Table of Contents
In the long term, your habits determine your future. You first need the foundation of the following habits of wealth if you want to be really successful in business. (Excerpt is from ‘The Billion Dollar Secret: 20 Principles of Billionaire Wealth and Success’ by Rafael Badziag.)
Habit 1: Get Up Early
Getting up early is the number one common habit of the most successful entrepreneurs. Why is getting up early so important? There are several advantages. Early hours, when the world awakes to life, have something of primal energy around them. You may have felt this energy at the sunrise. You have time for yourself, time to think in silence, and time to work undisturbed. This, coupled with your fresh mind and body, makes you extremely productive during these hours. And you get this great feeling of doing something, of progressing when others are still asleep. It can even propel you through the rest of the day, giving you an additional energy boost.
But keep in mind: It’s not the short sleep that makes you successful in business. It’s getting up early. Some billionaires sleep for three hours only, some need as much as eight hours, but all of them get up early. Those that need to sleep longer just go to bed earlier.
Habit 2: Keep Healthy
Whether in business or in life in general, health is extremely important. Without health, life is a misery and no amount of success will make it better for you. There is no point in doing business if you aren’t healthy. Jack Cowin (a Canadian-Australian businessman and entrepreneur with long-term involvement in franchised fast-food chains in Australia and Canada) once gave a speech with the title “If I knew then what I know now” with 13 different points. “The first one is, if you lose your health, nothing else matters. Your health is the most important. I don’t care how wealthy or how important you are or how much power you’ve got; if you lose your health, nothing else counts. So you’ve got to look after your health. Include techniques such as meditation or physical training into your life to maintain your mental and physical health.”
Habit 3: Read
Books are the treasure of the world’s knowledge. When Rafael asked Cho Tak Wong (a Chinese entrepreneur, the chairman of Fuyao Group, one of the largest glass manufacturers in the world) about one message he would like to give to the world audience, his answer was: “I’d ask the young people to read books, read a lot of those about how to do things right, how to be a good person.”
Keep in mind, Cho Tak Wong was expelled from elementary school and was illiterate at the age of 14. He never graduated from any school and learned to read and write all by himself. He is a self-taught person who gained all his knowledge from the books he read and the experiences he made. This was what allowed him to become the World Entrepreneur of the Year 2009, the best entrepreneur in the world, so to say. Reading is, together with exercise, the activity that billionaires spend time on regularly. They usually read in the morning before they go to the office. Some read also before they go to sleep.
Habit 4: Routines and Rituals
Billionaires take time during the day to spend it alone to think. Some do it by meditating; some do it during other activities like sports.
Routines and rituals are sets of habits that, when employed consistently, will in the long term inevitably produce profound results. Ritualized habits are easier to keep and thus more sustainable. The long-term application brings about a compound effect. Unfortunately, bad rituals like a cigarette break also will produce profound results but on the negative side. That’s why it’s essential to set up and follow routines and rituals that support your objectives.
“Starting the Business Day”
Routine Billionaires have their usual way to start their day in the office. It’s a routine that they follow automatically the minute they enter their office. What you do first depends very much on the type of business you are involved in and of course the scale of your business. Frank Stronach (an Austrian and Canadian businessman and politician) explains it using manufacturing as an example:
When you are small, you go to the factory. When you are larger, you start with your secretary: “What’s new? Anything urgent?” Then you might meet an executive committee or whatever. So it depends on what stage. I went through all these stages.
Chip Wilson (a Canadian billionaire, businessman, and philanthropist) approaches every day in a systematic way. Asked what is the first thing he does in the office, he says:
I sit down and I think about what my number one priority of the day is. What is my goal to get done for that day? And I look at my calendar and go, “Okay, is my calendar right?” Actually, do that the night before, so I rearrange things. Then I go, “Has anything changed between last night and this morning, and what do I need to do?” I need to actually insert it into my calendar to give me time to do it.
Habit 5: Discipline
All the billionaires interviewed by Rafael are self-made billionaires and the most disciplined people. They put a high standard on themselves and on the people around them. In sports, you can achieve results only if you are disciplined to train consistently. Similarly in business, you can achieve results only if you are disciplined to apply yourself consistently to what needs to be done. You have to show up day in, day out for decades to make it happen. But billionaires are by no means superhumans or perfect working automatons. They also sometimes feel lazy just like you and me. The only difference is: they are aware of this fact and they don’t let themselves slack. They take up the struggle to overcome their weaknesses.
This is what Michał Sołowow confessed to Rafael: I wake up every morning and do things I don’t like. I force myself to do them every day. Because I am not hardworking, I force myself to do hard work. I am not systematic, so I have to force myself to become systematic.
“The chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.” —Warren Buffett
Featured reads
Mindful Shots, Volume-1
Most people live their entire lives without truly understanding how their minds work or the immense power they hold within. Fewer than two percent of people can confidently answer questions like: What drives my thoughts? Why do I feel resistance to my own goals? You’ve likely experienced moments when you wanted to take a bold step—perhaps starting a new business or making a life-changing decision—only to hear an inner voice warning you of failure. That voice often justifies its fears by recalling countless stories of others’ setbacks—family members, friends, society, even distant headlines. It’s as if your mind maintains a detailed archive of every failure around you, replaying them to keep you from moving forward. But what if this inner voice could be understood, reprogrammed, and even turned into your greatest ally? Imagine what would be possible if both your conscious intentions and subconscious patterns worked together instead of pulling in opposite directions. This collection, Mindful Shots, brings together some of the most insightful writings on mindfulness from Fastlane Freedom. Each piece explores practical and scientific perspectives on how the mind shapes our choices, influences our health, and even participates in physical healing. Through research-backed insights and timeless wisdom, this book will help you see that the mind isn’t just a passive observer—it’s an active force capable of changing your reality. By learning how to quiet the noise, shift your mental inputs, and harness your inner voice, you’ll gain a clearer path to personal growth, emotional balance, and a deeper understanding of what mindful living truly means.
Parenting Essentials
Parenting is a journey—one of the most rewarding, challenging, and transformative experiences life has to offer. But it’s not a path we are meant to walk alone. Essential Parenting was born out of a deep desire to support and empower parents at every stage of their journey, from the early days of pregnancy to the complex teenage years. Drawing insights from the Fastlane Freedom platform, this book brings together wisdom, mindfulness, and practical strategies to help you raise confident, emotionally strong, and value-driven children. At Fastlane Freedom, we believe that conscious parenting begins with self-awareness. Children absorb more from our behaviour than our words. It’s in our everyday actions—our calm during chaos, our patience in moments of frustration, our consistency in values—that they find their foundation. Parenting is not about being perfect; it’s about being present, intentional, and compassionate.
The Wealth Code, Volume-1
The Wealth Code: Volume-1 is a personal development and financial education book written by Vinod Singh. It is designed to empower readers by teaching them principles of wealth creation, financial freedom, and personal growth. The book offers practical strategies to achieve financial success, with a vision to uplift and transform the lives of millions by promoting financial literacy and entrepreneurial thinking. Mr. Singh's approach is rooted in inspiring individuals to take control of their financial destinies while cultivating a mindset focused on long-term success and abundance.
