Habits of the Successful Entrepreneurs
Basic routines that we overlook
Nowadays entrepreneurs are stigmatizing sleep and proper eating habits. We talk about hustling and getting in the zone… but how is this all achieved? And more important, when you achieve it, how do you sustain it?
Be effective and not efficient
Many times idleness is actually better than just doing stuff as it saves you the one truly important resource you have at your disposal and that is attention.
Attention is a finite resource. Sadly more and more people focus on how efficient they are. There is one thing that we humans are really bad at and that is efficiency. Very few of us can be efficient for a long period of time.
You hear people talk about hustle and getting things done and it can trick you into going guns blazing. Many people fall for that trap and don’t focus on what is truly important. Use Pareto’s law to escape that trap. Tim Ferriss writes a lot on his blog about how to use the 80/20 rule to produce incredible effectiveness.
Focus on being effective and do one thing, but do the right one. Then do it well. Then go for efficiency. Repeat!
- Pareto’s law (the 80/20 rule)
- Video of Tim Ferriss on how to use the 80/20 rule
Get enough sleep and nutrition
Sleeping enough and going to lunch will do wonders for you in the long run. These two simple things will force another wonderful habit — to prioritize well.
Your health is a limited resource. We often don’t think about our brain as something that is affected by external factors as food, sleep and movement. Sleep deprivation affects our brains and we make bad decisions. Those bad decisions are hard to spot when you are tired, because let’s be honest, it’s not like when you use a hammer to craft metal tools and see with your eyes that you are making a mess, right?
Market conditions, human behaviour and all of that other stuff surrounding us makes it harder for us to blame ourselves for bad decisions. Sleep fixes that issue big time!
Food on the other hand helps us do it with less sleep… but only the right kind of food. If you have starved yourself or eaten a bunch of junk food, you know you can’t think as well as you used to. So eating the right kind of food is essential for making as many good decisions as possible.
If there is someone I can recommend for this, it is Dave Asprey. He has a wonderful blog that you should check out and see how you can optimize your sleep and food habits.
Notice how much sleep you need and try to make those hours consistent every night. Then make a regiment for when you turn your brain off and enjoy quality food.
- Dave Asprey on sleep: These 3 Apps Will Help You Sleep Better
- The Top 6 Ways to Improve Your Sleep Using Food
- The Complete Illustrated One Page Bulletproof® Diet
Don’t work where you live
I had this one all wrong for a long time. It is Victor Penev, that first introduced this thought into my head. Society has made us wish we can work at home, but we are not meant to work where we live. At least not for a long time. You know why? Because we procrastinate!
When you work where you live and don’t know how to separate the two, you have 24 hours available to get the job done. Guess what happens next? You either use the whole time to fill it with work until you burn out or you get comfortable and procrastinate all the work, because you are always at work/home.
If you decide to work at home, choose one of the rooms and turn it into an office. Use that room only for work and don’t use other space for work. If someone calls outside of the work hours you’ve set up, say you are not at work. This will trigger the needed separation in your brain.
Schedule work hours and be prepared to deny work outside of them. Emergencies are OK as long as you don’t have them every week.
- Scott Young on procrastination and getting things done — Simple Work
Surround yourself with like-minded people
This one can make you rise or fall. Diversifying your circle of people is vital, but surrounding yourself with like minded people is of equal importance, if not more important. Do not underestimate the effects of friends that you think are disorganized or unambitious.
Like minded people will get your priorities straight and keep a positive attitude, even when things are going bad. One thing to make sure of, is to have those people be as truthful as possible. You don’t need people skipping the truth to make you feel better about yourself. Also make sure people are contributing to your development with facts that are relevant. You will meet lots of people telling you facts that might seem cool or relevant, but aren’t.
Surround yourself with people who will build you up, not tear you down. A lot of people have said it better.
“You are the average of the five people you associate with most.”
Choose those 5 people very carefully, they will build you up or tear you down.
Strive to surround yourself with people that will always tell you the truth, but also understand you. Everyone can criticise, but not many can actually contribute constructively.
- Inspiring story from Scott Dinsmore — Rule #1: Surround Yourself with Passionate People
Those 4 things are the basic challenges most entrepreneurs face. Not many talk about it but all do face them at one point or another. Some fix them and others just suffer them. Remember those 4 key things on your path to become a successful entrepreneur and guard them at all costs.
Be effective and not efficient — Focus on being effective and do one thing but do the right one. Then do it well. Then go for efficiency. Repeat!
Get enough sleep and nutrition — Notice how much sleep you need and try to make those hours consistent every night. Then make a regiment for when you turn your brain off and enjoy quality food.
Don’t work where you live — Schedule work hours and be prepared to deny work outside of them. Emergencies are OK as long as you don’t have them every week.
Surround yourself with like-minded people — Strive to surround yourself with people that will always tell you the truth, but also understand you. Everyone can criticise, but not many can actually contribute constructively.
—
The original and updated writing is here — UpliftedSelf — Challenging Your Common Sense for Success
