9 Unconventional Habits of Extraordinary Success

As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, think BIG.
-Donald Trump

I’ve picked-up these habits gradually over the years while working beside some impressively successful people – seven figure internet entrepreneurs, best selling authors, talented CEOs, etc.  Even though these aren’t the typical success habits you’d read about in a self-improvement book like The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, they’ve been extremely effective in my life by helping me align my daily efforts with a winning mindset.  I’m confident they can do the same for you.



Here’s what I would do if I were you:

1.  Help at least one person a day.

The best part of life is not just surviving, but thriving with passion, compassion, humor, generosity, and kindness, and using these tools to make the world a better place.

Smile, and help others smile too.  If you don’t have the power or strength to write someone’s happiness, then try to help them remove their sadness instead.  And don’t let the numbers overwhelm you.  You can’t help everyone at once.  Focus on assisting one person at a time, and always start with the person closest to you.

If you can lie down at night knowing in your heart that you made someone’s day just a little brighter, you had a successful day.  Read 365 Thank Yous.

2.  When you feel like giving up, ask yourself, “Can I give more?”

The honest answer is almost always, “Yes.”  And once your mind realizes it can, it usually does.

One of the unique things about the human mind is that it can do only what it thinks it can do.  The minute you say, “I don’t have the energy” or “I’m not capable of that,” you are actually training your brain to live up to your diminished expectations.

Low expectations mean low results.  So watch how you speak to yourself.  And when you reach that point of struggle in your mind where most people would give in and give up, do the opposite and give it another shot.

3.  Respect everyone.

When you respect people it gives you a special kind of access to them.  No, you don’t automatically get the key to their hearts.  What you do get is an increased understanding and rapport, and that can be priceless.

If you’re a business owner, respecting your prospective customers will bring you more of their business.  If you’re a teacher, respecting your students will add increased effectiveness to your teaching.  If you’re an athlete, respecting the other team will help you build an effective strategy to win the game.

In all walks of life, respect opens the doors of opportunity.

4.  Accept exactly where you are, wherever you are.

One of the great secrets to being happy and successful is accepting where you are in life and making the most of it.  You won’t always know where you are going, but as long as you keep moving forward the journey will be rewarding.

One step at a time, one foot in front of the other, time has a way of gradually showing you the way to what truly matters.  Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes in the middle of nowhere you find yourself.  Read The Untethered Soul.

5.  Seek lots of new life experiences.

The people with the greatest wisdom are the ones who have been through the most.  So start strong, stay strong, and finish strong by always remembering why you’re doing it in the first place.  It’s all about learning and growing along the way.

The most valuable lessons in life cannot be taught, they must be experienced.  When you reflect on your life, you will likely see some pain, mistakes, and heartache.  But when you look in the mirror, you will see the strength, growth, and wisdom that made it all worthwhile.

6.  Maintain a diehard belief in yourself.

A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug.  Your individual thoughts and beliefs are similar to chapters in a book.  When you put them together, you have the belief system that becomes your life story.

If you are going to be successful in creating the life you dream of, you have to believe that you are capable of doing so.  You have to believe that you have the resources, talents, and skills necessary to create your desired results.

7.  Walk your own path.

A good life is not living the life everyone else intended for you.  Be true to yourself.  Stand firmly by your core values.  Your life is your spiritual path.  It’s what’s right in front of you.

You can’t live anyone else’s life.  The task is to live yours and stop trying to copy the ones you think are more acceptable.  Because if you water yourself down to please everyone else, to fit in, or to not step on anyone’s toes, you will lose the passion, freedom, and joy of being who you really are.

8.  Find an opportunity in every outcome, positive or negative.

Sometimes things happen exactly as you had expected, and then there are other times when nothing goes as planned.  In either situation, there is a way to respond triumphantly.

Your victories bring happiness and feelings of self-achievement.  Your defeats bring wisdom, strength, and determination.  Both outcomes bring new opportunities.  In this way, life moves continually forward.

In each moment, you can build upon whatever has come before.  Right now, you are exactly where you are supposed to be.  Because right now, you are in the only time and place where you can actually make a difference.  Read The Happiness Project.

9.  Need less.

Instead of focusing so intently on what you want to get, consider the things you can let go of.  Eliminate some excess baggage, lighten your load, and feel a weight lifted.  So many of the things you think you need, you do not need at all, you simply want them.  And as your wants diminish, your freedom and abundance grow.

Because long-term fulfillment in life is not about getting all that you need; fulfillment is knowing the freedom to be all that you are without the excess.  It’s about wanting what you have at any given moment, and making the best of it.

Bottom line:  Ambition, intention, and disciplined effort will bring you great things in this world, but there is more to success than acquiring the commonly celebrated milestones of success that society confers.  In the long run, less is often more.