As you may have guessed, the most successful entrepreneurs have a lot in common.

Those who have studied successful entrepreneurs have found there are many common habits and traits that define and shape their path to success. It’s not about what they do, but about the similarities in their behaviors and their individual processes of consistently replicating those habits. The commonalities between these successful entrepreneurs turn out to be quite consistent. Here’s a look at five common habits of successful entrepreneurs:

Punctuality – If this sounds simplistic, it is. Business coach and consultant Dan Kennedy believes the simple task of being on time is a habit you must adopt if you want to be successful. “A person reveals a great deal about himself by his punctuality or lack of punctuality,” Kennedy says. “As a general rule of thumb, I use this as a means of determining whether or not I want to do business with someone.”

Value customers and employees – Many successful entrepreneurs treat their customers as the driving force behind everything they do. They treat opinions – both customers and employees – as gold, using it to shape their creative process, products and customer service. Ben & Jerry’s is a great case study of valuing opinion and integrating corporate responsibility and philanthropy.

Passion drives business – A strong desire to turn a passion into a business is the ultimate motivator. A look at the most successful entrepreneurs in history would show many who fall into this category. But the best entrepreneurs don’t start off with making a fortune as an objective – it sometimes happens along the way. Passion brings fulfillment and satisfaction beyond a big payday, which as a sole focus causes entrepreneurs to cut corners along the way.

Playing to strengths and expertise – The best entrepreneurs are confident in their areas of expertise and very clearly know their strengths. That leads to profitable decisions. Because they embrace their strengths, they are able to also embrace the concept of team-building and bringing in partners and leaders who offset their weaknesses. This allows them to focus on what they do best.

Embracing obstacles – No business venture will be void of obstacles, but the most successful entrepreneurs find a way to embrace the challenges and find the opportunities and surprises hidden within. Obstacles can help learn about your products and ideas early on, provide quantitative evidence, teach what you might not know and provide feedback that can take you in another direction.

There are some things you are simply obligated to do over the holidays. Going to your holiday work party is one of them.

Most business experts agree you should go to your holiday work party unless you have a very legitimate reason why you can’t attend. So, even if you’re not in the mood, it’s best to suck it up and put on your best face for business purposes. And since you’re going, you might as well make it useful time spent.

Here’s a do and don’t guide to etiquette for the holiday work party.

Do show up. Make a cameo, even if you don’t want to be there. There’s an expectation that’s not really optional, and you never know when or where it will help you. If you’re invited to several, try to go to them all.

Do not be aloof or anti-social. It is a social event, after all.  You’re there to mingle. Don’t stand in the corner on your smartphone, as it signals you’re not a team player.

Do stick to the dress code. It’s still a business event, and you don’t want people talking after about what you wore.

Do not arrive hungry. The holiday work party isn’t the place to stuff your face. And you don’t want to be drinking on an empty stomach.  You’re not there for the food.

Do act like you’re having a good time. This is especially true if you’re not. Talk to people you don’t normally engage with at work and have topics ready to chat about that aren’t work-related.

Do say goodbye. Don’t try to sneak out. Say goodbye and thank you to either the hosts or your boss, or both.

Do bring something. If the party is at someone’s house, bring food or drink to share, or a small gift.

Do not forget to say hi to the boss. This should be self-explanatory, even if it’s just a hello.

Do stay sober. You can do what you want on your own time. This is the biggest mistake people make at a work event, and it will be remembered.

Louis Zamperini is the epitome of a true American hero.

Many people have heard of Zamperini, but not always for the same reasons. His life story is an incredible tale of determination, achievement and perseverance, one almost unimaginable to believe. As a distance runner he set the world interscholastic record for the mile. He qualified for the 1936 Olympics at the age of 19. He survived 47 days on the open ocean during World War II after his bomber crashed. He then survived two years of brutal captivity as a prisoner-of-war in Japan.

It’s no surprise that his story turned into a No. 1 best-selling book, “Unbroken,” released in 2010. It was adapted into a film in 2014, directed by Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie, and is due to be released on Christmas Day 2014.

Zamperini had a rather modest upbringing in Torrance, California. As an incorrigible and unruly teenager who attended Torrance High, Zamperini only became a distance runner at the behest of his older brother.  Channeling his rebellion and finding an unknown talent, he set a world interscholastic record in the mile in 1934, one that would last 19 years.

His early achievements earned him a scholarship to the University of Southern California, and in 1936 he decided to train for the Olympics. He chose to train for the 5000 meters, a distance he had never run, and finished eighth at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. But it was his final lap at an astounding 56 seconds that caught the attention of Adolph Hitler. As Zamperini would later tell it, he shook hands and took a photo with Hitler.

Two years later, in 1938, Zamperini set a national collegiate record in the mile. Nearing the 4-minute mile, at 4:08, the record would stand for 15 years.

When the war came, Zamperini enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces and was a bombardier on a B-24 Liberator. During a search-and-rescue mission on a defective B-24 searching for a lost plane and crew, Zamperini and the rest of the crew crashed into the Pacific 850 miles West of Oahu, killing eight of the 11 men on board. Astoundingly, Zamperini and two other survivors aimlessly floated across the open ocean for thousands of miles over 47 days until they were captured by the Japanese.

Already surviving an amazing ordeal, Zamperini and a crewmate were captured by the Japanese Navy. He willed his way through years of horrific beatings and torture at several Japanese POW camps and was believed to be killed in action before finally returning home to a hero’s welcome.

Zamperini endured post-war problems back home, but eventually married and became a popular Christian inspirational speaker. He later lived in Hollywood, California, and passed away from pneumonia on July 2, 2014, at the age of 97.

You can view a business card as a tiny first impression of your business and an effective marketing opportunity.

Business cards are everywhere. And, even today, they are still a necessity. That’s because business cards still represent one of the best ways to market yourself and your business in one-on-one interactions with a captive audience. Even so, many business cards that are exchanged end up collecting dust or sit at the bottom of a trash can. Here are six tricks to make your business cards a more effective marketing tool.

Include them with all correspondence. What you are sending may wind up in the trash, but your business card will likely be saved. From there, you never know whose hands it might wind up in when people are looking for a referral. Include a card in everything you send out.

Create a digital version. Take a photo of your own business card and create a contact with it on your smartphone along with all of your contact information, including your website. When you network, ask if you might text or email your card to them. That way, you have their information as well.

Tracking systems. Include a tracking code or SKU on your business card. When you distribute them, tell contacts about incentives like a discount for calling or coupon for checking your site. This will enable you to track the responses you do receive.

Add testimonials. Add a brief quote from a client and/or a link to your testimonials page on your site to your business card. Customers react strongly to other customers’ reviews, and nothing adds credibility like a testimonial.

Partner with a cause. Social and community responsibility is a part of business today. Let your network know what causes you care about, letting them get to know you more, and use your card as a distribution vehicle for the cause. Insert a small logo for the cause with “proud supporter” or “proud volunteer.”

Put a face to the name. You very likely have business cards of people and you don’t remember who they are. Don’t let that happen to you. Consider putting your photo on your card so people remember you after they met you. A professional photo adds familiarity as well as the likability factor.