3 or 4 (or so) Habits of Successful People… and Losers.
As an entrepreneur, I have ready many biographies on successful people and have read every article and book I could find about how people become successful. Along the way, I have come across COUNTLESS (like 5 or 6) lists of “X Habits of Successful People”.
Where X = Some arbitrary integer between 1 and 1001.
Most of these lists repeat the same secrets over and over. But I have made a peculiar observation which I later had confirmed when I read the book “Everything is Obvious“. Here is what I noticed.
Habits of Successful People are Often the Same Habits of Failures.
Whaaa!!??..t..?
Take for example, these particular habits, which I’ve seen in virtually every list.
1. Go to Bed Early, Wake Up Early
As I write this article at 1:42 am, I think “damnit”. But, what about all the science that argues night owls are better and smarter and more intelligent etc..?
Try telling Jordan Belfort to go to bed early. And what about the entire community of programmers and developers who make a living working odd hours into the night, stemmed from a tradition of using computer networks when everyone else was sleeping to reduce lag time.
I know bums who are up early, but they are still bums. I guess this strategy doesn’t work for everyone.
2. Plan and Visualize Your Day
Saying you should “visualize your day” to succeed is extremely offensive to blind entrepreneurs.
Other than that, who doesn’t plan their day? Most of the time there is not much to plan to begin with. You wake up, do your morning routine, go to work, eat dinner, come home and veg out. I always imagine the fun I’m going to have on the weekend, but this strategy has yet to yield any significant results.
3. Eat Breakfast
I swear this is the great advice Forbes gave on their list of habits of successful people. Although, it is hard to argue with these results.
4. Exercise
Every time I see this is on a list, I think “Duh, obviously being healthy is more productive than not being healthy.”
5. Let Things Go
Learn to let go of the things that are cluttering your life. It’s one thing to try to clear your mind, but sometimes you have to physically toss something to feel lighter. So get rid of something – old magazines, junk mail, apps on your phone, old receipts or papers and watch how your attitude changes throughout the day. Our lives get cluttered so easily, but they can become uncluttered just as fast. Remember that.
Moral: Don’t be one of those people who actually suffer from a psychological condition that causes hoarding.
6. Keep Trying
Trying is always a prerequisite to success. It’s like literally impossible to do something if you don’t start off by trying to do that thing.