8 simple things successful people often do

In fact, innate talent contributes only a small part to a person's success.

As a career consultant with 10 years of experience, Dr. Ciera Graham-Graves (USA) found that the most successful people achieve their goals because of what they strive to do, not because of who they are.

If you have some personal and professional goals you want to achieve this year, here are eight things highly successful people do every day, Graham-Graves recommends.

Re-evaluate your work and aspirations

To be successful, you need to be clear about your goals and continuously monitor and evaluate the work required to achieve them.

In his speech to Stanford graduates, Steve Jobs said he often asked himself one question: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I'm doing today?" When the answer was "no" for too many days, he knew he needed to change something in his life.

If you find that your habits are not consistent with your future plans, you need to adjust your behavior.

Exercise regularly

Successful people understand that success requires more than hard work and sacrifice. They understand that physical health is the key.

People who exercise regularly can maximize their productivity because they have more stamina and energy to complete challenging tasks. If you are a busy person, try incorporating 20-30 minutes of morning exercise to improve your health, reduce stress, and build discipline.

Understand the importance of mental health

Leaders use a lot of cognitive energy, from absorbing and decoding information to using knowledge and skills to make decisions. Therefore, successful people know the importance of investing in mental health to reduce stress, ensure mental clarity, and focus on what is important.

Meditate for 10-15 minutes every morning to practice calmness, focus, and serenity. To incorporate mindfulness into your life, keep a daily journal, eliminate distractions, or try mindfulness and meditation.

Ask questions about the current situation

One tactic successful people use is to question the current situation and what they can do to make a change.

Successful people not only embrace new ways of doing things, but also lead change within their companies and organizations. Make a list of things you want to change in your organization and start thinking about the specific adjustments needed to improve. When making changes, communicate the “what” and “why” to your stakeholders.

Leaders who explain the purpose of change and connect it to the organization's values ​​can create buy-in, motivating their teams to embrace change.

Most read

According to leaders like Warren Buffet, Oprah Winfrey and Bill Gates, reading is essential if you want to learn new things and think differently. Buffett estimates that he spends up to 80% of his day reading, Gates reads 50 books a year and Winfrey has her own book club.

Reading increases cultural awareness and can boost vocabulary, language comprehension, and empathy. Whether you prefer self-help books, autobiographies, or literary fiction, try to incorporate at least 30 minutes to an hour of reading into your day to expand your knowledge and keep your mind sharp.

Maximize productivity

Maximizing productivity and time is essential to success. Daymond John, founder and CEO of hip hop clothing brand FUBU, says he can make the most of his time at any given moment, such as writing emails on the plane instead of in the office or assigning meetings to team members.

Follow the 80/20 rule to maximize your time and increase your productivity. Block off 20% of your day to focus on your highest priority tasks. Even if you can't complete a task, you'll still spend 90 minutes on a high priority task.

Eliminate small decisions

Having to deal with many small decisions every day can be emotionally and mentally stressful, leading to burnout. To avoid the burden of choice, leaders often eliminate the number of decisions they have to make.

American swimmer Rebecca Soni, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, says she plans as much of the day as possible before going to bed to avoid decision fatigue.

“Making choices like what to wear and what to eat in the morning helps me reduce decision fatigue throughout the day,” she says.

To help improve your decision making process, make a list of all the small decisions in your life and try to make as many of these decisions in advance.

Create multiple streams of income

One lesson we learned during the recession was the importance of having multiple streams of income. Tom Corley, an accountant and financial planner, surveyed 233 wealthy individuals, mostly self-made millionaires, about their daily habits.

He found that 65% of them had at least three streams of income that they were generating before they made their first million. “Diversifying income streams allows people to weather the economic downturns that are bound to come,” he said.

Start thinking about the activities you enjoy and how you can make money from them. Make sure you understand the market, your consumers and your competitors. Developing new products or innovative ideas that differentiate you from your competitors is the key to success.