“We first make our habits, then our habits make us.” – John Dryden
If you’ve been thinking of creating new habits in order to put on automatic pilot the actions that you need to take on a regular basis in order to succeed, you’re in luck. Here’s a list of 58 habits that will help you succeed:
1. Constantly ask yourself: “What do I want?”
2. Set goals.
3. Plan how you’re going to accomplish your goals.
4. Set clear deadlines for your goals.
5. Establish how you’re going to measure the progress you’re making toward achieving your goals.
6. Track the progress you’re making toward hitting your objectives.
7. Feed your mind with the thoughts, words, and images that are most consistent with who you want to be, what you want to have, and what you want to achieve.
8. Constantly ask yourself “how” you can achieve your goals.
9. Plan your day the night before.
10. Every morning as soon as you wake up, and every night before you go to sleep, look at your goals and visualize yourself achieving them.
11. Invest the first hour of every day on yourself.
12. Each day do the most important thing on your To-Do List first.
13. Do one thing at a time without distractions.
14. Each week review how the week went and what you accomplished.
15. Take the time to replenish your energy: get enough sleep; take frequent, short breaks while you work; and keep a Secular Sabbath each week.
16. Take regular vacations.
17. Drink lots of water.
18. Eat three meals a day and have two healthy snacks each day.
19. Get at least twenty minutes of daily exercise.
20. Be a lifelong learning.
21. Seek to continually perfect your craft.
22. Constantly ask yourself: “How can this be improved?” and “Is there a better way to do this?”
23. Organize your space in a way that makes sense to you; everything should have its place.
24. When you’re done using something, put it back where it belongs.
25. Schedule regular decluttering sessions.
26. Associate with people you admire, respect and want to be like.
27. Move quickly when you have an idea or notice an opportunity.
28. Think before you act; consider the consequences of several different courses of action prior to making a decision on what steps to take.
29. Be frugal.
30. Save at least 10% of your income, off the top, before any other expenditure.
31. Tithe 10% of your income.
32. Do your homework and think hard before making any decision on where to invest your money.
33. Don’t invest in anything that you don’t understand.
34. Think in terms of the satisfaction that you feel from saving, investing, and growing your money.
35. Insure properly against any risk that you can’t write a check to cover.
36. Protect your estate from unnecessary taxes and frivolous lawsuits.
37. Consider carefully before making any expenditure.
38. Focus on those activities which you most enjoy, are good at, and make a valuable contribution to others.
39. Always be on the look-out for new opportunities.
40. Dress like a person who’s going somewhere in life.
41. Look for ways to make others be more successful in fulfilling their responsibilities.
42. Be persistent; stick to a task until it’s completed.
43. Think flexibly: consider alternative points of view, use lateral thinking, and be willing to change your mind based on additional information or reasoning.
44. Look for ways to put in more than you get out; sow more than you reap.
45. Maintain a positive attitude.
46. Delegate tasks that you don’t enjoy and which are not core activities.
47. Practice prevention: take the car in for regular tune-ups; get regular physical and dental checkups; and so on.
48. Be punctual.
49. Question your assumptions on a regular basis.
50. Make others feel important.
51. Spend time with the most important people in your life every day.
52. Give praise and approval to those who deserve it.
53. Pay attention to people when they talk and be a good listener.
54. When it comes to your significant other, make trust and forgiveness your default mode.
55. Focus more on what your partner does right than on what he or she does wrong.
56. Hug your significant other as soon as you see each other after work.
57. Say “I love you” and “Have a good day” to your significant other every morning.
58. Give thanks each day for everything you received.
Please add to the list by writing down in the comments below the habits that you’re adopting in order to achieve your goals and dreams.
(Two female joggers is courtesy of mikebaird.)
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“Plan your day the night before.” Absolutely agree. Although this might work better for people who actually enjoy planning. I have a couple of friends who object to “too much” planning.
Hi Vered: There's no need to schedule everything to the last minute, but you do need to prioritize what you need to get done. If you don't, you'll probably waste a lot of time doing unimportant things.
I think I would add one more here (sorry, if I haven't seen it and it is there). When you have made a mistake, say sorry. Admit it is your fault. Offer how you can remedy the situation. (Drink lots of water, is something I need to heed).
Hi Lubna: It wasn't on the list and it's a great habit. Thank you for adding it!
Oh! So much to remember!
Too much planning can definitely curb creativity, but thinking about your next day the night before…that's very helpful, I think.
Hi Joana: Little steps.
Hi Marelisa.
Smooth set here. I am on the same page with most of these. I like #1 because it works wonderfully. We ask ourselves what we want, remember what we want, and then see the steps we have to take to get it.
If I want to take dance classes and become an avid dancer, then I just have to remind myself of that often and my energy to sign up for a class and find some partners will arrive. This is an example I have made up but it would work like any other.
Hi Armen: I like that habit too.
Constantly asking “what do I want” helps to keep you in a “Creator” mentality, in which you ask yourself what you want and work toward creating it, regardless of what might be going on around you.
I read a lot of quotes a day via blogs, Twitter, etc… that's the best quote I have seen in a while. Awesome!
I think this one rises to the top for me in the list: Associate with people you admire, respect and want to be like. I am always inspired and challenged when I am around, read, watch, listen, and converse with those people.
Hi Luke: The people that we associate with have an incredible impact on us. And you're right that we can also surround ourselves with great people by reading books by and about them.
Love your list! It's creative and comprehensive. Visualize yourself achieving your goals every morning and every evening-great advice!
Number 11 is such an important one for me. It sets the tone for the whole day when I can take that hour and nurture myself how I see fit. This is the time when I do visualize the day, make priority lists, and consider if my coming day is well balanced. Some of these tips are newer to me and I will definitely consider the place they can have in my life. Thanks for such a cool blog!
Great post, you have so much great inspiration on here! I will look over this list again ( I LOVE lists!) and adopt and add to my list!
I try to plan my week, by day. Doesn't always happen but I try, I have a list of year goals that get looked over and put into a month plan, then from the month plan each week , learning to set priorities as there are so many things I want to do and need to. I agree on the lifelong learning, I have adopted that more so this year, taking and creating online classes, reading more etc. Thanks again for the list and inspo!
Heather
http://www.creatingmywaytome.com
Hi Mare – I'm a huge fan of planning my day the night before. But one thing you said really stood out – set deadlines. I am not good at doing that for everything I do, so I'm going to set a deadline for the types of task I try to avoid most. Thanks.
Many of the items on the list I already knew but there are also a few new things. Thanks
# 17, drink water, is perhaps the most ignored habit with the biggest benefits…many health issues would be resolved with proper hydration. #20, lifelong learning, is a part of my soul and #58, gratitude, when in our heart and day to day life, creates a vibration that attracts to us that which we desire!
Blessings,
Arlene, Creating Abundance Enthusiast
Thank you for this, Marelisa – just what I needed to kick-start the new week! Every Monday feels like another chance to have a crack at improving on the previous week, this will really help my thinking. I reetweeted it, there's a lot of wisdom in there.