Now that you have a plan, a map and a team, you need some productive habits. We all have habits. Our lives are the sum total of our habits. Habits are small decisions we make and actions we perform every day. Some are highly productive and propel our lives forward; others are just repeated behaviours. Unfortunately, some habits can hinder our progress.

My uncle John believes our habits define us as people and I could not agree more. Peek inside the life of a successful person and, at some level, it will be underpinned by good habits, whether they pertain to exercise, diet, work, financial matters or relationships. Deeply ingrained habits — good, bad and indifferent — become difficult to break. This reality works both for and against us.

Your habits are shaped by your thoughts, which in turn lead to actions and ultimately deliver outcomes. If we apply this model to the sphere of personal finance, it is very clear what we need to do to become financially successful. We need to develop good habits with regard to earning, budgeting and spending.

The tiny percentage of Australians who are in a position where they never have to worry about money (and that's no more than 2 per cent) shine a bright light on the difficulty adults have in developing and maintaining good habits in multiple aspects of their lives. Those who are disciplined enough to do so, reap the rewards financially and in a multitude of other ways. I believe the opposite is also true, and the main reason that so many lotto winners and beneficiaries of large inheritances squander their fortunes in a matter of years. Whether the goal is to become a billionaire, a millionaire or just financially independent, here are some habits I have found to be common among successful people.

Wake up early

Successful people wake up and start their day early. There are entire books devoted to the virtues of getting up and getting going, even before sunrise. Once upon time, it was the ‘6 am rule’. With the pace of modern-day life and demands on our time, it is probably now the ‘5 am’ rule’ (perhaps even the 4 am rule!). Whatever time, by getting up early, you are securing a head start on a huge percentage of the population.

I wake up every day at 5.05 am. Not 5.05 am one morning, 6 am the next and 4.30 am the morning after. It is always 5.05 am sharp. For many years I would wake at 4.45 am to do exercise, eat breakfast, get ready and be at my desk to start work by 6.30 am. When my then partner, now wife, Hannah moved in with me, I had to compromise a little, so 5.05 am became the new wake-up time — it's halfway between her preferred time of 5.25 am and my preferred time of 4.45 am! The important thing is the routine. The consistent action that, over time, becomes a habit.

Make the first hour of the day yours

Successful people do something for themselves in the first hour of their day. They exercise, meditate, read a book or practise self-care. They do something that invests in their physical, mental or emotional wellbeing — body, mind and spirit. What they do not do is pick up a device, turn it on and start working. This time of the day should be ‘screen free’.

Uncle John takes it to the extreme — he does an hour of exercise, listening to an audio book while he is working out to help him learn something new to kick-start each day. This is followed by half an hour of meditation.

I am not that disciplined. I do 45 minutes of exercise, then enjoy a cup of coffee while I reflect on what I am aiming to accomplish that day. The clarity of thought that often comes during this short period of relaxation is significant.

There is no single formula for how you should invest that first hour, as long as it pertains to some form of self-care or self-nurturing. Experiment a little. Find out what works for you but make it a priority: that is your time. The more relaxed you are or the better the frame of mind you are in when you commence your working day, the more productive and resilient you are likely to be.

Get your heart going

Successful people do half an hour of cardiovascular exercise each day. That generally means getting your heart rate up to between 50 per cent and 70 per cent of its maximum. There are scientific reasons why cardiovascular exercise leads to better performance and anybody who has experienced the feeling of endorphins being released into their body after a strenuous workout will know what I am talking about.

It doesn't matter what form that cardiovascular exercise takes: go for a run, swim, ride a bike, do a gym classes, get on a rowing machine or take a power walk. It simply doesn't matter. The important thing is working up a sweat for half an hour, or as much time as your schedule permits. Again, once this becomes a habit, your body will crave the daily exertion.

Get enough sleep

We need sleep. Lack of sleep clouds our judgement and can make problems seem bigger than they are. Experts say you need around eight hours sleep each day. They also say you should go to bed and wake up at the same time each day. I have met people who swear by six hours' sleep, others like eight hours, for some 10 hours is best. The point is that fatigue strongly affects our ability to make well-considered, timely decisions.

We have all had times where we are overloaded with work and have to stay back late. When you are young, there is also a tendency to burn the candle at both ends: work hard, play hard, and still get up early. You can get away with this once in a while but, if it becomes a pattern, you are in trouble. I know if I get too little sleep, my mood and mindset change; problems snowball, which can lead to anxiety and interrupted sleep the following night. Sustainable performance and control demand a consistent sleep routine.

