What are some uncommon habits that contribute to success?

1. Sacrificing important things. In the end, we all only have 24 hours in a day. To reach success you have to sacrifice spending time on important things to be able to have more time to spend on the things that really matter. Check every week what you can give up to gain something better.

2. Believing what you want instead of what others tell you. Most beliefs people hold are not based on fact and are not true whatsoever. Get into the habit of believing that which empowers you and makes you feel amazing instead of the things that others tell you to believe. If it is not certain what is real, believe the thing that makes you feel better.

3. Getting motivated. Motivation is an emotion that doesn’t last, but that is of enormous help. Find things that motivate you every day.

4. Thinking less. Thought usually hinders us in our actions. When we think about things to do we tend to think about ways it can go wrong or reasons why we shouldn’t do something. Stop thinking and start doing.

5. Going to bed early. To be at the top of your game you need enough sleep. Yes, successful people get up somewhere between 4 and 6 in the morning, but they can only do that because they go to bed between 9 and 11 in the evening.

6. Keeping track of your progress. Even though you may believe that you know, unless you can actually see the evidence in front of you, you will never know for sure. Know exactly how you spend your time and how you are doing in your habits. If you are really motivated: Graph it!

7. Having a clean space. Keep your apartment, room, and/or house clean. Leave as little clutter as you can, and always take care of the mess right away. Anything that aids your motivation and makes you feel great is worth doing.

8. Speaking only positively about your future. Say things as if they already happened, or as if there is no way they will not happen. If you believe it is a fact that you will get an amazing life, you will act accordingly and receive it.

9. Gratitude. Thank as many things and people as you can. Most successful people come from a place where they had absolutely nothing, which is why they are grateful about every little thing that they have. This makes even the most simple things special and amazing.

10. Doing it all. Whenever you see tips online, or hear about some great strategies, do them all. You can never have enough of a good thing when it comes to reaching success.

11. Never giving up on what matters. If you want something, find a way to get it. Not because you necessarily want that thing that bad, but instead because you absolutely have to prove to yourself that you can get whatever you set your mind to.

12. Doing what you said you would no matter what. Success comes from not giving up halfway through. Everyone is on the way to be successful in what they do, but only 1% of all people actually see it through. Do what you said you would. No matter what!

13. Spending more money on yourself. Not on beauty products, clothes or video games, but instead on gathering information, finding connections and learning more through books. Spend money on the only thing that lasts: Yourself.

14. Stop caring. Not only about the people around you, but also about whether or not you will accomplish your goal. The less you care about it, the less stress you will experience when you work, which will make your work more fun and you will get to success much faster than you thought you could. Stop chasing it and you will get it.

Uncommon Habit No #1: Sticking with your plan of action even when the emotion has left you.

Successful people do the things that other people don't want to do.

Examples: Doing the paperwork even when you don't feel like doing it and as a result saving hundreds of dollars every month in penalty and extra fees.

Going to the gym in the morning, as planned the day before, even if you don't want to come out of your warm blanket!

Uncommon Habit No #2: Being specific (see pic below)

Did you know that the pre-frontal cortex part of your brain can act like a GPS for your goals, if they are specific enough!

You seriously need to be absolutely clear with the goals that you keep. Want to lose weight? Its not enough to say that you want to knock off few inches off your waist. Be specific. Say something like this: I want to lose 20lbs in the next 10 weeks. Then be specific why you want to lose weight. Be specific with your diet and figure out your exact macros. Keep improving as you go along. Success is in the numbers. My recently launched [0–20] program may help, check it out here.

Uncommon Habit No #3: Asking for help.

I am guilty of this. I just have online mentors who basically are authors of the book that I read. I know they have changed my mindset and my life and thats awesome!

But now, I want to connect with mentors in person. I will let you know how that goes:) So always always ask for help and guidance, there are people who have already achieved what you have set out to do, it may save you tons of time and effort, even money!

Uncommon Habit No #4: Being Grateful.

We want to have it all. We want to live in a beautiful house, buy expensive cars, raise a beautiful family with kids. We want financial freedom, and ability to take off a month every year and travel first class where ever we want to.

We want to build businesses that have meaning and a purpose. We want the power to choose the people we want to work and all that.

Thats cool, but if you are not grateful for what you have RIGHT NOW, you will never be happy and content. Its good to dream BIG, but being grateful for your present situation puts you in a super-appreciable state, and thats a powerful mindset.

How to practice it: You just need 5 minutes everyday. Initially you may want to quit. For few months, I was like this is not working. But something in me said.. just keep at it. And now, after a year or so, this feeling of gratefulness is so embedded in me, its totally unbelievable! Try it and let me know how it goes!

