people with whom you wish to connect? Experiment with such hobbies to determine if you have an interest in them.
- Do you aspire to be a millionaire? Business Insider reports that millionaires’ interests include skiing, travel, philanthropy, cultural events, fitness, fashion and politics.
Given that many entrepreneurs transform their hobbies into a business, this may be the only roadblock in your path.
4. Start your day with exercise
While we are all aware that exercise benefits physical health, beginning the day with movement can also improve your imagination, memory, and overall mental functions. Numerous studies indicate that persons who exercise have bigger brain regions that affect thought and memory than those who do not.
Countless entrepreneurs have included exercise into their morning rituals to feel invigorated, optimistic, and prepared to tackle the day. If your schedule prevents you from going to the gym in the morning, consider combining your morning coffee ritual with a 15-minute stroll or adding desk workouts into your routine.
5. Sleep
This may be the most undervalued and most beneficial entrepreneurial success habit. Sleep has an effect on anything from health to how you feel and look and your ability to think and make decisions.
Just a couple of additional hours of proper quality sleep might give you the edge you need to perform better and feel good in the process. Whatever you wish to improve, ensure that you receive adequate sleep.
Indeed, many accomplished people rise early, though many also go to bed far sooner than the majority. Nonetheless, several geniuses are also night owls. Determine what works best for you and focus on your finest work.
6. Manage your money
Successful entrepreneurs use extreme caution when it comes to money management. They must excel in this area to maintain a healthy income stream and avoid going bankrupt just when they are beginning to discover success. This does not imply being frugal. Nor is it always the greatest business strategy to squander money on losses to expand. It’s genuinely about understanding how each dollar spent moves you closer or further away from your objectives.
Several of today’s most successful entrepreneurs and investors are pretty thrifty with their houses. Some have spent decades in the same basic home, and others have downsized and relocated to Airbnbs or Airstreams.
7. Track your progress
One of the most critical entrepreneurial habits is to keep track of their development. Tracking your progress entails keeping note of minor victories as you work toward larger goals. This is crucial for two reasons:
To begin, it helps you in breaking large projects down into smaller tasks. Otherwise, tackling big goals might become pretty scary and challenging.
Second, when you decompose those big goals into smaller tasks and keep track of how much you complete, you will feel a feeling of achievement, and adequately so, even before you achieve those big goals.
This is something that many entrepreneurs overlook, so they become frustrated. They’ll establish a target to earn $100,000 and then make a few deals. However, they will become frustrated since a few sales do not amount to that target.
This habit also has a practical component. When you become used to monitoring your progress, you gradually understand how long it takes you to complete each assignment. This will make scaling your business easier.
If you know how long it takes you to respond to customer emails, for example, you can simply hire an assistant and ask them to do this for you. You can also more easily spot when someone is overcharging you for their time, as you will have completed the task yourself and tracked it, so you will know how long it should take.
8. Reading
This one is my personal favorite, and it is to continue to educate yourself. Bill Gates claims to read up to 50 books each year, while Warren Buffett spends 5 to 6 hours per day reading.
Now, I understand that we are not relying entirely on the money earned on our investment portfolios and that we do not have hours every day to read. However, this does not exclude you from fitting in some reading each day.
Reading assists in learning, and continued education is critical for personal and financial success. Furthermore, there is nothing to lose by reading and expanding one’s knowledge, and there is no other way to spend your time than extending and increasing your thinking.
Bear in mind that no one is created an entrepreneur. Reading and studying will help you and provide you with the skills necessary to grow and become the successful company owner you intend to be.
It is entirely up to you whether you squeeze in 5 minutes of reading every day, or 15 or 20.
9. Avoid the word “but” and develop good writing habits
The word “but” is often used as an excuse, a cop-out. Using it in a sentence negates everything that came before, and it can undermine your authority if used too much.
It’s a very easy habit to fall into, usually employed to appear friendly and avoid bruising anyone’s ego, and it can also be hazardous to original thinking.
When giving feedback, successful entrepreneurs avoid using the word “but.” It can kill the momentum of a conversation and negate everything said before. Instead, they use transitional words to connect the positive feedback to the future. They are also specific and factual in their statements, providing concrete examples illustrating their point.
To be successful, entrepreneurs need to develop good writing habits. This starts with keeping your language concise and avoiding ambiguity in your writing. You should also use active voice when possible and avoid jargon or industry-specific terms unless you are familiar with them and they are essential to your argument.
10. Have a routine
Establishing a routine can assist you in making the most of your time, rather than wasting it pondering what to do or being sidetracked by the newest social media post.
When I say to establish a routine, I mean designating particular hours to work on your business throughout the week. It is entirely up to you if this time is in the mornings, around your lunch break, or late in the evening when everyone is asleep.
The critical point here is not when you schedule your routine but that you stick to it.
In other words, what counts most is that you commit to dedicating time to your business. One thing I do, and many other successful companies do as well is creating an appointment calendar. If you use Google Calendar or another time management software, it’s pretty easy to set up.
Similar to creating a meeting, I will make a calendar event that clears my schedule for half an hour or an hour each day and commits me to work on my business during that time.
Final thoughts
It is a good idea to dream big, create goals and work diligently to accomplish them.
It would be best to keep in mind that actual achievement takes time, and you cannot expect to get to your desired goal in a matter of seconds.
To become efficient and productive, you must be precise in your ideas and activities, establish new and higher expectations and prepare appropriately to meet them. Cultivating these 10 habits is a great start on your road to success.
