Habits of the Highly Effective
I think you might find these habits interesting and not quite as obvious as you might have expected. While, of course, there are others, these are some things that are pretty much always present in the lives of those who are not just successful but effective in living out life with impact and success that includes their business and personal lives.
Habits of Highly Effective People:
01. Say No.
We talk a lot about the yeses required for success. We talk about seizing opportunities and adding priorities into our lives. But every yes is made possible by a lot of times we said no. No to good things, no to busy things, no to wasteful things, no to distracting things, no to things that do not bring us more of those things we want a lot of in our lives. No to showy things that would get us attention. There is a limit to our energy and our time. So start looking for the things you can trim to make room for the focused and effective moves that will get you where you need to go. You may be able to add some of them back in later, but there is a season where we have to trim down lean.
02. Do Fewer Things More Often.
We get proud of our giant to-do lists and how many things we get done. We have all of these activities going on and start prioritizing quantity over quality. The truth is that when we choose a few things to focus on doing well and consistently, our actual impact skyrockets. This pairs well with our first habit as we have fewer yeses that we can confidently commit to doing. Follow through is everything. We have no idea how to grow our business well if we are jumping around like fleas from one new idea to the next and we are almost impossible for others to follow or connect with.
03. Embrace Failure.
Viewing every opportunity through a lens of potential failure and fear is exhausting. Our energy is wasted on the "what ifs" and we have no capacity left to see the potential right in front of us. If our focus is growth in ourselves and other people, the process is as valuable as the end result. We can't truly fail because of everything we are learning as we go. The process matters as much as the result and we have complete control over responding to every situation in a way where the process is always benefiting us and readying us for future opportunity.
04. Stop Waiting for Inspiration.
Those who wait for motivation and are looking outside themselves for the will and the desire to work will find themselves always on the starting block, never in the race. The highly effective carve out time to move regardless of how they feel in the moment. They commit to taking action, they pick up their task list and get moving.
05. Make a Commitment to Grow Everyday.
Don't think of learning about yourself, others, your business, and life as preparation for the work. It is part of the work. If you stay the same with the same skill set, how can you expect to be "promoted?" If you hired someone to do what you're doing in this business, what would you pay them? Start learning and working for the paycheck you want, not the one you have.