8 Habits of Successful People You Can Adopt Today!

One thing that many successful people have in common is a routine. Franz Kafka Prize award winner and critically acclaimed Japanese author Haruki Murakami believes that “the repetition itself becomes the important thing”. We have highlighted Murakami’s rather eccentric daily routine later in the article.

It’s important to note that many successful people start their day off as early as 5 or 6 am. This includes Benjamin Franklin who rises in the morning at 5.00 a.m. and goes to bed by 10:00 p.m. These habits will definitely do you a lot of good and if paired with the right mindset, can help you reach your full potential!

#1. Getting quality sleep- Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, who have amassed 36 Olympic medals between them (and likely to increase with 2020 Olympics coming up) strongly believein the power of sleep. In fact, Phelps is known to hit the hay inside a contraption that simulates an altitude of 8,500-9,000 feet. Most of may not have such a luxury readily available in our bedroom but there are many other affordable ways to ensure better quality sleep.

Among them include ensuring your room is dark and keeping electronics away from your bed. Make sure your sheets are clean, comfortable and don’t sleep too late!

#2. Carry a notebook- Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group who promised to travel to space by mid-2019 reveals that his “secret life hack has always been to write it down”. With modern technology, we can easily just type things down in our virtual notepad but nothing beats the real pen and paper.

#3. Exercise- Having any exercise routine incorporated into your daily routine will most definitely do you a world of good. Losing weight, increasing metabolism, refreshing your train of thought are some of the health benefits while many successful people use exercise as a means to get their blood pumping to start their day!

Steve Jobs was known to be an avid jogger while Japanese author Haruki Murakami was known to run 10 km a day or swim 1,500 metres or both. The third richest man in the world, 88-year-old Warren Buffett also finds time in his day to exercise (but this is partly due to his poor diet which consists of up to five cans of coke a day).

#4. Ask yourself what you will do today- And do it! This question was initially posed by Benjamin Franklin in his 1791 autobiography where he outlined his daily routine which consisted of him waking up at 5:00 a.m. every day and asked himself the morning question: “What good shall I do today?”

After the day’s work, Franklin would then pose an evening question that is “What good have I done today?” He would be then find himself tucked into bed by 10:00 p.m.

#5. Work according to the programe- Not according to mood. Stephen King, the author of IT, Firestarter, The Dark Tower and over 50 other novels was known to always give himself a deadline or quota when writing.

In an interview with Game of Thrones author George R.R Martin, the King of Horror revealed that he would always strive to write at least six pages a day and would often meet that deadline. Another author, Anthony Trollope would make sure he wrote at least 250 words every half an hour. The best thing about this is that you get to decide the programme! So pick one you feel you are capable of delivering.

#6. Waking up early- Obviously, this goes without saying. Being awake for longer means that you will have more time to accomplish more in the day. As we mentioned earlier, American Founding Father Benjamin Franklin would rise at 5:00 a.m. and have a three hour morning routine before starting work. Steve Jobs would be awake by “six-ish” and start working from home about 30 minutes later. He would have all his files in all of his offices and also at home. branson also . Warren Buffett wakes up a bit later than most at 6:45 am.

#7. Take a walk- Or a break. No matter how much work we have to do, we’ll need a break every now and again. Phelps was known to nap about two-three hours a day (not advisable unless you’re a high level fulltime athlete) while Charles Dickens’ would also take vigorous walks across the countryside that would stretch up to three hours.

Jane Austen was known to refrain from working and indulge in sewing whenever her friends came over.

#8. Reading- Warren Buffet would begin his day by reading the newspaper and even suggested everyone try and read 500 pages a day. A bit extreme isn’t it? Maybe you can start by reading news articles to start off your day on your morning commute to work or a few pages of a book before you go to bed.

In the words of Dr. Seuss, “The more that you read, the more things you will learn, the more things you know, the more places you will go.”

Get in touch with GRADUAN and tell us what are some daily routines that you can’t live without!

Photo by Steven Lelham on Unsplash