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Successful people are very similar.  It doesn’t matter what industry they work in or what passion they’re pursuing, there are a few shared habits that nearly all successful people possess.  Habits are some of the most powerful forces in your life and it is incredibly easy to predict your future based on your recurring choices.  For our purposes we’ll define habits as a recurring pattern of behavior.  In other words, your actions.  It’s not just what you do, but what you do OFTEN that will inevitably determine your destiny.  In terms of success, I’ll use Earl Nightingale’s classic definition: “the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.”  In other words, your repeated progress towards something noble makes you successful.  By this definition, success is not an end destination, but instead it is something to be achieved on a daily basis.  That is why habits are so incredibly powerful, because they determine your level of success.  Ideally, you will make daily progress towards goals you have pre-determined to be worthy in your life.

In order to maximize your ability to be successful every day, you need highly effective and empowering habits to propel you forward.  I’ve listed a few of the best habits below that will take advantage of the self-discipline you already have in order to maximize your productivity, effectiveness, and overall success.  Take a look at the list and let me know what you think.  In the comments add a few of your ideas or habits you already have that are working wonders on your own life.

1. Challenge Your Brain

Successful people think.  They also learn, grow, and challenge themselves as often as they can.  Your brain is your most powerful resource because how you use it will determine nearly everything in your life.  Your brain is the core of the operation, the engine of the car, the CEO of the business, the . . . you get the point.  Make it a habit to think.  Reading a great non-fiction book should replace watching TV.  Learning a foreign language, playing brain teaser puzzles, and even doing scrabble are fundamentally better for your brain and your future success than other mindless activities like TV, idol web surfing, or obsessive email checking.

2. Cardio Exercise

If you could only choose one form of exercise for the rest of your life, what would you choose?  The answer should be a form of cardiovascular training.  In other words, maintaining a healthy heart is fundamentally more vital than growing huge biceps or having a thin waist.  If you don’t exercise regularly now, which most people don’t, then this a great opportunity to find a FUN form of exercise you could maintain for the rest of your life.  FYI, if you don’t enjoy it, you won’t keep doing it.  Swimming, running, cycling, playing volleyball, chasing your dog around in circles, or whatever you just love to do that increases your heart rate will be worth it.  This goes without saying, but cut the cigarettes completely and minimize the booze too.

3. Wake up Early

You don’t have to get up before sunrise, but those who wake up early consistently are more productive.  Obviously, there are exceptions and everyone has their preference for sleep.  However, being consistent with your sleep patterns is more important than anything.  Also, sleeping while it’s dark and staying awake when it’s sunny is how humans have evolved.  There’s a reason why you get tired at night and can’t sleep well in the middle of the day.  Sleep is good.  Consistent sleep is better.  Waking up early and tackling the day at sunrise is awesome.  Whatever you want to do, make it intentional and customize your life for optimal efficiency and personal joy.  It’s your life.  Sleep when you want.

4. Eat Healthy

Even if you never eat a single healthy food in your life, the easiest fix for your diet is to avoid the crap.  If you simply stop eating bad foods and only allow yourself to eat mediocre or higher quality foods, you will notice a significant increase in your health.  Your diet is only one part of the equation but it’s probably the most important.  You are what you eat, so if you eat crap . . . Ta Da!  Start small and make the process simple by substituting bad foods for better choices.  The books series Eat This, Not That is a good start.  Find healthier alternatives for what you already consume every day.  For a morning snack, I used to eat bagels with cream cheese and now I eat organic yogurt with organic granola and an organic banana.  I do love organic foods.  Check out How and Why to Eat Organic to learn more.

5. Buy High Quality Stuff

Cheap people buy cheap stuff.  Those who perceive themselves as high quality people buy high quality stuff.  You might be thinking that I’m calling you cheap because you have low income at the moment.  That’s not quite it.  Look at the types of items you’ve purchased, the choices you’ve made, the stuff already surrounding you.  Chances are that you have a large number of items you could live without, whether they are cheap or not.  If you eliminated, sold, donated, or threw away everything you didn’t need, you would be left with a miracle.  The remaining stuff will most likely be the essentials, and those essentials are probably durable, more expensive, and carry a high perceived value in your life.  My point is that if you make it a habit to stop buying cheap stuff, be patient, save a little extra money, and buy the higher quality stuff more often, over time you will acquire a nice collection of high quality items you simply can’t live without.  Respect yourself by respecting your stuff.

