7 Powerful Habits of Successful People | High Performers’ Secrets Unveiled17 min read
Uncover the daily habits of successful people, high performers, and entrepreneurs that allow them to thrive in business and life.
Ever find yourself wondering, despite all the hard work, why the next level in your business seems just out of reach? You’re not alone. As an entrepreneur I’ve been there – staring at my screen, juggling all the balls, and feeling that despite everything I’m doing, something’s still missing…
I’ve been fortunate enough to coach and collaborate with some of the most inspiring entrepreneurs and high performers out there. Through these experiences, I’ve had a unique glimpse behind the curtain of not just successful businesses, but the extraordinary people driving them.
What I’ve learned has fundamentally shifted my understanding of success – it’s far more than the latest business strategy or marketing hack, it’s about the foundational habits of successful people.
I believe success is deeply personal – there is no one size fits all definition of success.
Similarly, when it comes to business, there isn’t a singular, groundbreaking strategy that will get you the gold, but rather a collection of habits of successful people that shapes the way they lead, innovate, and grow their businesses.
It’s about the CEO behind the scenes as much as it is about the strategy you execute: how you show up in the world sets the foundation for your achievements.
Through the lens of my own entrepreneurship journey and the lessons I’ve learned from those at the top of their game, I want to share with you the 7 powerful habits of successful people that can transform not just your business, but your entire approach to success and fulfillment.
This article is for the entrepreneur who’s ready to break through to that elusive “next level” and is searching for the real game-changer that will get you there: a deeper understanding of what really drives results.
7 Powerful Habits of Successful People | High Performers’ Secrets Unveiled
High Performers Set Priorities for Themselves & Their Teams
Have you ever sat down at your desk, your coffee still warm, and felt completely lost as to where you should focus that day? You know you have big goals and lots to do, but you don’t know where to start, so you end up in your email inbox…
On days when I skip setting clear, actionable priorities for the day, the hours slip through my fingers like sand. I resort to checking off the small, easy tasks off my list, replying to emails, and fielding team questions, while the big-picture projects (the ones truly capable of growing my business), get pushed out further and further.
Working without clear priorities leads to days that feel ‘busy’ but are devoid of meaningful progress!
Successful entrepreneurs are goal oriented. They’re not just setting annual goals but are taking it to the next level by drilling down into what needs to happen monthly, weekly, and daily to turn those goals into reality. They know at any given moment what their focus should be, and they make sure that every action aligns with their big picture goals!
If you’re not starting your day with your goals and spending at least 50% of your time working ON the business, you’re inadvertently sabotaging your success.
The truth is, one of the pivotal habits of successful people is their unwavering commitment to prioritization.
Intentionally deciding my priorities for each day, week, and month has been a cornerstone of my strategy and success. It has also led me to create the Peak Performance Business Bundle: a toolkit that’s helped me, and countless others I’ve worked with, stay laser-focused on what matters most and scale businesses without burnout.
If you’re ready to cut through the noise, get clear on your priorities, and apply the powerful habits of successful people who make every hour count, you can get the Peak Performance Business Bundle here.
Time Management is a Key Habit of Successful People
Understanding what needs tackling is just the beginning; the real magic lies in finding the time to actually get it done. This is what separates the truly successful from the rest.
The key? Time blocking: carving out specific, uninterrupted periods in your calendar for the work that actually moves the needle forward.
Combine this with the Pomodoro technique—setting a timer to focus on just one task for a short burst—and you’re not just working hard, you’re working smart.
Each task you complete isn’t just another item checked off; it’s a deliberate step towards your biggest goals.
Want to take it up a notch? Try Toggl. I use Toggl every day to track my work hours. When Friday rolls around, I reflect on my week: Was my time spent on what truly matters? Toggl shows me where my time went so that I can make sure it aligns with my goals. If you’re not using it yet, I can’t recommend it enough (and I don’t get paid to say this!)
PS The Peak Performance Business Bundle includes a Weekly Close-Out workbook that guides you in reflecting on your week so that you can get 1% more productive each Friday and see bigger results in your business this year!
Letting the day slip away to unplanned tasks is a trap successful people avoid at all costs. They’re clear about their objectives and fiercely protect their time.
If you aren’t sure where you need to focus in your business for the upcoming year take our personalized quiz here!
High Performers Organize Their Environments
High performers know something crucial: the state of our surroundings mirrors our mental state.
Ever noticed how a cluttered office seems to reflect a cluttered mind? Keeping an organized space is more than just tidiness—it’s a foundational habit of successful people, directly influencing their clarity and focus.
Think about it. If your desk is buried under sticky notes, papers everywhere, and your pen is always mysteriously missing, you’re not just losing time hunting for things; your mental sharpness is taking a hit too.
