39 Habits of Successful People (the Ultimate List)

There is no shortcut to success. It takes time and smart habits to reach your goals and stay on top of your game.

We collaborated with 31 experts to create the ultimate list of the habits successful people have.

See the 39 habits of successful people below.

Doing what you’re good at and passionate about

As cliché as this may sound, being passionate about what you do and believing in your capabilities is the key to success.

When you’re combining your enthusiasm and talent, there’s a lot greater chance to succeed. Success requires effort and engaging in something you’re not that thrilled about and have difficulties to learn isn’t making it any easier.

If you couldn’t care less about what you’re doing, you probably aren’t willing to put any extra effort into it.

Setting clear goals

Although success can mean different things for different people, having clear goals is what all successful people have in common.

No matter what you want to achieve, having clear goals helps you to keep your focus on what’s really important. One of the best advice I’ve heard is to clarify your purpose (why you’re doing what you do) and to work hard towards it. Especially when facing obstacles, having a clear goal can help to navigate through those difficulties.

Developing growth mindset

Success rarely happens when you’re standing still, doing nothing. In order to become great at what you do, developing a growth mindset is a sure way to move forward and improve your skills.

Not being afraid

Being fearful is a sure way to block your success. Sometimes the biggest wins come with a little risk and getting too content with what you’ve achieved or only doing what you’re good at isn’t teaching you much.

Getting out of your comfort zone (once in a while) is a great way to keep you motivated to try new things and explore new opportunities. You’ll never know what might be waiting for you.

Taking care of yourself

Taking care of your physical and mental health is something that highly successful people pay extra attention to.

Strong body equals a strong mind and the ones who are able to dedicate their time and effort to exercise, are often the ones who are able to achieve other great things in life. Exercising can help you to declutter your mind and focus on things only you can affect.

Strive for life balance

What is balance? According to the dictionary, it is a state of equilibrium; mental steadiness or emotional stability; a habit of calm behavior and judgment.

I agree. For me, balance is when everything is in alignment and I feel calm and centered. It is a time when I can make decisions proactively and not reactively.

How do I know when I am out of balance? Usually when I start to feel overwhelmed and have difficulty making progress on goals.

This is definitely my cue and a huge reminder to take a step back and begin to implement some tried and true methods to get me back in balance.

Finding and maintaining a life balance is a very important habit for successful people.

Here are some of the reasons why:

• We have more energy – Because we have eliminated many of the things that aren’t really important to us that have a tendency to weigh us down.
• Things flow smoother for us – Living in balance makes it possible to be fully alive and to live by making choices in the moment. We become proactive, not reactive. We make decisions because we want to, not because we are forced to.
• We are able to be our true selves – We can focus on what it is we want to do, not what we might have to do.
• We have a solid foundation to operate from – Without a solid foundation, it is very difficult to stay focused and move forward toward your goals and dreams as well as just your everyday common tasks.
• Our intuition becomes clearer/louder – The greatest thing about being in balance I feel is that we are able to live from our heart. And when we live from our heart, we are better able to listen to our intuition and guidance and act on it. Author Sonia Choquette has a great quote, “When we disconnect from our heart, we disconnect from our life source.” That’s why it is so important to lead a balanced life.

Keep up your momentum

Momentum plays a huge part in whether you will achieve your goals, especially if it is something that took courage for you to begin in the first place.

With lost momentum, loss of focus usually follows.

You have to keep the flow going or before you know it, a few days go by and it becomes even more difficult to resume your practice. This applies to almost anything; writing a book, sticking to a diet plan, exercise or cleaning out the garage.

If you miss a couple of days, there’s a chance you lose your nerve and decide not to show up anymore. Which means it will be doubly hard to start that goal again in the future because you will have attached a seed of failure to your experience.

But on the other hand, if you keep it up, your confidence will continue to expand which will make it easier to begin future goals.

I can attest to the importance of maintaining a routine to help keep my momentum flowing. I establish a balance with daily exercise, good nutrition, proper sleep, and meditation. They have helped me maintain the energy, creativity, and desire to keep moving forward even when things get tough.

Momentum becomes much more difficult when we are scrambling about not sure which way to proceed. That’s why it’s so important to keep moving forward if we can, even if it’s a baby step.

