5 Habits of Successful Professionals That You Should Also Adopt

The wheel has already been invented. We can simply observe the daily life of successful individuals to realize that there is a set of good practices which characterize the stereotype of the successful professional.

That's what Joel Brown, founder of Addicted2Success.com, decided to do. He interviewed hundreds of recognized successful professionals. This American entrepreneur concluded that 90% of respondents had some daily habits in common, which have contributed to their professional success. We can summarize below these good practices in five habits.

#1. Write your "To Do List" the day before

This tool is essential for your organisation, helping you to stay focused on what is important and urgent. The ideal method is to sort the list by priority, updating it at the end of the day, crossing out what has already been accomplished. This is one of the major habits that guarantee the efficiency and productivity of our tasks. The list should always be with us, on a tablet or on a handwritten notebook.

# 2. Exercise your mind, body and soul.

Around 90% of successful people practice some physical or concentration activity on a daily basis. One of the most popular habits is meditation and the most common practices mentioned by interviewees were the following:

05-10 minutes - breathing exercises
15-20 minutes - Meditation
20-30 minutes - Healthy eating
20-60 minutes - Physical exercise

#3. Set realistic goals and visualize them.

We should always remember the famous words of Peter Drucker, "you can only manage what you can measure." Write down your goals, plans or vision of success on a regular basis and share this information with your team.
Every morning, establish your intentions for the rest of the day. When you set down your goals, remember to make them measurable, establish a periodicity for measuring them and promote commitments with your team, always celebrating with it the successes achieved.

#4. Practice gratitude and invest in self-knowledge.

One of the aspects that contribute to the happiness of successful people is their sense of gratitude and recognition of the positive things in their lives. Save 15 to 30 minutes of your day to reflect, be thankful and enjoy small pleasures: a walk at lunch time, a coffee with a friend who you haven’t see for some time or playing with your children in the evening.

Another habit common to successful professional is to promote self-knowledge, whether through online courses, reading books or listening to podcasts. If you can read 20 pages a day or listen to a one-hour podcast, this is equivalent to reading about 40 books a year.

#5. Develop workshops with partners and invest in networking.

One of the practices of most successful people is scheduling weekly meetings with mentors or business partners to share experiences, achievements, difficulties and discuss new project strategies.
Your reputation is everything. Successful professionals constantly create the habit of building new bridges and forging collaborations by participating in networking events, where they make their business known, and by working occasionally in coworking spaces. These spaces are increasingly used by managers and successful entrepreneurs, not only for the flexibility and low cost associated with them, but also for the opportunities that they have to connect with professionals from several areas in a collaborative environment, where they can establish partnerships and create strong relationships resulting in added value both in the personal and professional field.

One of the greatest challenges we have these days is to set routines and habits that improve our productivity, well-being and personal fulfilment. It's time to put them into practice.

Carlos Gonçalves
CEO Avila Business Centers & Avila Coworking
Author of the Book "Out of The Office - Love Where you Work".