10 Habits That Lead To Success

Regardless of whether you’re an entrepreneur, artist, athlete, or something else, success is something most people chase. I found out quickly as an entrepreneur that you had to follow some basic habits to eventually find success.

While these habits take time to develop, they can be a vital tool that can help you throughout your life. In this article, I’m going to share 10 habits that lead to success:

1. Fear Nothing

It’s okay to be fearful of things, but it’s not okay to let fear run your world. When I started out as an entrepreneur in high school, I was terrified of what people in the business world would think of me.

I was so scared that I never met with people in real life and tried running my business completely online. I could charge thousands of dollars more, but I let fear stop me. I quickly overcame my fear and tackled the business world head on, which allowed me to grow my business to 15+ employees and sell it years later.

2. Failure Isn’t Final 

Failure stops so many people. It’s a sad, but true fact. I quickly learned that I can only fail when I refuse to get back up. Failure is actually an amazing thing and you should embrace it.

Learn from your failures and keep trying. You’re only a failure if you refuse to get back up when you fall down. Failure doesn’t define you OR your business, it’s just an event (something that happens).

3. Accept Positivity & Negativity Equally

If you only heard good things about yourself, you wouldn’t know how to potentially improve. In order to be successful, you need to be willing to hear the bad things people have to say about yourself so that you can fix them.

Don’t get upset when people are critical of you, but rather embrace it just like you would if someone said something positive. Growth is continuous and criticism can help you develop.

4. Never Say Never

Pessimistic people don’t do very well in the world. Regardless of what you’re trying to achieve, never assume it’s impossible.

I learned early on that impossibilities don’t exist in the real world, but only in our minds. What we believe is what we achieve so you should be careful how you think of things.

5. Be A Leader, Not A Dictator

Dictators command people to do things. Leaders give people reason to do things. If you can lead people, you will be successful.

Managing people isn’t a skill, it’s an art. The quicker you’re able to master that art, the more successful you will be. Regardless of what you do, communicating and managing people are going to be crucial to your success.

6. Dumb Questions Don’t Exist

The power of asking is unbelievable. The other day I was at one of my favorite restaurants where I was chatting with the manager who knows me very well. After telling me how loyal of a customer I am, I jokingly asked him for a discount on my takeout order.

Without any hesitation, he gave me my order for FREE. I was completely joking, but it showed me the power of asking. Regardless of what you do, ask everything that comes to mind so that you can learn and enjoy.

7. Be Weary of Satisfaction

99% of people don’t follow this rule and consequently the wealthiest class in the world consists of 1% of the population. Satisfaction is extremely dangerous.

Many of us have dreams of winning championships or making millions of dollars, but we stop too soon. We get satisfied with winning a few regular season games or making thousands of dollars a month. Never be satisfied with just ‘good enough’.

8. Don’t Back Down From Challenges

I’ve been given the opportunity to do a TED talk which I will be presenting to a live audience on Saturday. This was one of the hardest challenges I have ever taken on.

Many speakers that were set to speak got cut, but thankfully I wasn’t. This was a challenge for me and everyone knew it, but I wasn’t going to give up until I accomplished it. Being a ‘regular speaker’, it was very hard for me to transition into the rigid rules of TED.

9. Visualize Your Definition of Success Every Morning

What is success to you? We all have our definitions, but it’s very important to have a clear visualization of what success truly means to us.

Once you have that definition, find a way to visualize it every single morning. The moment I wake up from my bed, I have a white board with my goals and definitions of success right in front of me. This gives me a reminder of what I’m working for while motivating me every morning!

10. Be The Best You

Don’t change to make society happy. Be the best you that you POSSIBLY can be. You’re truly special and by staying true to yourself, you can do tremendous things.

From someone who wanted to be just like others growing up, I quickly realized that there is no better feeling than knowing that you are different from others. Embrace your uniqueness and be true to who you really are.

Conclusion

In this article, I shared 10 habits that lead to success. By implementing some of these habits into your daily life, you can get one step closer to achieving your dreams.

photo credit: Paxson Woelber via photopin cc