Simply Successful Secrets
March 7, 2007 by Dan and Jennifer
Filed under Goals
For the inside scoop on the original Secret to Success, be sure to check out The Hidden Secret in Think and Grow Rich!
UPDATE: The Simply Successful Secrets project has been a smashing success and you can see the results of the program that is detailed below by clicking on over to the Simply Successful Secrets Roundup!
Original Project Details:
Being the race of potentially genius-level linkers that we humans are, it was realized a long time ago that one of the best ways to achieve success was to emulate the efforts of other people who are successful. With that in mind, I have decided to start an interactive research project that will benefit all of the bloggers who participate, as well all of the readers of those blogs.
I am calling it "Simply Successful Secrets" and here is how it works:
1) Compose a new blog post listing the top 5 to 10 things that you do almost every day that help you to be successful. They can be anything at all, but they have to be things that you do at least 4 or 5 times every week. Anything less than that may be a hobby that helps you out, but we are after the real day in and day out habits that help you to be successful.
2) At the top of the post tell your audience (briefly or at length) what you are doing and put a link and/or a trackback to this post, as I will be compiling a master list of the results after the conversation has run its course.
3) Be sure to also put a link/trackback to the blogger who tagged you for Simply Successful Secrets in order to spread the link love.
4) Share your top success secrets with your own audience, which will in turn likely share those secrets with the audience of the blogger who tagged you.
5) Pick as many bloggers as you want and "tag" them to take part in the fun. You will be helping their exposure by linking to their site from your blog, and they will return the favor by having a link to your site in their initial post - just like the "Why do I blog?" meme that went around awhile ago.
6) Sit back and watch the success secrets and the crossover audiences start rolling it! Once I feel the conversation has run its course, I will tally all of the habits that were listed by the bloggers who participated and put those habits in a master list, categorized by popularity. I will then post that list in a new blog post on my site, along with a master list of links to all of the bloggers who participated.
Very simple, very easy. Everyone wins by learning the success secrets of other people who are successful, and all of the bloggers who participate get cross exposure on this blog as well as the sites of whoever tags them.
SPECIAL NOTE: If you are an "A-list" blogger or other well-known person who ends up being tagged, please play along! With about 8,000,000 blog posts (and growing) already out there about the technical/marketing side of blogging and business success, let's bring it all back home and help people to realize that success depends on proper habits, not just industry-specific jargon.
p.s. - For you self improvement and personal development "gurus", here is your chance to put your money where you mouth is. What do YOU do every day???
My Habits
1) I exercise almost every day. I do resistance and/or cardiovascular training at least 5 days p/week. In order to keep it fun, I vary my workouts to include weights, kick-boxing, running, roller-blading, bicycling, brisk walks, etc. I maximize my time by listening to motivational/informative podcasts while I exercise, but also switch to mood-appropriate music for more intense workouts.
2) I "schedule" downtime. I tend towards being a workaholic, so I actually have time planned each day for family and other non work-related activities. I even get extra work done in advance when preparing for extended time away from my computer so I can enjoy my time off stress-free.
3) I read everyday. Some days it is just a health/fitness magazine, but most of the time I spend at least 30 minutes with my nose in an actual book. I just finished reading 'The Attractor Factor' and I am presently reading 'Ask and it is Given'.
4) I listen to and/or watch motivational content. Whether it is a program on TSTN, or if it is a podcast or recorded teleconference, rarely does a day go by when I am not subjected to uplifting/empowering content.
5) I blog! Blogging - as most of you know - is not just writing, but also reading other's blogs and participating in conversations. Writing informative and empowering content for my own blog keeps me "in the zone," and I also stay grounded by reading blogs written by people who have views that I otherwise might not have considered.
6) I get out of bed early. I have found that my brain immediately starts needing my Internet and email fix the moment I wake up, and that takes a certain amount of time, no matter what time I get out of bed. In order to get my fix and still get on with my day at a decent hour, I tend to get up earlier than most people, even when I am away from home.
7) I meditate/nap. They pretty much go together for me because I listen to brain wave altering audio, compliments of Kelly Howell at Brainsync, and I have no issues with allowing my mediations to end in a nap. I schedule 1 hour for that activity which gives me 15-30 minutes of mediation, plus another 30-45 minutes for an afternoon snooze.
I shut down my computer and my brain each evening. Even though I almost always end up doing something work-related after dinner, I do take 90-120 minutes every evening and spend it with my family. We have dinner, watch some Netflix, and play with the gang of cats that comes to our back porch for dinner every night. We only fed one, now we have 12. Go figure.
9) I visualize. At a bare minimum I visualize my dreams during meditation and again as I'm falling asleep at night, but I also squeeze in some more visualizations as well as affirmations during the day. Usually while I am waiting for my seriously overwor
ked computer to catch up with me.
10) I become still. Whenever one (of only two) cats that actually live inside our house wants attention, I stop and enjoy their company. When outside, I stand in the sun for a minute just relishing the fact that I am standing in the sun. When I read or see something truly inspirational, I stop what I am doing to enjoy the moment and really soak up what I just learned. In short, I take time to relish the moments of my life.
Okay, that's it for me! I have other habits, but those are the Top 10, and this post is already WAY too long! 
Since this is the first list of this type (to my knowledge), I am going to pull out all the stops and tag all of my favorite bloggers, and also some well-known folks who I know have blogs, even though they aren't that active in the blogosphere. Here we go, and don't forget to link or trackback to this post so I can tally up the results at the end! Also shoot me an email with any questions.
