Habits to Boost Your Success This Year

Success is the ultimate result of repeated behaviors over time. By developing success habits now, you set yourself up for success. Some of the most successful entrepreneurs credit the following habits with their success.

Visualization
Just as athletes visualize making the perfect shot or winning a race, you need to visualize your goals. Set time aside daily to close your eyes and play a movie in your head of what your life will be like when you reach your goal.

Change the Story in Your Head
We all have beliefs about ourselves – about what we’re good at and not good at. Those beliefs, those stories, may be holding you back. Pay attention to what you’re telling yourself and change self-limiting thoughts to more positive ones.

Write it Down
Setting goals and visualizing success are great, but writing them down is also necessary. Spend a few minutes each day write down your goals. Use present tense, as if they’ve already happened. This actually changes the wiring in your brain and creates a single point of focus.

Be Early
You know the old saying “the early bird gets the worm”? It’s true. Being late to meetings starts the conversation off on the wrong foot and it may never recover. Tardiness sends the impression that you don’t value their time and that’s not the message you want to send. Make a point of arriving 15 minutes early for everything – even if it’s not work related – to develop this habit.

Get Comfortable With “No”
A wise salesman I once knew told me that the way he won salesman of the year (i.e. he got more yeses than anyone else in the office) was by hearing more noes than everyone else. The truth is you’re never going to sell to everyone, so get comfortable with the noes and use them to generate more yeses.

Get Rid of Distractions
I’ve talked about how Facebook is hurting your productivity. What other distractions are stealing your time for places you should be focusing? Spend a few days logging your activities and remove the distractions that are revealed in your work patterns.

Create a Bubble
While we all need human interaction and social connection, it can also be a distraction. Choose to connect with people who can help you further your goals and believe in you. You may feel like a bit of an outcast at first, but the singular focus will propel you towards your goals much faster.

Invest in Yourself
Whether this is reading a book, taking a class, or making time to eat right and exercise, investing in yourself is essential. As an entrepreneur, you are you biggest asset. If you don’t invest in yourself, no one else will either.