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6. Do Less by Saying No

Do you see the pattern yet?  Start saying no to crap.  Successful people are excellent at saying no.  Try it.  Loudly and proudly stand up and say, “No.”  How did that feel?  You probably didn’t feel anything because you didn’t do it.  Let’s try this again.  I don’t care where you are.  Stand up straight, adjust your posture, take a deep breath, and scream, “NO!”  Better?  It’s a work in progress so keep practicing..  Saying no is hard.  I’m still learning how to do it and I’ve got a lot of work to do.  The goal of saying no is to eliminate mediocrity from your life and focus on a few simple and powerful things.  Less is more and saying no makes doing less more possible faster than anything.  Successful people are able to make progressive realizations toward their goals because they have eliminated or minimized the crappy stuff that doesn’t drive them forward.

7. Live in the Now

This may sound shocking, but the past is not real.  Neither is the future.  Both are simply manifestations in your brain.  The past is a memory you experience by reliving it in the present and the future is a projection you invent in your mind.  The reality is that you only live in the present, the now.  In order to be the most successful person possible you will have to master the art of living.  Live right now.  Think right now.  Act right now.  Successful people understand that living in the moment allows them to take action and focus more intensely because they aren’t distracted by fears of the future or regrets of the past.  The present is all you have and you have to make the most of it.  Practice living consciously and begin to experience you’re life as it happens.

8. Cleanliness is King

The clean inbox strategy has been around for a while and it seems to be fairly commonplace to some and completely unheard of for others.  The clean inbox is essentially the same thing as the clean desk policy.  In your email inbox you treat every incoming message as an item on your to-do list.  Every email must be attended to, without exception.  You read the email, decide if it needs attending to, process the information, and then either trash it or save it.  That’s it.  Junk mail goes in the junk folder.  Trash goes in the trash.  Emails you just can’t throw away need to be put in another folder.  At the end of the day your inbox should be completely empty.  This same policy applies to your desk, both at home and at the office.  Address every piece of paper, every to-do item, every time.  Address it and then trash it or save it.  Keep things simple.  Keep your life clean.  Don’t forget to unsubscribe to newsletters you don’t read and limit yourself to checking you email only a few times per day to keep your sanity.

9. Commit to Personal Growth

You are the only obstacle standing in your way.  In order to get what you want you will have to make the choice to get it.  Your first choice should be to look inward and improve yourself.  Personal development is essential to every successful person in every industry.  Practically speaking, this means setting goals, learning, challenging yourself, and eliminating all forms of mediocrity.  The best method to get started is to pick up a great book and start reading.  I always highly recommend Steve Pavlina’s Personal Development for Smart People as the best book on the topic.  This book, and his hugely popular blog, address personal development from every angle.  At its core, personal growth is achieved most effectively by living consciously.  Make intentional choices every day, all the time, and commit to improving yourself in every way you can think of.

10. Do Something that Scares You

Fear is funny.  Fear can lead to irrational thinking, hallucinations, and completely absurd behavior.  Everyone experiences fear and everyone has the choice to confront it or run scared.  The only difference between a successful person and everyone else is that the successful person makes the choice to move forward, despite their fear.  The best way to begin tackling your own fears is to make this your motto and stick to it, “do something every day that scares you.”  In the course of a typical day, as you experience a sense of urgency or anxiousness and you know deep inside what to do but you hold back out of fear, make a note.  Write down what happened and how you responded.  The next day when you read what you wrote it will probably sound really silly.  You’ll begin to notice that what you’re afraid of is actually not that scary and can be overcome with a simple act of courage.  Make that choice one day at a time and watch yourself grow.  It’s incredible.

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The Clueless Graduate,

Jeff & Tessa Sanders

Jeff Sanders


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