Tips before you leap

If you have decided to dive head-first into unchartered waters, make sure you have what it takes.

Entrepreneurship isn't for the faint hearted. Founders must find their own path, gather resources and take on huge financial risks – all in the hopes of avoiding the fate that 80 to 90 per cent of startups suffer: failure.To be successful, entrepreneurs really have beaten the odds – especially young entrepreneurs. Starting with almost no wealth, network or business experience, many create more success in a few years than most people do in their entire lifetime.

Rather than focus on generic insights or basic hacks, we looked at unique, concrete habits you can immediately adopt in your life and business that can have a game-changing impact.Create a regimented schedule. Be consistent with your schedule. Maintain a lifestyle that allows you to maximize the amount of work you can get done. This type of prioritisation has made a huge impact on how quickly the company like Fueled has grown.

Ask yourself this question before going to bed. Every night before bed, think about this question: If I live every day the same way I did today, what kind of future would that create? This will force you to constantly evaluate whether or not your actions are lining up with your priorities. The future is shaped one day at a time, and it's never as far away as you think it is.

Take an adventure walk every weekend to connect the dots. Every weekend, go on a long hike in a place that you’ve never been before. Do the research in advance. Drive as far as an hour away. Your hikes could be anywhere between one and four hours long. Take an old-school composition notebook with you, and I let the thoughts come; don’t force anything.

The habit helps to relieve stress and unpack the ideas from the week. It's kind of like meditation. By constantly evaluating ideas and how they fit into your business, you can slowly render them into reality and watch your imagination unfold. Take a hot-cold contrast shower every morning.

Take a hot-cold contrast shower. Do it every morning, no matter where you live or what hotel you are staying in. By pouring 30 seconds of ice cold water, followed by 30 seconds of hot, then 30 seconds of cold water (always ending with cold water), you will gain the energy and clarity to start your day feeling refreshed.

Reflect on critical open questions through different lenses. Most of the technologies we've ended up inventing and developing, and most of the strategies we've ended up pursuing, have been borne by a long cultivation of an open question, followed by the nurturing of a slow hunch. Learn to tolerate open questions for months or years.

Open questions could include queries about how to find a co-founder for your business idea when people have their own interests and projects to work on or how to sell your new product to an entity that is typically averse to risk. Set three specific goals weekly and monthly -- and ignore everything else.

There are a million things you can do to improve your business. The problem is, if you try to fix or improve them all at once, you end up not making much progress in any of them. You need to be relentless in following your goals.