“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” – Jim Ryun, American athlete, author, and politician.

While many young entrepreneurs search for a big break or golden opportunity in their life to propel them into success, it is the people who use every little moment of their day to practice being successful that really win in life and career. Why? It is because major deals, monster clients, or huge contracts only give you a foot into the door of the big leagues. What you do and how you perform once you get there determines whether you can stay or not.

“H is for Habit, winners make a habit of doing the things losers don’t want to do…Just do it! First you make your habits, and then your habits make you!” – Lucas Remmerswaal, author.

So how does one practice being successful on a daily basis? By nurturing good habits that will train your brain to do things the right way. Being a successful entrepreneur really begins when a person is willing to embrace the habits that others fall short of mastering. Here are some to get you started.

10 Essential Habits of Successful Entrepreneurs

1. Set Goals:

Have you ever tried to use a GPS for directions without having the destination address? It won’t work too well. In our lives and businesses, setting goals is essential because it allows us the ability to plan a route for movement. Long term goals are often like destinations on a long trip, with short term goals being stops along the way. If you want to be successful as an entrepreneur, make it a habit to always be setting clear, achievable goals for yourself and your business.

2. Track Progress:

One of the key motivators that successful entrepreneurs all over the world have given credit to for their success is enthusiasm. One of the ways to keep a steady stream of enthusiasm flowing your way is to get into the habit of tracking your progress on a regular basis. This allows you to see where you have progressed, as well as help you to determine areas that may not be advancing as you would like them to.

3. Work from a Schedule:

Believe it or not, but even entrepreneurs need a schedule! Without something solid to lead from, priority items often get pushed to the back burner, important tasks get forgotten completely, or people simply have more trouble managing their time effectively. By making a habit of scheduling out your day, week, and month, you will train yourself to be organized, to plan ahead, and to meet the deadlines that you set for yourself through a schedule.

4. Wake Up Early:

Rise and shine! While climbing out of bed with the chickens and dragging yourself to the office before noon might not sound like an entrepreneur’s dream come true, many people lose countless hours of productivity because they have developed a bad habit of sleeping in. While rest and getting a good night’s sleep is important, successful entrepreneurs need to develop enough self control to habitually wake up early and get started working without procrastination.

5. Constantly Network:

One of the best habits that an entrepreneur can have is to network constantly with the people around them. Talking to people as you go through the day doing normal activities can be one of the easiest, cheapest, and most effective ways to grow your business. Whether you leave a business card on the lunch table next to your waitress’s tip, talk about the services your business offers to a friend or family member over coffee, or share your website with the bank teller, networking is a habit that pays great rewards over time.

6. Always Be Learning:

When it comes to strong character traits that an entrepreneur can possess, the ability to adapt and to innovate is at the top of the list. Change happens all around us, all the time, and one of the best habits to develop in order to keep a sharp edge on technology and business trends is to always be learning. From industry seminars to YouTube videos, make it a personal challenge to learn something new every day. Over time, you may be amazed at just how much success will result from such a simple lifestyle tradition.

7. Accept Help & Ideas:

It has wrongly been thought, by some people in the business world, that to accept help or guidance showed weakness. In reality, creating a habit of being open to creative ideas, innovative suggestions, and good old fashioned help is one of the best moves a successful entrepreneur can make! No one knows it all or can do it all, but the ones who come the closest in life and career are those who know how to surround themselves with bright, helpful people, and then use the resources that these individuals bring to the table.

8. Work Hard, Play Hard:

This phrase may sound like a slogan from an athletic shoe commercial, but it is a habit that many successful entrepreneurs have long held. Basically, it means that you have to develop a healthy balance of work and leisure, giving your best to both. If you expend all your energies on work, leaving no time, money, or energy for enjoying your life, you greatly increase your chances for burnout or exhaustion. On the other hand, individuals who habitually neglect their work in order to play all the time are usually unproductive and don’t accomplish much.

9. Be Stubborn & Persevere:

You may have been told as a child that being stubborn was not a positive habit to acquire, but in entrepreneurship, it is nearly essential. Entrepreneurs have to be able to push against the status quo, persevere despite numerous rejections, and be stubborn enough to keep going when things look hard. By developing habits of perseverance and stubborn determination, you will be preparing yourself to run the marathon called long term success.

10. Conquer Fear:

Fear can be one of the most dangerous obstacles to an entrepreneur along the pathway to success. Fear of failure, fear of leadership, fear of public speaking, fear of rejection, fear of the unknown…just to name a few. While you may not be ready to tackle an enormous fear just yet, you can train yourself daily by making it a habit to conquer small fears as they arise. If rejection is your area of trepidation, for example, purpose to put yourself in situations where small rejections arise. Use these to practice holding your ground and before you know it, rejection won’t scare you like it used to.

“Good habits are hard to form and easy to live with. Bad habits are easy to form and hard to live with. Pay attention. Be aware. If we don’t consciously form good ones, we will unconsciously form bad ones.” ― Mark Matteson, motivational speaker & author