Successful people follow patterns, so if you’re not successful, you may not be following the right patterns. Here I want to share 7 habits of successful people that I’ve repeatedly seen work.
The Shocking Habits of Successful People
Even from a young age I was blessed to be surrounded by a number of millionaires. Today, twenty-two years after starting my entrepreneurial journey, I’m proud to say that I have access to mentors with an even higher level of success.
Being in close proximity to people like this has allowed me to observe and detect a consistent pattern that makes them successful. Specifically, there are 7 habits that have stood out that exist in each of their lives.
#1 – Say “No” more Than “Yes”
People who are not as successful as they could be are often people-pleasers who allow others to take them away from what they feel they need to focus on. One of the most obvious habits of successful people is that they say “no”. They view their time much differently than the majority do. Because they are successful, a lot of people want their time and resources. However, not every opportunity is worth their time and resources, and in order to be responsible with their time, they have to turn down a lot of people.
#2 – Use Failure as a Learning Tool
Successful people don’t play the blame game. When things don’t go as planned, they do not beat up on themselves. They still make mistakes, but they do not take them personally. Instead, they choose to look at them as a learning tool, leveraging them for future success.
#3 – Invest
One of the definitive habits of successful people is that they spend more time investing than spending. Constant spending will keep you stuck. If you buy something perishable, that money is gone forever. However, when you invest money, it makes more of it for you.
If you’re reading this, wherever you are, I encourage you to become wiser with what you have. He who is faithful with little will be put over much. Would you rather pay 8-9% to your credit card company, or make 8-9% of that for yourself?
#4 – Live by Financial Ratios
Financial ratios are a habit of successful people that helps them constantly invest. They avoid overspending by keeping their spending restricted to certain percentage of their income. This gives them more cash to put to work for them.
Most people have a debt-to-income ratio. The average debt-to-income ratio that lenders consider stable is around 40%. This standard is way off, in my opinion. Ideally it should be 0%, but a more realistic goal for a lot of folks is 20%. If you are over this percentage, I encourage you to get it down to this number. You can do it.
#5 – Respond vs React
Here I mean that successful people are proactive. They plan ahead. Rather than panic when things get bad, they stay cool and implement a strategy that they probably thought of in advance.
Currently, we’re dealing with COVID. A lot of people had no nest egg saved up in case things went wrong. They lived paycheck to paycheck rather than save for a rainy day. Now a lot of those people are in serious trouble. Meanwhile, those who had savings have been able to ride out the storm without losing everything, transitioning into a new job if need-be or taking a hit financially in their businesses without having to close their doors. These people used their ratios consistently for years, and now it’s paying off.
But wait, it gets better. Those with cash on hand have the opportunity to buy things on sale. Economies are cyclical. They go up, and they go down. When things happen that shake the market, a lot of people get spooked and start wanting to sell what they have. This drives the price of their goods down, because now there’s a ton of things on sale and not enough demand for it all. When you have cash to spend, you can take advantage of these cycles and buy when prices go low. Their value to the consumer will eventually go back up, and when they do, guess what? You’ve made more money.
#6 – Exercise Patience
Successful people know when to sit back, remain patient, and watch. Because they live disciplined lifestyles according to ratios, and because they plan ahead rather than react in fear, successful people are already in position to weather a storm.
In addition, they aren’t afraid to take a short-term hit if it means they will gain valuable information. In other words, they aren’t afraid to hold on to their investment as it loses a little bit of value in order to see if they’re seeing a glitch. Moreover, they aren’t afraid to hang on to their cash while everyone else is rushing to buy something popular in order to evaluate it properly. Patience is one of the most pervasive habits of successful people.
#7 – Focus
Most people underestimate the power of focusing for twelve months and overestimate the power of dreaming for 10 years. Successful people know when to focus on one objective at the expense of everything else. In other words, they know how to say no to good opportunities so they can focus on the best one. This is where the list comes full circle. Ultimately, the habits of successful people begin and end with the ability to choose the best thing and say no to everything else.
Bringing it All Together
Not that long ago I was coaching a man with a family of three. He was making well over six figures, but was still losing money every month because he was highly leveraged in debt. He was spread too thin, spending money he didn’t need to spend, and he was worn out. Following the principles of successful people got him from the negative to positive before he knew it. They can do the same for you.
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