Success is not an accident or a matter of chance, but it probably doesn’t come from drinking a potion of inspiration or learning that gives us superhuman qualities either. In the end, success comes from building small habits that are found in all successful people. Many small habits that together are very powerful and make what follows almost inevitable.
We have already looked at 7 habits found in every successful person, which are therefore a universal rule. Now let’s see which habits we need to work on as a whole to reach our goals.
The habits of success
1. They are organised
Being organised goes hand in hand with success. In fact, whoever is organised at work is organised in life. Whoever is organised at home is organised in business. Organised people are organised in every area of their lives, and so they tend to be much more efficient than everyone else. Points in favour of success.
2. They are resilient
Truly successful people manage to stay optimistic when everything is falling apart. Most business successes were born and grew in times when everything was collapsing. (Read: Resilience: the keys to success when things get really ugly). Resilience also includes learning to master our emotions when it comes to panic or extreme optimism.
3. They are persistent
They learn very quickly to insist and persist. They learn not to give up in the face of difficulties. They know that someone else may succeed where we have thrown in the towel. Endurance, insistence and persistence are habits that help successful people.
4. They listen to other people’s needs
Knowing what people need means knowing about certain problems that might have a solution. And that solution could be profitable. But that is not the only reason they do it. They really listen, and they make sure the other person knows they are really being listened to, which leads to much more honest and open relationships with others. After all, success comes from cultivating relationships.
5. They don’t put things off
Many people say they are thinking of doing “something” and that they will do it next month. Procrastination is the main ingredient of failure, while decision and action are the ingredients of success. They don’t say “I’m thinking of doing…”. They tell you: “look what I’ve started doing”.
6. They know when to quit
They are persistent but not stupid. Part of the road to success consists of accepting a failure quickly so you can start on something else. They don’t cling to dead relationships, nor do they hold on to their ego to avoid admitting a failure.
7. They have a sense of humour
The truth is you will rarely be bored with someone like this. Not only because of all the positive things they have to teach you, but because of that sense of humour and their knack for making an evening with them pleasant and fun. Being serious about your work doesn’t mean you have to be solemn.
Sometimes they can give you completely constructive criticism with a touch of humour, so that you get the message without feeling offended. A sense of humour opens many doors, while an unfriendly character closes them.
8. They are not afraid to take risks
Perhaps what holds most people back is fear of risk. But that is the natural habitat of successful people.
9. But they keep risk under control
They like risk, but they are not kamikazes. They take on high risk but try to study the possible consequences as thoroughly as possible, always imagining the worst-case scenario. So they are not scared of taking the risk, because they have already considered what would happen in the worst case. And they are willing to take the gamble even if the outcome would be the worst possible should things not go their way. They have fears like everyone else, and they know they cannot get rid of them, so they have no choice but to face them.
10. They are respectful and polite
As we have said more than once, you can tell what kind of person you are dealing with just by watching how they treat a waiter. They are gracious, polite to everyone and respectful towards anyone regardless of their social or cultural position. In fact, nobody really has a reason to be rude to someone they don’t know.
That kind behaviour means they receive the same in return, because you get back what you project, and that is why almost everyone treats them well. They are hard to forget once you have met them.
11. They are tenacious
You can be insistent and persistent and achieve nothing. Tenacity is a quality successful people have developed. Perhaps that is why they have achieved so much in life. When we talked about the difference between persistence and tenacity, it was Seth Godin himself who gave a clear example, which runs roughly like this:
Companies that phone you every day while you are eating or sleeping to try to sell you something are persistent and insistent. But Zara is tenacious.
12. They know how to praise
They recognise good work by others in private and in public, whether it is their secretary or an employee who has just closed a deal. Not everyone understands how important it is to recognise someone who is doing a good job. They do. And so they not only win over that person, who greatly appreciates the praise, but that person will keep working much harder knowing their work is recognised.
13. They can change the mood of an entire company
And they do it in a very simple way: just by saying a few magic phrases that radically change the atmosphere. Read: 9 simple, extraordinary things to say to the people at your company every day. Few people take the time for something as simple as this, and it makes a remarkable difference.
14. They say yes to almost everything when they are starting out
They have probably become successful because they said yes to every challenge, every business opportunity, every project. They know that success sometimes consists of 14 failures and one success. You only have to succeed once, while the failures count as part of the journey.
15. They know how to say no firmly and decisively
By the same token, when the time comes they don’t say yes just to please someone if they really don’t want to do something. They say no to a distraction and they say NO to a bad proposal. And they leave no room for negotiation. It’s NO, full stop.
16. They make their own luck
Even to be lucky you have to be on the right path for luck to find you. Thanks to their kindness, their good manners, their outgoing nature and the pleasant moments they create, people like this naturally widen their network of contacts. People talk to them, people recommend them, and so their good reputation gives them more chances and opportunities than others. In other words, luck didn’t find them; they built it every day.
17. They think positively
Most people think positive thinking is something spiritual or magical, but the truth is that the power of positive thinking is backed not only by logic but by science. Barbara Fredrickson’s study ended up showing that people with negative thinking end up making a self-fulfilling prophecy and destroying themselves, while people with positive thinking tended to achieve what they set out to do. After all, you will achieve what you believe you can achieve, and you will be worth whatever value you choose to give yourself.
In other words, if you believe you are worth a lot, that is your value. If you believe you are worth nothing, that too is your value.
18. They read almost every day
There is only one way to learn, and that is by acquiring knowledge and ideas from other people. That is why they tend to be voracious readers. But they go for productive reading, not entertainment.
19. They don’t lose their heads
A big mistake made by many people who came close to success and ended up failing was celebrating too soon. Success went to their heads and they thought it was time to show the world what they had achieved. Success is not reaching a finish line. Sometimes it is about staying at the top, and staying there can be harder than getting there, especially if you lose your head along the way. That is where it becomes clear whether you succeeded through luck or through your own merit, built on good habits.
20. They don’t waste time
They know their time is very valuable, so they try not to waste it on things that give them nothing, much less on people who don’t deserve that time. They are always busy because they keep an organised schedule. They always know what they are going to do at every hour of the day, because they planned it in their diary the week before.
21. They stay motivated
Motivation is essential. When motivation fails, it is time to stop and analyse what is going wrong. And they won’t hesitate to change or drop what they are doing if they feel it is draining their energy and vitality without any reward.
22. They get up early
This is one of their competitive advantages. For them, the day starts earlier than for everyone else, and they have already been productive while the rest are still waking up. (Read: 5 reasons to get up earlier and how to do it)
23. No excuses
Everyone tends to make excuses for a mistake they have made. They own it, because someone who cannot admit a mistake cannot learn from it, and is therefore more likely to fail again. Rafael Nadal’s uncle taught him this lesson, roughly: when you lose to an opponent, it is not because of the clay, the wind or the racket. The other player was better, full stop. Next time, try harder.
24. They find a purpose in life
Most people fail simply because it was impossible for them to succeed: they didn’t know where they wanted to go. You cannot succeed if you don’t know what you want to achieve or what you want to fight for. Every successful person needs only a goal and to start taking steps towards it. Find yours.
25. They ask for advice
Sadly, I have seen people very close to me fall simply because they didn’t ask experts for advice in areas they hadn’t mastered. We all have weak spots, and there is no reason we should try to fill them all ourselves. There are people who have devoted their whole lives to being the best at something, and they are there to help you be the best at what you do. In my case, I’m good at many things, but tax and law are not among them, so I would be a fool not to take my tax questions to a tax adviser.
See also: 15 habits of successful salespeople
Featured image: Joshua Tree National Park, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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