Top 7 Habits of Ultra-Successful People

It’s a complete myth that highly successful people are born that way – that these people are born motivated, destined to achieve all their goals and never once experiencing failure.

However, the most significant difference between highly successful people and those who aren’t is their habits: the regular practices they implement into their lives to propel them towards their goals.

The good news is that anyone can work to develop success-nurturing habits, and by adopting the practices of those you admire, you’ll be in a better position to make your life look more like theirs – in other words, ultra-successful.

Here are the top 7 life habits commonly implemented by successful people.

1. Goal setting.

Our goals can only be reached through a planned vehicle, in which we must fervently believe and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success. – Picasso

Successful people don’t achieve success by accident – they make a plan and act each day intentionally to get closer to the future they envision. The foundation of this is practical goal setting.

For long-term goals, successful people commonly use the ‘SMART’ method, allowing them to create goals that are Specific, measurable, attainable and realistic goals that stipulate the time frame in which the goal must be completed.

In the short term, highly successful people often create daily to-do lists to prioritise the tasks each day that will bring them closer to achieving their goals in the long term.

2. Reading.

Highly successful people prioritise learning, self-improvement, and continuous education through reading.

Numerous studies have shown the positive effects that reading has on the brain, so it’s no wonder that reading is among the top habits shared by ultra-successful people.

However, their preferred reading material tends to centre on self-improvement or topics relevant to their field/industry so they can stay competitive among their peers and be as well-informed as possible when making decisions that could further their success.

3. Making healthy choices.

Successful people prioritise their health much more than the average Joe, with diets high in whole foods and low in processed sugars and fats, and workouts are a staple of their weekly schedule.

The diets of the highly successful promote concentration and focus, while regular exercise improves confidence and self-esteem; these lifestyle components contribute not only to better physical health but to mental health, which is essential to maximising productivity and efficiency at work.

4. Waking up early.

Though not all ultra-successful people wake up early, many do, which helps to drive their success in several ways.

For one, waking up early means you have a few hours before the start of the working day to work on possible side projects, read, or squeeze in a workout – things that can easily be forgotten if they’re left until later on.

Additionally, waking up early is conducive to sleeping better at night since exposure to a greater number of daylight hours makes you more tired in the evening and, thus, less likely to experience difficulty getting to sleep. And, as any successful person will tell you, getting enough sleep is crucial to being able to focus and be your most productive during the day.

5. Spending time with the right people.

Jim Rohn famously stated that we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with.

While this might be over-generalising, there’s no doubt that the people we surround ourselves with influence our lives.

With this in mind, successful people make a habit of spending time with similar motivated, driven people and are inspired by them to push harder towards their own goals.

6. Carving out time for reflection.

Successful people approach life intentionally and adapt their course according to whether or not their efforts towards their goals are working.

An essential step to achieving this is self-reflection.

So, successful people prioritise reflecting on where they are, where they want to go, whether they’re on track to get there and – if not – what changes they need to make to do so.

This allows them to get to their end destination as efficiently as possible, as they’re constantly assessing whether the way they’re currently living life is optimal.

7. Taking action.

A key quality uniting every successful person is that they don’t just talk – they do.

After setting their goals and planning how to achieve them, they do what they say they’re going to.

One of the biggest mistakes less successful people make is waiting for the perfect opportunity to set their plan into action whether this is to put off starting a business, adopting a healthy lifestyle or another person or career ambition – while highly successful people dive straight into the deep end, even if they don’t feel completely ready.

As the saying goes, the best time to plant a tree was ten years ago, but the second best time is right now.