High performance habits of enormously successful people

High performance habits of enormously successful peopleHigh performance habits of enormously successful peopleSuccess isnt complicated.It only takes the right actions, attitudes, and beliefs coupled with consistency over a long period of time.The real challenge is laying the right foundation/habit/ritual.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moraHabits shape our reality on a daily basis.Your daily actions, habits, and rituals should speak louder than your words.Successful humans focus on actions that add significant value to their day.You might not be a successful entrepreneur or a billionaire, but some of these rituals just might help you to get what you want in life.These are things you can replicate in your own life, abfluging today.What is your method of planning yourday?A time-based structure and schedule for your work days can change everything.If you choose to prioritize how you wo rk, your efficiency will significantly improve. There are one million things could choose to do every day.People who start their day with an idea of what they intend to do for the rest of day accomplish more than those who think about how to structure their day.Here is a simple trick to structure your day rightFirst, you find your core activities for the week (what you cant afford to miss)And then solidify them - put them on your calendar.Locate the times around these core activities, and fill them with other activities.This simple process will help you do more high-value work.If you choose to start your day with a list of things to do, allocate time for every task. This helps you make real progress you can measure.Do you have a plan from yesterday?Planning and prioritizing is a huge human problem.Imagine a day without unnecessary meetings, colleague distractions, social app notifications, checking emails every minute and a day without procrastinating fruchtwein tasks.Sounds imposs ible, right?Kenneth Chenault (former CEO and Chairman of American Express) once said in an interview that the last thing he does before leaving the office is to write down the top 3 things to accomplish tomorrow, then using that list to start his day the following morning.Its one of the best ways to get more done on any given workday.It prevents you from wasting time when you are most active in the morning.I use this productivity hack every day.Its a great way to focus/prioritize on key tasks.It can also help you disconnect at the end of the day and allow time for your brain to process and reboot for the next day.Productive mornings start with early wake-upcallsEarly risers get a lot of good press.In a poll of 20 executives cited by Laura Vanderkam, author ofWhat the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast,90% said they wake up before 6 a.m. on weekdays.Morning people are supposedly more productive and effective and efficient.There are countless articles about the morning habits of the worlds most successful leaders.Apple CEO Tim Cook apparently wakes up at 3.45am.Vogueeditor-in-chief Anna Wintour gets out of bed to play tennis at 5.45am.Richard Branson has says he rises at the same time.Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz reportedly gets up at 4.30am.Disney Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, CEO Bob Iger gets up at 430 to read.Jeff Immelt, former Chairman of General Electric starts his days with a cardio workout and then reads the paper and watches CNBC.Ariana Huffingtons morning routine includes 30 minutes of meditation.And Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is up at 530 to jog.Numerous studies have found that morning people are morepersistent, self-directedand agreeable.Theyset higher goals for themselves,plan for the future moreandhave a better sense of well-being,writesAmanda Ruggeri of BBC Capital.Many successful people have been promoting getting up early and working at the crack of dawn.Are early risers more productive than late risers?Probably not.Its actu ally more important to recognize what works for you and optimize workflow accordingly.The single most important productivity advice you need to follow is this Match your highest priority work to your most productive hours.Get the uncomfortable out of thewaySome tasks will always demand more time and energy.They are uncomfortable.In his time-management book,Eat That Frog, Brian Tracy explains how to deal with them first thing in the morning.Completing an uncomfortable or difficult task not only moves it out of your way, but it gives you great energy because you get the feeling youve accomplished something worthwhile.To get a better overview of your tasks, divide your to-do list in these four categoriesThings youdont wantto do, but actuallyneedto do.Things youwantto do and actuallyneedto do.Things youwantto do, but actuallydont needto do.Things youdont wantto do, and actuallydont needto do.And then focus on the things you dont want to do, but actually need to do.The biggest, ugly, dis tasteful things that need to be done, but tend not to.You are most likely not motivated to do them, leaving them victim to procrastination.What would Howard Schultzdo?The founder of Starbucks Howard Schultz has stated in the past that he spends his first hour with setting up priorities for the day.You can set up certain rituals and habits like morning exercise, clearing email inboxes at the end of day, breakfast, running every other day, reading news briefs, etc.Or better still, you can set your priorities 30 minutes before your workday ends. That way you can put your mornings to productive use.In the end, setting priorities is all about what works best you.The basic idea here is to track your energy, motivation and focus to get a sense of when, where, and how youre the most productive.Stick with what works for you and makes you most productive for the rest of the day.Tony Robbins 30 minutes tothriveTony Robbins (author, entrepreneur, and life coach) suggests setting up an Hour of P ower, 30 Minutes to Thrive, or at least Fifteen Minutes to Fulfillment.Part of it involves light exercise, part of it involves motivational incantations, but the most accessible piece involves 10 minutes of thinking of everything youre grateful for in yourself, among your family and friends, in your career, and the like.After that, visualize everything you want in your life as if you had it today.30 minutes of thrive can change your perception about the rest of your day.It could be your personal time to think about where your life is headed or how you want to spend the rest of the day.Eliminate all needlessbusyworkMany people are doing too many things at the wrong time.Others who complain of limited time are spending their time doing urgent tasks instead of focusing on important things that get them closer to the bigger goal.In an era of extreme busyness, the only conceivable way to live a meaningful and a purpose-driven life is to stop doing busy work.Busy work makes you feel like you are moving quickly and being productive in the process. But in effect, you are not.Many of us confuse being busy with being effective, or efficient.Dont get caught up in reactive mode.Your time is limited. Doing everything is not an option.You cant afford not to plan fordowntimeLife can get crazy.Make time for breaks to rest, gather your thoughts, or start over.Have you had a good think lately?Plato once said, When the mind is thinking it is talking to itself.With distraction always at our fingertips, many people are in desperate need of a little time to pause.Make time to enjoy the silence.Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice it is as indispensable to the brain as vitamin D is to the body, and deprived of it we suffer a mental affliction as disfiguring as rickets, essayist Tim Kreider wrote in The New York Times.Leonardo Da Vinci had a bed in his studio and when patrons accused him of wasting time, he said If I dont do this, you dont get the work.Closing tho ughtsIncredibly successful people swear by rituals.Theyve built habits that lead to happier, more productive lives, despite the pressures of their busy schedules.Successful humans focus on minutes, not hours. They invest time in tasks that will have the biggest impact on reaching their goals. They process tasks proactively.And they set strict boundaries. Steve Jobs once said,Focusing isnt about saying yes focusing is about saying no.Billionaire Warren Buffet also said, The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say no to almost everything.Remember, you only have 1,440 minutes in a day. Make the most of it every day. Everything you choose to do should tie back to your ambitions, and goals in life.This article first appeared on Medium.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people