I’ve made it a ritual to dedicate the last five minutes of my week to tidying my office. Tossing out used sticky notes, returning pens to their rightful place, and giving my desk a good wipe down not only clears my physical space but sets a fresh, focused tone for Monday morning.
But organization doesn’t end with your office, it applies to your email inbox too.
Related Post: 10 Ways To Organize Your Life
God bless the people that can handle having 16,000 unread emails in their inbox – I am not one of them. 😂 That’s why, each week, I make it a point to achieve inbox zero—deleting spam, quickly replying to urgent messages, and filing the rest. This 10-15 minute routine is my secret to starting the week with a clear head.
And don’t get me started on ideas!
I used to be the queen of sticky notes, writing every good idea on a sticky note, and then having so many laying around that I felt completely overwhelmed. (I’d put them all in a ziploc bag to “come back to later”, and then never touch them again! I cringe at the number of great ideas that are laying dormant in a bag in the back of my closet.)
Learning from this, I started consolidating my ideas in one place. Now, I spend 10 mins each week gathering thoughts from sticky notes, notebooks, and my phone, organizing them into a dedicated ‘improvement ideas’ board in my ClickUp task management software. It’s a game-changer. (And at the end of each quarter, I review these ideas, selecting the gems to incorporate into my 90-day plan).
So, if you’re feeling overwhelmed and scattered, and wondering what habits of successful people might help you stay focused, start by organizing your physical space, your inbox, and your thoughts.
Set up an environment that reflects the success you aspire to create.
Getting Outside Perspectives is a Key Habit of Successful People
We’re all human and we all have our blind spots.
Whether you’re the self-reliant solopreneur, who believes that asking for help is akin to admitting defeat – you think you can be your own accountant, web designer, and HR department, all while running your core business…
or you’re the owner who jumps on every new trend, regardless of its relevance to their business – you’re so busy chasing the ‘next big thing’ that you overlook the value of consistency.
Sometimes you just can’t see the things that are holding you back or slowing you down in business. It’s like trying to read the label from inside the bottle—you’re too close to the situation to see it clearly. That’s where a business coach comes in, offering the perspective you need.
Related Post: What is a life and business coach?
They’re the ones who tell you that, no, adding more emojis to your email blasts isn’t a substitute for a solid growth strategy, or that your revolutionary app idea might just be a glorified to-do list.
With a business coach, those moments of ‘Oh, I never thought of it that way!’ become a regular occurrence, steering you clear of the entrepreneurial potholes that keep your journey feeling slow and bumpy.
As an entrepreneur coach, I help ambitious & growth focused entrepreneurs achieve their next level by getting extremely clear on their goals and growth strategy, and holding them accountable to taking the bold action that will allow them to scale their businesses without burnout.
If you’re interested in exploring what it would look like to work together, book a discovery call to find out if I’d be the right fit to help you grow your business to the next level.
Peer groups and masterminds also serve as powerful platforms for gaining diverse perspectives. These settings offer a collective wisdom that can address the unique challenges you face in your business.
Networking – talking to other entrepreneurs and sharing ideas, insights, and challenges – is another chance to step outside your bubble and see your business through a different lens, often sparking innovative solutions to longstanding challenges.
Perhaps the easiest of all habits of successful people is reading. Immersing yourself in the experiences and advice of those at the pinnacle of their fields allows you to learn from their journey, avoiding common pitfalls and applying breakthrough strategies to your own business.
Regardless of the path you choose, regularly seeking external perspectives on your business is crucial. It’s a practice that not only fosters personal growth and business innovation but also aligns with the habits of highly successful people.
Incorporating these strategies into your routine can transform the way you approach challenges, enabling a shift from reactive problem-solving to proactive growth planning.
High Performers Prioritize Their Lives Outside Of Business
Most entrepreneurs think they have to work longer and harder to succeed.
Hustle culture is so pervasive it has us believing that sleep is a luxury and burnout is a badge of honor. In fact, 1 in 3 entrepreneurs admit to being constantly burnt out.
But here’s the twist—truly successful entrepreneurs know the grind includes time off the grid. Take Richard Branson, for instance, who famously said, “Fun is one of the most important — and underrated — ingredients in any successful venture.”
And research backs this up, showing that happiness is a prerequisite to success. You cannot build a sustainable business on burnout, and high performers have learned that (often the hard way).
If you want to not only hit your next level of success, but actually enjoy the path to getting there, it’s critical that you prioritize your hobbies and your relationships as strictly as you prioritize your business.
Pencil in those vacations like they’re investor meetings. Guard your personal time like it’s the last slice of pizza.
And remember, your business might be a significant part of your life, but it shouldn’t be the whole pie.
Successful People Have a Habit of Being Health Conscious
Your health is the start-up that cannot afford to fail! You are the heart and soul of your business – this is true at every level but especially if you’re under the $5M mark!