- Divya Uttam - Blogging to Fame
- Shauna & Ophelia - Breathing Prosperity
- Patsi Krakoff & Denise Wakeman - Build a Better Blog
- Chris Garrett - Chris Garrett on New Media
- Brian Clark - CopyBlogger
- Wendy Piersall - eMoms at Home
- Priya Shah - Marketing Slave
- Darren Rowse - ProBlogger
- Drew McLellan - Drew's Marketing Minute
- Patricia - A Better You Blog
- Brad Isaac - Achieve IT!
- Alex Shalman - Practical Personal Development
- Ben Casnocha - Ben Casnocha: The Blog
- Joe Vitale - Beyond Marketing
- Brian Kim - Invest in Yourself and Make it Happen
- Steven Aitchison - Change Your Thoughts
- Elyse Hope Killoran - Choosing Prosperity
- Christine Kane - Christine Kane Blog
- James Arthur Ray - James Ray International
- Lyman Reed - Creating a Better Life
- Kathy Sierra - Creating Passionate Users
- Michael Arrington - CrunchNotes
- Scott Lee - Dirty Mechanism
- Edward Mills - Evolving Times
- Scott Ginsberg - Hello My Name is Blog
- Guy Kawasaki - How to Change the World
- Alvin Soon - Life Coaches Blog
- Karen Lynch - Live the Power
- Liz Strauss - Successful and Outstanding Bloggers
- Henrik Edberg - The Positivity Blog
- Phil Gerbyshak - Make it Great
- John Wesley - Pick the Brain
- Craig Harper - Renovate Your Life with Craig
- Sania Wyatt - Inspiring and Helping Others Achieve Happiness…
- Scott H. Young - Get the Most out of your Life
- Seth Godin - Seth Godin's Blog
- Rick Cockrum - Shards of Consciousness
- Jeremy Schoemaker - ShoeMoney
- Steve Pavlina - Personal Development for Smart People
- Steve Olson - For People Pursuing Freedom
- Tony D. Clark - Success from the Nest
- Ilker Yoldas - The Thinking Blog
- Steve - The Fast Lane
- Gretchen Rubin - The Happiness Project
- Johan Holmberg - The Probablist
- Antonio Thornton - Think Banc
- Raymond Salas - Zenchill Power Tools Blog
Related Content:
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Margaret,
You did the link just fine, and thank you so much for participating! Our success habits are certainly modified when there are children involved, and for most people who have responded so far, spending time with their children was one of their most successful habits.
Thanks again for coming on board, Margaret, and I will be sure to swing by your site to check out your list!
Aaron,
On May 1st, I am going to follow in your footsteps with a
“My Business Life Lessons” tag. If you could email me, I’d like your blessings before I proceed.
Thanks,
Dave
http://www.BusinessAdviceDaily.com/
Dave,
Have at it, and enjoy! Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!
I came across a similar post at Drew McLellan’s blog a few months ago. Powerful stuff, and what a novel idea - helping people BEFORE they spend years making mistakes!
Great idea and excellent article, although some days I feel that if I can get out of bed early then I already consider it a great day
I’m with you, Cin! I feel great just by being awake and lucid early in the morning while the rest of the world is asleep.
I’m very productive early in the morning, but even if I just take the a.m. time to relax, I still feel better just for having gotten up early and started another beautiful day!
Nice to see how you rounded up everything nicely. This has been the best Meme written up to day for my likes. Hope to see more of this kind of projects in the future!
Alan,
Much obliged for the positive feedback. It was indeed massively successful, and I do have some ideas for future projects along these lines. Look for more info to be posted to the site!
Hey Aaron great site. the three key factors that i have found are common amongst all who are successful:
1) they all have mentors/coaches
2) the expand their extended network
3) they invest in themselves.
Jim,
Thanks for the positive feedback on the site, and for joining the conversation.
I agree 100% with each of your 3 points. I don’t think that a mentor or coach has to necessarily be a “hired” individual, although those individuals rock and they provide a valued service. However, some people just need a role model whose behavior or teachings they take to heart, even if they have never met the person face to face. Using that model, though, the person needs to be disciplined enough to do what their mentor or coach would advise them to do.
Aaron you are 1000% right on that. I could have used the language ‘annoint a coach/mentor’ and we can do this just by reading a book or going to your web site or my web site or another web site that is supportive.
One of the hardest things in our business is dealing with people that are extremely busy. So the way we sell is start with relationship building.
One of my mentors years ago said the only way to get a “kiss” was to get the other person to trust, respect and believe in you.
NOTE the last three important words…
One thing that I have started to do is article submitting. I write one article per week and submit it to 3 article submission site which have a high rank such as GoArticles. I have found my article all over the internet and even on some RSS feeds. I am totally amazed at the power of article submissions.
David,
I like article submissions as one tool, but I have also found that it is only effective to a point. Article marketing is not the only tool to keep in the marketing shed, and finding the fastest ways to get articles in front of the most number of people is critical. Otherwise, article marketing could literally take the place of a full time job!
Thanks for the list - this is mostly just common sense, but it needed to be said!
For me, exercise especially makes such a huge difference. Even a few minutes walking can make the difference between feeling good and feeling ‘out of it’.
Coach White
Nouveau Riche University - working together for success.