7 scientifically proven ways to be more successful

Flickr/Monik Markus

The definition of success will vary from person-to-person. For some, being successful is having family. For others, success means starting and maintaining their business.

I'm an entrepreneur just like you, working my tail off daily. Failure isn't an option. We all want success and over the past year I've been fortunate enough to work with, interview, and get to know many successful people.

I've learned from almost every successful person that I've me that regardless of what your specific definition of success is, you can become more successful in your life by taking into account the seven scientifically proven techniques:

1. Get up early.

According to biologist Christoph Randler in an interview with the Harvard Business Review, "When it comes to business success, morning people hold the important cards. My earlier research showed that they tend to get better grades in school, which get them into better colleges, which then lead to better job opportunities. Morning people also anticipate problems and try to minimize them, my survey showed." Randler also found that morning people are more proactive.

While night owls have unique traits of their own, if you want to achieve a high-level of success like Jack Dorsey, Richard Branson, Tim Cook, and Michelle Obama, go to bed at a reasonable hour and wake-up before everyone else.

2. Boost your confidence by taking action.

After investigating multiple studies that discussed the confidence gap between the sexes, Katty Kay and Claire Shipman, authors of The Confidence Code, concluded in The Atlantic that "[T]aking action bolsters one's belief in one's ability to succeed." They also said, "So confidence accumulates — through hard work, through success, and even through failure."

When you have low self-confidence, you’re less likely to act and accomplish the goals that you have set.

3. Be specific.

Speaking of achieving goals, it’s been found through a 2011 meta-analysis that when it comes to goal setting, successful individuals are specific. Instead of saying "I’m going to lose weight" or "I’m going to get more clients," successful people would say "I’m going to lose 10 pounds" or "I’m going to land three new clients within the next month." This is something that I've been working on in my life and you can easily do as well. Try right now. Set a specific goal that you're going to achieve by the end of this week.