Self-learning. No matter who you are and what your dreams of success are, you can’t do anything without information in your brain. We do that through formal education, self-learning, reading, and listening to useful information.

The most successful people put reading at the top of the list. “As you know,” says Martel Cummings, a self-made millionare, “time is money. So I prefer to get all my information from reading. Listening to something useful is fine, but that takes time. I would rather read a podcast transcript than listen to one.”

Even people who drop out of college are self-taught, they educate themselves on the things they need to know about the things they need to do.

Prioritize. As mentioned above, time is money, so how you spend it matters. If you have 4 great successful ideas, choose one or two and forget about the others until you start to have success. Spreading your efforts over too many areas at the same time will get you nowhere.

“Don’t spend time reading about what others think is important,” says Don Coptins, entrepreneur. “Just because some journalist thinks something is newsworthy, that doesn’t mean it’s necessary for you. Sure, maybe check out headlines and take a very brief look at some newsworthy items, but move on as fast as you can to the information that is going to bring you success.”

Don’t check the phone every-time it dings. In fact, mute it until you finish your important things. Follow-up with your phone later, people can wait, and they should wait—You’re important.

Curiosity. Curiosity is creativity’s first cousin. You can’t be creative if you’ve never been curious. Try things you’ve never done before. Watch documentaries on things you don’t know, or places you’ve never been. Always be curious about people, places, and things. Always ask the questions “why” and “how.” And especially, “Is their a better way?”

Be Proactive. Take charge of your own ideas, emotions, and actions. Don’t wait for people to help you out, go get what you need. As well, don’t say “Mark really upsets me.” No he doesn’t, you choose to be upset. We choose all our emotions and reactions to everything around us. Nobody can make us feel or do anything we don’t want to do.

Positive Thinking. When something bad happens, think about the experience gained, the question of what “not” to do being answered. Things that seem like failures are just steps that lead to more success. No one ever really fails, they just give up. Keep going and envision the best future possible.

Teamwork. Get over it. You can’t do everything yourself. Don’t micro-manage others. If they can get the job done in their own way, why does it matter that they didn’t do it the way that you would? Time is money, let it go. Be nice to others, you never know when you’ll need them.

Help Others. Successful people are not as selfish as you might think. By thinking about others, it helps them with their business ideas. Volunteer for charity work. Help out your neighbor. It’s not enough to give your money to charity, get involved and do it yourself. You’ll learn a lot about people, plus, you’ll feel good too.