Welcome to Daily Routines of Successful People!
What is the first word that comes in your head when you think of Bill Gates? Rich? Genius? Successful? Anybody can be rich or a genius without being successful. There are many different perspectives of success, but the dictionary definition of success is “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.” Clearly, Bill Gates succeeded with his company, Microsoft. So, how can we be more like Bill Gates? What can we do to be more successful? Our success lies in our daily routine, the things we do every day. If we improve our habits, we improve our life; ultimately, making us more successful. This blog will inform you about the routines of successful people. Whether you are a 10-year-old or a 45-year-old, these habits will help you live a more successful life. Hopefully, you will take advice from this blog and implement it in your daily life!
Imagine Bill Gates going to bed at 2:30 a.m. and waking up the next afternoon at 3 p.m. Imagine Bill Gates spending the rest of his day watching television and texting on his phone. Do you think he would be as successful as he is today if his daily routine consisted of sleeping and spending time on his electronics? No, of course not. These habits do not make one successful- they only make one worthless. In order to be successful, we need to be efficient in life. And to be efficient in life, we need to adopt productive hobbies like the ones below.
Interested in learning more about Bill Gate’s success? Check out Bill Gates’s Success Story!
As said in the quote above, the secret to success is found in our daily routine, our habits. So without further ado, let’s find out about the routines that make one successful.
1. Getting Enough Sleep
“Your future depends on your dreams, so go to sleep.” – Mesut Marazany
Sleeping is the base for everything we do in the day. If we do not get enough sleep at night, we are lazy and unproductive during the day. On the other hand, if we do get enough sleep during the night, we are active during the day, and we get our work done. A 2019 research shows that 73% of all high schoolers do not get enough sleep. Teenagers should be getting around 8-10 hours of sleep. Less sleep can cause many illnesses, some of which include concentration difficulties, shortened attention span, and poor decision making. These issues affect teenagers’ brain development, making it harder for them to learn new things. Success is all about learning new things, and the number one key to learning is getting enough sleep.
2. Starting the Day Early
“Wake up early every day so that while others are still dreaming, you can make your dreams come true.” – Hal Elrod
Many teenagers long for the weekends so that they can wake up late and not have to listen to the ringing of an alarm. However, almost all successful people around the world wake up before the sun rises. Tim Armstrong, a former Google executive, wakes up at 5 a.m to 5:15 a.m. every day to exercise, read, answer emails, and get work done. Apple CEO Tim Cook wakes up at 3:45 a.m. every day to get work done as well. Michelle Obama, the first lady, starts her day at 4:30 a.m. to work out. There are hundreds of more examples of successful people who wake up early to get a head-start on their day.
Now, I do not mean to contradict the habit listed above. Successful people go to bed early, and they wake up early.
There are several reasons why you should wake up early in the morning. For one, if you start your work in the morning, you are more likely to finish it. Secondly, there are no distractions early in the morning (no kids yelling, no phone calls, etc.). And lastly, waking up early gives you a “winner’s mindset.” When you wake up while others are sleeping, your brain tells you that you are a leader. This mindset boosts your mentality, attitude, and work ethics. Check out this website to find out more reasons why people wake up early in the morning.
3. Exercising
“Take care of your body, it’s the only place you have to live.” – Jim Rohn
Everyone knows that exercising is very crucial for your health. There are so many health benefits that come from working out, some of which include stronger muscles, weight loss, and less risk for heart diseases. However, exercising not only improves your physical health, but it also improves your mental health. Exercising not only create a stronger body, it also creates a stronger mind. When you exercise daily, you are creating discipline. Discipline is a trait that is very vital for success. Just like exercising every day helps one build stamina to keep the body going for a long time, exercising helps one build stamina to keep the mind going for a long time. Mark Zuckerburg, the founder of Facebook, said, “Staying in shape is very important. Doing anything well requires energy, and you just have a lot more energy when you’re fit.”
4. Completing the Hardest Task First
“If you accomplish the hardest task first, the rest of your day will seem easy in comparison.”
When given a set of tasks to do, many people, including myself, would do the easiest task first and end with the task that is the hardest. But, truth is, if you want to be more productive, you should start with the hardest task first.
If you start with the hardest task first, it will ensure you enough time to finish it. On the other hand, if you start with the easiest thing first and push the hardest task to the end, it is very likely that you will push it back even further and will not get to it. Another reason why you should not do the hardest task last is because you have limited willpower and most likely will not do a good job with that task. With this in mind, if you complete the hardest task at the beginning of the day, you would complete it with the best of your ability. And, once you do complete it, it will be a big relief!
A 2019 research study that took place in a hospital showed that doctors with a lot of work to complete were more likely to choose “easier” cases. However, doctors that took more difficult cases were more productive in the long run. (Business Insider)
If this did not convince you to start doing the hardest task first, try it out once and see if you agree!
5. Writing Everything Down
“When you write things down, they sometimes take you places you hadn’t planned.” – Melanie Benjamin
Writing may seem like a futile thing to do, especially if one has a lot of work and does not have time for anything extra. However, writing is essential if one wants to achieve their goals. People who vividly describe their goals are anywhere from 1.2 to 1.4 times more likely to successfully accomplish their goals. (Forbes) Writing helps you remember things, clear your mind, clarify your goals, process your emotions, encourage progress, enable a higher level of thinking, and lastly, develop a sense of gratitude. (Productive and Free)
6. Reading
“Without question, reading has been the foundation of whatever success I’ve had in my life.” – Hugh McColl, Jr.
