If you’re an entrepreneur, or you aspire to be one, you have probably already picked up a number of habits that are vital for contributing to your success! After all, being an entrepreneur takes plenty of hard work and dedication. Of course, there is some natural talent involved, but it’s more about building up the right set of skills that help you to thrive in any situation. Being a business owner is a path that’s definitely not for everyone. And, if you want to stay successful, or build up your success, it’s a good idea to pick up as many effective habits as possible that can help you along the way. On the other hand, it’s also natural for anyone, business owner or not, to pick up some bad habits along the way that can slow your progress down. In fact, you may not even realise that you’re doing them, or how they are impacting on your business life!

In today’s post, I’ll be sharing five super-effective habits that entrepreneurs should pick up, plus three that they should avoid! The aim of this list is not to make you feel as though you’re not doing enough. Being a business owner is hard work, and you’re probably already putting in the work to make yourself a success. These habits are just a few suggestions for things you can pick up along the way that will help your business grow, and make your working life easier!

What are the super-effective habits that entrepreneurs should pick up?

How do you define a ‘habit’? The dictionary defines it as “a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.” So, essentially any practice can become a habit, and you probably already have many habits without even thinking about them. But which ones can help you in your entrepreneurial journey? Let’s take a closer look….

Find a morning routine that works for you

Most material that talks about being a better entrepreneur will talk about all the benefits that can come from waking up early. You’ll have more hours in the day, you’ll feel more productive, it’s what all successful entrepreneurs do. While this may be true to some extent, what is really more important is developing a morning routine that truly works for you, and makes you personally feel set up and ready for the day. This could look like anything! Perhaps it is getting up early and running 5k before settling down to a healthy breakfast. Or, maybe it means catching up on the news or reading your book before settling down to work. In reality, waking up early won’t do wonders for your productivity unless it’s what really works for you! So, don’t be afraid to pick up morning habits that make you feel like the best version of yourself. By doing this, you will feel far more motivated and will start your day off on the right foot far more often, and what’s not to like about that?

Make time for exercise if you can, but any time for yourself is great

Next up on the list of super-effective habits that entrepreneurs should pick up is exercise. This is a common habit of many successful entrepreneurs. But, again, it’s all about developing this habit in the way that works best for you. Whether it’s a brisk walk or an extreme sport, making time for exercise releases those all-important endorphins that help you to feel good. However, if you genuinely struggle to fit the habit of exercise into your routine, simply making any time for yourself to develop a hobby is a good habit to practice. Whether it’s reading, cooking, crafts- the list is endless! Having something to do for yourself that is completely separate from work is a great way to get creative, decompress after a stressful day, and will also lead a more balanced lifestyle. This usually means that you will be more excited about the prospect of work and building your business, helping to maximise your productivity!

Don’t try and do everything yourself

Many entrepreneurs, especially when they are just starting out, believe that the only way to be successful is to do it all on their own. This way, they can say that they built their business from scratch, all by themselves. Sure, this sounds impressive, but it’s got to come at a cost. These entrepreneurs often feel burnt out and lack the spark for their business that they once had, because they’re just so exhausted. So, next on the list of super-effective habits that entrepreneurs should pick up is simply not to try and do everything yourself! There are people out there who can help you, and this can actually lead to becoming more successful! Identify what your strengths and weaknesses are when it comes to your business. Can you outsource your weaknesses to someone who’s really good at them? Not only will this free up more of your time, it will also help ensure that everything gets done to a better standard. And, don’t be afraid to delegate important tasks to other members of your team, if you have one. They are there to help your business run smoothly and efficiently, after all.

Choose your network carefully

If you want to become a successful entrepreneur, it’s vital to surround yourself with the right people. Of course, this isn’t to say that you should go and get rid of all your existing friends and bring in new ones. It just might be a good idea to find yourself a like-minded business network. You will all share common issues, successes, and thoughts. But, you will also be able to learn from each other and put this learning into practice by improving your business. You’ll always have like-minded individuals to bounce ideas off, and you’ll all be able to motivate each other, even when things get tough. Surrounding yourself with the right people when it comes to business can be a tough habit to get right. But, when you’ve found them, it will make your life as an entrepreneur a whole lot better.

Remember why you started

When it comes to super-effective habits that entrepreneurs should pick up, the final and perhaps most important one is to remember why you started everything. All entrepreneurs have a ‘why’, the reason that they wanted to set up their business and see it succeed in the first place. Your ‘why’ could be any number of things. Perhaps you had a problem that you wanted to solve. Maybe you wanted to improve the lifestyle of yourself and your family. Whatever it is, it’s the reason why you care about what you do as an entrepreneur. Having said this, it’s easy to forget your ‘why’ and simply focus on the daily running of your business. Soon, this can lead to a lack of motivation and leave you wondering, what is the point? Common feelings like these can soon be avoided by remembering your ‘why’ every day, and using it as motivation to drive yourself forward and aim for success.

What habits should entrepreneurs avoid?

Now we’ve looked at five super-effective habits that entrepreneurs should pick up, what’s on the other side of the coin? What habits should entrepreneurs avoid picking up, and why can they harm the success of their businesses? Let’s take a look at three of the most common ones here:

Perfectionism is your enemy

Many business owners strive for perfectionism in everything that they do. Of course, it is natural for you to want your business to be perfect. But, it’s vital that you accept that it never will be, and drop the habit of perfectionism as soon as you can. It will only lead to feelings of frustration when something inevitably turns out not to be perfect! Accepting this, and learning to move on, is very freeing for many business owners, leading to them wondering why they didn’t kick the habit of perfectionism sooner.

Multitasking isn’t always the most effective way

In business, there is often a culture of multitasking. You may think that you need to be doing several different things at once in order to make the best use of your time and be as productive as possible. Usually, though, this simply isn’t true. By focusing on the concept of single-tasking, whereby you focus on one task at a time and see it to completion before you move on to something new, can actually help you to be more productive, especially in the long run. Giving everything it’s own dedicated time and attention ensures that each task is completed to the best of your ability. And, it will help to eliminate distractions and actually maximise your productivity as a result.

Comparing your business to others

Of course, it is only natural to compare your business to others to a certain extent. You want to see what your competitors are doing well and what they could improve upon, and compare this to yourself and your own journey as an entrepreneur. But, what you don’t see when you compare the two is what’s going on behind the scenes. You probably have no idea where they are at in their business journey, or what it’s taken them to get to that point. So, the act of comparison is almost useless as it can’t really be applied back to your own business! It is a far better habit to simply think of your own endeavours, where they’re at, and how you could improve them, instead of focusing your energy on what other people are up to. If you still find yourself doing it a lot, it’s important to identify your triggers (the biggest one is usually social media!) and do your best to limit your exposure to them, so that you can focus on your own business and not someone else’s.

Super-effective habits that entrepreneurs should pick up: Conclusion

The amount of useful and effective habits that entrepreneurs could pick up is almost endless, so it can quickly become overwhelming. Instead, focusing on some core habits that actually benefit your life and your business is usually the way to go to keep you motivated and moving forwards. And, being aware of the negative habits that can get in the way of success is also a good idea to try and implement into your daily routine. The habits that work for each entrepreneur will be different, so in essence, it’s all about finding what works for you and sticking with it to ensure the highest level of success!

Looking to develop your business? Contact me today at graham@grahamgarman.com or complete the contact form here and I’ll get back to your shortly to discuss your individual requirements.