Always do your best work

“The best preparation for good work tomorrow is to do good work today,” according to Elbert Hubbard.

I agree, always do your best work. It’s as simple as it sounds, right?

It may be simple, but it’s not always that easy. We tend to complicate things; make excuses, take shortcuts, get it done as fast as we can.

Is that our best work? What does always do your best mean to you? Does it make you feel that you need to create perfection, or meet high expectations or strive for achievement? I used to think that way too.

Doing our best isn’t about perfection, success or failure. Perfection doesn’t exist. It’s a mindset that can get in the way and rob us of any joy or fulfillment that we should be taking from a project or experience.

Here are some important reasons why it’s important to do your best work:

• It will train you to be the best version of yourself.
• It will help you develop good habits.
• It will show others that you care, are reliable and produce quality.
• It will help you build trust with others.
• It will lead to other opportunities.
• It will help you learn how to do things the right way, and there’s often more than one right way.
• You will feel pride in knowing that you gave it your all.

Daily goal tracking, constant education, and innovation, scheduling everything and having multiple accountability partners.

I write my goals out every day in the morning and every day in the evening

This helps me stay on track and work hard every day. Most people see their goals once a year or at best once a month. I see mine every morning and every evening. This helps me focus on the small tasks at hand while keeping the big picture in mind.

Constant education and innovation

I teach myself each and every day. Any free time, when I’m on the road, and even at the gym. I always have a new audiobook, podcast, or youtube video playing in my ear. There is so much knowledge out there in the world that is free for everyone to use.

I schedule every aspect of my day and follow it to a tee

If I schedule prospecting in the morning, then I don’t let anything get in the way ever. If I schedule follow-ups from 1-2 every day, then I don’t waiver.

The reason I stick to my schedule is for consistency in my business, as well as my life. Even though I often get flack for it, I go so far as to schedule in my time with my family each day. Time for my child, and time for my wife.

This allows me to spend quality time with my family. Business can’t interfere and they get 100% of my attention. This is better for them and better for business as I can focus 100% of my attention on my clients when I am working with them.

Having an accountability partner is extremely helpful for me

So much so that I tell my goals to the people most important to me. My best friend, my business partner, my wife, and my family all know what I am trying to achieve and hold me accountable. This keeps me on track as I want to make them proud and don’t want to disappoint.

As I’ve grown as a husband, father, and entrepreneur over the years, a few habits stand out to me that have helped bring success.

Be honest with yourself

I have launched several businesses over the years including e-commerce stores, marketing companies, and real estate ventures. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the excitement of a launch and spend countless hours building into your business.

However, at a certain point in time, you need to have an honest evaluation of if its working or not. The numbers don’t lie. Success has followed when I’ve had the humility at times to realize something is NOT working.

On the other hand, another habit of success I’ve found is consistency.

I’ve found this particularly to be true in my real estate business, but I believe it applies to all lines of work. It’s no big secret, but it is very difficult to put your head down and give a consistent effort day in and day out.

In my real estate business, lead generation is the most important foundation piece. So, each morning, I time block out a few hours to consistently create leads. This has led to a steady flow of business and success over time.

Some of the habits of very successful people I’ve noticed that are consistent across the board would be that they limit the amount meaningless decisions they have to make throughout the day and they take care of their body which will ultimately make sure they’re taking care of their brain.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, wears basically the same thing to work every day so that he doesn’t waste time trying to decide what to wear.

Doing this not only saves time which is especially important for someone running one of the biggest companies in the world, but it also makes sure that your not wasting your brain power on minuscule things.

On top of minimizing decisions successful people also take the time to work on their body. Going to the gym, doing yoga, staying active with sports, etc, anything to make sure that you’re staying fit and in shape.

A healthy body helps to create a healthy mind.

#1 They prioritize prioritization.

The world gives us endless ways to get distracted from what matters most. The prefrontal cortex of our brain can prioritize for us, but that part of our brain also gets exhausted by multi-tasking.

So the successful prioritize prioritization. They figure out what’s most important before they check email, social media, etc.

#2 Then they get into the productive, focused zone that psychologists call ‘flow’.

Because they’ve prioritized prioritization, they are confident in their highest priority and focus on it without distraction.

