1. They wake up early
Even Aristotle was saying that a habit of waking up before dawn contributes to achieving success, wealth and good health. Researches show that our brains work most effectively during the first 2-4 hours after we wake up. Early hours are the most productive for majority of people. Waking up early, you’ll feel vigorous, fresh and ready to conquer new summits.
2. They exercise
Physical activity matters! You may think that it is all about the brain work that makes people successful. However, the majority of truly successful people exercise on a regular basis. It is not only about keeping you healthy and in a good shape. Constant experiences of overcoming yourself and achieving new results are very useful for any other scope of activity. Mark Zuckerberg, for example, works out with a personal coach five times per week. In his interviews, he often says that working out doesn’t only help him feel good, but also stimulates him to think of new business ideas.
3. They have a plan
Successful people realize how important everyday tasks are. Benjamin Franklin asked himself every morning what good things he was about to do this day. Having a plan helps you remember everything and get rid of all the things you procrastinate with. Take 10 minutes before sleep or after you wake up and make a plan for the whole day. It would be even better if you write it down somewhere.
4. They find time for hobbies
The biggest investor of the 20th century and successful entrepreneur, Warren Buffett loved to play ukulele between his big business meetings. Most often, successful people are interested in certain activities. A Saturday golf game can be a great way to establish good contacts. However, even the small “alone” hobbies such as knitting (Meryl Streep) or drawing (George Bush) can help to succeed by releasing from stress or waking up one’s creative side.
5. They are active
Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of Vogue, assigned herself with a task to play tennis for an hour every day, and she is not the only one. Richard Branson loves kite-surfing. The fourth richest man in India is a regular marathon runner. Successful people understand the importance of the active life. The more active your body is – the more active your brain works. Weekends are not an exception, by the way.
6. They learn
People need to get new information every day to keep the brain trained. Successful people always find the way to learn something new. They read books and articles, they communicate with smart people, they go through trusted websites, etc. You should always have your brain working and eventually it’ll work out some idea that can make you as successful as those people you admire today.
7. They analyze
A great thing successful people do is analyzing their day before going to sleep. Was this day productive? Did I do everything I had planned? What shouldn’t I have done today? What should I improve in the next day? When you think of the good things you did today, it helps you move on doing them tomorrow. When you think of your mistakes, it prevents you from repeating them the next day. Analyzing is a great thing to do at the end of the day.
8. They meditate
Oprah Winfrey is one of the busiest women in the world and still she manages to spend 20 minutes sitting in quiet two times a day. Even the most successful and the toughest businessmen, entrepreneurs and celebrities admit the value and the importance of meditation. Meditating improves productivity, lowers stress level and keeps a body and soul in shape. Finding time for that can definitely help on the road to success.
9. They spend time with people they love
Of course, successful people work really hard. However, many of them say that forgetting about their work and spending some time with beloved people is what helps them continue working even harder. You shouldn’t think of your work 24/7 because your brain will be too tired to work and to generate new ideas. Being around people you love can make you happy and careless for some time and that is a great rest for your brain.
10. They sleep the right amount of time
There is surely no rule on how many hours a person should sleep to feel good and fresh. We are all different; some of us can sleep four hours per day and feel great and others need 8-10 hours of sleep not to look like a zombie the whole day. Successful people know how much time they need to have a good night’s rest and they sleep no less than that. Featured photo credit: Spyros Papaspyropoulos via flickr.com
