Experience they say is the best teacher, however, the experience might not always be yours, meaning you can learn from the experience of others. If you want to be successful, you need to learn for successful people, copy their habits, and apply it to your financial life.

Some of the habit of successful people will be revealed in this article so that you can learn from them and become financially successful yourself.

• What are the Habits of Financially Successful People?
• What Habits Make you Successful?
• What are the 6 High Performance Habits?
• How can you Cultivate High-Performance Habits
• Who is the Most Successful Person?

What are the Habits of Financially Successful People?

Financially successful people have several habits in common — and they might not be exactly what you’d guess. These are the 8 habits for financial success that anyone can learn and act on.

1. They spend less than they earn

Spending less than they earn allows them to prepare well for emergencies, catastrophic events, and the inevitable unexpected expenses that come up in life. Do the same and you’ll be in pretty good shape right there.

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That’s because spending less than you earn keeps you from living paycheck to paycheck (or gets you out of that cycle if you’re in it right now.) It lets you take advantage of opportunities, and prevents unexpected expenses from derailing your plans.

2. They think about how much things cost

The vast majority of the well-off people I know use coupons, check prices, and try to get good deals.

They’re not worried that other people will think they “look poor” or think they can’t afford stuff. (They KNOW they can afford things and see no point in wasting money.) They’re concerned with managing their money wisely, and not spending more than they need to.

They don’t, however, use coupons or buy things just because “it’s a good deal”. They only use coupons for things they would be buying anyway.

3. They’re generous with their time, advice, and money

They donate to selected charities and causes, they give thoughtful gifts to their family and friends, they’re there when you need them, and they’re open to giving advice or telling about their experiences if asked.

Paying attention to their spending and to costs allows them to be more generous.

4. They’re not afraid to say no

Generosity does not equal being a pushover or having a lack of foresight. The word “no” is a great addition to any vocabulary, especially when people make requests that are unreasonable or that are not feasible.

“No, I’m sorry, that’s not something I can do right now” works great.

5. They value hard work, both in themselves and in others

Come to think of it, the well-off people I know are mainly small business owners — or they were before they retired. (And if you’ve ever owned a small business, you know just how much hard work is involved.)

They are hands-on people. They make things happen, and don’t wait around for wealth to magically appear. When they fail, they get up and try again. And again and again.

6. They don’t buy things they can’t pay for in full, right now

(Some of them may still use credit to earn rewards — but only after they have the money to pay for their purchase.) This goes along with the ability to say no.

When they want something, they don’t use “creative financing” or finagle some way to buy it now anyway. (Yes, this means many of them are debt-free.)

Instead, they wait until they have the money or work harder to get it sooner. And if they don’t have the money or believe the money could be better used for something else, they don’t buy it.

7. They save and invest regularly

Once they’ve made their money, they do useful things with it.

They invest for the long term; they think about what they want their future to look like 20 years from now, and what they want to leave to their children. They also save for rainy days, and for specific things they’d like to buy.

8. They pay attention, learn, and grow

Financially successful people are aware. They pay attention to the details, and don’t let things pile up. They make sure to do things right, even if no one else would ever know. Integrity matters, as does constantly learning and growing.

What Habits Make you Successful?

At this, it is worth identifying the high-performance traits and practices that will help you to achieve your goals. Consider the following habits to be successful.

1. Measure Success in Happiness Rather than Wealth

The modern generation of employees are increasingly motivated by factors other than wealth, with job satisfaction, benefits and empowerment all key considerations.

This also represents a shift in the way that people measure their success, as defining it in pounds and pence or dollars and cents only leads you to consistently chase a higher amount with ever achieving true satisfaction. This can be counter-productive, so be sure to create a clearly defined vision of success and understand precisely what it means to you.

2. Challenge yourself and Do Hard Things

You cannot succeed in life without first achieving personal growth, which demands a willingness to accept and overcome difficult challenges. It is only though overcoming obstacles that we are able to learn and develop critical life skills, and it is these attributes that will equip us to obtain success.

By challenging yourself and confronting difficult tasks, you can also change your mind-set with regards to the possibilities that life holds.

