11 habits of highly successful people that anyone can adopt

We live in a society that celebrates the myth of the successful entrepreneur. The narrative goes that we could all be highly successful, if only we put the work in and we have the right habits. 

There’s some truth to that myth, but it’s also important to remember that many of the most successful people in the world had huge advantages, such as world class educations or investments from wealthy friends and family. 

Still, it’s certainly true that by adjusting our habits, we can increase our chances of becoming successful, and the good news is that once we establish a habit, it becomes second nature. We can acquire one useful habit and then move on to acquiring another one. 

But what are those habits, and how do they make people so successful? That’s a good question, and in today’s article, we’re going to try to answer it. Let’s get started. 

1) They get up early

If you’re a night owl like me then all I can say is, “I’m sorry.”

I wish it wasn’t the case, but when you look at the most successful people in the world, the overwhelming majority of them get up early, with some of them climbing out of bed before the sun rises.

The idea is that this gives them some time before everyone else wakes up where they can catch up on things, get some reading done, hit the gym or do whatever else they want to do before the day-to-day distractions kick back in.

It makes a lot of sense, too. If you’re a night owl who’s staying up late to get your work done, you’re constantly playing catch-up. If you’re an early bird who does it in the morning, you’re constantly getting a head start.

2) They have a morning (and afternoon) routine

Speaking of getting up in the morning, there’s no point setting your alarm and getting yourself out of bed if you don’t do anything with that time. That’s why it’s so important to have a routine.

Routines are what will help you to stay productive, and they provide some much-needed structure for your day. That makes them particularly important if you’re self-employed or an entrepreneur, because it’s likely that your days will have less structure than they would if you worked for someone else.

Morning routines are particularly important because they set you up for the rest of the day and make sure that you’re productive right off the bat.

However, don’t underestimate the power of having a decent afternoon routine, because that will help you to tick off those final few things on your to-do list.

3) They set SMART goals

SMART goals are goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely, and there’s a reason why so many people swear by them.

The idea is to set goals that are easier to work towards. For example, I’m a writer, and so I could easily be tempted to set a goal like “become the best writer in the world”. But how do you measure that?

Instead, a SMART goal would look something like:

• Specific: Become a bestselling author
• Measurable: Become a New York Times bestselling author
• Achievable: Have a book enter the New York Times bestselling list
• Relevant: Write a book that enters the New York Times bestselling list
• Timely: Write a book that enters the New York Times bestselling list within the next five years

It’s pretty easy to see how that goal is much more actionable than the far less specific “become the best writer in the world”.

4) They prioritize physical and mental health

Successful people become successful by putting the hours in, but they’re not able to do that if they’re too ill to work.

That’s why successful people often prioritize their health, going out of their way to keep themselves in good physical shape. Some just eat healthily while others couple healthy eating with regular workouts.

But physical health only tells half the story. The most successful people also do what they can to take care of their mental health, which is why they often practice mindfulness and meditation.

And so if you want to join the ranks of the elite and the successful, the best place to start is often to get yourself into shape. Once you’re where you want to be, it becomes a lot easier for you to maintain it.

5) They love learning new things

I’ve always said that the day that I stop learning new things will be the day I die.

What I mean by this is that I think learning is the spice of life. Learning new things makes it worth getting up every day, and I love to take the things that I learn and to use them to create something new.

The same is true of most successful people. In fact, it’s often the dedication to learning new things that leads to their success in the first place. Jimmy Wales might not have co-founded Wikipedia if he hadn’t been so fascinated by knowledge and learning.

The thing to remember about learning new things is that you don’t have to be interested in any single, specific subject. There’s a lot to be said for learning for the sake of learning.

6) They read often and widely

One way to reliably learn new things is to read as much as you can.

This means picking up newspapers and magazines as well as books, and it also means reading through discussion forums and question and answer sites like Quora. If it’s written, you should read it.

But reading a lot is only part of the picture. After all, you could read a lot of fantasy novels, and it wouldn’t do you much good unless you happen to be a fantasy author. That’s why you should also try to read widely.

By reading often and widely, you give yourself the best possible chance of enjoying that serendipity that can kick in and lead to you creating something new.

7) They take measured risks

It’s hard to be successful without taking any risks, because risks are required if we want to reap rewards.

The thing that most successful people have in common is that they don’t just take risks for the sake of risks. Instead, they look at the risks and the potential rewards and then weigh the two up against one another.

This then allows them to take measured risks. In other words, when they take a risk, they’re doing so because they think that the risk is low enough and the reward high enough to make doing so worthwhile.

Of course, not all of these risks will pay off, but enough of them will do so that success will eventually become all but inevitable.

8) They learn from their mistakes

Successful people also make mistakes, often because they misjudged the risks or overestimated the potential rewards.

There’s nothing wrong with this though, because we all make mistakes from time to time. The important thing is how we respond to those mistakes.

The people who are the most successful tend to learn from their mistakes. They’re constantly looking for the lessons in everything, whether they’re successful or whether they fail.

Learning from mistakes is important because it stops us from repeating them. It’s even better if we can learn from other people’s mistakes instead of having to make our own.

9) They seek out feedback and learn from it

Speaking of finding ways to learn, most successful people will actively seek feedback from people. They’ll ask people to share their thoughts and opinions, even if their feedback is negative.

I’ve spent a lot of time in the indie author community, and I find that you can tell a successful author apart from a wannabe based upon the way that they approach and react to their reviews. In other words, does a one-star review give them a meltdown?

Successful people know that negative feedback is generally an opportunity to learn, as long as that feedback is constructive. When it isn’t, you can safely ignore it, because it’s useless feedback anyway.

10) They’re great at networking

All highly successful people are good at networking, whether they enjoy doing it or not.

That’s because there’s a lot of truth in the old saying that it’s not what you know but who you know. Successful people know this and so they go out of their way to build powerful networks that they can tap into for advice and support.

The good news is that you don’t have to be an extrovert or a natural people person to be good at networking. It’s a skill like any other, and so if you’re determined to be highly successful but you’re no good at networking, it’s time for you to start studying, practicing and learning.

11) They find a good mentor

One way to get better at networking is to find yourself a mentor who can give you a helping hand.

In fact, mentors are great at guiding you throughout your career, and so you’ll want to find a mentor that you respect at the earliest opportunity. That’s what the most successful people do.

One of my favorite examples here comes from Ancient Greece, where Socrates was Plato’s mentor, Plato was Aristotle’s mentor and Aristotle was Alexander the Great’s mentor. You don’t need to look much further than that to see why it’s a good idea to have a mentor.

Be sure to remember how useful your mentor was when you become highly successful yourself. That way, you’ll be able to mentor the next generation and keep the mentorship train rolling.