You must have seen entrepreneurs, billionaires and successful people on the internet – sharing their ‘success mantras’, talking about habits that made them who they are or just telling how they’ve done a lot they didn’t expect initially. 

When you hear them talking, there’s a conviction in their voice. When you read their biographies or try to follow them, you realize they were also common people who just didn’t give up. Right? 

Your habits define your success 

You know there’s this thing about success- it comes to the stubborn ones. The ones who don’t give up, rather they try to change their destiny by working ‘in the moment’. 

If there’s one thing you can do today to ensure success while you chase your goal, it is building positive habits. I’ve always believed that you can’t do anything if you don’t inculcate that as a habit in your life. 

James Clear, the author of the book Atomic Habits says that habits are the ‘compound interest’ of self-improvement. 

Actionable habits for a better life 

If you want to grow as a person, succeed in life and achieve something, here’s my list of seven habits that helped me become a better person and can help you, too. 

Read books 

If there’s one thing I could have changed in my life, I would have loved to build the habit of reading books early in life. I have been reading for years now, still, I feel it’s not enough. 

Books give your brain a different dimension to think. No matter what you read – fiction or non-fiction, there’s something you’ll learn. If you love stories, you’ll learn from the characters in the story. If you love real people, you can learn from their life decisions. 

I like to believe that books allow us to live and learn from multiple lives. Also, when you read books, you don’t give your brain a chance to question yourself. 

When your brain always has something productive to think about, it is less susceptible to negative thoughts and stays focused. 

Quick hacks to build the book reading habit 

• Create a 15 or 30-minute time slot to spend with a book every day (We all can spare this time just after waking up or before sleeping every day) 
• Start with something you love, then move on to suggestions 
• Carry a book with yourself when you’re traveling
• Think of new ways- Audiobooks, Kindle, etc. if you can’t adjust to paperbacks 

Reduce social media usage 

What do you do when you’re free? I am sure, you turn to Instagram, Facebook or Twitter to check what your friends are doing. Thankfully, we’ve been saved from TikTok (Reels is another headache) last year. 

Social media platforms are addictive and you’ll not even realize you wasted a couple of hours every day just staring at what others are up to. 

Also, passive social media usage (when you’re not posting anything) leads to self-doubt and insecurity. You see your friends or your favorite influencer chilling on the beach and start questioning your life decisions instantly. 

This cycle of feeling incomplete never ends if you keep social media handy on mobile. You don’t need to feel negative every day just by staring at a screen and feeling bad because others are enjoying it. 

Tips to kick social media out of your life 

• Put a timer/lock on social media apps on your mobile 
• Find something productive to kill your free time (like reading books, remember?) 
• Stop following blind trends to please strangers 
• Create your own goals and spend time chasing them 

Talk to like-minded people 

I am sure you are already doing this but let’s take it up a notch. You already have a friend circle, right? Now, once every month, talk to your friends about what you want to do this month, and ask them, too. 

If they relate to your goal, great, but if they don’t you need to find people who will understand you. 

Let’s say you want to start a business, but your friends keep telling you it’s risky. Don’t break your friendship but find another friend who trusts your approach and should have a similar goal. 

That ‘like-minded’ friend will help you in gaining clarity and realizing your vision. And you’ll see how talking to that person would push you to stay motivated and achieve more than you thought. 

Tips to find like-minded people & start meaningful conversations 

• Get active in online communities or local events if your friends don’t relate to your goals 
• Stop talking about others & what they are doing and start talking about what you want to do 
• Build your tribe by sharing your goals (your vibe will attract your tribe) 
• Don’t shy away from talking about your vision. If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will. 

Find an accountability partner 

Let’s say you have found a friend who has a similar goal. Let’s turn this friend into an accountability partner. 

An accountability partner is someone who keeps a check on your progress and helps you achieve your goals.

Accountability partnership works when you share your goal, your plan and a specific timeline with a person who in turn shares theirs and you both keep following up with each other. Ultimately, you’ll reach your goal because someone would be behind your back to do something. 

If you feel lonely in your journey and that makes you sad or demotivated, it is better to find an accountability partner soon. This is the reason most startups have co-founders. They have common goals and keep pushing each other, leading to success for both. 

Ways to find an accountability partner 

• Start sharing about your goals, plans and vision with your friends or in online communities
• Follow people on the same journey and share your thoughts 
• Show the intention to be an accountability partner and offer them support (talk to them, hear them out or motivate them) 
• If you be someone’s accountability man, you’ll have a partner for life in return 

Start saving & investing 

Money is the biggest motivator. We all have heard that. Right? 

If you want to stay motivated in life, it is important you start saving and investing the right way. The early you start, the better results you’ll see. When you have money to back yourself (your ideas, your plans and your goals), you are more confident of your success. 

“Bhukhe pet naa hoye bhajan Gopala” 

That’s why you need to have money in your bank to start working towards a better future. And you won’t accumulate wealth in a day. That’s why disciplined saving and investment habit is important. 

Start small with monthly SIPs and see wealth being built over the years. The more capital you save and invest, the more motivated you will find yourself in life. 

Tips to start saving & investing 

• Save before you spend. Start taking out a small portion of your monthly income before you spend money
• Create a separate bank account or start a monthly SIP
• Budget for your monthly expenses and eliminate the wasteful ones (you’ll be surprised how much you spend on worthless things) 
• Build a financial discipline and stick to the routine of saving and investing 
• Don’t follow trends. Read about the basics and start small. 

Habits will change your life when you change your lifestyle 

These habits won’t become ‘habits’ if you try these as a one-off thing. You will have to be conscious about everything you do and make small changes, as suggested, week after week. 

People say that it takes 21 days to build a habit, but I think you need to stop thinking habits as a compulsion. Think about how you can make small changes to your everyday lifestyle and routine to add these. Then only you’ll succeed in building habits for life. 

Once you build one, move on to the next. And don’t forget, you can have accountability partners to build these habits too. So, what are you waiting for? Start finding an accountability partner around you, today 😊