Where you start in life doesn’t matter. It’s where you end up. I will review a few signs that you will be more successful than your friends, even if you are not right now.
Top indicators you will accomplish more than your friends
- You grew up poor or a bit disadvantaged. Growing up poor, in my opinion, can be an advantage. Now, at the time, it doesn’t feel like it. It sucks. You want to be able to buy things and go places. So, you could go one of two ways: (a) you either accept your current situation and believe you will never be able to achieve anything or (b) you say to yourself that you will be successful despite your situation. This decision is where you develop a hunger and a killer mentality and instinct to do what it takes to achieve what you need to achieve. You don’t allow your current situation to dictate your future success.
- You are motivated by more than just stuff and material positions. You’re inspired by something more significant, a higher power. Your motivation is internal, and you don’t need external stuff such as cars, watches, and money. You don’t need material possessions to get up every day because they’re not your driving force. You’re driven by purpose and what you want to accomplish, which achievement satisfies something deep inside of you. Money is a byproduct of success as you will be able to buy stuff, but it’s not the motivating factor.
- You have a goal and a vision. You have something that you want to achieve, and your purpose is not somebody else’s. It’s yours — your North Star. I highly recommend this Skillshare class by Emma Gannon called “Discovering Success: The Seven Exercises to Uncover Your Purpose, Passion, and Path.” It’s free right now and incredibly critical for you to be successful.
- You are good with people. One of my superpowers is being able to connect with others incredibly quickly. I’m also very good at reading people and can walk into a room, meet somebody, and engage with them. I can make people feel important and literally talk to anybody. Develop your people skills and make sure that you’re able to engage and connect quickly. You’ll be amazed at how many more opportunities you’ll get. If people like you, you will have an easier time achieving your goals. I strongly suggest you take Alex Lyons’s Skillshare course “Conversational Skills: How to Have a Great Conversation with Virtually Anyone.” It’s the best course I’ve seen regarding small talk and communication. He goes over how to ask better questions and make connections quickly.
- You don’t allow fear or that little voice in the back of your head to dictate your actions. Too many dudes are fearful of failure and the worst-case scenario. So much so that they never try because they think it would be embarrassing to fail or they’re just too scared. Push down that fear and go forward even if you don’t know the outcome. If you don’t try, you can’t be successful. If you fail, pick your ass back up and move forward. Don’t allow small and insignificant people to tell you you shouldn’t or won’t.
- You can focus when it’s not fun or when all your friends are going out. Understand delayed gratification, which is putting off something to achieve something in the future. If you’re comfortable working hard, you’ll be ahead of many people, even if they have more money or are more talented. Hard work beats talent any day. If you’re capable of hard work despite distractions, you will be crazy successful.
- You invest your time wisely. Our time is our most valuable resource, and we only have so much of it. How you invest your time will dictate where you end up and how successful you are. If you spend your time scrolling TikTok all the time going out to get drunk, you’re not investing wisely. But if you invest time working toward your goal and doing productive things, you’ll be more successful than your friends.
- You are mentally strong, and don’t let the small things bother you. Your mental toughness and fortitude are the most undeniable indicators of success. You’ll be able to weather the storm when life tosses you a bunch of crap. Life is a winding road with many speed bumps and wrong turns. If you’re mentally strong, you’ll be able to endure and overcome the storm. If you’re mentally weak, you’ll fall apart and give up when something bad happens. One of my all-time favorite quotes is from an inspirational figure Rocky Balboa: “It’s not about how hard you hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.”