Practise gratitude and humility

Successful people are grateful for what they have. That sense of gratitude might stem from their comfortable existence — being in control of their finances and not having to worry about money — or it could be rooted in more simple pleasures such as good health, a spacious garden or a loyal friendship group. Whatever the source, the ability to be content with what you have is all-important.

Those who become trapped in the never-ending quest for more and more and bigger and better are rarely satisfied. Look for pleasure in the little things. Give others a helping hand, without expecting anything in return. Reach out to those less fortunate.

Uncle John did this by setting up Toogoolawa School in 1991. I now join him every Monday morning for quiet time with the boys and it is unbelievably rewarding. Just recently, I was speaking to a teenage boy, who we will call Ben. Ben has been at the school for seven years and is about to graduate. When we first met, not long after he arrived, Ben was so anxious and self-conscious he could hardly string a sentence together. Watching him develop and grow in confidence has been enormously rewarding.

While only a few people are likely to be in a position to pioneer a community project of that scale and magnitude, we can all make time each day to scribble down one (or more) things for which we are grateful. It forces you to momentarily slow down, focus on what is important and, best of all, it takes 20 seconds! Keep a master list and refer to it regularly. You will be amazed at the positive messages it sends to your brain.

Visualise

Spend time visualising your goals, whatever they may be. If a goal is to pay off your home loan, visualise waking up one day in the future, about to make the last repayment. Visualise walking into the bank and handing over the cheque and receiving the deed document. Then getting the deed framed and displaying it proudly inside your home.

That's just an example, but it is important, when you visualise, to attach a feeling to the vision. A sense of pride, relief, joy: what you are picturing in your mind should send a tingle down your spine. It should have a strong emotional component. Successful people tell you about their goals with such vivid clarity that you feel like you are there, watching it all unfold. That's because they constantly visualise that success.

Spend time with like-minded people

There is a popular theory that you will be as successful as the average of the 10 people with whom you spend most of your time. Put another way: if you hang around with dogs, don't be surprised if you catch fleas!

As emotional beings, it is highly likely we can benefit from associating with highly motivated, aspirational people. I love going to our client functions, where I can be sitting next to someone who is just starting out as an investor and on the other side of me is someone who owns 10 properties. The stage they are at in life is not that important — what is relevant is that they are like-minded people who have the same aspirations to do well in life.

Be a reader, be a leader

If I remember correctly, it was John who ignited my passion for reading. I still remember the first book he gave me, The Richest Man in Babylon. No fanfare, he just thrust it in front of me and said, ‘Here, this will help explain what I'm talking about!’

From that moment, I was hooked. These days I plough my way through three or four books a month; some are hard copy, some on Kindle and a few are audio books. Learning through reading has become a powerful habit. John and I share the interesting books we find and then discuss the key takeaways. It is a fantastic way to expand your knowledge and, when you consider that The Richest Man in Babylon was written in 1926, it gives you an idea of how long the answers to most of life's exam questions have been lying around, just waiting to be digested. I find it fascinating that the world is changing daily but good advice will always be good advice — whether it was written in 1926 or 1997 — and you can unearth an awful lot of it by reading books!

Turn off

Successful people make a concerted effort to switch off every now and then. Over the past decade or longer, smart phones have increasingly blurred the lines between work and home. The post-pandemic shift towards working from home is likely to exacerbate that situation. If we allow ourselves, it is conceivable that we will be accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which is not only very unhealthy but also completely unsustainable. No wonder depression and anxiety are running at epidemic levels!

Achieving financial success is like running a marathon: you have to have enough energy to reach the end. I make a concerted effort every night during the week to switch off my phone two hours before I go to bed. On the weekend, it goes off for at least one of the two days — longer if my circumstances at work permit. I have found that to be enormously effective in helping me stay in control.

There is nothing particularly original about the habits I have listed. They are simply my interpretation and my take on what I have read and observed in the business world. To add some more substance to the discussion, an extensive study conducted by Dr Phillippa Lally, out of the University College of London, found that it took human beings an average of 66 days to form a new habit. Based on that research, the best time to start making changes in your life was 65 days ago but the next best time to start is today!

If you would like to learn more about developing good habits, there are some very powerful and practical books available to help. These are some of my favourites:

• Atomic Habits by James Clear. My favourite line from the book: ‘Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.’ So true!
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R Covey. A classic and powerful in so many ways.
• Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Dr Joe Dispenza. More technical/scientific but still very insightful.