Achieving success isn’t a matter of luck — it’s about making choices that better position you to achieve your goals. These four habits of highly successful people can help you be a better professional.
If you’re looking to start this new year with the right foot forward, you’re likely beginning to think about lifestyle shifts you can make to boost your success, in and out of work. While there’s no single formula to “getting your act together,” here are a few habits that have helped successful people get ahead. Practicing these skills can help you become a more positive, resilient and capable professional.
Read
One of the secrets behind the success of some of the most outstanding entrepreneurs of our era is to be perpetual bookworms. Icons including Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Mark Cuban, Elon Musk and Oprah Winfrey report spending multiple hours a week reading and learning. As Warren Buffet once famously said, “Knowledge builds up like compound interest” — it empowers you to make wiser business decisions, anticipate important marketplace shifts and also makes you significantly more interesting to be around.
Listen
Listening is a bit of a neglected talent today. Beyond giving the impression of paying attention, being a good listener entails being fully engaged with a speaker — taking the time to collect their thoughts and ask reflective questions to draw valuable insights. According to a recent study conducted at George Washington University, this single skill can influence up to 40% of a leader’s overall job performance.
Unplug
Tony Schwartz, CEO of The Energy Project, so thoughtfully explains “Human beings aren’t designed to expend energy continuously. Rather, we’re meant to pulse between spending and recovering energy.” This might seem like common sense, yet so many of us seem to forget to make time to decompress and spend quality moments with our loved ones. In order to boost your mood and stay focused on your goals, you first have to nourish your body and make an effort to connect with others in more meaningful ways.
Delegate
What is one of the most counterintuitive habits an entrepreneur can develop? Failing to delegate and outsource tasks on their to-do list. This is especially true for professionals who are working around the clock to launch a small business on a shoestring budget. If there’s one thing you can benefit from letting go in 2020 is the idea that you can take care of every single aspect of running your business. Consider hiring a PEO to handle workforce processes that drain your time and energy. Trust us, you’ll be thankful!