Uncommon Habit No #5: Taking Care of your Health

This is so obvious, yet not many people take this seriously. I know so many super-successful people who are unhealthy and they are unable to enjoy their wealth, their families. Its sad! You cannot work your ass off in order to be successful and put your health at risk.

Living healthy is easy, whereas living unhealthy is hard. This may be a controversial statement to make especially when we live in the times where we are facing an epidemic of obesity and starvation simultaneously, but trust me when I say this, the beginning is the toughest, but once you have build up some momentum losing weight or towards a healthy lifestyle and you feel good and powerful doing that, you don't want to look back.

I feel it requires ~ 60 days to build that momentum. Check out my [0–20] program which will help you lose 20lbs in less than 63 days.

Uncommon Habit No #6: Starting a Stop Watch

Time is the most precious commodity. And in my youth I have wasted a lot of time. Maybe it was to teach me lessons that I can apply and grow as a person. Anyways this is a topic for some other day, but now I always plan ahead and try to be deadly efficient with my time!

And the method of using a stop watch for any activity that I do is doing wonders for me. I know time is limited, and I try to be super-focussed and efficient with my time, and using a stop watch almost every time before I start an activity does help!

Uncommon Habit No #7: Working on your Mindset.

More than 80% of your success in any endeavour depends heavily on your mindset. The last book I read was “Mindsets” by Dr Carol Dweck. Its a great read and I highly recommend reading it.

Uncommon Habit No #8: Thinking in Outcomes.

You worked 10 hours everyday, awesome! But are you productive? Is the work that you are doing getting you where you want to go? If not, then my friend you need to change or improvise so that in roughly the same time frame you get results that you are looking for.

Example: Say you have 3 hours a week to workout. And you also need a six pack and want to be super healthy. It can be done. I have done it and many people I know. You just need the right mindset to begin with and of course the right plan of action!

Uncommon Habit No #9: Learning the art of saying “No” & Doing Less

We all have limited time. And you need to seriously plan your weeks ahead if you want to become successful. Families, co-workers, roommates can put serious demand on your time, and if you are not selfish in this regard and not have your priorities written down then you will waste lot of time and probably not achieve your goals.

What is better: Spending 4 hours with your family everyday, and being miserable and always thinking that you are not working enough.

[or]

spending one hour with them, fully connecting with them, coz you are super happy that you have accomplished your goals for that day and now you are really looking forward to meet your kids after work. Thats what proper planning and effective implementation if it can do for you.

For more answers like this you can follow me on quora and check out my website

Gonna be a bit controversial here.

1. Remove low value people from your life. Who are the 5 people you spend the most time with? Are they in line with your goals? Do they add to your quality of life? If not, remove them.
2. Break the rules. We don’t get where we want to go by following the sheep. Do things the “wrong” way. People disagree? Laugh in their faces.
3. Sheer dedication. Most people do 3–4 hours of real work a day, tops. The best are doing 12+. Outwork your competition into the dirt.
4. Love fear. Stress and challenge is growth. Dive in face-first, take the hit, and grow.
5. Biochemistry. Do you know how food affects cognition? Drugs? Meditation? Educate yourself. Build a better engine.
6. Not ‘passion’. OBSESSION. Yoga classes 3 times a week? Hah, get out of here. Do you see it in your dreams? No? Go home, kids.

Take the common path…get common results.

For more contemplative content, consider following me on Quora. I also write about engineering success on my blog, Market Meditations.

1) Doing Skill Sex.

World will tell you to choose one thing and become best in the world in that. That’s fine if you are willing to put your head down and keep at it for 10–20 years, and be successful in your forties.

Alternatively, you can choose uncommon way. You can choose two things that you are decently good at and do a skill sex to create a category which is not over-crowded and you can become best in the world at it in 3–5 years.

Examples:

• running + writing
• cooking + public speaking
• coding + photography
• drinking + human psychology
• martial arts + interviewing

Combinations are endless. Choose two of your skills, fuse them, and create a category to dominate.

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2) Not Working 16 hours a day

This 16-hour workday mantra is our society’s way of creating a perception of hard work. It’s bullshit.

Author of mega best-seller ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck’, Mark Manson wrote his book by deciding to work less.

Productive people know what their most productive hours are (could just be 3 hours early morning or after midnight), and maximize their outcome in those hours.

So work less. Live more :)

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3) Choosing HELL YEAH! or No

Derek Sivers says, ‘If I am not saying “HELL YEAH!” about something, I say “no”.’

When deciding whether to do something, if you feel anything less than “Wow! That would be amazing! Absolutely! Hell yeah!” — then say “no.”

When you say no to most things, you leave room in your life to really throw yourself completely into that rare thing that makes you say “HELL YEAH!”

To be successful, say ‘No’ to most things.

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P.S. I send out Uncommon Guide’s Newsletter, with smart hacks and learning techniques, once a week to my 10,000+ Readers. Chances are you will adore it. You can Join here.

