4 Non-obvious Habits of Successful People

4 Non-obvious Habits of Successful People

• Sunday

If you struggle to be productive, you are not alone. The thing is, it is hard to stay focused and be disciplined with so much going on in our lives and and some of us feel like we're falling off the productivity wagon really easily. The few people that don’t have are entrepreneurs and wealthy people that secretly know how to stay motivated every single day (that's why they are so successful, I guess!) But, how do they do it? What’s their secret? Well, I’ve done some research and found out there are some non-obvious habits of successful people that they do every single day in order to achieve their goals.

Successful people state that having a morning routine is incredibly important as it sets the tone for the rest of the day. Some of their daily habits are activities we already do. However, most of them are things we regular folks have never even contemplated. So once we know how to be productive and the methods and tools that help us stay on track, it is time we create a daily routine to put our productive methods into practice, and observe how successful people think (and hopefully become one of them!).

1. Wake up 3 hours before your workday begins

Whilst the secret to being successful is indeed having a steady routine, I’ve found out that many of the successful people wake up really early. Before-6-am-early. This is reality for Bill McNabb, former CEO of Vanguard, who wakes up every day at 5am. He says that “the quiet time between 6 and 7:30am is when some of my best work gets done’’ and that getting into the office early is always the prime time to develop creative projects and one of the most popular habits of successful people.

It’s possibly the peace and quiet you get before the whole world wakes up is what helps entrepreneurs focus on specific goals and not have any distractions. Waking up 3 hours before your workday is one of the daily habits of successful people we should all try. This way we can dedicate the early morning energy at the start of the day to be productive!

2. Exercise daily

Okay, maybe this one is a habit you expected wealthy people to do and it’s not really that non-obvious. Exercising daily is, though, a habit difficult to stick to! (Maybe that’s why some of us are successful and some of us aren’t, duh). This is how successful people think: you have to work-out to have a strong body that will lead to a stronger mind. Moreover, making sure you exercise early in the morning will ensure you have time for it and won’t put it off.

A study carried out by researchers at the University of Bristol found that people who exercised every day had more energy and a more positive outlook, which are both critical for getting things done and dealing with problems more effectively.

3. Take a cold shower every single morning

Even if it sounds surprising, habits of successful people include taking a cold shower as soon as you wake up. Besides the health benefits that being exposed to cold temperatures comes with, taking a cold shower is a way to start your day disciplined and refreshed. Author Tony Robbins says ‘‘there is nothing that can change everything in your system like a radical change in temperature. Every organ, every nerve in your body is on fire.” Taking a cold shower every day will wake you up and ensure you start your day full of energy.

4. Review your goals TWICE a day in order to be focused on achieving them

The reason why most people fail to achieve their goals is because they are not consistent in working towards them. They get distracted by other ideas and opportunities. So, how do we manage to be consistent, remember what we are working for and not focus on other less important things? Well, one of the hidden habits of highly successful people is writing down their goals at least twice every day.

This is how they determine exactly what they specifically want to accomplish and in what period of time. Successful people understand that their focus and energy are limited, and they only give their all to a certain number of things, instead of wanting everything. An example is Scott Adams, the founder of Dilbert, who writes down his goals 10–15 times per day. I think this is one of the habits of successful people that we could incorporate into our lives to make sure we know what we are working towards and how we can accomplish our goals.

I’ve personally been doing this since 2018 (not as a daily habit, though). And the way I do it is every six months I write down a Master goal list with around 5 goals I want to achieve in that period of time. I then break down the big goals into smaller ones to make sure I follow an efficient and realistic path to complete my objectives. (Take a look at my Goal List from 2019 below).