You’ve probably heard this 1000 times in your life: habits are important. Why? Because they determine the type of person that you’ll become, if you’ll become successful, if you’ll have a healthy and productive life, and also how fulfilled you will feel with yourself. So in today’s post, I really wanted to share with you what I think are the 10 best habits that you should start, to become a successful entrepreneur.
Why are habits important?
Table of Contents
Let’s first spend a little bit of time on this concept. What do you think separates a successful person from an “average” one? Is it the fact that they were luckier, or they had an easy life, or they’re more talented?
Although it is true that someone may start off in a more advantaged position than someone else, it doesn’t mean that they won’t encounter their own challenges, or that their advantaged starting point is what determines their success.
And if you’re thinking that someone is more talented than someone else, please think again. We’re all gifted in some shape or form and we all have a unique purpose to fulfil, so no one is better than someone else in that sense.
The main difference between these two groups of people is their habits. Someone won’t become successful just because they desire it; the work behind the scenes is a lot, especially the internal work. When you think about the “secrets” that these people have which have brought them to where they are, let me quickly reveal this secret to you and tell you what it is: their habits. Now you understand why habits are so important; because they’re really going to determine what kind of life you’ll live.
I’ve been studying the lives of successful entrepreneurs for years because I find them very inspiring and fascinating, and one thing that brings them all together (no matter their gender, race, social class, or personal experiences) is the fact that they developed certain habits that helped them to get to where they are today.
So let’s see some of these habits together before I give you my own personal tips, shall we?
And in case you’re wondering about bad habits (which we all know we have) that people should stop in order to be successful and improve their life, you should check out this post where I share more about it.
Best habits of successful leaders
According to this very interesting article from Entrepreneur, here are a few of the best habits that successful leaders have, in order to be where they are:
- They make their health a priority
- They keep their goals in front of them
- They take action, even when it’s scary
- They learn from people they admire
Are you starting to see a pattern here? There’s a lot of focus on personal development because that’s what’s really crucial for success.
Now, before you roll your eyes at me and think this is all fluffy stuff, please keep reading. I used to be a hater of the topic of personal development because I genuinely thought it was useless and a lot of people talking about it were a scam.
Turns out one of my assumptions was true, and the other one was false. Obviously, there are a lot of people who are a scam, just like in any other industry, but it’s absolutely not true that personal development is useless. If I hadn’t invested (and still do) time on this regularly, my business and this blog wouldn’t be here today, so trust me, it’s worth your time.
Now I really want to share my own personal view on the best habits to adopt, and I’ll focus on them specifically impacting you as an entrepreneur, no matter how big or small your business might be. In fact, if you run a small business now, it’s a good time to implement some good habits and see your business scale.
*Disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links and I might make a commission if you purchase through my link, which will come at NO EXTRA COST FOR YOU*
10 best habits to adopt to be a successful entrepreneur
Before I go on to list them, I want to say that these come from my own personal experience, as well as learning from successful leaders worldwide, and they’ve absolutely changed my life, which is why I want to share them with you.
Wake up early
Do you think this has nothing to do with you becoming successful? Think again. I used to hate waking up early and I was always in a rush to get things done and get out the door just in time for the day to begin. That always made me grumpy, unproductive, and very tired. Then I decided to wake up an hour earlier and see what I could accomplish with that extra hour. It was hard at first, but now it’s become such a huge part of my life that it’s just natural for me to wake up early even when I don’t have anything to do.
A book that really changed my views about this (and it was probably the start of my self-development journey) is The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod, and I really recommend you check it out.
Be intentional with your day
The next habit you should develop is to be more intentional with your day. Don’t just let your to-do list become longer every hour, you have 100 different demands from different people, you barely have time to take a break and you feel overwhelmed and burnout.
Instead, become more intentional. Set your priorities for the day, schedule your breaks throughout the day, and have a time where you’ll just log off and focus on your personal life. If you need more help on this, I recommend you check out my post on how to create a daily schedule to help you improve your life.
Drink plenty of water
If you’re looking for a secret, free, and best habit for productivity, you’ve got it right here! We really underestimate how important drinking water is, and it’s not usually our top priority. But the thing is that without water, we’ll struggle to focus on our tasks, meaning it will take us longer to get things done, and we’ll also feel more tired in general and unproductive.