Throughout life, reading has been so important for the development of our brains. Children who read better, perform better in school and have a more active imagination. Reading helps people learn new things, which adds to their success. It is a known fact that all successful people read. These include Mark Zuckerburg, Warren Buffet, Mark Cuban, Bill Gates, and many more. A study of 1200 wealthy people found that they all read as a habit. So, the big question is: “How does reading contribute to our success?”
Reading helps increase focus, set goals, spend time wisely, gain perspective, improve writing and speaking skills, increase memory, and lastly, stay fresh. (Lifehack)
No matter how old you are, reading will help you become a mentally smarter person.
7. Staying Busy
“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” – Henry David Thoreau
If you are like me, you have hours to spare during the day. However, successful people stay busy doing productive things. By staying busy, your energy is increased, you become more productive, you improve your creativity, you boost your brain health, and lastly, you become more positive.
Some things you can do to stay busy are found right here in this post. You can exercise, read, write, and set goals. You can also pick up a new hobby, such as blogging, learning a new instrument, or taking an online course on Coursera.
8. Setting Goals
“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible to the visible.” – Tony Robbins
Goals. The reason you wake up every morning. The reason you try. And, the reason you live. Goals can be anything, from spending time with family to becoming the CEO of a business. They help you clarify your thoughts because when you set goals, you know exactly what you are aiming for. Goals also increase your dedication, as when you set a goal, you are dedicated to accomplishing it. Setting goals gives purpose in your life, a reason to go forward.
9. Spending Time with Inspiring People
“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” – Jim Rohn
The people who you most spend time with shape who you are. So, it is not a surprise that successful people spend time with people who inspire them. If you spend time with people who will inspire and motivate you, you will be inspired to challenge yourself and go forward in life. On the other hand, spending time with negative people will hold you back and make you fall back in life. It is important to spend time with positive people because according to research by social psychologist Dr. David McClelland from Harvard, “[the people you associate with] determine as much as 95% of your success or failure in life.”
10. Avoiding Things that Waste Time
“The biggest mistake you can make in life is to waste your time.”
We all know that time is precious. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. There is no way to change the past, it is only possible to change the future. One thing you can do to make your future better is to avoid things that waste time.
Successful people never waste time on things that do not matter. On the other hand, unsuccessful people spend their whole day doing unproductive things. Engaging in things that waste time will get in the way of their success and accomplishments. These things hold us back from achieving what we want in our lives.
Productive people do not spend time on social media, they do not go through the day without a plan, they do not do things that are emotionally-draining, they do not worry about things they cannot control, they do not hang out with negative people, they do not dwell on the past, they do not focus on what other people are doing, and they never put themselves last in priority. (Success)
We should take time to think about what matters and what does not matter. Things that do not matter will not help us move forward in life. Successful people would not be successful if they focused on things that do not matter, such as the things listed above.
11. Never Waiting
“Never wait. The time will never be just right.” – Napoleon Hill
If successful people waited for the “right time” to start their profession/company/etc., they would not be where they are right now. There is no “right time” to start. Successful people are not dependent on how inspired they feel to start working. They know that there will not be a “right time” when they will suddenly get inspired to start. Successful people get started on their work right away- that is why they are where they are today.
12. Never Blaming Others
“Never blame anyone for your problem. Blame yourself, then there must be a solution.”
Many of us have had childhood experiences when we blamed others for our mistakes. We thought that blaming others would save ourselves from trouble. But, in reality, blaming others just gives us a reason to stop trying and make excuses. Blaming others does not teach us to take responsibility for our mistakes. It does not teach us how to solve our problems. Successful people never blame others for their own mistakes. They admit that they made a mistake, learn not to do it again, and find a solution to the error. Because successful people take ownership of everything they do, they are able to guide their own life.
13. Never Complaining
“Leaders spend 5% of their time on the problem and 95% of their time on the solution. Get over and crush it.” – Tony Robbins
In our childhood, we have often complained about things when they do not go according to the way we wanted it to go. However, complaining does not fix the problem, it only makes it worse. Instead of complaining, we have to fix the problem so that it goes the way we want it to go.
Just like successful people never blame others, they also never complain. Instead of spending time complaining and whining about the problem, they use that time to find a solution to the problem. You will never hear a successful person say “It is not fair” or “I do not like how…” Like said in the quote, successful people (leaders) do not dwell on the problem, they focus on the solution.
Complaining has no effect on the solution, but it does affect your brain. It is scientifically proven that complaining rewires your brain for negativity. According to Talentsmart, “Repeated complaining rewires your brain to make future complaining more likely. Over time, you find it is easier to be negative than to be positive, regardless of what is happening around you.” With this, next time you feel like complaining, remember, it will not do you any good.
The Takeaway
Even though thirteen is an unlucky number, if you follow these thirteen habits, your life will be full of luck and positivity! If you want to be more successful, I recommend that you adopt these habits:
- Getting enough sleep
- Starting the day early
- Exercising
- Completing the hardest task first
- Writing everything down
- Reading
- Staying busy
- Setting goals
- Spending time with inspiring people
- Avoiding things that waste time
- Never waiting (to start)
- Not blaming others
- Not complaining
Here is a video that also discusses the habits of successful people: Top Ten Habits of Highly Successful People.
There are thousands and thousands of other great habits out there; I only chose the ones I thought were simple yet effective (so that you will not be hesitant when following them)! These habits are easy to maintain but will take a while to start following them. However, no matter how hard they seem, just remember, you can do anything. Check out the book: Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything. Hope you enjoyed this post and learned from it. Good luck on your journey to success!