Successful business owners have many traits in common, including good habits that create a solid foundation for success. Here are 7 high-performance habits of successful founders that you can start implementing right away.
Your habits create the foundation for your business — and you better believe they can make or break it. The U.S. Bureau for Labor Statistics says that only half of businesses make it to the five-year mark, while a mere one-third make it to 10 years. These statistics may sound bleak, but that’s why it’s important to adopt high-performance habits early on in your business.
Great habits will help set you up to run your business sustainably with longevity in mind. While every founder will have a different idea of what success means to them, highly successful founders share many of the same high-performance habits.
Keep reading to learn seven high-performance habits of highly successful founders.
1. Create a daily routine
Motivation and willpower can’t be depended upon to carry you across the finish line; experts agree that willpower doesn’t work. Operating from a routine reduces your reliance on willpower and motivation. A routine creates habits that will become automatic processes, meaning you won’t have to use a lot of energy thinking about them or making decisions because they’ll be second nature.
Creating routines frees up your time and energy to work on more important tasks, such as scaling your business. Steve Jobs and other successful founders even wore the same outfits daily, so they didn’t have to waste their valuable time and energy on trivial matters like what to wear to work.
2. Good sleep is non-negotiable
Sleep is one thing you don’t want to skimp on. Although grind culture praises sleepless nights as an indomitable work ethic or a badge of honor, the truth is that not getting enough sleep will set you back in the long run. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has declared insufficient sleep “a public health epidemic.” Going to bed and waking up at the same time each day can improve your sleep habits, so giving yourself a specific starting and ending time for your workday as a founder is important.
While it may seem like skipping sleep to work is a productivity hack, studies show that poor sleep is associated with decreased productivity the following day. Better sleep means a refreshed and recharged you who is more relaxed, more creative, and more productive.
3. Learning is a lifelong process
Whether you opt to read daily, listen to podcasts, or take continuing education courses, successful founders make the time to learn. Up-skilling will not only improve your functionality but also help you achieve longevity as you adapt to ever-changing market conditions. Learning also contributes to longevity when it comes to your literal lifespan. A recent study found that education — not money —increases a person’s lifespan.
4. Make time for physical activity
It’s no secret by now that too much sitting is harmful to your health and can lead to or exacerbate multiple health issues. In fact, nearly 80% of Americans aren’t getting enough exercise. Getting enough exercise is vital for optimal physical and mental health. Exercise can boost concentration, help you feel more alert, and even increase your creativity.
5. Get a mentor
As a founder, you undoubtedly know the importance of networking and connecting with people. One of the most important connections you can make for yourself is to find a mentor. Any business owner can benefit from mentorship, whether you’re just starting out or are well-established. Mentorship provides both parties an opportunity for collaborative learning. Having a mentor will introduce you to new ideas, access to a new network of contacts, and the ability to learn new strategies for your business.
Founders with mentors also report an increase in their business growth. Mentorship has been shown to improve both startup and survival rates. If you want to improve the likelihood of longevity, get a mentor.
6. Failure is part of success
Many business owners are quick to share their wins, but slower to share their failures — if they even share them at all. Failure is not something to be ashamed of. It means you tried and learned something. Unfortunately, many people give up at the first sign of failure. Take New Year’s resolutions as an example, which only 8% actually achieve
Failure is feedback. It means you need to do something differently. Recognizing this, allowing for it, and using that feedback to make appropriate changes is how you achieve success.
7. Know your role
Founders wear many hats, especially in the startup phase or if you have to focus on “founder selling” because you haven’t yet built the right supportive sales team for your business. As you scale your business, you’ll be called to engage in many different roles of leadership, including being a strategist, an ambassador, a navigator, and an operator. Knowing which role is the most efficient use of your time at the present moment is paramount to success.
Perhaps “founder selling” is no longer the most efficient use of your time, so you decide to find a world-class sales team who can handle sales for you. This will free you up to focus on tasks that would be a better use of your time because they can’t be delegated. Remember the Pareto principle, or the “80/20 rule” as it's commonly called: 20% of your activities will create 80% of your results.
MetaGrowth helps business owners ditch the daily grind of “founder selling” by building an amazing team of dedicated sales professionals to do your selling for you. Co-founders Josh Hirsch and Joe Arioto will put their combined 30,000 hours of coaching and consulting expertise to work for you on solutions-based sales consulting that will help you free up time to focus on what really matters: Your growth strategy.
If you want to build your very own world-class sales team without investing a ton of time — not to mention headaches or hassles — contact us today. We’ll help you build a dream team to start boosting your sales in no time!