So if you want to adopt a new, simple, but powerful habit, I recommend that you focus on drinking your water. Always keep a glass or a water bottle next to you as a visual reminder, and if you really struggle even when you have it near you, then start setting reminders on your phone every 30 minutes or so. Trust me, it will be life-changing.
Focus on your nutrition
Another very important, and underestimated point, is eating well. Why do we think that we can create our dream life and build a successful business if we don’t focus on how we nourish our bodies in order to have the kind of energy to do all those things?!
That saying that goes like “Health is wealth” is a very loud truth. Let that sink in. Don’t think that you can become a successful entrepreneur if you don’t focus on your nutrition. And before you say that you can’t focus on that because you’re busy and you don’t have time to cook healthy meals, check out this post where I share with you step-by-step how you can start meal planning every week.
Move your body
Yes, this is another important habit to build in order to become successful. Not just because we want to get to 70 years old and be in pretty decent shape, but because exercise, in whatever shape or form, actually helps with our energy levels, our mental health, and our overall well being.
To be completely honest, I’m not the biggest fan of working out, and sometimes I really have to drag myself to do it, but I still do it because I see the benefits afterwards. Exercising releases a chemical in the body called endorphin, which lifts our mood and our energy. Even if you just go for a simple walk somewhere, as long as you move your body for at least 20 minutes a day, that will be another powerful habit that will lead you to success.
Have a shutdown system
This is a very essential habit that I think every entrepreneur should have, because it’s very easy to always be in work mode and never have some time off. I’ve written an extensive blog post about this so I don’t want to write too much about it here, but I do really recommend that you implement an evening routine in your life to become a successful (and healthy) entrepreneur.
Read daily
This is a very important habit to open your mind, learn new things regularly, and make progress in your personal development journey. I’m such a bookworm so this comes easily to me, but if you struggle with reading, just 10 pages a day will be more than enough, but at least it’s a start and you’ll be able to build on that.
If you want to have some inspiration as to which books to read, you can check out some of my favorites here.
Surround yourself with the right people
Oh man, if more people did this, the world would be a better place and there would definitely be more successful entrepreneurs around.
I was part of a virtual panel for an event at my old high school some time ago, and when I was sharing some advice with the teenagers who will be graduating soon, I told them this: “Be careful who you surround yourselves with, and make sure that those people will help you grow”.
The truth is, if I had stayed around the same people I was hanging out with when I was 16, I wouldn’t be here today. It seems like something small but being surrounded by the right people will have a huge impact on whether we become successful or not.
Regularly assess your life
This is such a fun part of some (some is me, I am some), but others dread doing this. However, it’s one of those habits that you really want to implement in your life because you’ll be able to understand where you’re at in your journey, what’s working, what isn’t working, and take action from there.
If you don’t know where to start, there’s plenty of prompts and ideas online to help you get started, and then once you become more used to it, you’ll be able to do it on your own. I personally assess my life once a month in depth; I do a weekly journaling (including gratitude list), but then at the end of the month I go through everything I did, my accomplishments, how I’m feeling, and what I can do better.
It’s another game-changer that I wish I’d known of before.
Be present in the moment
You might be wondering what on earth does this mean and what does it have to do with habits to become successful? Well friend, this is another very important habit, and it’s something that many people don’t even know exists.
The thing is, we’re so used to living in this go-go state and always multitasking, that we don’t know what it feels like to just be present whilst making a cup of coffee or doing the laundry. It’s ordinary things like that which remind me of how used we have become to being in a rush and always hustling, when in fact, it’s better for everyone if we slow down sometimes. And not just that, but we’re always on our phones, always watching something, always listening to something, that we don’t even know what “quiet” sounds like anymore.
I encourage you today to challenge yourself and try to stay in silence for some time. No background music, podcast, tv show, phone calls, just you and your thoughts. Focus on doing one thing at a time and really pay attention to what you’re doing (yes, even to folding the laundry). This will make an impact that will go beyond your personal life, and will also improve how you are as an entrepreneur.
Related articles
Conclusion on the 10 best habits to start to be a successful entrepreneur
Whew! This was a long blog post with a lot of information, but I really hope that you take some time to read this through carefully, and that you’ll start implementing some of these habits to become a successful entrepreneur.
