What bad habits do you have? You wake up in the afternoon, waste your time on social media, doubt yourself, or wear dirty underwear? But if you quit your bad habits, you become a quitter. No one likes a quitter. So many problems in life. (That was sarcasm)
The quality of our habits determines the quality of our life because the habits we make today will decide where we will be tomorrow. This is the reason why successful people always remain conscious about their habits. They try to build good habits and leave the bad ones. And is it any wonder to say that their building of success stands on the foundation of their habits?
In this post, I have listed seven powerful habits of successful people that may look simple but when done on a regular basis, can be a game-changer. So, here are they…
7 Powerful habits of extremely successful people
1. They wake up early
Waking up early in the morning is one of the most common habits of successful people. If we look at the past, Benjamin Franklin used to wake up at 5 a.m. and retired to bed at 10 a.m. His famous quote goes like- “early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”
Thomas Jefferson would wake up every morning whenever there was enough light to read the clock next to him. He said, “The sun has not caught me in bed in 50 years.” Mahatma Gandhi used to wake up at 4:00 a.m. and did morning prayers at 4:20 a.m.
In the present time, there are many great personalities who are morning people. Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, wakes up at 3:45 a.m. every morning. Michelle Obama wakes up at 4:30 a.m. for the morning workout. The famous Indian actor Akshay Kumar wakes up at 5.30 a.m. Tim Armstrong, the AOL CEO, starts his day at 5 a.m. NextDesk director Dan Lee wakes up at 3:30 a.m. Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey wakes up at 5:30 a.m.… This list has no end.
Waking up early helps us to increase our productivity by involving ourselves in deep work. This becomes possible as our brain performs in its peak state in the morning. We can make critical decisions at this time because we are fresh and energetic. In addition, waking up early gives us enough time to exercise, and meditate and helps us to be an organized person.
Related: 7 Encouraging benefits of waking up early.
2. They exercise
Exercise helps us remain physically healthy, reduces our stress, promotes good sleep, and helps us be positive and confident. Just 30 minutes of exercise a day can do wonders for our mind and body. Also, it is the easiest of all the habits of successful people. So it’s no wonder why they do exercises daily.
Tom Corley, author of the book Change Your Habits, Change Your Life, studied the daily habits of 233 wealthy people. He then made some conclusions and explained what makes successful people successful. He found that 76% of successful people do some kind of exercise for at least 30 minutes. They either do jogging, walking, or any type of exercise to keep their bodies and minds healthy.
Richard Branson said in a blog post, “I seriously doubt that I would have been as successful in my career (and happy in my personal life) if I hadn’t always placed importance on my health and fitness.”
3. They work on their own goals
Successful people don’t work for others; they have their own goals to work. After studying the habits of successful people, Tom Corley found that 80% of them are focused on their own goals. They are happy that they are doing what they like to do.
When you like the work, it would not be boring. You would love it, and it would give you an immense sense of satisfaction. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, says, “The thing about it is, when you love what you do, you don’t really think of it as work. It’s what you do. And that’s the good fortune of where I find myself.”
You should have a dream of your own and should work on it every day. Tony Gaskins Jr. says, “If you don’t build your own dream, someone else will hire you to help build theirs.”
4. They read books
Reading is one of the most common habits of successful people. Almost all the great entrepreneurs have the habit of reading books. Bill gates reads 50 books a year; Mark Zuckerberg reads at least two books a month; Elon Musk grew up reading two books a day; Mark Cuban reads more than 3 hours every day; Arthur Blank reads two hours a day.
JK Rowling, the Harry Potter author, says, “Read as much as you can. Nothing will help you as much as reading.” The award-winning children writer Tomie dePaola said, “Reading is important, because if you can read, you can learn anything about everything and everything about anything.”
Reading can help you gain knowledge about anything, widen your imagination, reduce stress, and develop your personality. In addition, reading is a great way to learn from others’ mistakes which can prevent you from committing the same by yourself. I have been a reader myself, and I am saying this from my personal experience: reading is one of the most extraordinary habits that can change your life.
Related: 21 Benefits of reading books: Why you should read every day
5. They have multiple sources of income
Successful people know that no matter how successful their business is, there is no guarantee that it would always be profitable. Anything can happen- an economic crisis or a global pandemic- which can completely change the scenario.
Hence, they don’t depend on any single stream of income; instead, they diversify their streams so that the risk can be lowered. As a result, an average millionaire has seven sources of income.
Warren Buffet said, “Never depend on a single income. Make investment to create second source.” It’s no wonder why they are millionaires; they know the science of managing money.
6. They take action
This is one of the most rewarding habits of successful people. They don’t wait for the right time or the right inspiration for taking action. Instead, they take action anyway, even when things seem to go against them, even when there is no hope, even when they know they can fail. They take the chance. They know if they win, they will achieve their goal; if they fail, they will learn a lesson. The lesson is equally important, sometimes even more important than success. Because it is the lessons that prepare us for our journey ahead, make us stronger and wiser.
James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, writes his experience of meeting Richard Branson in a blog, saying, “If you want to summarize the habits of successful people into one phrase, it’s this: successful people start before they feel ready.”
He further says that if you are working on something important, you would be inspired by your excitement and discouraged by your confusion. In this situation, it’s no wonder you would feel uncertain and unprepared. But no matter how doubtful you are, you are always good enough to start.
7. They practice gratitude
Whether it is Sir Richard Branson, the founder of the Virgin Group; Oprah Winfrey, an American talk show host, television producer, actress, and author; or Tim Ferriss, an American entrepreneur, investor, author; they all have the practice of gratitude common in them.
The American author Zig Ziglar said, “Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.”
Award-winning American novelist Alice Walker says that expressing gratitude is the best prayer that anyone could say. She does it every day because, according to her, it expresses humility and understanding.
American religious leader and author Gordon Bitner Hinckley said that gratitude creates a good feeling which can resolve problems, strengthen friendships and make us better humans.
Most often, we take things for granted and forget how lucky we are. There are many unfortunate people out there who just want to live the life we are living now. Expressing gratitude for everything you have is one of the most effective ways to live a happy and peaceful life.
Conclusion
Little habits can make a big difference because they give us remarkable results when repeatedly done. Successful people always focus on building good habits because they know the return of this investment is enormous. The seven powerful habits of successful people are- they wake up early, read books, exercise, work on their own goals, have multiple sources of income, take action, and practice gratitude. We can learn and develop these habits to achieve success like them.
These were the powerful habits of extremely successful people. I hope it helped you. And thank you for reading.
You wrote very important habits in a simple way. This inspired me.
Thanks a ton, Tapomay. I am also inspired by the habits of successful people.