If you have been subscribing to my newsletter long enough, or following my blog, you will know how strongly I believe in good disciplines, rituals and systems.  I am 100% sure that achieving success, like growing your business, is never an accident. Rather, it results from doing a few critical things well and REPEATEDLY, over a long period of time. The path to achieving any significant accomplishment is very clear, as there are proven markers set by successful people who have gone before us.  One of the most important of these markers is the relentless focus on doing a few critical and important things every day, over and over, until it is no longer a conscious chore, but an unconscious habit.

In fact, I suggest business leaders actually take it a step further and create a ritual or routine every day (or every morning),

that will start the day off with traction and set it up for success. What is a ritual or routine? It is a series of actions or steps one takes, performed in a set sequence and normally in a set environment, to achieve a desired goal. You likely already have a ritual and never realized it, or it may be hurtful rather than helpful.  For instance, getting up a little to late, hitting the snooze button a couple of time, excessively browse the internet, running late and hitting pick traffic will not make you a champion when you arrive a work.  You will be tired, frazzled and unfocused.  A good ritual will focus on the few activities that give you the most bang for your buck, in terms of energy, focus and committment to your long-term goals.  It will take you away from the activities and people that slow you down, and focus your attention on the activities that you need to be successful.

Here is my morning ritual, which I thought you might find helpful.  I am showing you this as an example and highly encourage you to develop your own ritual that suits your unique circumstances.

My Morning Ritual:

• I set the alarm clock for the same time each day (6:00 am) and am usually up and going by the time it sounds.
• Check and respond to my overnight email while having a coffee and light breakfast.
• I normally read something inspirational or work on a writing project before leaving for my office or first meeting.
• At my office, I plan my day with a Goal and Action Planning Template I created, which includes the following steps:
• Write out my 3 long-term aspirational goals.
• Write out my 3 monthly goals.
• Write out my 3 weekly goals.
• Most important, write out my three priorities FOR THAT DAY and allocate time for each one.
• I schedule my day around the top three priorities and try to stick to it!
• I complete my habit checklist (which I described in a previous post) to stay on track.
• My routine is now complete and I start my day.

This entire routine is designed to start the day in a relaxed and positive state of mind, followed by a focus on my goals and habits, and ends with a tangible daily schedule around those goals. Am I perfect?  Absolutely not, but the more I stick to this routine the better the day goes. If I get off track one day, I don’t worry about it too much. Rather, I reset the next morning and keep on going. 

The key point is this:  If you want to be successful, focus on what successful people do, and do it over, and over and over, until it becomes a habit.  Over time, success will come more easily, causing you and your business to prosper.

….related: 

How To Learn From Every Failure