How to Become a Success

Co-authored by Lauren Krasny

Last Updated: December 5, 2024 Approved

While there is no single secret to success, successful people do have many traits and habits in common with one another. Emulating the habits of successful people, and theorizing how to be more productive in your own life, can help you become successful in whatever you pursue.

Here are 16 tips and suggestions to help get you on your way.

1

Get up early.

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Getting up early makes you more conscientious. Plus, it improves problem-solving, while also ensuring you get the most from every hour of the day.^{[1]
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Harvard Business Review
Online and print journal covering topics related to business management practices

Go to source} Some tactics that can help you consistently get up earlier are:
- Organize evenings to go to bed at a reasonable hour (that includes ending use of electronics one hour before bedtime).
- Don't hit the snooze button. Instead, put your alarm clock or timing device on a table across the room from where you sleep, forcing you to get up with the alarm goes off.

2

Exercise.

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Successful people understand that being at their best means taking care of their body. This includes regular exercise, which provides the following benefits:
- It reduces depression.^{[2]
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- It improves energy levels and fights fatigue.
- It improves immune responses and prevents disease.^{[3]
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- It teaches discipline and dedication to goals.^{[4]
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- If you don't have time for a dedicated workout schedule, make small changes, like taking the stairs or walking as opposed to driving to a nearby location, to contribute to a healthy lifestyle.^{[5]
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3

Nurture emotional and mental health.

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Research shows that a foundation of emotional health is crucial to overall confidence. Confidence, in turn, is a key component of successful professional ventures. In other words, success doesn't create happy people, but happy people create success.^{[6]
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American Psychological Association
Leading scientific and professional organization of licensed psychologists

Go to source} Below are a few suggestions for how to take charge of your happiness and create success:^{[7]
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American Psychological Association
Leading scientific and professional organization of licensed psychologists

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- Commitment: In this context, commitment means an attitude of remaining involved, despite challenges and set-backs. It means refusing to be isolated in self-doubt and, instead, using disappointments as a driving force behind current and future efforts.
- Control: Control means refusing to be powerless. It means embracing tasks and the corresponding struggle, attempting to influence outcomes as opposed to simply letting outcomes happen.
- Challenge: Challenge reflects an indomitable attitude of viewing instances of stress, whether positive or negative, as fodder for learning and evolving.

4

Visualize a plan.

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Visualizing activities increases the speed and success of your task completion. So, when you visualize your plan, you’re actually able to get more done each day. With this in mind, take time to plot out the course of each day. Instead of just list building, actually visualize the steps you will take to complete important projects and tasks. Below are suggested ways to harness visualization for success:
- Focus your mind on the personal attributes you'll need to be successful. Regardless of whether you are the president of a bank or a school's PTA, there are attributes that all successful people share. Listening, learning, communicating, delegating, organizing, just to name a few, and the kinds of skills that successful people possess.
- Imagine what success will look like. Are you striving to be a successful interior designer, or stay-at-home parent? In either case, it's important to visualize what success will look like for you, down to details like what you'll be wearing and who else will be present.
- Use affirmations. Vision corresponds with verbal and written affirmations. For example, if you want to be a successful golfer, close your eyes and repeat to yourself "I can see myself on the green. I am comfortable and confident and prepared to swing. When I hit the ball, it goes exactly where I want it to. It lands on the green, 2 strokes ahead of par."

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5

Know why you want the things you want.

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Part of success is self-awareness. Part of self-awareness, then, is understanding the motives that drive your desires and behaviors.^{[8]
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- It requires identifying your goals, what is gained by achieving them, and how those achievements positively impact your life. For example, if you want a promotion at work, ask yourself why. Is it for more money or greater personal achievement? Is it because you are trying to impress someone else?
- By thinking reflexively about your goal orientation, you may even find yourself re-assessing your needs and making smarter decisions. Thus, if you realize the reason you want a promotion doesn't actually correspond with the person you'll have to become to get it, re-consider your priorities and look for ways to maintain personal happiness while still achieving success.

