5 Things Successful People Do Before 8 a.m.

Get up before 8am and become more successful!  Good luck!

5 Things Successful People Commit Themselves to Doing

By Sonia Thompson

When you’re trying to reach a goal, spend time learning from the people who’ve already achieved what you want to do. Because sometimes it’s better to learn from the battle scars of others than earn your own.

Over the last two years, I’ve picked the brains of people at the top of their field for my podcast. I’ve interviewed more than 100 entrepreneurs, and in each episode, I ask my guests for the keys to their success.

Not surprisingly, there were many interesting answers. But there were a few principles I heard repeatedly that were critical to getting these business owners where they wanted to go. Their advice is so universal, it transcends beyond entrepreneurship to anyone working to achieve a goal.

So, without further ado, here are the top five things I learned that successful people commit themselves to doing, no ifs, ands or buts about it.

1. Be persistent.

There’s an old Japanese proverb that says, “Fall seven, rise eight.” Failure, obstacles and setbacks are an inevitable aspect of the journey to achieving anything meaningful. In fact, it’s those failures that propel you forward. Failure gives you the clues to know what works and what doesn’t, so you can adjust as needed.

But failure scares people; it prevents them from even trying. For others, after a few slammed doors, they decide they are done. Successful people commit themselves to not giving up, no matter how many times they fall on their face.

A growing body of research backs up the benefits of persistence. In her New York Times best-selling book Grit, Angela Duckworth presents numerous sources that whittle down the essence of the mindset it takes to break through:

“Grit depends on a different kind of hope. It rests on the expectation that our own efforts can improve our future. ‘I have a feeling tomorrow’ will be better is different from ‘I resolve to make tomorrow better.’ The hope that gritty people have has nothing to do with luck and everything to do with getting up again.”

Commit to achieving your goal in advance. Relentlessly pursue it, knowing that you will not stop until you win.

2. Hang out with the right people.

One of the biggest mistakes people make when embarking on a new challenge is trying to take their journey alone. You will go much farther, faster, when you have the right people by your side. Scientific data bears this out as well.

Daniel F. Chambliss, Ph.D., a professor of sociology at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, spent years studying Olympic swimmers to understand the nature of excellence. One of his observations on how to achieve greatness is to hang around others who will push you to go farther. “The real way to become a great swimmer is to join a great team,” he says. Chambliss notes that the drive to fit in and measure up to the norms of those in your circle is what drives you to improve.

Surround yourself with people who will help you be great. For some, that means hiring a coach. For others, that means joining a mastermind group, or linking up with an accountability partner who is working toward a similar goal. Invest the time to discover who the right people are to have by your side.

3. Do the work.

People spend countless time dreaming about success but rarely do anything to make it a reality. You must put in the work, consistently. Do it when you’re motivated. Do it when you’re not. Do it when you can’t see any visible progress. Do it when it isn’t convenient.

Gary Vaynerchuk is a household name in business, but he’s quick to remind people he started at zero. He credits his success to committing himself to this principle:

“I hear people say, ‘Well how do I get in the New York Times?’ or ‘How do I get that meeting with that CEO?’ And oftentimes I just say, ‘One is better than zero.... The concept around one is better than zero is simply a call to action to do.... It’s the patience and willingness to do 500 interviews, and conference calls and meetings over coffee that never turn into anything. I mean hell, I did Wine Library TV shows every day for an entire year before anyone said a thing!”

Prepare yourself to do a lot of work. It isn’t always glamorous, but it will pay off.

4. Be self-aware.

You have to know what your strengths are and how you can leverage them to accelerate your progress. Conversely, you also have to know your weaker areas so you can figure out how to prevent them from derailing you.

Fashion designer Tina Lobondi told me she prefers focusing on the creative side of her business rather than thinking about money. But to advance her fashion label, she quickly realized that sales and finances had to be at the forefront of her mind, even though she hated it. The changes she made as a result have enabled her business to grow.

Take an honest inventory of your skills. Then make a plan for how to improve, or get help where needed.

