Reverse-Engineering Success

Many of the most successful people in the world share the same five habits.

I realized this after reading dozens of books about people I admire. I was struck by the commonalities these people shared, despite the fact that these individuals came from different walks of life: business, professional sports, academia, music and the arts, etc.

Regardless of the person’s area of expertise, the same habits and disciplines cropped up everywhere I looked.

No, I’m not saying it’s possible to bottle success and whittle it down to a simple formula. However, I do think it’s possible to look at the lives and habits of successful people, find commonalities, and use those commonalities to reverse-engineer success in your own life.

Based upon the habits of the pros, here are five ways to reverse-engineer success:

1. Successful people have mentors.

“A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within you than you see in yourself and helps bring it out of you.” -Bob Proctor

Successful people recognize that the best way to blaze a new trail is to get insight from other trailblazers. This happens in every pocket of the world — from tech to philosophy to writing.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates turned to Warren Buffett for guidance. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was mentored by Steve Jobs, while COO Sheryl Sandberg was mentored by former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.

In what must be the most badass string of mentors ever, Alexander the Great was mentored by Aristotle, who was mentored by Plato, who was mentored by Socrates.

“Alexander the Great valued learning so highly that he used to say he was more indebted to Aristotle for giving him knowledge than to his father Philip for life.”
-Samuel Smiles

Henry David Thoreau received mentorship from Ralph Waldo Emerson. Bestselling business author Jim Collins was mentored by management guru Peter Drucker. My favorite author Ryan Holiday was mentored by bestselling author Robert Greene. And the list goes on and on.

But successful people don’t stop at one mentor. Hall of fame NCAA coach John Wooden advised having multiple mentors to help in different aspects of life.

2. Successful people read…a lot.

“Drink deeply from good books.” -John Wooden

It’s no secret: successful people read more than most. Just like the other items on this list, you could question whether this is causation or correlation, but the fact remains that many successful people swear by their reading habits.

Oprah Winfrey credits some of her success to reading and says reading gave her “the power to see possibilities beyond what was allowed at the time.” Mark Cuban reads three hours each day and expresses that reading has given him a key advantage over his peers. Bill Gates reads 50 books per year.

“Read 500 pages every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will do it.” -Warren Buffett

I remember when I used to think reading was boring. I fell asleep reading or immediately forgot what I read. Thankfully, there are numerous ways to address these issues and improve reading comprehension.

Reading is an assumed trait of leaders and learners. If you are serious about learning, you must begin to view reading as a core tenet of your development.

3. Successful people take time to self-reflect.

“Self-reflection is the quality that most differentiates those who evolve quickly from those who don’t. Remember: Pain + Reflection = Progress.” -Ray Dalio

Billionaire investor Ray Dalio is an impressive example of self-reflection. In his recent book Principles, Dalio says, “I have come to realize that bad times coupled with good reflections provide some of the best lessons, and not just about business but also about relationships.”

Dalio is not alone in seeing the value of self-reflection. Performance psychologist and author Jim Loehr says his ritual of daily journaling and self-reflection has “produced priceless personal insights.” The aphorism “Know thyself” was supposedly inscribed on the wall of the Temple of Apollo, while Socrates famously proclaimed, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

Research by Giada Di Stefano, Francesca Gino, et al. indicates that spending 15 minutes in self-reflection at the end of the work day can improve performance by 23 percent — even 10 days afterward. In his new book When, author and social scientist Daniel Pink says even 5 minutes of self-reflection can positively impact performance.

4. Successful people encourage direct communication and feedback.

“The truth is, the only thing more painful than confronting an uncomfortable topic is pretending it doesn’t exist.” -Patrick Lencioni

Successful people admit they don’t have all the answers. They see uncertainty everywhere they look, and don’t view confidence and doubt as mutually exclusive forces.

Counterintuitively, they seek out disagreement rather than harmony — recognizing that disagreement is the best way to get all knowledge out into the open.

“Always try to find people who disagree with you, who can honestly and productively play devil’s advocate. Challenge yourself to truly listen to people who have differing ideas and opinions than you do. Stay out of political bubbles and echo chambers as much as possible. Feel good about really hearing those who disagree with you. Try to change your mind about one thing every day.” -Annie Duke, World Series of Poker (WSOP) Champion

Google co-founder Larry Page has been said to “relish” team members challenging him directly in meetings. Steve Jobs used to play devil’s advocate to foster more group disagreement.

“If you don’t feel comfortable disagreeing, then you will never survive.” -Tim Cook

Ray Dalio even created a program for employees to grade each other during meetings. The purpose? To share immediate, direct feedback so everyone knows how to improve.