Traits and Habits I’ve Observed Among High Achievers

No one can take away your habits, character, and who you are.

Last week I asked the readers of my newsletter what they want me to write about. I received many helpful responses, which is honestly the best input I can get as a writer.

After all, I write for you.

One common theme among readers was: What should you focus on when you’re starting new?

I received this question from people in their 20s, as well as from people in their 30s and 40s who want to reinvent themselves after facing challenges.

To me, the most important thing is to start at the foundation, which is yourself.

If you can build strong habits and develop the traits of high achievers, it’s only a matter of time before good things happen to you.

So let me give you 6 traits and habits that I’ve observed among the high achievers that I’ve spent time with over the years.

They don’t work for money

A while back, I stumbled upon a question that someone posted on Reddit. The person asked something like: Why would you still work if you’re rich?

The answers in the comments were correct: The people who get rich generally have somewhat of a healthy addiction to doing work, not necessarily to money or achieving results.

This is 100% true for the high achievers I know. They don’t work for money anymore. Maybe they did at some point in their careers, but the fact that they love work, and never shy away from it sets them up to be successful.

And success often comes with monetary rewards.

One of the main reasons I quit my corporate job ten years ago was because I couldn’t stand the corporate mentality of my co-workers anymore.

The slacking, complaining about responsibilities, always thinking about getting a raise, trying to look busy and important, and the useless meetings… it all seemed like a waste of time.

If you don’t want to be here, what are you doing here? Just quit! That’s what I thought.

Eventually, I was the one who quit. I preferred to be around some high achievers. People who actually love to work because that’s the only thing they know.

They just want to keep busy and make progress. That mentality usually leads to the results that everyone wants.

Highly curious

The least successful people I’ve met in life are generally the most closed-minded. They only care about their own life and that’s it. What else is happening in the world just doesn’t interest them.

Now, the opposite is also true. Every high achiever I know is curious. They want to know how the world works.

The more curious and open-minded you are, the more things you try and learn, and the more you do that, the more you grow as an individual.

Now, the question: If you’re not naturally curious, can you train yourself to become a curious person?

I think so. It’s all about perspective. Do you think you know enough? Or do you think you don’t know much and the world is your teacher?

Humble

This one is not universally true, but it’s true for every single successful person you actually want to be around.

If you have some kind of worldly success (money, status, recognition), you’ve probably worked hard, but you definitely also got lucky.

Warren Buffett often says that he was fortunate to have been born as a white male in the 1930s in the US.

Recognizing that where you are in life is also part luck makes you humble.

Talking about luck, I always say I’ve been very lucky in my career. I started writing online in 2015, when platforms like Medium and Pocket were quite influential. My articles did well there, which led to a lot of traffic to my site.

When it comes to my books, two things played a huge role. The wide release of my books in India by Penguin India and Covid. Both happened at the same time. Stuck at home, people started buying more books.

Many influential Instagram accounts who shared new books were from India. They happened to enjoy my books and started sharing them globally, which led to increased book sales everywhere.

You see, you have to be lucky. But if you stay active and try a lot of things, luck will find you at some point.

Skeptical

My mom is quite a high achiever. She’s not only the manager of our family, but also of our family business. Without my mom, I don’t think my dad, brother, and myself would be able to do what we do in our careers.

She’s one of the most skeptical people you’ll meet.

She takes nothing at face value and challenges everything and everyone. I kid you not.

Doctors, experts, handymen, dentists, business relations, customers, flight attendants, store clerks, you name it, she doesn’t believe a word people say… until they can prove it or if they are very convincing.

I think this is a good trait. Sure, you don’t want to be overly skeptical and believe nothing.

But in today’s world that’s full of scams and people who are only driven by self-interest, you could use some skepticism.

Just don’t believe everything instantly. Think things through, ask others, and challenge things more. Don’t be afraid of some pushback.

If people push back or get angry, you know you’re onto something.

Don’t have many hobbies

One of my real estate mentors who’s in his 70s and still at work once told me, “I don’t have the patience for golf.”

In fact, he doesn’t have hobbies at all. His wife passed away, so he’s alone with his dog. He just likes to do simple things like going on walks with his dog, taking out his boat in the summer, reading books, and spending time with his kids.

This is something I’ve noticed more often among high achievers. They love their work and when it comes to other things, they keep it simple. They already have fun careers and lives so they don’t need to pick up hobbies.

I think the idea of being a person with a dozen hobbies, a black belt in jiu-jitsu, who’s competing in CrossFit games (or the more popular Hyrox), is completely unrealistic.

Don’t feel bad if you don’t have many hobbies. And if you do, that’s fine. It’s just not some kind of essential part of life.

Keep one eye on today and the other on the future

Whether you’re still in high school or you’re on your fourth career change and want to start over, focus on building up yourself first.

No one can take away your habits, character, and who you are. If you work on yourself by simply adopting proven habits of high achievers, you will see the effects of it in your life.

Just make sure you focus on what’s right in front of you, which is today. And at the same time, think about how these habits lead to big things in the future. That will remind you of why you do this.

Our why is pretty much the same no matter your background or age: We want to have a better life.

So start working on it.