Originally published by Bernard Marr on LinkedIn: 7 Habits Successful People Avoid
We all have bad habits that we struggle with, but are your habits preventing you from being successful? I’m not talking about biting your nails or fidgeting, but rather habits you may not even be aware that you have.
If your goal is to be successful in your endeavors, read this list closely and try to identify if you have any of these bad habits — and then see how you can try to fix them.
1. Perfectionism
It’s almost become a joke that people think perfectionism is a “good” bad habit. But it’s really not. True perfectionism often means fear of doing something badly can prevent us from even beginning or trying anything new.
Successful people understand that success comes with a great deal of failure, false starts, first drafts, and do-overs.
2. Waiting on opportunity
Opportunity doesn’t always knock; and those people who tend to sit around and wait for it for it often miss the opportunities that are waiting if they just put in a little effort. This sometimes also manifests as someone waiting around for the “easy button” scheme that will help them do the thing.
As Thomas Edison said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Successful people understand that opportunity is fueled by work and putting oneself out there.
3. Driven to distraction
If you jump (and salivate?) every time your phone dings, and start to feel itchy and unsettled if you’re unable to check it right away, you might have a distraction problem. Social media, texts, emails — all of these tasks pull us away from focusing on what you should be doing.
You’ll find that many successful people turn off notifications on their devices — if they even have those distracting apps at all. Many choose to opt-out from these distractions in order to focus on their more important tasks.
4. Letting others set the agenda
Not having your own priorities, or putting your priorities behind someone else’s is one of the worst habits of the unsuccessful person. Of course, doing the work your boss asks you to do, helping out family and friends, etc. are things that everyone should do — but successful people understand where their priorities fit in.
Successful people tend to be the ones with the guts to say no to an invitation or a request to volunteer when they really don’t have time. They also tend to be the ones who write the book, get the promotion, start the business, or go on that trip of a lifetime, because they kept their priorities front and center.