Habit #1. Execute the art of saying “No” quite well.

Generally, we find ourselves getting trapped by saying “Yes” to something even if we don’t want to say it. But, successful people really developed and mastered this art of saying “No” in a positive way.

Without seeming bad or rude, saying no is truly an art. When you say no to something, it means you prioritize your priorities without taking additional responsibilities.

Habit #2. Outsource tasks to relevant group or individual.

Instead of doing everything on own, successful people delegate relevant tasks to relevant team or people. Even if they can do that specific task. It allows them to have more time for important tasks and take better decisions.

Instead of doing everything on own, pick best two-three tasks for yourself and rest delegate to capable individuals and groups. It will also allow to have a good relation and make them feel confident.

Habit #3. Embrace single-tasking.

Generally, we like to do multi-tasks at same time. In fact, if I had two more hands then probably right now I would be answering one more question simultaneously.

But, it will divide my focus in two groups and I couldn’t able to answer a single question properly. This is what successful people know and understand.

That’s why, they do one task at a time with 100% focus to complete it. And, then switch to another task.

Habit #4. Think backward.

“When we stop thinking, they start.” This is what I always heard from my elders. What was that? It was the art of thinking backward. From finish to start. Visualizing the final outcome of a thought or action and then moving backward, strategically forming the course of actions. The art of reverse engineering.

Courtesy of image

Nicolas Cole Instagram

When we talk about the traits that make people successful, the usual suspects are: confidence, persistence, patience, etc. We tend to reduce “success” down to the simple formula of:

Belief in yourself + Running the marathon.

And for the most part, I’d agree that is its most common denominator.

But what about all the other little traits you have to pick up along the way?

What about the little things you have to learn to make the most out of that path?

Here are five unconventional traits that I have seen carry some very successful people forward:

1. Humor

The ability to laugh and lighten a room is contagious.

When you laugh, or you make someone else laugh, others can’t help but join in.

As much as we would like to believe the “strong-arm” approach to business is the most effective, the truth is, “You catch more bees with honey than vinegar.”

If you can make people feel comfortable enough around you that they can laugh and open themselves up to the moment, chances are they will be far more willing to help you with whatever challenge you’re facing.

Why?

Because they feel like they are close to you — that they can trust you.

2. Humility

Confidence and belief in yourself is required to be successful at anything — that’s a fact.

But there is a clear difference between confidence and arrogance, and arrogance tends to turn people off.

Humility, on the other hand, gives others the opportunity to come to you — instead of you having to prove yourself to them. I believe the reason humility is such an effective trait is because you can’t fake humility.

Even if you say the words, “Oh, I just love what I do,” unless you give off the vibe that you truly mean what you say, most people will see right through you.

Some people are just born humble.

For the rest of us, it takes practice letting go of our ego.

3. Articulateness

The art of speech is so undervalued.

If you are articulate, if you know how to let your confidence be heard through your voice, if you know how to let the ends of your words land from the heart without being cut off from nervousness or fear of rejection, then you possess a great gift.

When we hear articulate people speak, we believe them.

We want to follow them.

We hang on their every word and listen with wonder as to how they can command the air around them. Articulate people choose their words carefully.

They don’t just say things — they paint them.

If you want people to actually listen to you, master the art of speech.

4. Study

Although the leaders of industries might appear in the bright lights, known for their fame and fortune, the reality is many (if not all) of them make a considerable amount of time to continue studying their craft.

They sit in silence and work.

They study their contemporaries and their competition.

They constantly push themselves to be better today than they were yesterday.

It can be very, very easy to obtain a level of success and then get complacent, thinking you’ve made it. However, once the complacency kicks in, you will quickly lose whatever it is you’ve obtained.

Constant reinvention is required to keep building and moving forward, and you do that by always returning to your workspace and making time to study your craft.

This habit requires a significant amount of discipline.

5. Listening

Even if it might not seem as such, successful people are tremendous listeners.

Listening intently is a crucial part of growing and developing yourself and your craft or company.

You have to listen to find opportunity.

You have to listen to hear what people actually want.

You have to listen to understand your competition.

You have to listen to know whom you’re talking to and what they’re interested in.

You have to listen to cut through the noise and know where to move next.

And you have to listen in a way that makes every single person around you feel understood and believe they can trust you.

Listening isn’t just a trait of the successful. It is a trait of the truly great, the ones who can lead themselves and their teams to victory.

Saying nothing at all sometimes says the most.

Remember the importance of listening.

