8 Things Remarkably Successful People Do

1. They don’t create back-up plans.

You’ll work a lot harder and longer if your primary plan simply has to work because there is no other option. Total commitment without a safety net will spur you to work harder than you ever imagined possible. If somehow the worst does happen, trust that you will find a way to rebound. As long as you keep working hard and keep learning from your mistakes, you always will.

2. They do the work.

You can’t be great at anything unless you put in an incredible amount of focused effort. There are no shortcuts. There are no overnight successes. Everyone has heard about the “10,000-Hour Rule” but no one follows it, except remarkably successful people. So start doing the work now. Time is wasting.

3. They work a lot more.

Extremely successful people work more hours than the average – a lot more. They have long lists of things they want to get done. So they have to put in lots of time. Better yet, they want to put in lots of time. If you don’t embrace a workload others would consider crazy then your goal doesn’t mean that much to you.

4. They avoid the crowds.

Conventional wisdom yields conventional results. Joining the crowd – no matter how trendy the crowd or “hot” the opportunity – is a recipe for mediocrity. Remarkably successful people habitually do what other people won’t do. They go where others won’t go because there’s a lot less competition and a much greater chance for success.

5. They start at the end.

Average success is often based on setting average goals. Decide what you really want: to be the best, the fastest, the cheapest, the biggest, whatever. Aim for the ultimate. Decide where you want to end up. That is your goal. Then you can work backwards and lay out every step along the way.

6. They don’t stop there.

Achieving a goal isn’t the finish line for highly successful people. It just creates a launching pad for achieving another goal. The process of becoming remarkably successful in one field will give you the skills and network to be remarkably successful in other fields. Remarkably successful people don’t try to win just one race. They expect and plan to win a number of subsequent races.

7. They sell.

Selling isn’t manipulating, pressuring, or cajoling. Selling is explaining the logic and benefits of a decision or position. Selling is convincing other people to work with you. Selling is overcoming objections and roadblocks. Selling is the foundation of business and personal success: knowing how to negotiate, to deal with “no”, to maintain confidence and self-esteem in the face of rejection, to communicate effectively with a wide range of people, to build long-term relationships.

8. They are never too proud.

To admit they made a mistake. To say they are sorry. To have big dreams. To admit they owe their success to others. To poke fun at themselves. To ask for help. To fail. And to try again.

– Retrieved and updated from Inc.

10,000-Hour Rule: The key to success in any field is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing a specific task for a total of around 10,000 hours.
– From Malcolm Gladwell’s Book “Outliers”