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8 Morning Habits of Successful Entrepreneurs

Posted: 12 Jul 2020 11:56 AM PDT

For most of us, getting up in the morning is an inconsistent, blurry mess—and it has the power to dictate how we feel and how we work for the rest of the day. Nobody's perfect and we all have mornings that don't go our way, but for successful entrepreneurs, the morning looks and plays out a little differently most of the time.

Successful entrepreneurs became successful in part because they had a strong, consistent routine. But which habits helped them establish themselves, and how can you use these habits in your own life?

The morning habits of successful entrepreneurs

Everyone's morning routine is unique, but these hallmarks of successful entrepreneurs' morning routines can help you build a better one of your own:

1. Wake up early, at the same time as yesterday

There are two important beneficial elements of this habit. First, you wake up earlier than you need. This gives you more time, which you can spend on other morning habits. It also prevents you from rushing around, allowing you to keep your mind clear and reduce your stress for the day ahead. Waking up at the same time every day (yes, even on weekends) also gives you more sleep consistency, which is important for maintaining your circadian rhythm.

2. Meditate

Successful entrepreneurs also frequently start their day with some form of meditation, with mindfulness meditation being one of the most common. Meditation is a guided, thoughtful practice that forces you to become aware of your inner thoughts and feelings. It's ideal for clearing your mind and starting the day in the right mood—especially if you practice consistently.

Don't believe me? These are some of the most notable entrepreneurs who meditate daily.

3. Exercise

It's hard to overstate the benefits of physical exercise. Exercising on a daily basis relieves stress and makes you feel more energetic, oftentimes carrying throughout the entire day. And if done consistently, it can keep you in better physical shape and better health, allowing you to be more productive. Try to spend at least 20 to 30 minutes exercising per day, even if you can't squeeze it into your morning routine.

4. Eat breakfast

Successful people also try to eat a healthful, nutritious breakfast. If you're low on time, you'll be tempted to skip this meal or grab something quick like a toaster pastry, but this will leave you with low energy or set you up for a sugar crash later on. Instead, oatmeal with fruit, or eggs with toast are good choices.

5. Drink coffee (or tea)

Caffeine is a common choice for professionals everywhere, due to its multiple positive effects. It makes you feel more energetic, masking your leftover feelings of fatigue, and also improves your ability to concentrate. If you don't like coffee, you can get caffeine from tea. Just make sure you're not consuming caffeine in excessive quantities or consuming it too late in the day—otherwise it could interfere with your sleep quality.

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6. Work deliberately (or not at all)

The morning is a great opportunity to take care of some easy work. For example, some people like to clear out their emails, analyze yesterday's email activity, or knock out a few small tasks. This is a good way to set yourself up for success, but make sure you're working mindfully. If you're mindlessly scrolling through emails or getting distracted with conversations, you're not gaining a productive advantage—instead, you're subject to the whims of the people and technology around you.

7. Read or listen to the news

Successful entrepreneurs also spend time staying up-to-date with world events, local events, and news related to their industry. The morning is a great time to read or listen to these sources. You can listen to an entrepreneur podcast while you shower or read the news while eating breakfast to save time.

8. Set goals and priorities

It's no secret that goals are vital if you want to succeed; they serve to help you set direction for yourself, and simultaneously motivate you to greater achievement. But even people who have strong long-term goals fail to set smaller goals on a day-by-day basis. For example, you could set a goal to spend less time on a particular task, like email, today. Or you could plan this month's social media calendar based on popular hashtags. Spend part of your morning brainstorming the most important goals and priorities for your upcoming day. What are you hoping to achieve? What's most important?

The importance of consistency

Your exact timing and choices of activities aren't nearly as important as the idea that you're working on a routine consistently. Try to do the same things in the same order each day. This will make it easier to tackle these tasks and give you more momentum to get through the rest of your to-do list. Pay attention to how you respond to each habit in body and mind, and don't be afraid to experiment.

RELATED: Is Entrepreneurship Hazardous to Your Health? How to Stay Healthy While Running a Business

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How to Make Better Business Decisions in Challenging Situations

Posted: 12 Jul 2020 11:35 AM PDT

If you are in business, it's inevitable that challenging situations will arise from time to time, and you will find yourself forced to make difficult decisions.

You may have to deal with the aftermath of a product that fails. Or a delivery may be canceled that creates a customer emergency for you to solve. Some experiences will not be under your control, but it doesn't matter. In business you must make difficult decisions. But, the good news is, you can learn to make better decisions that result in more positive outcomes.

Make decisions that consider the consequences

Do you think your actions don't have consequences? The only people who think that are the ones who don't realize that all actions have consequences. Some consequences are expected and others aren't.

I've seen management make decisions for customers when they clearly didn't think through the consequences of their actions. One management team thought they were improving their customers' business by designing a new buying incentive program every year. They didn't realize that their ever-changing programs were impacting purchasing decisions.

The company began to notice a lag in purchasing, both at the end of the year and the beginning of the year each time a new program was presented. Why? Because the customers knew that at the end of the year a different program was soon going to be presented, and they might get a better deal by waiting to purchase after January 1.

Eventually, management stopped constantly reinventing the incentive program when they saw the lost sales for two months of business each year. Customers were happier and the company saw steady sales again only when it fully considered the consequences of its business decisions.

Going it alone isn't a smart strategy

I once worked for an incompetent manager. He threatened customers, selected under-performers for the wrong assignments, and created obstacles to others' success. In a perfect world, this person would never have been put in a position to manage others—but the real world is not a perfect one. I could have gone to Human Resources to complain. But I wondered what one voice would be against his? Even more difficult was the fact that he had more seniority than I did.

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One day you may have to address incompetence in your place of business, as challenging as that might be. Often, a group is better than a lone voice in addressing needed change. Eventually, a group voice did address my troubling situation. My peer group participated in this manager's 360-degree feedback evaluation. As the group facilitator stated, "This is the worst performance of a manager I have seen in my 20 years of group facilitation." The incompetent manager was demoted shortly after.

Remember that people are watching

Smartphones are everywhere and people are looking for the next viral video to post. You might not expect someone to use their phone to videotape you at work, but it happens. Your peers, managers, employees, and customers are watching how you handle stress and difficult situations.

What do you do when a customer contacts you with an angry complaint? Do you fly off the handle and push back without listening first? Emotional situations are going to occur in business, and you must have a controlled temperament to handle them well.

Do you run to management to get someone else to handle your problems? Not being able to handle them yourself can be a sign to your manager that you might not be needed.

Often, there is no warning that a tsunami of trouble is coming in business. Successful business and salespeople watch for both verbal and nonverbal communication cues. They listen to the tone of a person's voice as well as their body language. They are quick to sense when trouble is coming, and they have the confidence that they can handle a difficult situation calmly.

Can you listen carefully to customers and colleagues and truly hear what someone is saying? Your interpersonal skills can play a large role in helping to deescalate situations that may be brewing.

There will always be challenges in business. Learning how to make better business decisions is an important professional skill that can help you in your career, no matter what stage you're at.

RELATED: Make Better Business Decisions by Following This 7-Step Process

The post How to Make Better Business Decisions in Challenging Situations appeared first on AllBusiness.com. Click for more information about Maura Schreier-Fleming. Copyright 2020 by AllBusiness.com. All rights reserved. The content and images contained in this RSS feed may only be used through an RSS reader and may not be reproduced on another website without the express written permission of the owner of AllBusiness.com.
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