There’s a lot that entrepreneurs need to keep in mind when they are trying to make a success of a new start-up – and it’s often too easy to end up getting completely distracted, and to feel completely overwhelmed, as a result. But as your business builds, having healthy and effective habits can be the difference between success and failure.
Ultimately, it’s very useful to realise that the only way to move a business of yours forward is to take the right actions every day, consistently. Everyone has the same number of hours in the day, no matter how successful they are in a given profession or pastime.
While getting the right infrastructure, logistics, and tools in place to carry out merchant services in as streamlined a way as possible, good daily habits are ultimately where the rubber hits the road with regards to professional success.
Here are some powerful habit tips to take to heart when running your own business.
Strive to identify and implement the “keystone habits” that can make all the difference
The writer Charles Duhigg makes a lot of very interesting observations in his book “The Power of Habit,” including highly focused suggestions on the best way to instill a new positive habit, or dissolve an old negative one.
Perhaps the most powerful point he makes, though, is that there are such things as “keystone habits” – habits that, by their very nature, lead to a positive cascade of actions and outcomes, and naturally promote other desirable habits, at the same time.
For many people, getting up early each day is a “keystone habit” that leads to greater productivity, a more focused sense of professional vision, optimism, and more.
In your professional life, strive to identify and implement the “keystone habits” that can ultimately make all the difference.
Consistency is more important than “going big,” especially at first
The old saying “slow and steady wins the race” might not be very glamorous, but there’s a lot of wisdom in it nonetheless – which is why it’s lasted for thousands of years since appearing as a motif in Aesop’s fables.
The bottom line is that consistency is more important than “going big” when it comes to habits. Especially at first.
When setting yourself professional habits that you hope will lead to a high degree of overall success, start as small as you can, and scale up gradually over time. First and foremost, you want to make sure that the habit really “sticks.”
Putting in an enormous performance once or twice and then losing focus and motivation for the next couple of months, is unlikely to do you much good.
It’s essential to maintain routines that give structure and consistency to your days
When running your own business – especially if you work from home – you absolutely must come up with ways to manage routines that give structure and consistency to your days.
Generally, this will tend to involve waking up at the same approximate time every day, finishing work at the same time every day, having set mealtimes, and so on.
In the absence of an office environment and supervisors, it’s your own everyday habits that will provide the cornerstone of the structure you need in order to stay focused, productive, and motivated.
P.S. This post is a partner collaboration.