This article originally appeared on Inc Magazine

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• Make your bed. This is about building a small healthy morning routine. It takes less than 5 minutes and it makes people feel better when the room is well organized. People who (should, but) never make their bed tend to procrastinate more.
• Forget about setting goals. I want to make $50,000 this year, I want to lose 30 lbs in the next 6 months, I want to close 10 business deals this month… These goals are common, but what most of us never notice is they are the predictions of outcome. In fact, most of us are too caught up with the outcome (goal). Forget about goals, instead, build the habits and system, then focus on the process and progress.
• Do nothing but breathe. Some people call this meditate. Some call this breathing exercise. The point is to do nothing, think about nothing, focus all your attention on your breaths. I will guarantee you your mind will wonder within 2 minutes. We are wired to be reactive, this simple habit trains you to stay calm, be less reactive, and become the master of your own focus and attention.
• The 5-minute rules. Feel tempted to break your good habits? Wait for 5 minutes. Temptations are usually an urge, before you give into it, wait for 5 minutes. You will talk yourself out of it most of the time.
• Say “I don’t” instead of “I can’t”. Use empowering vocabularies. If there is something you shouldn’t do in order to succeed, use “I don’t”. This makes it feels like you choose and decide not to do it, and this helps in building your identity. Using “I can’t” feels like an obligation and restriction, it tricks your mind to want it more.
• Cold shower. Cold is one of the best trainers of mental toughness. The warm shower is an illusion, it makes you feel good at first, but tired and sleepy after that. Besides, I tend to spend more unnecessary time when I’m taking a warm shower. A cold shower does the opposite, it wakes you up, shakes your muscles, and sharpens your mind.
• Sleep more. Don’t be the guy who wears the honorable lack-of-sleep badge with pride. In many cases, sacrifice your sleep for work doesn’t mean you’re hardworking, it shows you’re poor in time management. Besides, it hurts your productivity in a long run.
• Slack. Most of us know about sleep cycle. However, our energy goes through the wake cycle too. There are hours when we’re full of energy for work, and there are times we feel less productive and energetic. Manage your energy, sprint (do focused work) when your energy is high, slack when it’s low for recovery.
• Lower the threshold. Finally, this is a cheat. Redefine your definition of success. You don’t need to be a billionaire to be successful. Practice self-awareness and know your position.

. . .

Thank Max Schmidt for the A2A.

I write on DeanYeong.com, where I share articles and guides about behavioral psychology and performance improvement.

Ruthlessly cutting ties with the toxic people.

Your environment is by far the most important factor of success. These are people who surround you who define how fast you can arrive at the desired destination. Your surrounding makes a profound impact on what you read, listen to, watch, and aspire to achieve. Get around greatness and ruthlessly cut ties with negative, pessimistic, unambitious people who don’t motivate you but rather try to belittle your own dreams.

Ignoring advice from your peers.

The endless desire to give an advice to someone is the common facet of human nature. People adore sharing their “firm” opinion on almost everything, even if an issue is far beyond their field of expertise. In most cases such advice is worthless. Moreover, such things are likely to get you misguided, your motivation lowered, and your ambitions destroyed. Therefore, do not rely on your peers’ advice regarding a certain thing, unless they are real experts.

Working out daily.

When it comes to physical exercises, there are not only your body and health that benefit. Workouts foster discipline and persistence that are crucial when it comes to achieving your goals. Besides, your workout is a nice time to abstract from the daily routine and stress. Meanwhile, it a perfect time to prioritize your goals, think strategically and come up with the fresh ideas.

Scheduling your day.

In the modern ever-faster world, efficient time management is much more important than ever. Your success has become totally dependent on how well you organize your time. Make sure you don’t chaotically switch between the tasks during the day. Impulsive decisions to commit to some random activities won’t let you make any progress. Plan your day ahead, schedule your tasks and follow your timetable.

Minimizing choice.

A bold decision to declutter your life is the first step towards massive wins. It’s impossible to become successful if you can’t focus on what matters and always get your attention scattered due to the huge amount of things to care about. Make your life remarkably simple. Get rid of everything that doesn’t matter. Minimize choice when it comes to secondary trivial things so you can focus on and totally commit to what matters the most to you.

Investing money in yourself.

Excessive baggage won’t ever make you more successful, smarter or happier. Constant studying, improvement of skills and discovery of new earlier unknown things are what contributes to rapid self-improvement. Don’t waste your money on trivial stuff. Invest it in education, traveling, and personal growth. Attend seminars, conferences, take courses, visit new countries, live abroad, find a mentor, and invest in bringing your ideas to life.

Avoiding political news.

Following news is a time-consuming commitment. It’s even more tedious when it comes to discussions and debates with your friends, family, and colleagues. Moreover, this all rarely adds any value, unless it’s critical for your business or career. What’s the point in reading, watching and listening to all the noise out there? After all, the most important news won’t go unnoticed anyways. The precious time and energy you have should be channeled towards things that indeed take you closer to what you want to accomplish.

Feel free to check the Evopaper blog to discover my handpicked thoughts on productivity, business, and life.