Successful people have a secret weapon that’s not so secret—prioritizing health.
For some, it takes a big scare to start caring more about their health. Like Arianna Huffington, who was working so hard that one day she just collapsed from being so tired. She hit her head and realized she needed to change how she lived. Now she’s all about getting enough sleep and taking care of herself.
But you don’t have to wait for your body to cave before you start treating it like it’s your one and only body.
The pillars of health are surprisingly basic, yet brilliantly effective:
- Sleep: Scientists recommend 7-9 hours, but who are we kidding? I like 10 hours, and if I get less than 8 I’m basically a zombie in daylight.
- Food: Yes, vegetables again. Turns out, you can’t fuel a marathon with espresso shots and takeout.
- Exercise: Find what you love. Maybe it’s lifting weights to the beat of your favorite pump up playlist or doing yoga in your pajamas when you wake up. Whatever floats your boat, make it a non-negotiable 30-minute daily ritual not just to live a long life, but also to benefit from the mental clarity that exercise brings.
- Mental Breaks: Chasing the end of your to-do list is a hamster wheel. Break the cycle with 5-10 minute breathers every 50 minutes of deep work. You’ll be surprised how much more you can achieve when you’re not just trying to push through “one more thing.”
Let’s not wait for a dire prognosis to realize health isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity.
Successful people don’t just work hard; they’re savvy enough to know that being health-conscious is non-negotiable.
High Performers Know Themselves
It’s easy to assume someone else is more experienced, has more knowledge, and possesses the secret answer or hush-hush strategy for success that you aren’t aware of… but perhaps the most important thing successful people do is really, truly know themselves and how they perform best.
Successful people are crystal clear on their superpowers or unique abilities.
They focus their time and energy on what they do best, delegating the rest to a kick-ass side-kick whose superpower is that specific thing. They don’t pretend they can do it all – they build a team that supports them along the way.
Successful people know how their brain does its best work.
Related Post: How To Measure Your Progress On Your Personal Growth Goals
Got a love affair with your journal? That might be because the pen helps you process the world. Or maybe you’re the type to talk a problem into submission, making brainstorming sessions or a trusty coach worth their weight in gold.
Figure out how your brain best processes information and use those tools and resources to support you!
Successful people also know what motivates them.
Whether they feel an increased drive to do things when there’s competition involved, or respond best to gamification, successful entrepreneurs know how to get themselves motivated and use those techniques to further their successes.
Oh, and the 9 to 5 grind? Please. Successful entrepreneurs listen to their own internal clock, not the one on the wall.
If their brain kicks into high gear at the crack of dawn before the kids wake up or finds its groove around midnight, that’s when they roll up their sleeves.
It’s not about clocking in; it’s about syncing up with your natural energy peaks for maximum productivity.
So, while it’s fine to pick up tips from others, the ultimate pro move is mastering the art of being unapologetically you. Understanding your own wiring isn’t just a hack, it’s the path to creating ease and sustainable success in your business.
Morning Routines are a Key Habit of Successful People
High achievers treat their mornings like a sacred ritual with a magical concoction of habits that sparks their creativity and turbocharges their energy levels.
A morning routine can include anything from a brisk jog that wakes up your body better than an alarm clock, to journaling that clears the mental fog, to diving into a cold plunge pool that’s so invigorating it should be illegal. Or maybe it’s sipping on a bulletproof coffee, concocting a potion that convinces your brain it’s go-time.
We’ve got an entire article on designing & implementing your perfect morning routine here, so take a read if your morning routine isn’t doing it for you.
Nailing down the sequence of activities that catapults you into the right mindset isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a cornerstone habit of successful people.
Starting your day with purpose is the foundation to winning in business and life.
It’s Not Rocket Science | Why aren’t you doing these things?
With all these incredible habits of successful people available at your fingertips, the real question I want to ask is why you haven’t incorporated them yet? I’m sure you’ve heard of prioritizing your health, and taking time off, and having clear goals.
Success isn’t rocket science… but the truth is that habit change is hard!
We are creatures of habit and we’d prefer to stay right inside our comfort zones — hitting snooze, checking email first thing in the morning, and avoiding the big scary task you’ve been procrastinating in your business.
That’s why having a high performance coach in your corner is the best decision you can make for yourself when you’re ready to level up your performance in life and business.
As an entrepreneur coach, I help my clients scale businesses without burnout by getting strategic in their business and implementing high performance habits that allow them to get more done in less time.
If you’re ready to hit your most ambitious business goals this year, book a discovery call to explore how working together will help you achieve greater success and experience more fulfillment in the process.
Now, it’s time to elevate your performance in life and business with these 7 habits of successful people!
Drop a comment below and let us know which one habit will you focus on implementing this month?
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