3. Listen to Constructive Criticism and the Opinion of Others

While positive feedback can improve your morale and motivate you to achieve success, it is your ability to respond to constructive criticism that will ultimately empower you to reach your goals.

After all, this type of feedback highlights areas in which you need to improve, rather than simply reaffirming your strengths as an individual. Your weaknesses can then be targeted through training and development, which in turn will empower you as a stronger and more rounded individual.

4. Learn from Failure

While failure is considered to be a teacher of valuable life lessons, drawing from painful and disappointing experiences is far easier said than done. In fact, it requires an ability to decipher the exact lessons that we can learn from each individual failure, so that we can apply these in the quest for future success.

By confronting the issue head on and identifying exactly where things went wrong, you can take actionable steps towards ensuring that the same mistakes are not made again.

5. Develop an Early and Consistent Wake-up Routine

While recent studies have suggested that enjoying eight hours sleep each day may actually be counter-productive to your levels of mental agility, it is still important that you develop a consistent cycle of sleep.

This enables you to become an early riser who wakes up at exactly the same time each day, which makes it far easier for you to optimize your time and develop a productive schedule. So while the rest of the world is still snoozing in bed, you can be taking decisive action towards empowering your body and mind for the day ahead.

6. Choose a Positive Attitude

While there are some who consider the fear of failure to be a key motivator, it is more likely to create inhibitions that prevent you from achieving success. Instead, it is far better to be proactive and adopt a positive attitude in everything that you do.

Given the variables that can influence your chances of achieving success, it is crucial that you take control of your own outlook and use positivity as a way of identifying opportunities.

7. Make a Commitment to Achieve Every Single Day

Although waking up one morning with a proactive and positive outlook is to be encouraged, it means little if you are unable to commit to this every single day. Recommitting to your routine and the pursuit of your goals is crucial to achieving success; otherwise, the pressures of everyday life can divert your focus.

While this requires tremendous drive and strength of character, it will ultimately empower you to be successful over a prolonged period of time.

8. Work harder than your Competition and Those Around you

While you can only control your own efforts in the pursuit of your goals, it is important to remember that each individual’s success is also determined by those around them. When competing with others for a specific goal or prize, for example, you must do everything within your power and leave no stone unturned if you attain success.

At the heart of this is your level of dedication to the cause, as making a commitment to work harder than those around will ultimately afford you a critical edge.

9. Make Complacency your enemy

One of the biggest obstacles to long-term success is complacency, which can easily set-in after positive feedback or the attainment of short-term goals. You must strive to use these achievements as a spring-board, however, and rededicate yourself to the cause with renewed vigor.

Take the example of footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, who despite emerging as one of the best players in the world continues to commit himself to a punishing daily fitness regime that encourages self-improvement.

10. Fear No Single Individual

Pursuing success in your chosen profession is extremely difficult, primarily because you will undoubtedly come across intimidating and purposeful individuals who are striving to achieve similar goals.

You cannot allow these individuals to undermine or overpower you, however, as this will put you at a disadvantage and force you to feel inferior to the competition. While you must always respect competing individuals around you, it is important that you remain fearless and back your talent to ultimately succeed.

11. Commit Your Goals to Paper

Believe it or not, the power of the to-do list lies in subtle psychology. Often applied to short-term goals or daily tasks that require completion, this type of list provides an actionable schedule for individuals which enables them to mark their progress as they proceed.

This can provide reassurance that you are achieving your goals and being productive within a given time frame, and committing your long-term goals to paper may help you to remain focused and motivated during more difficult times.

12. Surround yourself with Positive and Successful Individuals

Having a diverse and mixed group of friends is all well and good, but it is imperative that individuals within your social circles share a similar outlook to work and professional success.

If you have friends who have a tendency to draw focus and distract you from your work, for example, you may ultimately need to make a choice between pursuing success and settling for your existing lifestyle.

If the idea of eliminating people from your life makes you feel uncomfortable, ask yourself if a true friend would risk your long-term happiness by actively preventing you from achieving your goals.

