10 Habits of Highly Successful Women
These 10 habits of highly successful women are practical, easy, and effective — and they’re what “See Jane Soar” is all about! These tips for success range from maintaining your hormonal balance to letting go of the past – and they affect your mind, body, and soul.
First, a quotation from writer Anais Nin:
“Dreams pass into the reality of action. From the action stems the dream again; and this interdependence produces the highest form of living.”
Taking action is one of the most important habits of successful women…and so is dreaming. For inspiration and practical advice for succeeding in life after failure or knock-out punches, click on This is Not the Life I Ordered: 50 Ways to Keep Your Head Above Water When Life Keeps Dragging You Down by Deborah Collins Stephens et al.
10 Habits of Highly Successful Women
1. Maintain your hormonal balance. Are you moody, exhausted, irritable, or sad? Check your hormones. If they’re out of whack, then you’ll struggle to be successful! Make sure you’re getting enough protein and vitamins, and decrease your refined sugars and carbohydrates.
2. Forgive yourself for your mistakes. Highly successful women don’t obsess or feel guilty about past choices or failures. They make mistakes, move on, and apply what they’ve learned to new situations.
3. Connect with who you are. Being a daughter, wife, or mother is one aspect of your life. It doesn’t define who you are as a woman. To connect with who you are, find and express your authentic self. The more authentic you are, the more appealing you’ll be to others – and to yourself!
4. Avoid energy vampires. Do you feel drained or sad after spending time with a particular friend, coworker, or relative? Limit the time you spend with him or her. Note how you feel after visiting with a certain person; if you feel energized and happy, then you’re in good company. Highly successful women choose their companions wisely.
5. Speak kindly to yourself! If you beat yourself up for being overweight, a “bad” mom, or not exercising enough, you just create a downward spiral. Highly successful women remind themselves of their achievements and successes. They refuse to tell themselves negative things; they accept themselves.
6. Listen to your body. I heard Oprah Winfrey say this about 10 years ago: listen to what your body is telling you. Are you emotionally hungry or physically hungry? Feed yourself properly. Are you sad, furious, or depressed? Follow your body’s cues.
7. Volunteer your time. Find something that takes you out of your comfort zone or that you love to do. You’ll feel great that you’re helping others out – and volunteering directly improves your physical health. Highly successful women step out of their comfort zones and takes risks.
8. Let go of perfectionism. Strive to do your best, but let go of perfectionist tendencies. Accepting that you’re doing the best you can is a habit of highly successful women. Letting go of perfectionism is vitamins and exercise for the soul!
9. Use your core strengths. Are you a natural mathematician, writer, or party planner? Discover your core strengths by trying different things until you find what fits. To take risks and try new things, take short-term volunteer positions or volunteer for new projects at work or in your community.
10. Take time for yourself. This habit for highly successful women is my favorite: take time to recharge your batteries and refuel your emotional, spiritual, and physical energy. Spend at least a few minutes alone each day – even if you have to lock yourself in the bathroom to do it!
Have a missed a habit of highly successful women – or do you have any comments on any of the above? I welcome your thoughts below!
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Funny, I was just telling my husband last night that I now know why people shop! He’s been gone for work for 2 months now, and I’ve never been a big shopper…until last week. It actually fills a hole in my life — I’m not as bored, lonely, or sad when I’m shopping!
But, I don’t think it’s a habit I’ll develop in the long-term. I can see how it could be cool for some women — and even some highly successful women — but not me.
If it works for you, then shop on, my friend!
Laurie
.-= Laurie PK´s last blog post..How Not to Lose Your Personal Identity in a Romantic Relationship =-.
For me, it’s retail therapy. I love shopping, finding great deals, and putting my old and new clothing styles together! It makes me feel like a highly successful woman!!! My sister thinks that makes me shallow, but I don’t care.
I think to take time for myself may be the most important thing among the 10 habits. After growing up, I find it very hard to take time for myself. Nowadays I spend time walking in the woods alone or with a friend of mine. When I come back from the walk, I feel refreshed and recharged!!
Another habit of highly successful women is NOT beating yourself up for mistakes, failures, or regrets.
Hmm….good questions, Sandra.
I think my 3rd habit of a successful woman stems from talking to and reading about women who have defined themselves as a wife and mother for so long, they no longer know who they are anymore (apart from those roles).
Maybe this is a better way to say it: look at the roles you’ve carried for years – whether it’s being a mom, writer, church deacon, brunette, lawyer, or gardener – and ask if that’s still who you are. Sometimes we outgrow our roles – or our roles outgrow us – and yet we still define ourselves in that particular way.
The reason I used wife and mother in my example is because those are roles that DO change after the kids leave the nest, or even after they go to school full-time. But that doesn’t happen the same way in other roles, such as writer, gardener, lawyer, or even brunette! They tend to be fairly stable, though of course we can outgrown any of those roles.
Regarding the labels and attributes, Sandra — have you read my post called The Definition of a Successful Woman – Eleanor Roosevelt”? http://theadventurouswriter.com/soar/the-definition-of-a-successful-woman-eleanor-roosevelt/
I’m curious if that clears things up or muddies the waters
Thanks for your questions and feedback! I really appreciate your input here.
Laurie
Hi Laurie,
“3. Connect with who you are. Being a daughter, wife, or mother is one aspect of your life. It doesn’t define who you are as a woman. To connect with who you are, find and express your authentic self. The more authentic you are, the more appealing you’ll be to others – and to yourself!”
I find this confusing. Describe your authentic self without using such adjectives or titles. If I say, “I’m a writer.” is that any different than saying, “I’m a mother.”? If I say that I’m loving, is that any less a label?
What is an “authentic self”? Can a person spend so much time and effort looking to connect with their authentic self that they lose the life they should be living?
I can see this for some one who is completely living a lie and hates their life. (I have a friend on a blog who hates her current life.) But I think most of us live pretty close to our authentic selves. Even if we don’t love our job, I think most of us do enough things we do love that it is not unbearable.
What does define me as a woman if not such labels and attributes such as wife, mother, writer, friendly, caring, etc.?
What do you think, Laurie?
Sandra
Great question!
To me, the definition of “successful woman” doesn’t have anything to do with her daily activities, job, marital status, income, number of kids, or any objective measure. It’s how she feels about her life that matters most — is she achieving her goals? Doing what she loves? Living fully? Using her skills and talents?
Is she happy with her life?
A successful career and high income could mean success to one woman — and a stay at home mom with 3 kids could mean success to another. I guess each woman gets to figure out what it means to be successful for herself, and strive towards it. The other tihng is — a woman’s definition of success could change at different times in her life.
I think I should write a post about this…it’s such a gorgeous question.
Go well, and come back even better
Laurie
Hi
please give me a definition for “successful woman” !
A woman could have a successful career, make a lot of money but if she doesn’t have a family or children? Is her happiness sufficiency?
Imagine a woman stay at home, have wonderful husband, 3 kids and the entire day she is cooking, ironing, washing etc. She don’t have a huge amount of money but she is also successful because of the education, cares and good breeding of her chidren… this lady is also successful !