6

Re-prioritize your schedule.

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Prioritize developing personal and professional relationships. Believe it or not, these can play an important role in success. Start by writing out a time budget that describes what you've done and how long it took for the past week. Then, take a hard look at where you are spending your time and effort.
- Ask yourself if what you get back from your time investment warrants the effort you've put it. For example, is staying awake at night talking to your girlfriend helping you be more productive at the job you enjoy? Is working 40 hours a week as a teacher's aide fulfilling your personal desire to help children and make the world better?
- Adjust expectations and how to fulfill them. Ask yourself what tasks and responsibilities offer you the greatest overall satisfaction and write them down. Now look at your list and ask yourself what obstacles will you encounter to reach your goals. Are these obstacles things you have created yourself or are they challenges that will make you a better person? Are any of these obstacles things you can remove from your path in order to bring yourself closer to success?

7

Embrace your passion.

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One pitfall to success is pursuing a goal because it brought someone else success. In doing so, you ignore your own passion. This doesn't mean that you should act impulsively, but it does mean playing to your strengths and learning how to leverage your creativity and enthusiasm.^{[9]
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- Good work yields good pay. Instead of aiming at jobs because they pay well, instead aim at jobs that you have enthusiasm for and that you can excel in. Excellence in any field will bring financial rewards.
- You are the product. When people invest in a company, it is rarely because the product they sell is indispensable. Rather, the person at the helm directing the project has vision and inspires confidence. When you embrace your passion, you highlight the key features of your character and skills that make you awesome. People respond to this, and will believe in you.
- Do it because you can't do it. Think about what makes you want to wake up in the morning. Is it your role at work, your role as a parent, the hobby you tend in the evenings? Look for ways to marry what inspires you to a marketable skill or product and invent your own success.

8

Learn to tolerate discomfort and delay reward.

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Mental strength and success go hand in hand. Remember that mental strength does mean not having emotions. Instead, it means being aware of emotions you are having, but being strong enough to manage them in the face of unavoidable discomfort.^{[10]
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- Be motivated. Do you have anxiety around new people? Are you bored with a current task that is key to the success of a larger project. Instead of saying "I wish I didn't have to do [x]," say, "I can get through this" or "Just take it one day at a time."
- Start small. Today you are refusing to watching television until after doing the dishes. A year from now, you are refusing to quit running during mile 14 of a marathon. Training for success is not a finger-snap. It's about maintaining standards and good habits over time and in all aspects of life.
Beyoncé Knowles, Singer & Businesswoman

Be willing to work hard and push yourself. "I can never be safe; I always try and go against the grain. As soon as I accomplish one thing, I just set a higher goal. That's how I've gotten to where I am."

9

Reflect on your progress.

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Reflection is key element of being successful. In the same way that it is important to have a plan, it is equally as important to take a step back and reflect on what you've accomplished and what still remains to be done.^{[11]
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- Keep a journal. Some activities such as journaling, list keeping, or using a calendar or vision board help reflection and keeping track of out path to success.
- Remember that reflection isn't easy. The whole point of reflecting on your road to success is not to pat yourself on the back but to critically assess whether you are meeting your milestones. If not, this may require adjustments to your original plan, or an entire overhaul of what you originally thought you'd be doing.
- Starting over isn't a loss. If upon reflection, you realize you are on the wrong path, it's time to visualize a new direction. Take stock of what you learned and figure out how to transition yourself away from the path you are on to one that more closely allies with your ambitions and talents.

10

Learn from failure.

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Successful people aren't born successful. They are made through accumulated life experiences and that includes risk as well as failure. While acting impulsively is never recommended, taking calculated risks can pay off in the long-run. Even if you don't succeed at everything you undertake, studying failure and learning from it is a key feature of all successful people.^{[12]
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- Steve Jobs was fired from Apple in 1985 in large part because he was difficult to work with. However, he returned 12 years later and turned the then-failing company into a success because he had become a better leader.^{[13]
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11

Be proactive, not reactive.

