Most entrepreneurs fail. Entrepreneurship is not for everyone. However, the entrepreneurs who do succeed and rise to the top inspire positive changes, create opportunities and influence things in our world.

The entrepreneurial journey stretches people beyond their comfort zones and success doesn’t come easy. The successful entrepreneurs develop amazing life hacks and practice great habits to optimise their routines. Here we look at some amazing life hacks that will make you more successful too.

1. Mediocrity or Excellence is a Choice:

Mediocrity doesn’t meet the cut. To survive as an entrepreneur, you need excellence. Entrepreneurs who succeed are excellent with execution. They set their standards high and constantly push their levels higher.

The market always rejects the mediocre, but rewards excellence. When you do something that is excellent, it attracts opportunities. But when you’re satisfied with mediocrity, you limit yourself and choose failure.

As JK Rowling says, “It is our choices … that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

2. Integrity & Reputation:

Never compromise on your integrity. A great reputation is built by what you do day in and day out. It takes years to build a great reputation and a lifetime to maintain that reputation. In a world driven by devices, it is easy to forget values and integrity. But long term success is attained with strong values, integrity and honest commitment.

Warren Buffett once shared this, “The best advice I’ve ever been given is by my father, who told me it took 20 years to build a reputation and 20 minutes to lose it.”

3. Reading:

Reading is one of the best ways to develop new insights, learn and grow. Many entrepreneurs and billionaires around the world attribute their success to reading. Whether it is Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, or Elon Musk, books have had a profound influence and changed their way of thinking.

Bill Gates thinks books are still the best way to learn new topics & shared this recently on his blog, “Although I’m lucky that I get to meet with a lot of interesting people and visit fascinating places through my work, I still think books are the best way to explore new topics that interest you.”

4. How You Spend Time Defines You

How you spend time makes you who you become. Great achievers in any field spend time learning, practising and refining what they do.  World class performers spend time and that is the reason they rise to the top of their fields.

So, what separates world class performers from others? In his book, ‘Talent is Overrated,’ Geoff Colvin affirms that spending 10,000 hours in your chosen field can mould you into an expert.

5. Make Things Happen:

You have to make things happen. You can’t wait and watch, you have to take action. Entrepreneurs succeed because they build things that can capture the imagination of people, solve problems for them and create great value in the process.

While there are always people who will discourage you and put you down, eventually your efforts will make things happen. As Jeff Bezos remarked, “The common question that gets asked in business is, ‘why?’ That’s a good question, but an equally valid question is, why not?”

6. Success Comes With Experimentation:

Successful people work hard to attain what they achieve. Success is never served on a platter. As an entrepreneur, your focus is on doing better, taking feedback and criticism in your stride to improve yourself. The number of experimentations you make, your willingness to work hard until you can find the solution and your ability to patiently hang in there makes the difference.

As Mark Cuban says, “It doesn’t matter how many times you fail. You only have to be right once and then everyone can tell you that you are an overnight success.” Success requires persistent efforts and experimentation.  

7. Execution Trumps Everything:

No one will bother how much you worked unless you created something exceptionally good. The most successful entrepreneurs understand the difference between being busy and doing meaningful work. They understand that all work is a way to create and build value for others.

Ask yourself what is the most valuable thing you can do & how you can contribute? Great execution requires competence, skills and right attitude. The Mexican billionaire, Carlos Slim summarises it very well, “Work well done is not only a responsibility to yourselves and society; it is also an emotional need.”