They know what science tells us: rapidly switching conscious attention (multitasking) is a great way to be stupid and miserable. They focus on one challenge at a time for 20 minutes or more to get into a happy, productive zone.

#3 They meditate regularly.

Because they know that research suggests that those who meditate are better at both self-awareness and self-control.

So they are better able to be disciplined and stick with the first two habits. They also know that meditation is great for managing stress and building our ability to focus.

Successful people know how to effectively recharge their batteries to promote their own achievement and well-being.

Research from around the globe has shown that if we make the most of our leisure time it promotes happiness, health, and enhancement, meaning we get better at our jobs.

Successful people take the time to refuel and revitalize themselves so they can be at their best.

For example, Bill Gates takes regular “Think Weeks” in a secluded cabin. Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban, puts away his phone when he’s at home, and Dentsply Sirona’s former CEO, Mark Thierer, plays guitar in a band.

They know that when they recharge themselves they are promoting their own success and the success of their organizations.

Successful people have good intuition and instincts and my intuition saved me when my gut told me to beware that the people you start with are not always the ones who grow with you.

The hardest lesson I learned when I started my company is not getting rid of weak people earlier than I did in the first few years of my business. I spent more time managing them than finding new customers.

I knew in my gut they were not up to snuff but out of loyalty to them, I let them hang around much longer than they should have. It would have been better for everyone to let them go as soon as the signs were there.

They became more insecure and threatened as we grew which was not productive for the team. As soon as I let them go the culture got stronger and the bar higher. “A” team people like to be surrounded by other stars.

It is true that you should hire slowly and fire quickly. I did not make that mistake again later on so learned it well the first time. I wish I had known it even earlier though but lesson learned for sure!

Other things that make a person successful are habits such as:

• Resilient — ability to keep bouncing back and pivoting when you hit a wall or are told no by investors, customers, etc.
• Pleasantly persistent — having the vision, energy, drive, and passion to keep going during the tough times.
• Ability to be productive and decisive under uncertainty — risk-averse people who need lots of data to move forward are not well suited for entrepreneurship, you have to be comfortable course correcting as you go and learn more.

Entrepreneurs and business owners, in particular, tend to beat to their own drum, they do not like following the rules but that is what makes them special and see opportunities others miss.

One of the most common habits of successful people is staying organized.

This includes things like writing down deadlines, keeping track of meetings, and having specific places for certain files and folders.

Staying organized helps you keep track of what you need to do so that things don’t slip through the cracks, and making sure to tackle all of the projects you have on your plate is the best way to get ahead in life.

As important as it is to get all of your tasks done, a habit of successful people is that they know they are not superheroes.

They don’t expect to be able to do every little thing that comes their way, so they delegate some jobs to other people and are selective about what projects they take on themselves. This allows them to dedicate the time they have to do the projects they have both thoroughly and well.

Embrace Today.

While we all want to advance in our perspective live: work, family life, skills, etc; it is important for us to embrace our current position if we have any hope of future achievement.

From my perspective, I am currently just a web host and digital tv producer. I have so much more I want to do and positions I hope to attain, but to many others in the industry, I have their dream job.

At just 21 years of age, I have a major producer position in the countries third largest television market, own several media brands, and consult with top industry talent on a weekly basis. Even though it isn’t where I want to be, I still need to embrace what I have today to be successful tomorrow.

A lot of my clients ask me how I am able to have so many different projects going on at one time and the simple answer is because I just do it.

Many of us are so fearful of failure that they never reach our full potential. There is always going to be someone ahead of you that you want to be and 100 other people behind wanting to be you. If you’re not growing you are falling behind!

There is an infinite number of ways to achieve ‘success’, as there is no one definition.

If a person finds themselves unsuccessful in their current position, they can easily reframe their definition of success to instantly change their circumstances.

One person could say, I’m just this or that, but the question to ask is; are you grateful for where you are now and are you growing into what you want to be.

The two parts to how to take calculated risks:

Part I: First, jump into opportunities. Get out of your comfort zone.

If you are an engineer, look for field opportunities and engage with customers, or switch to finance or business development or marketing. Instead of asking ‘can this be done?’, you should ask ‘how can this be done?’