5. Learn constantly.

You don’t know what you don’t know. But the more you dig in and do the work, the more you will gain an understanding of the areas in which you can improve.

Sometimes that means learning things outside your wheelhouse. Dr. Marc Smith is a veterinarian and co-founder of PetTao, a holistic line of pet food. He told me he discovered it was necessary to become a student again for him to grow:

“I can be the best veterinarian that’s ever walked the face of the Earth, I can have 400 degrees behind my name, but if people don’t know that, it doesn’t matter. And so I’ve embraced this idea of I have to become an excellent marketer, not only to help my business, but first and foremost to help people and their pets.”

Never stop learning. Determine the skills you need to acquire to get to the next step in your journey.

Successful people have figured out how to reach their goals through trial and error. Science has tested and proven how to do it, as well. Now all you have to do is commit yourself to these five principles so you can be the success you know you can be.

From http://www.success.com/blog/5-things-successful-people-commit-themselves-to-doing

9 Ways to Successfully Create Good Habits and 5 Reasons Why You Fail At Breaking the Bad Ones

By Chelsea Lorynn O'Brien

9 Ways to Successfully Create New, Good Habits and the 5 Reasons Why You Fail At Breaking the Bad Ones

"Your net worth to the world is usually determined by what remains after your bad habits are subtracted from your good ones." - Benjamin Franklin

We all have habits. Some are good, healthy habits, while others are bad and possibly even dangerous. Throughout our lives we often set goals to try to create new, good habits or to break the bad ones we already possess. Many people try again and again to change their habits for the better only to meet with failure in the end. Learning a new habit can be just as difficult as breaking a bad one that you've struggled with for years. There are reasons for this and steps that you can take to help ensure your success.

Establishing good, healthy habits can enrich your life in countless ways. When an action becomes a habit, it becomes automatic and you don't really have to give it much thought. Some of the healthy habits that people try to develop include; eating healthier, exercising regularly, meditating, completing chores around the home, or simply taking time out daily for them-selves. These are just a few examples but, basically anything that you want to do on a regular basis that will enrich your life and make you happier can become a habit.

Here are nine, simple tips that are easy to follow and can help you to turn healthy activities into lifelong habits.

1. Take baby steps. - You cannot expect to just dive in and be successful when developing a good habit. Start with small manageable steps. If you would like to make healthy eating a habit, start by swapping out specific foods or meals for healthier options. If you make sudden, drastic changes to your lifestyle, the odds are good that you will not be successful.

2. Make yourself accountable. - Tell a friend or family member whose opinions matter to you. By telling a trusted friend or family member about your intension to develop a new habit you promote accountability. You will be more likely to stick to your habit if you know that you will have to answer to someone other than yourself.

3. Treat yourself. - You should be proud of the fact that you are trying to make positive changes in your life. Reward yourself regularly when you stick to your new habit. Treat yourself to a pedicure or a warm bubble bath. Spend a Saturday morning sleeping in, or play a few rounds of golf on the course. Whatever it is that you love... do it.

4. One habit at a time. - Work on developing one habit at a time. If you are anything like me, there are a ton of new, healthy habits that you want to incorporate into your life. Focus on one at a time so that you don't get overwhelmed. Developing a habit, like exercising regularly might seem like a small change but it's not. When you begin to develop a new habit of any kind you are changing the way that you live your life.

5. Make sure that you really want it. - The more you want to make even small changes, the more likely you will stick with them. Don't ever begin to develop a habit that you don't want just because you think, or have been told, that it's the right thing to do. If you try to force yourself to do something you hate, you will avoid it at all costs. If you hate going to the gym, don't do it. There are plenty of good habits that you can develop that will enrich your life and that you will enjoy.

6. Plan it out.- Sit down and make a list of the good habits you would like to develop. Prioritize the list and determine what habits you would like to develop first. Once you have this figured out, write out a plan. By putting this in writing you can refer back to it whenever you need a bit of extra motivation and it will help you stay on track.

