Why you need to build a daily routine to succeed
Tristan Wright
We help B2B service based business owners that are chained to their desk learn how to grow and operate their business without requiring their daily input.
High-achieving athletes who take the podium are often the ones who have regimented schedules and the grit to stick to them. Sure, naturally talented athletes exist and sometimes even overlap with these star performers, but more often than not, it’s the ones that exercise discipline and commitment who bring home the gold.
This is because they’ve carved out daily routines they are committed to. Instead of just relying on raw talent, they better themselves through rigorous training and dedication to their craft. They don’t just enter competitions without any prior preparation, they make sure they’re in tip-top shape through intensive practice.
This goes for business owners, as well. While you may have the natural talent, willpower, and vision for your business, carrying things out without any form of discipline or structure can spell disaster for you and your company.
Trying to accomplish tasks without any consistency can jeopardise your entire operation. Business growth and success requires determination, dedication, and discipline, just like an athlete. It all boils down to a solid daily routine and schedule.
When you’re dedicated to your business goals and you know the steps you need to take to achieve them, putting in the right routine increases the chances of success because you’ve laid the foundation for how you’re going to run your business in an organised, targeted way.
What is a routine and how does it help a business owner?
A routine is a fixed set of steps that you follow every day with the same or similar tasks in order to form good habits. Developing habits can happen both consciously and unconsciously, it’s up to us to recognise the routines we have and put effort into creating the ones we want. For example, with bad habits (such as lying on the couch all day and eating junk food), you make an unconscious routine that impacts your life.
Creating a conscious routine filled with good habits can help you find your passion again and motivate you in accomplishing to-do lists that will help you achieve your goals. So, if you want to lose weight, then make a habit of working out. You’ll find that it becomes second nature to put on your running shoes in the morning and go for your jog instead of having to convince yourself to roll out of bed and get moving.
Once you set positive routines in one aspect of your life, you’ll find that it’s possible to apply that same mindset to achieve success in other areas, too. Something as simple as a working exercise routine can improve your mindset and help you create healthy habits to follow and integrate even in your professional life.
Routines also improve overall health, especially mentally and physically, because you become accustomed to thinking a certain way, putting yourself in control of your actions and outcomes, and finding every day wins as you strive towards a specific goal,
Some conscious healthy habits include:
Developing yourself is the first step to success. Becoming healthier, more energetic, and mentally stronger can ensure a positive attitude and outlook that will open up a gateway to consistency and bring you closer to your goals.
Five things you need to set your daily routine
Setting your daily routine and creating good habits can be difficult at first because you have to put in that extra effort to overcome unhealthy habits that have set in. But with dedication and perseverance, you can create the best possible version of yourself. Here are five things you need to establish your daily routine.
1. Commitment
Commitment ensures that a business owner has their eyes on the prize and can focus on something long-term. Having the grit to persevere and attain those goals is important.
Remember, you can’t take the fruit from a seed you planted today.
Commitment makes a business owner a better leader by setting a good example for their staff. When they see you working hard for the company, they will be motivated to work just as hard (or harder) because they’re inspired to help you achieve the goals you've set out.
When you’re committed, you’ve found a purpose and continue to work towards it. You become a better leader and redirect your energy toward attaining your business goals and building new ones to keep striving and keep bettering the business.
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2. Structure
Being able to segment your day to do different tasks can help you more than you know. Instead of multitasking and having dozens of tabs open on your computer to simultaneously answer emails, check on your processes, and communicate with your team, break your day into a regimented schedule where you focus on one task at a time.
Structure gives you a sense of control over your day because you’re familiar with the tasks at hand and how you’re going to address them.
Set aside time for emails, meetings, and calls in order to get the most productivity out of your day. You’ll also avoid getting flustered about how much you have to do. You may be committed to correcting your habits, but if your schedule is all over the place, you won’t be able to develop a daily routine.
You should also schedule time to rest and recuperate instead of frantically going from meeting to meeting without pause. Create a to-do list to make it easier to separate urgent and low-priority tasks so you can work by priority and relieve some of that stress.
Structure makes your day easier and lessens stress and distractions.
3. Consistency
Consistency is what cements routine. Being inconsistent and saying, “oh, I’ll do this tomorrow” breaks what you’ve established and also breaks that healthy mindset. When that happens it becomes easier to deviate from your routine and the good habits you’ve cultivated.
Once you become used to something, it becomes easier to remember to carry out that task and form a habit. Breaking it will make it harder to put in place again.
Formed habits become routine, making it second nature to move towards your goals. Consistency also promises better results because you get used to working at a specific pace while producing a desired quality.
Consistency also helps you measure success because you’ve established a standard that you want to reach every time you accomplish a task. If something is subpar, you’ll notice immediately that it’s not up to the calibre that you’ve previously attained.
4. Discipline
Discipline ensures that you hold yourself accountable for the tasks you’ve lined up every day. Without it, you can easily excuse yourself from what you promised to do. When those excuses creep in, you break the routine, lose that positive mindset, and your goals gradually slip out of reach.
As in my earlier example, athletes who don’t have discipline will not win medals or finish on the podium—they may not even finish the race. They must have that grit and determination to pull through, no matter how difficult training becomes or what conditions they face.
Discipline provides a set of rules to follow in order to better yourself and to deliver action, instead of just ideas that never come to fruition. You may want to become the most successful business owner in your industry, but without hard work and dedication, it’ll be nothing more than a dream.
5. Mindset
Having the right mindset brings a routine to life. With a negative mindset towards your business and work, you can’t possibly create a routine because you’re not excited or energised enough to bring anything to the table. Without the right mindset, you’re carrying out a regimented, consistent schedule for the wrong reasons and end up directionless and lost.
You need a can-do attitude in order to set a routine that leads to success. Your energy and mindset are more powerful than you think as they directly affect your chances of success. If you’re low-energy and sceptical, your staff will see right through it and won’t feel as productive because you fail to inspire them.
This is especially true if your mindset is negative. If you have no willingness to change a negative mindset, you might as well throw in the towel right now because if you have no belief in the process or the goals you have set, you’re not going to give it all you have to make it work.
Having a good, positive mindset is the driving inspiration for success. Being positive about your ventures helps you flesh out your goals and take actionable steps to pave the way for you to achieve them.
A daily routine can provide a reliable and steady way to carry out your tasks that won’t have you scrambling for the next call or meeting. You’ll be perfectly organised, show your staff that you’re dedicated (and in turn, they’ll show their own dedication and productivity), and strive towards the business success you’re looking for.
If you want to succeed in business by establishing a daily routine, get in touch with us.