If you want to predict where you will be in ten years, look at what you do every day. Humans are creatures of habit, so it’s safe to assume you’ll do much the same things unless you deliberately change something. If you don’t like the forecast, make the changes now. Small course corrections can dramatically alter a trajectory and you may not notice them at first.
7 powerful habits every entrepreneur should try at least once
Here are seven powerful habits you should try at least once and how to build them in less than 30 days.
Contents
Wake up at 5 am
Before the sun comes up is a lovely time. Everything is quiet, no one is fighting for your attention and you can do the things that you need to think about for a while. By making the most of those early hours, you can have an incredible day, one where you’ll feel like you’ve won it by noon.
Get into the habit of starting gradually or going straight into it. Start gradually by waking up 15 minutes earlier each day and adjusting your bedtime accordingly. Your body will adjust and soon the start of 5 hours will feel normal. Dive right in by setting your alarm clock for 05:00 now, ready for tomorrow. You may feel terrible the first few mornings, after that you know what to expect and so does your biological clock.
Make bold requests
Huge profits go to people who ask for it, with no exceptions. Stop believing you’re waiting to be discovered. It’s a myth. Instead of hoping to get picked, make requests to those who can help. Email an author who inspires you, sign up for a new challenge, ask for a phone call with a big cheese. You might be surprised who grants your wish.
Make bold requests a habit by making one a day. With the aim of getting rejected, send the email, call, or ask the question. There’s no pressure on the yes, you just build the skill of bold confidence and see what happens.
Meditate
There are many surprising benefits to meditation, and one of them is that it rewires your brain so you can focus better. Focus is an entrepreneurial superpower, so improving your ability to concentrate is never a bad thing.
A meditation practice does not have to take hours every day. Starting with ten minutes can make a big difference, and you’ll probably make up for that ten minutes later if you’re less distracted during a work project. Make it a habit by setting a daily reminder for the same time each morning or downloading a meditation app to guide you.
say thanks
If you are in the habit of giving thanks, you are in the habit of receiving. But so many people don’t. Thank your team every time they do a good job. Say thanks to your parents for raising you. Say thank you to everyone who opened a door, gave you a helping hand or put in a good word.
No one is really self-made, everyone got there by being lifted up by others. Remember who those others are and make sure they know you’re grateful. Make thanking a habit by starting today. Give verbal thanks more than usual and have suppliers stand by when it’s appropriate to send a card or box of chocolates.
7 powerful habits every entrepreneur should try at least once
Meeting-free working days
I guarantee you’ll get more done in a no-meetings workday than when you’re back-to-back. The space gives you time to think and breathe and imagine a bigger future for your business. It means you can immerse yourself in your work and projects without looking at the clock. You can dive down rabbit holes of ideas that can move the needle significantly.
Making this a habit starts with choosing a day. One day, next week, when you’re not going to book any meetings or phone calls. If that goes well, repeat for the next week and make it a recurring event. Soon you’ll wonder what you ever did without this meeting-free day.
Addressing journalists
Here’s a secret about journalists: they like it when you make it easy for them. If you can land in their inbox with relevant ideas they want to write about, they’ll likely work with you. Here’s another secret: they often use the same resources multiple times. That means once you’re on their radar, you can maintain your position with relative ease.
The habit of creating is to contact journalists. When you read an article about something related to your industry, make a note of who wrote it. Email them and introduce yourself for future pieces. Tell them why you liked what they wrote. Be helpful and give some ideas. Keep a record and follow it up until they ask you for quotes and write your ideas into their words.
Collect customer feedback
When large companies fail, it is often because they are out of touch with their customers. While they wouldn’t have started out that way, over time they grew and rose farther away from the people on the ground they served. Decisions were made in glass offices rather than coffee shops. Customer service was outsourced rather than provided by the owner. Divorce followed.
Get in the habit of collecting customer feedback and doing something about it. Ensure that feedback collection routes are in place, reviewed and responded to. Make it a habit to keep going even as your business grows. The best companies love to hear from their customers and they continue to do so. Make yours one of them.
Getting up early, making bold requests, meditating, and giving thanks can set you on the path to tremendous success. Follow them by having meeting-free workdays, reaching out to journalists, and gathering customer feedback, and you’ll be an unstoppable force. Imagine the future of the entrepreneur who has deliberately made each of these a habit.
Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.