13. Maintain a Fit and Healthy Body

According to the Athletes Way philosophy, there are a number of daily lifestyle choices that can help to create the perfect balance between physical fitness and mental agility.

There are numerous studies that have proven a link between the two, and it is increasingly clear that regular exercise is a key driver of enhanced mental performance. So if you wish to develop the necessary stamina to achieve personal and professional success, a physically fit body is pivotal.

14. Invest Only in the Pursuit of your Goals

While wealth may not be the most suitable measure of success, it can certainly be used to fund personal and professional development. With this in mind, it is important to spend money on the development of your career or business, rather than simply investing in material possessions that do little more than create a superficial image.

Making these spending decisions is a key part of chasing success, as it forces you to consider your goals and how much you value their accomplishment.

15. Be Prepared to Make Sacrifices

On a similar note, you may well be forced to make sacrifices in your quest for success, as any goals that are worth achieving are unlikely to be easily obtainable.

The so-called ‘law of sacrifice’ states simply that you cannot obtain something that you want without being willing to give something up in return, so you must therefore be prepared to sacrifice a life of excess and material possessions in order to be successful in your career.

What are the 6 High Performance Habits?

1. Clarity

Find out what you want from life, where you want to be, how you want to relate with others and what can help you to become significant in life.

Establish your vision, core values, and purpose in life. Then, focus on activities that align with your internal standards.

Clarity simplifies living, however achieving clarity demands commitment, consistency, and change, especially if you are easily distracted, busy or overwhelmed.

2. Momentum

Your mental energy determines your posture and success in life.

Momentum can position you to stay ahead in life. It can also guide you to achieve your goals. Momentum generates a domino effect where everything falls into place in your life.

3. Necessity

Necessity is about finding the reasons you must be exceptional. These reasons should include internal standards such as your core values, beliefs, and the requirement for excellence and external standards such as public commitments, competition, social duties, and deadlines.

4. Productivity

Productivity is about staying focus as well as getting focused on generating quality output. It is the ability to prioritize what is vital until it is achieved. This is what separates the high performers and productive people from the wannabes.

5. Influence

Nobody attains significance in isolation. High-performance people develop influence with those who surround them.

Influence is the ability to have a significant impact on others intentionally. They understand their success will be limitless when they impact others positively.

6. Courage

Courage is a pathway to a successful life. According to Peter Drucker:

Courage is the quality of mind or spirit that empowers an individual to confront danger and pain difficulty without being afraid. It is standing up when others are giving up. It is taking action when others losing gut.

How can you Cultivate High-Performance Habits

1. Seek Clarity

High performers seek clarity more than the average individuals. If you want to be exceptional, seek clarity and learn how to stay on the true path.

For instance, exceptional individuals don’t wait till the year-end before they assess their performance, they evaluate themselves daily. You need to be clear about your ‘why? what? and how?’. This will help you to sift out distractions and consistently focus on what is relevant to your goals.

Here’s an example:

You can focus on these four: self, social, skills, and service. How can you describe your ‘ideal self’?’ How do you want to socialize? What skills do you aspire to develop and also demonstrate? What problem(service) do you want to solve?

If you can answer these four questions, it will give you an edge over others who lack clarity about life.

2. Generate Momentum

According to Brendon’s research, most individuals are fagged out by 3 pm. They may manage to go through the day but they are completely wiped out by evening. But do you know that the high performers are not wiped out by 3 pm? They are literarily starting their day.

What then is the secret?

They have gained control of transitions. They can quickly take a break, meditate or close their eyes to release their tension and align their focus on the important activity.

If you want to become creative and energized, as well as retain your efficiency all through the day, learn how to embark on psychological breaks every forty-five to sixty minutes. This might be tough to implement, but try to plan your day in chunks.

3. Raise Necessity

Before they embark on any endeavor, high performers always raise necessity psychologically. They seek to understand why it is crucial to perform exceptionally.

If you want to be exceptional, align your identity with excellence. Refuse to settle for mediocrity. Discharging your duties with excellence is so vital to your identity just like oxygen is essential for your survival.

