Picture this: you’re sitting in a room with some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs. They’re not preaching about 14-hour working days or endless hustle – instead, they’re talking about taking breaks, pursuing hobbies, and (wait for it) actually enjoying life.
Surprised? I was too!
But here’s the thing: the habits of successful entrepreneurs often fly in the face of everything we’ve been taught about “crushing it” in business.
These ten game-changing practices aren’t just another set of rigid rules to follow – they’re permission slips to build your empire while staying fiercely true to yourself.
Whether you’re currently drowning in to-do lists or simply dreaming of a different way to do business, you’re in the right place. Get ready to discover why pausing might be your superpower, and how your afternoon hobby could be the secret to your success.
Intrigued? Let’s take a look at the practices that are quietly transforming businesses (and lives) around the world.
1. Power Of The Pause
What it is: Taking intentional breaks to reflect, reassess, and recharge. Whether these are 10 seconds, 10 minutes or a whole day, it doesn’t matter. These can be taken at any given moment or very structured.
How to implement: Give yourself the chance to count to 10 before acting in any given situation. Scheduling regular planned pauses throughout your day, like the Pomodoro Technique (25 minutes work, 5-minute break), is also a great way to hit pause. During this break, it’s important to change state; get outside, get a drink and take a moment to ground yourself and be present. Don’t spend the break thinking what else there is to do.
Why it matters: Pausing helps to regulate the nervous system and allows a state of calm to take place. Your focus, creativity and insight will be heightened in this space, and this resetting experience will also help you to avoid burnout.
2. Getting Out Of Your Head
What it is: Shifting focus from overthinking or anxious ruminating thoughts to feeling grounded in the present and taking ownership of your current state.
How to implement: Stand with feet shoulder width apart and imagine roots coming out of the soles of your feet. These roots are going down to the centre of the earth and anchoring you in so you feel supported by Mother Earth. This allows energy to move down into your body, embodying being present.
Why it matters: Being “in your head” is not healthy; it’s likely to lead to you feeling more stressed as you try to work things out in your mind. Getting out of your head and into your body is important to shift your state and get clarity on how you choose to move forward.
3. Changing Your Environment
What it is: Altering physical or social surroundings to break patterns in terms of vision, belonging and space.
How to implement: Make small changes like working in a new location, decluttering, or adding energising elements to your workspace. Get outside in nature to change the air around your body and feel into different sensations such as smelling oils.
Why it matters: This is a super quick win and easy to habit stack multiple changes to shift energy and behaviour. A change can inspire fresh perspectives and help gain mental clarity.
4. Breathwork
What it is: Using controlled breathing to manage stress and improve focus.
How to implement: Introduce methods like box breathing (inhale for four seconds, hold for four and exhale for four) or deep diaphragmatic breathing as a morning and evening routine to regulate your nervous system and drop more into your body.
Why it matters: Breathwork calms the nervous system, enhances oxygen flow to the brain, and enhances a feeling of wellbeing.
5. Time and Timing
What it is: Recognising how you use your time and when you’re most effective and perform at your best.
How to implement: Track your energy and focus levels throughout the day to identify peak productivity windows.
Why it matters: When you are aware of your most productive times, you can double down on tasks during these periods. This will help you with being laser-focused and will increase feelings of ease and enjoyment, as you are working with your body’s natural energies.
6. Self-Leadership
What it is: The practice of guiding and holding yourself accountable for actions and goals.
How to implement: Set a vision for yourself, outline core values, and regularly assess alignment between your actions and these goals.
Why it matters: This is one of the main habits of successful entrepreneurs, yet so many give their power away to others or to the system. Effective self-leadership builds self-trust, resilience, and independence, and allows you to be brave enough to follow your heart and intuition to create the change in your life.
7. Hobbies / Pleasure
What it is: Engaging in activities purely for joy and relaxation.
How to implement: Prioritise a weekly block for hobbies or activities you love, without any productivity pressure. Simply doing things without any end goal allows you to drop any expectations and feel true pleasure.
Why it matters: Pleasure is one of life’s jewels. It provides us with connection to ourselves along with calmness and joy. In terms of high performance, having hobbies and time away from work allows us to be more productive when we’re at work.
8. Health
What it is: Arguably the most important of all the habits of successful entrepreneurs. Looking after your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. Getting a good balance between all of these health aspects is vital.
How to implement: Establish healthy routines in sleep, nutrition, and exercise as a minimum. However, the wider health perspective is around areas such as hope, wellbeing, desire, strength and vitality.
Why it matters: Health directly influences energy, mood, and mental clarity – all essential for sustained high achievement. When we feel healthy we are more productive, expansive and ultimately more energised.
9. Hope
What it is: Maintaining a positive outlook and belief in future success.
How to implement: Set “hope goals,” which are dreams that you work toward in the long term. Regularly visualise success and use tools such as hope mapping to provide yourself with guidance.
Why it matters: Hope fuels motivation and resilience. When setbacks occur, hope enables a mindset shift from “I failed” to “this is part of the process.” It allows your focus to change from inner turmoil to outer success.
10. Wealth
What it is: Having financial stability and growth in its simplistic form, yet so much more!
How to implement: Create a clear financial vision, set wealth-building goals, and align your spending with values.
Why it matters: Financial health removes stress and creates freedom, allowing you to pursue meaningful work without fear. Wealth is a tool for opportunities, security, and greater impact. However, in the realms I am in, wealth covers so much more: abundance, bliss, self love, harmony and fulfilment
Incorporate all of these habits of successful entrepreneurs into your daily routine and watch yourself fly!
Charlotte Carter is a Mindset and Energetics Mentor and the founder and CEO of I Dare To Leap. She hosts the global The Energy Of Success podcast and has written for many publications including Grazia, Hello!, The Daily Telegraph, Metro and Marie Claire.
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