Blog: 9 Things Successful People (and brands) Do Differently

When it comes to creating marketing plans for our brands, in order to be “safe”, we tend to be very general on our objectives. This, more often than not, will prevent to achieve reachable and measurable goals and to get our plans fully executed.

We found this article by Heidi Grant Halvorson for Harvard Business review and thought that it could translate perfectly to marketing to achieve better Brand Building habits.

Decades of research on achievement suggests that successful people reach their goals not simply because of who they are, but more often because of what they do”

Here’s an excerpt.

1. Get specific.

When you set yourself a goal, try to be as specific as possible. “Lose 5 pounds” is a better goal than “lose some weight,” Knowing exactly what you want to achieve keeps you motivated until you get there.

2. Seize the moment to act on your goals.

Achieving your goal means grabbing hold of these opportunities before they slip through your fingers. To seize the moment, decide when and where you will take each action you want to take, in advance. Again, be as specific as possible (e.g., “If it’s Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, I’ll work out for 30 minutes before work.”) Studies show that this kind of planning will help your brain to detect and seize the opportunity when it arises, increasing your chances of success by roughly 300%.

3. Know exactly how far you have left to go.

Achieving any goal also requires honest and regular monitoring of your progress — if not by others, then by you yourself. If you don’t know how well you are doing, you can’t adjust your behavior or your strategies accordingly. Check your progress frequently — weekly, or even daily, depending on the goal.

4. Be a realistic optimist.

When you are setting a goal, by all means engage in lots of positive thinking about how likely you are to achieve it. Studies show that thinking things will come to you easily and effortlessly leaves you ill-prepared for the journey ahead, and significantly increases the odds of failure.

5. Focus on getting better, rather than being good.

Believing you have the ability to reach your goals is important, but so is believing you can get the ability. We focus on goals that are all about proving ourselves, rather than developing and acquiring new skills. People whose goals are about getting better, rather than being good, take difficulty in stride, and appreciate the journey as much as the destination.

6. Have grit.

Grit is a willingness to commit to long-term goals, and to persist in the face of difficulty. Effort, planning, persistence, and good strategies are what it really takes to succeed.

7. Build your willpower muscle.

Your self-control “muscle” is just like the other muscles in your body — when it doesn’t get much exercise, it becomes weaker over time. To build willpower, take on a challenge that requires you to do something you’d honestly rather not do

8. Don’t tempt fate.

No matter how strong your willpower muscle becomes, it’s important to always respect the fact that it is limited, and if you overtax it you will temporarily run out of steam.

9. Focus on what you will do, not what you won’t do.

Then plan how you will replace bad habits with good ones, rather than focusing only on the bad habits themselves.

The full article is here