7. Be very specific. - Don't just say, "I want to make it a habit to drink more water". Instead, say, "I want to begin drinking eight glasses of water each day". By being specific you know exactly what you have to do to develop your new habit and will not become overwhelmed. If you are too vague, you could easily rationalize that you drank more water today than yesterday, even if it wasn't your desired eight glasses.

8. Use tools. - Utilize every resource that you have at your disposal. You can make lists, journals, charts, spreadsheets... anything that will help you to keep track of your goals. I often use sticky notes around the house. I will place reminders on walls, mirrors, the refrigerator, and anywhere else that I think they may be helpful. They may not look pretty but they help me to stay motivated.

9. Don't berate yourself for slip-us. - We all slip up from time to time. Just yesterday, I was snacking on a few potato chips while watching television. Before I knew it, the entire bag was empty! It happens to everyone. Realize this, and don't be too hard on yourself. Remind yourself of why you wanted to develop the habit in the first place, and then start again

"A man who can't bear to share his habits is a man who needs to quit them." - Stephen King, The Dark Tower

Why is it so difficult to break bad habits? There are things we do on a daily, or even hourly basis that we know aren't good for us. We bite our fingernails, smoke cigarettes, make unhealthy food choices, procrastinate, lead sedentary lives, etc. Every one of us has a bad habit that we would love to break, but we often have difficulty doing so. This is because, once a habit is developed, we rarely even notice we are doing it. It becomes part of who we are. If we want to improve our lives, breaking bad habits is a wonderful place to start.

Here are 5 common reasons why we often fail at breaking bad habits.

1. We expect results too quickly. - We didn't develop our bad habit in one day, and we certainly can't expect to break it in one day either. Breaking a habit takes time. We must be patient and persistent in our goals.

2. We have a low level of self-awareness. - I have been a nail biter for the majority of my life. I do it without even thinking and am usually not even aware that I have been chewing on them until I feel pain or see blood. This is because I am not always self-aware. We often go through life on autopilot, but when we are trying to break a habit, we need to slow down and pay attention to everything we are doing. We must make an attempt to really live in the moment. If we develop a stronger sense of self-awareness, we can head off our bad habits as soon as we begin doing them.

3. We use our habits as an emotional crutch. - Many of our habits, like smoking or turning to food when we are in need of comfort, serve as a coping mechanism for emotional stress or pain. We need to look for other, healthier substitutes for these habits. When I was trying to quit smoking, I would often exercise whenever I would feel an urge. The exercise took my mind off of my immediate craving and helped me to relieve my stress in a healthy way.

4. We don't tell anyone we are trying to break our habit. - Breaking a bad habit is extremely difficult. It is even more difficult when we do not have the support of our friends and family. We often fail to tell them out of fear. We think that by not telling them, we can avoid disappointing them if we fail. In order to successfully break a bad habit we must tell those we love and trust. They will give us the support we need and they will also make us accountable for our actions.

5. We are too hard on ourselves when we slip back into old patterns. - Just as developing new habits is hard, breaking old ones is extremely difficult. We will all slip up from time to time. We must stay positive and remember why we want to break our habits. Do you want to be a better role model for your children? Do you want to avoid a second heart attack? Do you want your nails to be beautiful for your wedding day? Whatever your motivation is, remember, there is a very good reason why you decided to break your bad habit in the first place. When we slip up and fall back into our bad patterns, we must take a moment to remember why it is important to break the habit. Then, we must start again.

I hope that these tips will help you to feel guided in having motivation to break habits you're not happy about or develop new ones you're proud of.

"Successful people are simply those with successful habits." -Brian Tracy

Written by Chelsea O'Brien, author of "I Eat Weird" and founder of BingeEatingBreakthrough.com. Discovering how to stop binge eating has shifted her life in a whole new direction. Her counter-intuitive approach has inspired many others that feel unhappy with their bodies and eating. Download her free "Breakthrough Binge Eating" video course at www.bingeeatingbreakthrough.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Chelsea_Lorynn_O'Brien/1418064

10 Morning Routine Habits of Successful People

Simple tips to follow - get up early and have a to do list.  Good luck!