Everything boils down to habits. Our habits determine our destiny. The key point is to acquire good habits, not bad ones. Over the last several years as a columnist, I have shared habits for success. Here is a list of my favorite 21 habits for success.
1. Follow up and follow through. Some of the biggest gains in life can be achieved by simply following up with people and following through on ideas. The time involved in starting a new project is often much more than the small investment in time required to follow-up on current opportunities.
2. Separate your personal and business time. When conducting business avoid working on personal stuff; when enjoying personal time avoid work concerns. It's easier said than done, but with practice you can do it. Know when to draw the line and then do it!
3. Open your ears and close your mouth. People will usually give you the information you're in search of if you allow them to complete their thoughts and explanations. Good communication starts with active listening. Listening is the best way to learn.
4. Deliver more than expected. This is what separates you from the people who just do enough to get by. Give a little extra.
5. Welcome change. In these times of rapid change you can quickly find yourself out of balance and wasting time attempting to prevent change. Change is coming, be ready to accept and embrace it.
6. Build vitality through daily exercise. A dull ax eventually will require twice as much effort to cut half as much wood as its sharpened counterpart. The maintenance takes time and effort but more than makes up for the investment.
7. Be accountable for your life. There is only one person who can make you angry or happy you. Only you can make your dreams and goals a reality because nobody is going to do it for you. Avoid getting caught up in blaming others for the state of your life.
8. Complete the most dreaded task first. How do you swallow a frog? Don't stare at it too long! Just get it over with and the rest of your day can be spent on more pleasant tasks and projects.
9. Review your goals daily. You know where San Francisco is. You know where New York is. But would you try to get from coast to coast without a map? Take the time to write out your goals. Once your goals have been committed to paper, review them on a daily basis to keep you on track and focused on where you are going in life.
10. Nourish your dreams and goals by developing your vision team. Persons who can achieve a vision by themselves have chosen a vision that is not big enough. Who can help you manifest your vision? The key is to find the right kind of people who can help. Make a list and recruit the best.
11. Get your priorities straight. Learn to prioritize your most-to-least important actions. Prioritizing forces you to really think about what is important to you and allows you to allocate time to those things you deem most necessary.
12. Ask for what you want. Oftentimes people don't ask for fear of rejection. Nothing asked equates to nothing gained. Keep asking until you get what you want.
13. Operate in present-moment awareness. You've met people who are caught up in what happened in high school or those who live only for the notion of "someday..." Both your past and future play a role in your life, but the leading role is the here-and-now!
14. Learn to love yourself. Society has adopted a negative belief that loving yourself means that you are conceited or arrogant. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those people who love themselves have the most to give. Whatever is impressed on the inside will be expressed on the outside.
15. Direct your energy to find a solution. Getting upset, yelling and screaming, or moaning and groaning, does little or no good. Too frequently people burn up all their energy complaining. Despite current difficulties it is in our best interest to be solution-focused.
16. Stay true to your integrity. No success is worth attaining if it requires that you surrender your innermost values and morals to get it. Keep in mind if you jeopardize your integrity, your success with be fleeting.
17. Praise yourself. The most powerful reinforcement is self-reinforcement. Every time you do something that moves you in the direction you want to go, you have to reinforce that behavior. Big or small, whenever you do something right, praise yourself.
18. Make the choice to be happy. No one can choose your destiny. You can certainly be influenced by outside sources, yet you have the ultimate power to interpret what positive perspective you adopt from your experiences.
19. Replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts. At times, negative thought seems to jump into our brains. The way to combat negative
thinking is positive thinking and positive action. Laugh at negativity when it shows its face.
20. Do what you love. Successful people are successful because they fall in love with what they do or they only do that which they love. When you love your work it becomes a passion, not laborious. Uncover and follow through on what lights your fire!
21. Keep practicing. When we fall out of practice is when we fail the most. Keeping something alive requires an ongoing breath. Whatever you want to improve will be done through practice. Ask any professional athlete. . .
Choose one of these habits for success and put it to use. My hope is that you will experience greater amounts of fulfillment and happiness as a result.
Best of success to you!
Jeffrey Benjamin is the co-author of "Real Life Habits for Success" and the founder of Breakthrough Training. He hosts Breakthrough Radio every Saturday at 9:30am on KBZZ AM 1270. Contact him through www.breakthroughtraining.com.