Several people are afraid of attaching their identity to what they do. High performers can put their names on their performance and put themselves on the line. This is what raising necessity is all about. Excellent performance must be a priority for you.

How then can you raise necessity?

State whom you are doing it for. List the people that are meant to be on your A-game list. Always bring that to focus when you perform. It could be your wife, children, less privileged, customers, team, end-users. Who are you performing well for?

Your major responsibility is to prime your psychological ability to perform exceptionally. To achieve this, raise a necessity so that you can initiate actions with an improved level of intention. This will enable you to perform excellently.

4. Enhance Your Productivity

Highly exceptional individuals optimize their outputs. When Steve Jobs took back the mantle of leadership at Apple in 1997, he brought the company back from the verge of bankruptcy. He streamlined the product line and focused on optimizing the quality of the remaining products. The iPod, iPod and the iPhone were released under his leadership.

This is what you have to do:

Focus on the main thing and dismiss the inconsequential.

High-performers are more efficient because they are visionaries. They know what’s ahead and they position themselves to achieve what’s next.

If you want to be productive, you must ask yourself:

What are my next five moves?
– What are the five greatest moves that brought me here?
– What are not the major moves?
– What are the skills and competencies I need to develop to make those moves?

These questions will help you avoid distractions and focus on success. For instance, if you want to vlog, you need to hone your speaking and video editing skills, learn how to write a script and how to collaborate for success.

Do you know the interesting thing? Most high-performers don’t establish their next five moves consciously, they just make it happen. But now that you know, you can.

5. Develop Influence

High performers teach others how to think and challenge them to take responsibility for their lives. This is how they develop influence.

You can change your life by teaching people how to think smart.

Learn how to cold call people around you. High performers challenge people with thought-provoking questions such as, “What if you addressed it this way?” or “What do you say to this?”. They consistently train the people that surround them on how to think smart.

You can only have an influence when you impact the thought processes and patterns of other people. Here’s the good news:

High performers spur the people around them to grow. This is the secret to becoming influential and exceptional.

6. Demonstrate Courage

Brendon’s extensive research also revealed that high performers exhibit some traits when they face hardship, risk, judgment and the unknown.

First, they stand for themselves. They communicate their vision and ambitions than the average people. They not only speak for themselves, but they also speak for others. They are not afraid to share truths about themselves.

Not only that, they understand that struggle is fundamental to success. They pursue their ambition knowing it wouldn’t be easy.

They knew if it were to be easy, there will be no Steve Jobs, Isaac Newton, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, Williams Shakespeare, of course, me and you. If it were to be easy, you would not have been born.

They know it’s not going to be easy, but they fight to succeed. If you want to be a high performer, you must be courageous. How then do you get the courage to stay focused on your goals?

It’s simple: Focus on who you are doing it for and work hard to achieve your goal. This will inject you with the courage that you need.

Who is the Most Successful Person?

Looking at various measures of success, we rounded up some of the most accomplished, influential people of the past year. We determined this list based on candidates’ achievements in their field or industry and influence. We also took net worth and name recognition into consideration.

From tech and sports to entertainment and fashion, the list spans a variety of industries. There’s the world’s youngest self-made billionaire, the Salinger of the millennial generation, the record-breaking superstar, the athlete with the most Super Bowl wins, the leaders shaping Silicon Valley, and the creatives who have opened up the door for diversity in Hollywood.

Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – 1877) Vanderbilt amassed his fortune through his dominance of railroads and shipping. He built and controlled many of the most significant railroads in America, such as the New York railroad and the Grand Central Terminal.

Bill Gates (1955 – ) American businessman, founder of Microsoft. According to Forbes, he was the richest man in the world from 1995 to 2007. His net worth in 2012 is estimated at $76.8 billion. He has recently focused on philanthropy – giving away a large portion of his personal fortune through the Gates Foundation.

Larry Page (1973 – ) / Sergey Brin (1973 – ) Co-founder of Google. Google has displayed one of the most dramatic growth of any business. From humble beginnings, Google is now an international giant dominating internet search.

