Seven things switched on people do (and that you should be doing)

Switched on people are the people who make things happen for themselves. They’re the leaders of industry, the best teachers, the folks with super family lives and it’s not an accident that they hold these positions. They have a bunch of useful habits that you can adopt to propel yourself to similar heights in life:

1. Make Mistakes – you can’t learn if you don’t do things and when you do things; you make mistakes. The good news? It doesn’t matter. Nobody remembers the 1,000+ times Stephen King’s books were rejected. He might but everybody else thinks of him as one of the most successful creators ever to have lived.
2. Reap Rewards – success is not something to be ashamed of. Switched on people take a few moments to enjoy their rewards before they turn their hand to the next thing in life. This gives them a sense of confidence and joy in their life and it makes tackling new challenges more exciting and interesting.
3. Evaluate Their Situation – taking some time out each and every day to work out where you are, leaves you better equipped to move forward. You can’t get to where you’re going without making sure that you’re still heading in the right direction. It’s that simple. Taking time to evaluate your situation gives you the momentum to succeed.
4. Rest Regularly – burned out people can’t serve their own best interest. It’s really that simple. And while there are a million people out there striving to prove this wrong, they won’t. You need to take time to relax completely (and to eat well and to exercise – these things are non-negotiable if you want to stay the course and you want to enjoy it).
5. Read Around – being at the top of your game is a marathon not a sprint. You can’t stay at the top if you don’t spend some time preparing for the rest of the race. That means reading, copious amounts of reading. It means not just reading things that relate to your profession but also about other areas of expertise. Building bridges between them to become a better leader and a better all-rounder in business.
6. Don’t Give Up – remember Stephen King’s rejection letters? You ought to, we talked about them 5 points ago. If he’d let somebody saying “no” put him off – he’d never have gotten published. You cannot win by giving up. In fact, it’s very common for new business people to quit just before they would have succeeded. That statistic “9 out of 10 businesses fail?”, it’s sort of true but only because so many people throw in the towel rather than staying in the fight. Winners keep fighting.
7. Challenge Norms – norms are important. They’re “the way things have always been done.” And sometimes, they’re wise and valuable and other times? They’re staid, clunky habits which deter innovation and offer a smart switched on person to compete against industry pros with decades of experience. Challenge norms but do it smartly.

Anyone can become a switched-on person. Anyone. It’s not a question of natural aptitude, but rather of adopting sensible habits and having the strength of character to persevere with them even when times get tough. You can do it, the question is, “do you want to?”