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7 Habits of Highly “Successful” People

Habits of highly successful people and achieving your goals is not always about the fastest route to wealth. It has more to do with forming daily habits to lead you down the right path to positivity.


We all want to be successful. Success is defined by Merriam Webster as a “favorable or desired outcome” or “the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence”.
Both of those definitions make success seem like an ideal goal — whether it be personal success, professional success or both. But remember, success doesn’t necessarily have to refer to becoming rich or making it big. These days, being happy and living a life in balance is a marker of success too.
Regardless of what success means for you, it does take some hard work to get there. If you want to join the club of highly successful people, it’s all about incorporating positive habits into your daily life that can set you on the road to success.
Here are seven habits of successful people and great leaders. Emulate them, incorporate them, add them into your daily routine and you’ll be well on your way to a more effective and efficient way of life. And remember, you get to define what success means to you.

1. Self-awareness and knowledge


Knowing your work style, communication style and personality traits (both positive and negative) can help you anticipate future successes and struggles. For example, if you’re prone to procrastination, that’s okay. Once you understand this about yourself, you can make active intentions to figure out the cause and combat it.
Self-awareness and self-improvement are a big part of success. Many don’t want to admit their flaws — but understanding your weaknesses will help you figure out ways to achieve your goals in spite of them. Knowing your strengths will make it easy for you to capitalize on them.
Making lists can help. If you can note your top three strengths and weaknesses, it can help you in your career path, investments, friendships, teams and more.Taking tests such as Myers Briggs or Enneagrams can help you figure out what type of professional, social and leisure activities can best benefit you based on your personality type. The more you know and understand about yourself, the better you can structure your workday and personal life to fit your needs. Knowing yourself is one of the best ways to head down the road to success.

2. Feed your curiosity


We’ve all heard the saying, “Seize the day.” But how many of us actually do so? Being proactive and stepping out of your comfort zone to feed your curiosity on a daily basis will help you achieve those long-term goals.
Feeding your curiosity can be as simple as giving yourself permission to figure out your own path to success. Deciding what routes to explore and which to stay away from will ensure you dig deep to figure out creative ways to earn money, learn more efficiently, or build the right business.
Giving yourself permission to dig deeper into the things that make you happy will help you develop and grow in ways unique to you. After all, you shouldn’t just become a lawyer because your parents told you that was the only way. Maybe your passion is art, or food. Exploring the strengths and weaknesses you discovered in yourself as well as your interests or things that inspire you can guide you on a journey to success in a field you’re truly passionate about. Get creative, and remember, the sky’s the limit.
If you can make each day count and take charge of your daily routines and long-term goals to make sure you’re doing what interests you, you’re on your way to both self-discovery and success.

3. Taking personal time


The best way to achieve more is to give yourself enough time to rest.
Rest can come in different forms for different people. For some, it’s getting enough sleep, meditation or alone time. For others, it’s more about fitness, or taking time to rejuvenate with loved ones, like friends or family.
The first step is deciding how you want to spend your personal time. Think about what relaxes you, feeds your creativity and fills you with energy. Do more of it.
Don’t be swayed by social pressures or obligations if you’d prefer to do your own thing. Likewise, if being in a group is what really helps you let go, do so. Those aforementioned personality tests can help you define how to be successful at work, but also what you need at home to be healthy and happy.
Once you figure out exactly what rejuvenates you (and do more of it), you’ll notice you’ll be more focused at work and more in tune with your goals and how to achieve them.

4. Intuitive listening


It doesn’t matter if listening was on your weakness list. It’s essential for success. It’s important not just to know yourself, but understand your role, the situation you’re in and other people’s opinions.
Careful listening can help you read the room, close a deal, or pick the right strategy. And it’s not just listening to people’s words. Being able to interpret body language or non-verbal cues can help just as much, especially with synergy. You can tell if someone is 100% on board, or feeling reluctant. You can figure out whether or not to trust someone new.
Being a good listener and in tune with non-verbal cues can ensure you don’t get cheated or involved with negative people.
Listening is a learned skill. So close that mouth, and open your eyes and ears. Here are some ways to work on becoming a better listener:

  • Put your own agenda, computer and phone aside
  • Actively listen and don’t tune out
  • Don’t interrupt
  • Ask questions
  • Repeat what you’ve heard when it makes sense

5. Staying positive


Positivity will help you succeed not just professionally, but in your personal life, too. Seeing the good in things will make you a happier person — and that often carries over into all kinds of success and personal development. Think win-win, and you’ll probably win!
If you’re struggling to see the glass half full, there are ways you can learn to become more positive. Things like practicing gratitude can help. You may feel silly, but try to think of three things each day before bed that you’re grateful for, even during rough days. Slowly, this will help you to see the good amid the bad.
Surrounding yourself with positive people is another way to keep things happy, and identifying your areas of negativity can also help. If you notice yourself constantly negative about your home, maybe it’s time for a  move. Or if it’s your friendships getting you down, it may be time to evaluate those you’re surrounding yourself with.
Brene Brown, PhD and best-selling author suggests that those who are able to see the best in others are better able to define their own boundaries, which is another recipe for success. Boundaries are important in that they allow you to define what and who are allowed into your carefully curated life, business, space, or brand. Setting boundaries can also help you to become more self-aware and a better communicator, all keys to success.
And maybe success isn’t about being rich, or getting that promotion at work. Maybe happiness is success, so if you’re staying positive, you’re already successful.

6. Focusing on what’s most important (not most urgent)


Sometimes urgent tasks distract us from important ones. If you spend all your time reacting to urgent matters, you’ll never get the important tasks done.
Time management or time blocking can help. You can set aside a part of your day to focus on those tasks that demand immediate attention. But when you’re done, go back to the most important things on your list.
Don’t fall prey to urgency. First things first: stay level-headed and check off the truly necessary tasks from your to-do list. This will lead you towards conquering those long-term goals. And remember, sometimes, those urgent tasks aren’t really that urgent anyway in the big scheme of things.

7. Avoiding time wasters


If watching a cheesy television show or scrolling social media is your form of personal time, that’s okay. Just make sure that these things are really what help you relax, or fill you with joy and creativity. If not, stop doing them. Your mental health will thank you.
Of course, eliminating time-wasting activities and getting rid of bad habits is easier said than done. But just imagine if you took those 20 minutings scrolling Instagram each day that make you feel empty, and checked one more item off your to-do list? Or did a quick burst of yoga? Or spent time with your partner, friends or children?
We’re all entitled to waste time if we want, but really think about the time you spend doing mindless activities and evaluate if your time could be better spent doing something else. The best way to begin this is to simply recognize what your time wasters are. Actively be aware of what you’re doing during each moment of the day — deciding which activities are productive, which are relaxing and which are unnecessary. Then, you can begin to either spend less time doing these time wasters, or cut them out entirely.
Adopting these seven habits will ensure you’re on your way to success. And remember, being successful is a rolling scale. Even just a few weeks or months working on these habits may help you close an important deal, or finish a pending project. Success is relative, and you can experience it every day. Start with small changes, and grow them into bigger ones.

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