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!

Related posts:

1. Creating a Successful Life Plan for Women – Serena Williams
2. How to Know if Your Goals Are Good for You – Anna Quindlen
3. 7 Simple Habits of Healthy Women – Susan B. Anthony

The life lesson: you need to get enough sleep, because the negative effects of sleep loss make you unhealthy, unproductive, and overweight! The successful woman: Arianna Huffington. These four steps to getting more sleep will help increase your productivity, energy levels, and overall health…

“Very often women workaholics forego sleep, because they’ve bought into the mentality that says sleep time is unproductive time,” says Huffington, author of On Becoming Fearless…in Love, Work, and Life. “Yet what have all this workaholism and sleep loss bought us?”

Below are some of the negative effects of sleep loss. And - more importantly - here are four steps to getting more sleep. And, click on Arianna Huffington’s On Becoming Fearless to learn more about how not to be a well-behaved woman!

Arianna Huffington on Sleep Loss

The effects of sleep loss? “Less productivity, less job satisfaction, less sex, and more inches around the waist,” says Huffington. “Doesn’t seem like a very good deal, does it?”

My friends, it’s important to work hard to achieve your goals…but not at the expense of sleep. Sleep loss makes you irritable, moody, less healthy, and less likely to think clearly and solve your problems. Sleep loss also makes you look haggard and older than you are…which, let’s face it, affects your self-esteem and self-confidence. Another life lesson: this can create a downward spiral that’s crazily difficult to stop.

4 Steps to Getting More Sleep

1. Figure out why you’re not sleeping. Are you struggling to fall asleep because of prescription medications, relationship problems, work stress, money problems, or other health issues, such as sleep apnea? The first step to getting more sleep is to pinpoint the exact problem.

2. Decide if you need to see a doctor. If you’re dealing with sleep apnea, prescription medication, sleeplessness due to menopause, or emotional health issues – then your next step to getting more sleep may be to see a doctor or naturopath.

3. Find healthy ways to cope with your problems. If you can’t sleep because of money worries, work stress, or relationship problems, your next step is to find other healthy ways to cope with your problems! This is a great life lesson, because you – we all – have to learn how to deal with problems without becoming physically unhealthy.

4. Try different things until you find what works. Some successful women find that sleeping with all the windows open helps, while others sleep better with eyeshields and earplugs. Others swear by yoga, chamomile tea, white noise machines, or warm baths. This step to getting more sleep involves trying different things until you find what works for you.

Do you have a secret to getting more sleep – something that helps you sleep better, longer, deeper? For more steps to getting more sleep, read Better Sleep Tips From Sleep Specialists. The source of Ariana Huffington’s info is The Huffington Post Compete Guide to Blogging (Simon & Shuster, 2008).

Related posts:

1. 6 Steps to Solving Almost Any Work Problem – Helen Gurley Brown
2. 5 Ways to Cope With Chronic Illness – Natalie Goldberg
3. 10 Habits of Highly Successful Women