Steve Jobs (1955 – 2012) Key figure in Apple computers. Credited with turning around Apple, and overseeing the development of iPod, iPad and iMac revolution, which saw Apple become one of most successful companies.

Richard Branson (1950 – ) British entrepreneur. Founder of Virgin. Richard Branson set up his business from a small record shop and has since successfully expanded into a variety of industries, such as trains, air flights and personal finance.

Walt Disney (1901 – 1966) American film producer. Disney developed cartoon characters, such as Mickey Mouse and founded the popular Disney theme parks. Disney productions are one of biggest film producers in the US.

Henry Ford (1863 – 1947) US Industrialist who helped promote the auto revolution, mass producing Ford cars at low cost, enabling Ford motors to become a successful multinational.

Authors

J.K.Rowling (1965 – ) British author of Harry Potter series, which has become the best selling series in history – selling over 400 million copies. When she began writing Harry Potter, she was living on state benefits, but now is a multi-millionaire, with a net worth of over $1 billion.

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892- 1973) – British author of The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and The Silmarillion. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings has frequently been voted most popular book of the Twentieth Century and his works led to a resurgence of the ‘High Fantasy’ genre.

Stephen King (1947 – ) Best selling American author. Selling over 350 million copies of his horror genre books.

George R.R Martin (1948 – ) American author of epic fantasy series – A Song of Ice and Fire, – his international best-selling series of fantasy has been adapted for the screen as “The Game of Thrones.”

Music success

John Lennon (1940 – 1980) British pop star and key member of the Beatles. The Beatles are widely considered the most influential pop music group of all time. John Lennon also had a successful solo career before his murder.

Michael Jackson (1958 – 2009) – American pop singer. Jackson’s 1982 album ‘Thriller’ is the best selling album of all time. Jackson dominated pop music in the early 1980s and produced influential, groundbreaking pop music videos. Has an estimated sale of 400 million records worldwide and is the most downloaded artist in history.

Madonna (1958 – ) American pop singer/actress and humanitarian. Madonna is the best selling female artist of all time with 300 million records. Influential cultural icon.

Arts / Film success

Alfred Hitchcock (1899 – 1980) – English / American film producer. Hitchcock successfully produced over 50 films, gaining 16 Oscar nominations and six awards. Considered one of most influential film directors of the Twentieth Century.

George Lucas (1944 – ) One of the most financially successful film directors, Lucas developed and produced the highly popular Star Wars and Indiana Jones series. (Net worth $4.2bn, 2013)

Steven Spielberg (1946 – ) Influential filmmaker who began with popular blockbusters —Jaws (1975), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and Jurassic Park (1993)and has since moved onto ‘humanitarian’ issues, such as the holocaust – Schindler’s List (1993) and Lincoln (2012)

Oprah Winfrey (1954 – ) Influential talk show host, Oprah Winfrey has built a media empire built on her emotional approach. She has an estimated net wealth of $2.8 billion. The only North American black billionaire.

Sporting success

Pele (1940 – ) Brazilian footballer, considered the greatest footballer of the 20th Century. Won three world cups with Brazil.

Usain Bolt – Jamaican athlete. Record holder at 100m and 200m. Won gold at 100m, 200m and 100m relay in 2008, 2012 and 2016. The most successful Olympic sprinter of all time.

Michael Phelps (US, Swimming) Won 18 Olympic gold medals across a spectrum of swimming disciplines and 22 medals in total.

Lionel Messi (1987- ) Argentinian footballer. The first player to win four FIFA/Ballons d’Or – player of the year award.

Roger Federer (1981 – ) Swiss Tennis player. Federer has won 20 singles Grand Slam titles. Has held the no.1 world ranking for 302 weeks overall.

Michael Jordan (1963 – ) (US, basketball) 6*NBA champion. considered greatest basketball player of all time. Helped raise the profile of basketball worldwide.

Billie Jean King (1939- ) American tennis player who won 39 Grand Slam singles titles. Also successful campaigner for equality for women players.