Focus on the ‘ok, it may not seem possible, but what is necessary? What resources, time, or money do you need?’.

Part II: On the same path, look for landmines.

When you think of a project, or the team, or the timing, look for landmines that will get you, kill the project or cause a delay. Put a lot of time into risk management and look for places that are going to fail, then create means to mitigate it.

The two key points to being a little unconventional:

There is a lot we can say for unconventional approaches. Paradigms are a very powerful thing. It can trap you in an established pattern of thinking, and it’s very limiting. Think outside of your paradigm.

On that point, surround yourself with multi-position players. Put value on people who can do multiple roles. For example, meet people who are both artists and scientists, mathematicians and marketers, writers and engineers.

#1 Always make someone feel better, not worse.

In so many interactions, even if someone has messed up, there’s a way to be respectful and understanding, even encouraging.

For instance, if someone makes a mistake, such as a typo in a headline, there’s no use in grinding them into the earth over it. It serves no purpose. She is already feeling bad enough already.

Instead, I would rather call attention to the mistake and remind her to proofread a little more closely going forward. I promise she gets the message.

#2 Keep a sense of humor.

Even if it’s at your own expense. This is so important. Nothing we’re doing—unless you’re an ER doctor or the head of a company that is actually finding a cure for cancer—is that important that we can’t take a moment to acknowledge absurdities and ironies.

I have had to make many game-time decisions on what to do regarding funding and who to give it to. I’ve had to weigh the potential positives and see if there was any chance I would make the money back. Often, this requires a lot of consideration.

One of the keys to my success has been to constantly challenge my own perspective and viewpoint, at times playing devil’s advocate with myself, simply to eject myself out of my comfort zone.

I don’t like to feel comfortable because then I feel like I’m not growing or advancing. If there’s something to conquer or something new to understand, I orient myself on that path and pursue it.

Challenging my personal ideas and ideals is always a worthwhile endeavor, and it has led to a lot of success in my thought processes and actions.

For example, when I was contemplating starting my funding company, I forced myself to consider the possibilities of what would happen if I lost all the money from my clients.

What would happen to my company if I loaned out money and worked to win and still didn’t succeed? What would the result be if I ran out of cash to lend?

I also made myself answer the “Why?” that is always present. Why was I helping clients like this? I spent a lot of time arguing with myself and countering my own points until I reached an understanding – I felt I was providing a useful service, and legal funding is another form of assistance that I could offer that is fairly unique.

I felt like I was contributing in some way, but I didn’t feel that way initially – I reached that conclusion after months of deliberation and uncertainty.

Many other people would have stopped the instant those nagging doubts started to creep up, but I have learned that embracing the doubts, negative thoughts, and intrusive ideas will lead to much more success than simply ignoring them.

This brings me to my final point. One of the characteristics that I have noticed in all successful people is that they won’t let setbacks stop them. Whenever they face any obstacles on their way to success, they won’t get discouraged, they will keep pushing.

Routines have been incredibly empowering for me, and one of my favorites involves writing in my journal. I apply a very specific pattern — each night I write down 3 things I am grateful for, 3 areas for improvement, and 3 successes from that same day.

Studies have consistently shown that writing down your goals makes them considerably more achievable. I do that as well, and this daily check-in with myself relaxes me and assures alignment with my larger objectives.

We all tend to make more progress than we appreciate, and often any feeling of anxiety is triggered by a sense of misalignment with one’s purpose.

Demonstrated gratitude, well-reasoned self-criticism, and acknowledgment of daily wins provide regular clarity on the road to ongoing success.

I am often asked how my plumbing company has seen notable revenue increase in the 2 short years we have been in business. Among other things, one of the top reasons I share is because I “mind my money.”

Successful people habitually check in with their finances. Whether that means logging into their bank account, getting a KPI from an employee, having an accountant send updated reports, or editing a budget on a sheet of paper, successful people keep an eye on the financial state of their affairs.

They pay attention to their money, their expenses, their income, their investments, and know the overall story it is telling them.

They then use this information to make key decisions. That could mean anything from deciding to cook dinner at home to bringing on a new employee.

Successful people are consistently in the know with all aspects of their finances and that which effects it.

They do not fear or ignore their finances and therefore money does not often elude them.

