I watched a nifty video produced by my colleague and friend Bernie Heine, a great business coach in Massachusetts. Bernie’s video was based on the great Thomas Corley book, Rich Habits, which contains 16 outstanding habits that will change your prospects of living a rich life immediately. I decided to share my ten favorite habits with you, and today’s article is the second installment of habits. I hope you enjoy them and find them valuable. If you want more, get a copy of Thomas Corley’s great book or go to YouTube and search for Bernie Heine’s video, you’ll enjoy it!

Avoid Procrastination – What’s happening while you’re procrastinating? That’s right, next to nothing! Don’t waste your precious energy and time. Choose to invest in your future by taking a proactive stance as you go through your life. Remember that procrastination works against you EVERY time whether with personal or professional relationships. Get off your backside and get in the game. Create a plan for your day, and work the plan. Pick a priority and get to work…

Talk Less and Listen More – The most effective people leverage the 80/20 rule and speak about 20% of the time when engaged in conversation and use the 80% of time that remains to listen. Great communicators know that you’ll never learn anything while you’re talking, but you can learn an incredible volume of valuable lessons by listening intently. By showing that you know how to listen and focus on your audience, you can set yourself up to help them to be more successful and get reciprocity working for you.

Don’t Give Up – One of the biggest reasons that people who accomplish more than others reach those lofty heights is that they avoid the temptation to give up early, when the going gets tough, or when the pain of the effort and sacrifice begins to set in. Edison invented the light bulb after failing over 1000 times. Yes, that’s right, over 1000 times. THAT’S persistence and determination, folks! You can do it. Don’t give up. Ever. When you think you’ve given it your best effort, dig deep and go further.

Believe in Yourself – Drop all of the negative thoughts that are swirling around your head, and focus on believing in someone you can trust, yourself. Too many of us have a ton of defeatist crap rambling around in our subconscious minds. Wipe all of that nonsense away and remember that you are a human being. Human beings are amazing and capable of so much more than we used to think. Find out what you’re capable of by blowing past your perceived limits. Believe!

Get a Mentor – When you ask the most successful people in our society how they accomplished great things, they will usually tell you warm stories about the people who helped them along the way. Over 90% of the most successful people have mentors or coaches who help them learn how to do what they’re trying to accomplish. Do likewise! Find someone who knows how to do what you’re trying to learn to do, and start listening to them. They’ll be happy to help you if you demonstrate your sincerity.

Well, there you have it, another tremendous five habits that work to make you rich. Don’t stop here, get started on developing some new habits for you and your family, right now, today! Don’t wait, and don’t let anybody tell you that this won’t work. It will work if you MAKE it work. I know you can do it. I’ve seen the power in many of these habits in my life, and I’ve seen other wonderfully successful people employing these habits as they have climbed higher and higher toward their goals and their rich life. 

Michael Beach is an Executive Development Coach and Business Advisor in the Twin Cities area in Minnesota. Michael works with Business Owners, C-Suite Executives and their Emerging Leaders. Michael is passionate about helping people and strives to equip his clients to build company cultures that deliver ambitious results and transformative change. What are you doing to develop the next generation of leaders for YOUR company? If you’re not comfortable with that answer, send an email to Michael at info@michaelbeachcoach.com and Michael will be glad to talk to you about how he helps dozens of companies around the US with developing THEIR next generation of leaders.