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One year from now, are you going to regret or be proud of today? Are you going to look back and see how far you’ve come or wish to go back in time again?
Habits are the place where your past and future meet.
In the book Atomic Habits, James Clear gives us a strong foundation of how we can use habits as the foundation of our self-improvement by saying this:
“Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. The same way that money multiplies through compound interest, the effects of your habits multiply as you repeat them.” – Atomic Habits by James Clear
The core idea here is that success is not about grand gestures but the accumulation and cultivation of small habits that produce a compound effect.
Why? Because we all become what we repeat.
Successful people don’t do extraordinary things, they do simple things as extraordinary people.
How to be successful in life?
Give these 5 habits we’re going to see here, a fighting chance to shape your identity.
How to be Successful? Habit #1: Adopt a Bias Toward Action
At some point in our lives, we know that we didn’t do what we were supposed to. We fell short, knowing that it was a bad call.
Now think of it: If we have goals, why aren’t we moving toward them all the time? We know that our goals are the place where our dreams come true.
Isn’t obvious we should move there relentlessly?
So why we don’t?
Here’s why:
In the book Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi teaches about the dynamics of growth through flow.
Flow is a state of optimal efficiency. It’s when you are acting at your best capacity, reaching the most optimal results.
But sometimes you’re there, in a flow state, and sometimes you’re not.
We move towards our dreams in the dynamics of getting in and out of the flow state.
Let me explain.
Think of a 2 by 2 matrix. On one axis we have challenges and on the other axis, we have skills.
You are in a flow state when you are facing challenges that match your skills.
On there other hand, you will be taken out of flow when there’s a mismatch between these 2 forces.
That can happen in 2 ways:
- When your challenges are higher than your skills.
- When skills are higher than your challenges.
When your challenges are higher than your skill, you leave the flow state and enter a state of anxiety.
You feel that you don’t have what it takes. You feel like an impostor. You feel that you won’t make it.
On the flip side, when your skills are higher than your challenges, you leave the flow state and enter in a state of boredom.
You feel bored, you feel tired, you feel that you’re not anything meaningful.
You just want to do something else that’s more engaging and inspiring. What you are doing is so repetitive, so mundane, so easy. You just want to quit.
Those 2 states: Anxiety and boredom are states of growth. Embracing them is your path back to flow.
Growing up is not pleasant, it’s necessary.
How do you go back to flow when you fall onto one of those 2 states of growth?
It’s simple but not easy.
- If you are in a state of anxiety, add more skills. Learn more.
- If you are in a state of boredom, add more challenges. Do more.
This will take you into a cycle of growth made of 4 stages:
- Start something new and feel anxious about it because you don’t master it.
- Add more skills to match the challenge and get into the flow state. Where you’re going to feel inspired and motivated.
- Do that for some time, and your skills will surpass the current challenges. You get bored and leave the flow state.
- Add more challenges to your current set of skills and you get back to flow.
Then you repeat the entire cycle.
That will produce a natural trend of growth.
You achieve that by adopting a bias toward action. Every time you feel anxious or bored. You take action no matter what!
Tell yourself: I give results, never excuses!
How to be Successful?Habit #2: Focus on Process, not Events
Success is a process, not an event. What does that mean?
A process is a group of actions taken in a long enough time.
Reading a book is a process. Learning a skill is a process. Solving complex problems is a process.
An event is what happens at the end of a process. It’s instantaneous. Finished a book. Mastered a skill. Solved a problem.
Processes happen behind the curtains. Events happen on a stage in front of a crowd.
Nobody will ever perform on stage without practicing behind the curtains first.
That’s why success is a process, not an event.
If you want to be successful at anything, be recognized and rewarded, don’t crave the event of being successful, recognized, and rewarded.
Crave for the long enough process of building your success, recognition, and reward.
The only difference between you and any highly successful person is time and effort.
You become what you repeat.
How to be Successful? Habit #3: Learn as a Teacher, Not as a Student
In the book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Steven Covey suggests that we should learn something with the mindset of a teacher, not a student.
He suggests that…
If you learn something with the expectation of teaching someone about that subject within 48 hours, that imposes accountability on your learning.
It might slow down your reading. It might require reading a few sections again.
Suddenly, the responsibility of teaching about a subject makes the learning experience become less about completing an activity and more about creating a solid foundation.
That replaces the common idea of how many books you read with the powerful idea of how much you learn.
It also makes you more selective about the things you learn because you become more sensitive about what is useful and what is not.
You don’t want to teach someone else something that has no practical application or it’s useless to them.
We tend to take care of other people more than we take care of ourselves.
So you might not feel that you are wasting your time learning about something just for the sake of learning when in fact you are.
But you will certainly feel that you are wasting your time learning about something for the sake of learning if someone else who’s depending on your teachings is holding you accountable.
Learn as a teacher, not as a student.
How to be Successful? Habit #4: Know Instead of Understand
One of the most important things you need to be successful at anything is to know things, but you don’t know the things that you don’t do, you only understand them.
To shift from understanding to knowing you need practice.
That practice needs to answer 2 questions:
- What do you want to know?
- What is the feedback you receive once you start practicing that?
The first question is an attempt to uncover your interest and the second question is an attempt to uncover your proficiency.
The combination of your interest and your proficiency is your passion.
Interest is when you look inward and find something that gives more energy than it takes.
Proficiency is when you commit to developing that interest over time, get positive feedback from the world, and become known for that.
So, finding your passion is not an archeological dig. It’s an architectural build.
You don’t find your passion. You build it.
And you build it by knowing things instead of just understanding them.
How to be Successful? Habit #5: Develop Autotelic Motivation
Imagine a world where every task, no matter how large or small, is not just a means to an end but an end in itself.
This is the essence of autotelic motivation—finding joy and purpose in the activity itself, rather than in some external reward.
Why is this important?
Well, the word “autotelic” comes from the Greek words auto (self) and telos (goal).
When our motivation is autotelic, we are driven by a force that is sustainable by itself.
We are not just chasing the next achievement or external validation; we are fully engaged in the here and now, creating a rich and rewarding experience out of the process itself.
In the book Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describes how people who find flow in their activities are those who can take action no matter what.
Csikszentmihalyi also explains that once you adopt autotelic motivation as the driver of your actions, you develop an autotelic personality.
And guess what?
Every successful person is successful because they develop an autotelic personality.
So, what to look for?
These 4 Hallmarks of Autotelic Personalities:
1) Curiosity
They have a strong desire to explore and learn.
2) Persistence
Despite hardship and setbacks, their intrinsic motivation helps them persevere.
3) Low Self-Centeredness
They are more focused on the task than on their own ego or concerns.
4) Independence
They are less concerned with social norms and external rewards, relying instead on their own values and standards.
By developing an autotelic personality, you transform every act into a stepping stone towards mastery.
Whether it’s writing a book, painting a canvas, coding a new app, or building a business, you do it with a passion that doesn’t depend on rewards because doing those things is the reward itself.
This habit, once cultivated, turns the mundane into the extraordinary and the every day into a masterpiece.
The question is:
Are you doing what you’re doing for the sake of the activity itself, or for what you will gain from it?
Shifting towards autotelic motivation might just be the key to not only achieving success but enjoying the journey every step of the way.