One great habit of successful is to plan your day out ahead of time.

If you give yourself clear goals to accomplish for the next day you are more likely to have a successful day.

Another habit of successful is to read as much as you can.

Books offer so much knowledge and can really make a difference in your life in the long run.

Finally, don’t let yourself spend too much time worrying about what other people are doing. Comparing your journey to other people’s journies to success can ultimately backfire.

You can end up feeling inadequate and unworthy. Everyone’s path to success is different so you shouldn’t get caught up in the comparison trap.

The most important thing for success is discipline.

I am self-employed and have an office in my home. That means that there are more opportunities for wasting time and more chances for interruptions than in a regular business office.

Since I’m my own boss, I could get to my desk late and no one would notice or wonder where I was. But I’ve disciplined myself to be there by 9:00 am, often earlier.

I could take two-hour lunches or even not return to my desk after lunch. But I don’t do that either. In fact, most of my lunches in my kitchen don’t even last an hour.

Again, discipline. I do take my dog out for a long walk around 3:00 p.m. but that is my least productive time of the day. So, she not only gets her walk but I, in addition to getting some exercise, come back revived and ready for a couple more hours of work.

And, speaking of work, because I have authored 26 books, someone asked me recently if I ever sleep. I do. In fact, I get my much needed seven to eight hours a night.

So, how am so productive and so successful? By focusing on my tasks, not wasting time, and discipline.

When I started my law firm, I adopted a “5-Point Day” system.

I thought about what tasks I would ideally complete each day and assigned points for each task, based on how critical each task is.

For example, securing a new client may get me 2 points. A paid consultation, .5 points. I even assigned value to important personal tasks like going to the gym or getting a full 8 hours of sleep.

My goal is to earn 5 points each day. For me, it’s a way to hold myself accountable daily since I do not have a boss to answer to.

For me, the biggest success habit is goal- getting.

While goal-setting involves visualizing a better future, setting a big goal and creating a plan, goal-getting requires you also have the self-confidence and commitment to take action towards your goal every day.

As Tony Robbins says, success doesn’t lie in your moments of brilliance but in your daily habits, so it’s crucial to distill your goals into daily actions and a series of motivating milestones.

As a busy Mompreneur with big ambitions to inspire and support new Female Entrepreneurs, I had had to learn how to not only set goals but take consistent action towards them in a way that realistically fits around my other commitments.

I’ve learned that these habits have had the biggest impact on my success:

• Taking time each evening to plan the next day so I start the day with intention and can maintain greater focus;
• Engage in self-development daily and surround myself with people who inspire me to raise my game;
• Practicing daily gratitude; and
• Keeping everything in balance. It’s no good to go full pelt towards your goals at the expense your health, growth and wellbeing. Sometimes self-care can feel like a distraction, but I learned the hard way that it’s 100% worth the investment since health and entrepreneurship go hand-in-hand.

Staying top-of-mind.

I regularly post updates (primarily to LinkedIn and Twitter, but also to personal profiles like Facebook and Instagram) to keep on my professional networks’ radar.

Due to the nature of algorithms and significant velocity of posts on social media, it’s easy for your updates to get lost in the mayhem.

As a result, it’s essential to maintain discipline and create a consistent cadence of updates. I utilize Hootsuite to maintain a steady stream of updates across my primary profiles.

The same applies for email. At Anvil, we send a weekly news update to clients and a monthly newsletter to a broader audience, both are appreciated and generate relatively high engagement.

Developing a personal growth plan is a key habit of success.

Growth doesn’t happen automatically. You have to be intentional about the education, skills, and experience you want to attain so you are prepared and equipped to deal with the challenges that life inevitably presents.

Investing in yourself is another key habit of success.

One of my favorite and most useful activities is called DIME (Daily Investment in ME). It is the commitment to spend 30-60 minutes a day engaged in brainstorming, learning a new skill or ex plowing ways to improve your job, a product or process.

Creating a personal growth plan and a DIME a day will set you apart from others and put you in a better position to be successful.

One of the best habits of successful people is to set high goals, take massive action, and never reduce your goals.

After you have set your massive goals, write them down twice per day. Write them down as part of your morning routine and write them down again before you go to bed.

