5 Unusual and Counterintuitive Habits of Successful People
By: Ayodeji Awosika
Tags: Self Improvement, Life Lessons, Psychology, Productivity, Personal Development

5 Unusual and Counterintuitive Habits of Successful People

Most articles about the habits of successful people are total nonsense.

In fact, I once wrote an article making fun of the concept altogether.

But here I am, writing an article about the habits of successful people.

What gives?

Well, there are some things you can get in the habit of doing to increase your odds of success. That’s all you get. Odds. Probabilities. Chances. Once you understand that, you understand success itself.

I’m going to put together a list of never heard before odds(or rarely mentioned) increasing success habits, which means the list won’t include:

Reading more (although this an excellent, favorite of mine, hobby)

Waking up at 5 a.m. (which is useful, but only if you know why you’re doing it)

Drinking green tea. Or tea of any variety

Finding a mentor (which is a bit overrated)

Spending less time on your smart-phone. I’ve given up on this. I’m an addict, but I try to use my phone to learn, sometimes, when I’m not watching Joe Rogan

Ok, are you ready to have your mind blown? Here we go.

Get Lucky

Luck is the giant elephant in the room when it comes to becoming successful. The idea of true meritocracy is impossible. We all have advantages and disadvantages we have no control over.

Not only that, sometimes people with no talent succeed. Sometimes people with great talent fail. Often, success or failure in life can be due to pure chance.

So why become a self-help writer? Why give any steps at all if it’s all chance?

It’s not all chance, but there’s a lot more chance involved than you’d think.

So what should you do?

Put yourself out there more. Send more positive energy out in the universe, expect good things, act like you’re lucky. Then, on a long enough time scale, you’ll get lucky.

This could easily be rephrased as “learn how to spot opportunities,” but I don’t think that does the concept justice. People with a bit of an irrational sense of confidence, those who feel destined, tend to find their destiny.

Who cares about the underlying mechanisms if you end up getting what you want? Of course, work hard, be prudent, focus on self-improvement. But realize those are just the tickets to the dance my friend.

When you do all of the above, you tend to put yourself in a position to get luckier. Positive people are just more attractive. Negativity repels. Maybe the metaphysical nerds are right and your aura is working for you.

Either way, actively think of yourself as lucky and try to get in the habit of getting lucky while working really hard and good things will happen.

Understand What Motivates People

Most people sleepwalk through life. They’re existing, not living. Living involves consciously observing your surroundings, especially other people.

If you get in the habit of observing people and trying to figure out what motivates them, you’ll learn how to influence people. You’ll know how to move them and get them to do what you want (for good, not evil of course).

This doesn’t mean you have to turn into Machiavelli, but you should always question peoples motivations in every interaction, realizing people are:

Self-interested

Vain (even in altruism, especially maybe)

Kind

Operating from the perspective that they are in the center of the universe

In desperate need of meaning

In desperate need of love

Generous

Validation-seeking

Religious — everybody worships something

Often well-intentioned (even if it leads to hell)

Aspirational

Cynical

Resilient

Insecure

Confident

Jaded

Open to the right opportunities

This is a short-list of many, many, many variables. People are all of these at once — negative and positive.

Try to get into the habit of seeing below the surface level of interactions — your personal interactions, the interactions of others, the interaction at large… the zeitgeist. All of it.

Become a “people watcher,” in coffee shops and bars. Listen more than you talk in conversation. See the social and power dynamics that go on in everyday life.

If you get in the habit of understanding people, you’ll have psychological superpowers.