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Writer's pictureEric Vechan, PhD

Successful People Have Good Habits: Duh


If you've been living under a rock for most of your life, you might not know that successful people have regular and scheduled habits. Most are pretty simple so discipline is key to creating habits that lead to winning. One author derived five main habit categories that people like Elon Musk and Warren Buffett follow on a daily (no days off) basis:

  • Morning routines are routine for them. Musk doesn't eat but showers to get his mind rolling. Mr. Buffett reads several newspapers. Personally, I drink a glass of milk and head out the door every day.

  • They make sure they are busy getting stuff done. There is a ton of value in trying something, seeing how well it worked or didn't work and then adjusting on the next round. Some days I am able to stay super busy but other days I can be overly analytical, often on things that don't even matter. When in doubt, just get busy.

  • Whether they get enough sleep or eat right, they spend time on their fitness. They do some kind of fitness on a regular basis. For me, fitness helps my physical well-being but it also helps me clear my mind and reset towards the end of the day.

  • They never (rarely) change their alarm clocks. They way up the same time every day which helps them stay on schedule and on routine during their day. I am definitely a slacker here as I might sleep a little later or catch a small afternoon nap on the weekend.

  • These guys stay on track and rarely deviate from their scheduled day. This keeps them less distracted and more productive. I like to stay on schedule but it's pretty dadgum hard for me. Lots of internal and external requests/needs for my time or resources regularly pop up. I am pretty good at my lunch schedule though: a small lunch at 11 AM and a small snack at 1 PM power me throughout the day.

Whatever your work and personal needs are, getting into good habits will help you be more productive. The more we make simple things automatic through habits, routines and schedules, the more mental bandwidth and freedom we will have to make the really big things happen. Simply put, good habits lead to success: duh.


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