Christiano Ronaldo (1985 – ) – Portuguese footballer. Four times winner of FIFA player of the year. Broke the record for the highest transfer fee (£80m) Also, the best-paid footballer with a salary of €21 million for Real Madrid.

Serena Williams (1981 – ) (US, tennis) Williams is one of most successful female tennis players, with a record 38 Grand Slam Titles. 19 single grand slam titles, 15 doubles titles and 2 in mixed doubles.

Politics

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) Lincoln led the Union forces to final victory during the American civil war. Lincoln was also successful in achieving his goal of abolishing slavery in the US.

Emmeline Pankhurst (1858–1928) A British suffragette, Emily Pankhurst dedicated her life to getting women the vote. This was achieved partially in 1919 and full voting equality in 1928.

Emily Murphy (1868–1933) The first woman magistrate in the British Empire. In 1927 she joined forces with four other Canadian women who sought to challenge an old Canadian law that said, “women should not be counted as persons.”

Nelson Mandela (1918 – 2013) Leader of ANC and the anti-apartheid movement. After spending over 20 years in prison, Mandela succeeded in becoming the first democratically elected leader of a free South Africa.

Martin Luther King (1929 – 1968) – King was a pivotal figure in the non-violent civil rights movement. His efforts to end segregation and bring about the integration of society were successful with the passing of civil rights legislation towards the end of the 1960s.

Lech Walesa (1943- ) – Polish leader of Solidarity movement. Walesa saw the overthrow of Communism and served as President from 1990 to 1995.

Religion

Pope Francis (1936 – ) – the first pope from the Americas. Pope Francis has been successful in creating a new direction for the Catholic church.

Billy Graham (1918 – 2018) American Christain evangelist. Graham preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to billions of people around the world in live mass meetings and on the tv and radio. His staff claimed more than 3.2 million people accepted Jesus Christ at his Crusades.

Scientific success

Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1726) English scientist. Newton who successfully created foundations for modern physics, explaining the law of gravity and the Laws of Motion.

Leonhard Euler (1707-1783) Swiss mathematician and physicist. Euler is widely considered the greatest mathematician who ever lived. He made innumerable discoveries in infinitesimal calculus, graph theory mechanics, fluid dynamics, optics, astronomy, and music theory.

Read Also: How to Manage Money Successfully as a Couple

Edward Jenner (1749 – 1823) English scientist. First person to successfully create and test a smallpox vaccine. This led to the saving of innumerable lives from the science of immunology.

Louis Pasteur (1822 – 1895) French biologist. Successful in developing cures for rabies, anthrax and other infectious diseases. Also enabled the process of pasteurisation to make milk safer to drink.

Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955) German scientist – developed the theory of relativity. Also made contributions to the theory of quantum theory.

Tim Berners Lee (1955- ) English creator of the World Wide Web. Ironically, Berners-Lee has not benefited financially as he gave his invention freely. However, he has seen it widely adopted.

Militarily successful

Alexander the Great (356 – 323 BC) Despite mixed claims to the Macedonian throne. Alexander consolidated his power before embarking on a global conquest stretching from the Aegean to India.

Akbar (1542 – 1605) The third Moghul Emperor, Akbar consolidated his Empire across India, through a series of striking military victories. Akbar’s wealth was unprecedented for the time.

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 – 1821) As Emperor of France 1804-1815, Napoleon’s forces swept across Europe, gaining hegemony over most of Europe. In many battles, Napoleon overcame numerical inferiority through the use of imaginative battlefield tactics.

Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965) Winston Churchill became Prime Minister in May 1940, when Great Britain alone stood against Hitler.  Churchill was eventually successfully with allies Soviet Union and US.

Dwight Eisenhower (1890 – 1969) Eisenhower was Supreme Allied Commander for the D-Day invasion of occupied Europe (1944-45). He was successful in leading liberation of occupied Europe and keeping the allies together.

Conclusion

The definition of success is a diverse concept, and one that remains unique to each individual. Determining what it means to you and developing long-term goals are therefore important steps towards achieving happiness, while you must also be willing to make lifestyle changes and re-evaluate your entire outlook in life.