Remember, there is no shortage of success. Every person has the ability to be successful!

My morning routine has become my saving grace, especially during busy season (like the holidays). I wake up and immediately journal my dreams from the night before, any thoughts that pop into my head when I wake up and make a list of what I’m grateful for.

This helps to really frame my day by getting rid of any excess stressors that may have crept in overnight, and also looking at the things that I do have rather than stressing over things that may not have gone my way.

I then meditate (I like the Meditation Minis podcast. I just started meditating so the guidance helps), and read for about 10 minutes.

Every weekend, I write in my passion planner all of my appointments for the week, as well as weekly personal and professional goals.

I also always try to fit exercise into my schedule. Whether it’s a run in the morning or a Buti Yoga class late at night, I feel like a different person without it.

I think it’s very important to make time for myself, even if it’s 20 minutes of journaling and meditation, no matter how busy I am. If I don’t take care of myself, how will I confidently approach everything I need to get done?

One of the things that I noticed about successful people that most people don’t realize is that they tend to view food as a fuel source and not pleasure.

They don’t get weird about it or anything, but they structure their diet to give them the most energy and focus for the day.

While most people don’t give their food a second thought, successful people will make sure they’re getting tons of nutrients, healthy fats to power their brain, and so on.

I only realized this a few years ago and it prompted me to change my own diet for the better. When I did, I saw an immediate difference.

Successful people surround themselves with individuals who are better than them.

They recognize their own weaknesses and make sure to have someone on their side that complements it with their own strength. Then, they enable those people to be leaders in their area, and grow and invest in them to then go on and do the same, finding their own success.

They show up.

One of the biggest impacts in my career is that I simply showed up when people needed volunteers. They show up early. I’ve really never come to work at 8:30. Most of my career I’ve shown up at 7:30. That extra hour defines my career.

They ask “How can I help?” and mean it.

Exercise – Physical activity, in general, provides a plethora of benefits, but it can be even more beneficial when working towards success.

Exercise releases endorphins, which in turn decreases stress and lethargy, increases happiness and productivity and improves clarity of thought.

In other words, working out makes us better humans. When we look better, feel better, and think better, we become the best versions of ourselves. In my opinion, the best way to be successful is through consistent exercise.

Start single-tasking

You may read about proficient multi-taskers, but for every efficient multi-tasker, you’ll find a hundred inefficient ones. The human brain is designed to focus on one task at a time.

When you have a task to complete turn off your email notifications, switch your phone to silent, and put on noise-canceling headphones if you’re in a busy office. Once I started to focus exclusively on completing one single task at a time, my productivity soared.

By far one of the best success habits I have developed as an entrepreneur is making my to-do list the night before the next workday.

In addition, I visualize the day going very smoothly exactly how I have sketched out on my checklist. This has had so many profound effects not only my company but for my well being.

Being able to come into the office and know exactly what needs to be done, where I need to start, what time I have calls and what my schedule looks like allowed my productivity and accomplishments over time to soar.

It is a success habit that I will be continuing for the foreseeable future and would recommend to anyone looking to accomplish their goals.

Habits of successful people are more than just waking up early and scheduling time effectively, it’s a frame of mind.

Many successful people arm themselves with a positive mind frame each day and stay present in their thoughts. They manifest the goals they have set out for that day, month, or even year by not allowing themselves to be sidetracked by wasteful negative thoughts or misconceptions as to their limitations in life.

Know your limits

I’m a recovering side-hustler and spent years overextending myself, even since high school and college with a full class schedule plus clubs and extracurriculars.

In adulthood, I tried various MLM sales as well as building a successful freelance writing and career coaching business. But the more I went full steam ahead, the more I was burning out.

I had to make a decision to focus only on the things that mattered, which meant I needed to decide what mattered.

Now: I write, I perform, and I go to my day job. I also juggle relationships and social plans and trying to get enough sleep and vegetables.

I don’t always nail it, but I’m learning my limits. I’ve put the freelance businesses on hold while I make sure I take care of me and my immediate career goals, so I’m not up all night on deadlines.

I only accept one social invite per week because that’s all I know I can give to others from my time. Once a month, I make sure to keep one weekend totally free of social activities. My time and my mental health are more important than a few more dollars in my bank account.