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Research has linked personal success with proactivity. Therefore, instead of waiting for opportunity to find you, brainstorm ways to improve your life and career and act sooner rather than later.Below are some tactics for becoming more proactive:^{[14]
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University of North Carolina Writing Center
UNC's on-campus and online instructional service that provides assistance to students, faculty, and others during the writing process

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- Anticipate what obstacles you will face and how to tackle them. Related to skills like visualizing is prediction. When we realistically project a path to success, necessarily, we also project the pitfalls along that path.
- Prevent avoidable obstacles.While not all obstacles are avoidable, many can be circumvented by preparation, funding, and training in advance.
- Appreciate timing. Research shows that, just important as taking action, is learning when. Act too soon on something you are unfamiliar you, you may look unprepared or fool-hardy. Act too late and you may not get the opportunity to use your skills and demonstrate leadership.^{[17]
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12

Surround yourself with successful people.

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Success doesn't happen in a vacuum. Every successful person has a long list of friends, teachers, mentors, co-workers, etc. who assisted them along the way. ^{[18]
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- Look to people you already have in your life who are talented, positive, supportive, motivated, and knowledgeable. Spend time learning from them and collaborating when possible.
- Internships, seminars, and job-shadowing are other great ways to interact with successful people and to learn from them.
- Maybe your goal falls outside of the rat race and you are looking for ways to be successful as a parent, or teacher. The rule is still the same. Find those people who are successful and who you admire. Spend time with them and learn what makes them tick. Emulate good habits to bolster your own ambitions.

13

Nurture strong, positive relationships.

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Your relationships play an important role in your success. Are you attempting to improve delivery of a product or service to a client? Are you seeking out mentorship from other, more senior professionals? Are you looking to improve your skills as a competitive cyclist? Whether thinking logistically or personally, fostering strong relationships is an integral part of success, no matter what the playing field. The following tactics can help you grow these relationships in productive ways:
- Grow your personal network. While every entrepreneur knows that a strong brand and social media presence is key to professional success, these do not take the place of personal encounters, which are the most common source of opportunity and growth.^{[19]
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- Foster relationships outside your serious aspirations. Think about your personal life as practice for managing people in professional or employment-related contexts. When you don't listen to the needs of family or aren't a loyal friend, these relationships fail to thrive. It's also important to seek out opportunities to develop relationships with new friends as well, so consider joining a club or attending a hobby meet-up.^{[20]
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14

Ask questions and listen more than you talk.

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Your conversational etiquette plays a role in your success. Asking questions is a great way to to be a part of important conversations. It’s also a great opportunity to grow your knowledge and increase your likability, as it gives others the opportunity to share.
- Listening to others also gives you the ability to benefit from their expertise and utilize what you learn toward future tasks.

15

Take responsibility.

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^{[21]
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Research source} Don't blame failures on outside forces. Instead, analyze what you did and how, next time, you could do it better. Remember that only you decide whether you succeed or fail.

16

Adhere to high standards.

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Always apply yourself fully to each task you undertake, and work to exceed the expectations of co-workers and supervisors. Do not accept "adequate" but instead always work toward improvement and progress beyond what is required.

How Do I Stop Being Afraid Of Success?

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Question

How can I get successful fast?

Lauren Krasny
Executive, Strategic, & Personal Coach
Lauren Krasny is a Leadership and Executive Coach and the Founder of Reignite Coaching, her professional and personal coaching service based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She also currently coaches for the LEAD Program at Stanford University Graduate School of Business and is a former Digital Health Coach for Omada Health and Modern Health. Lauren received her coaching training from the Coach Training Institute (CTI). She holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Michigan.

Lauren Krasny

Executive, Strategic, & Personal Coach

Expert Answer

Take a step back once a week or once a month to reflect on what is and isn't working for you.

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