How to Outperform 98% of People in 15 Ways:
98% of people aren’t living up to their full potential they form their opinions Based on superficial things that they hear they can’t manage themselves but They also don’t think enough about themselves.
What they want and what makes them happy are all things that lead to underperformance not by society’s standards but by the way you feel, and that’s stopping you from reaching the things that you’re truly capable of. If you can master and overcome the things that most people struggle with, you will get ahead, so let’s get into it. Here are 15 ways to get ahead of 98% of people.
Get Your Normal Life in Order First:
Starting with number one get your normal life in order first how can you start a new course apply for different jobs or even get married when your everyday life is a hot mess you can’t well technically, yeah you can but it will be a show most people Aren’t help back because they don’t have the skills and opportunities to progress.
They’re weighed down by the chaos in their personal lives the chaos can range from really simple things like a messy home space and a boring unhealthy routine to more complicated stuff like high debt and a bad relationship research shows that romantic relationships at home have a major impact on how people perform at work you can’t work well when you’re stressed about your home life Research by the University of Mexico shows how clutter and mess in your home affect your well-being too as well as what you eat and your mental health.
So before you can do all of the things you have to do to get ahead of everyone else you need to get off the same footing as them and you can do that by creating a structured orderly life with things you can control you want to be more productive well studies show that having a structured and organized life leads to better productivity and mental well-being.
So that is where you start you start with the basics clean up your environment create an interesting but structured routine and fix your relationships most people don’t have this so if you fully commit yourself to fixing these things you’ll get way ahead of them.
Find a Truth that Most People Dismiss:
Number two find a truth that most people dismiss there are some truths out there that we hear every day and we think everyone else is following it so we don’t consider it a gold mine of knowledge but the thing is those people are just like you they make hear the truths but they’re not living by them.
They think it is common knowledge that the rest of the world is following too but if you watch carefully most people are still following the crowd most people are still working with one stream of income that they get working for a company even though we know how multiple streams of income even if they’re small are more likely to grow over time even though.
We know that we live in an era where starting a business is much more accessible and it’s something that you can do in your free time it’s like the experts are shouting at everyone to move differently, the crowd is marching and some people look back but they keep moving on with everyone else you might be that one person who looks back and then turns around sure you might be walking in a different direction.
But the crowd isn’t walking to a destination you want so you’re not missing out on anything here Niche markets are more profitable than Mass ones everyone thinks that AI is going to replace art so people are learning to code but wait think coding is more definitive art is a lot broader AI works well within limits not outside of them.
So in the next few years what’s going to be in demand you find the truths by looking at the things people struggle with by seeing what’s unpopular and why and by following contrarian thinkers like Nasim TB or Peter Teal a small percentage of people understand the value of a truth that most people dismiss and an even smaller percentage follow through with some action on that truth if you follow through you’re Already ahead of most in the world whether you succeed or not and on a similar note.
Be Contrarian Just for the Sake of It:
Number three is contrarian just for the sake of it Irish poet Oscar Wild once said most people are other people their thoughts are someone else’s opinions their lives a mimicry of their passions a quotation if you can move away from that and form your own Opinions.
You’ll get ahead of everyone else you’ll get to know yourself better while everyone else is still unhappy and confused about it and you do that by challenging conventional thinking to be contrarian just for the sake of it not to argue but to see which divisive
things you agree with think about this when most people are planning their holidays they look for Instagram Mable places the top-rated cafes when they’re planning their health.
The journey they look for the best-reviewed diets and exercise programs when they’re stressed they talk about how stressed they are when they’re broke they talk about inflation and the cost of living everyone is saying the same damn thing there are no original thoughts the quickest way to find out what makes you tick is to say the opposite thing to everyone else you’ll eventually start adopting different ways of thinking and You’ll begin to understand yourself outside of what the crowd is following so instead of saying you’re broke because of inflation, you could say you’re broke because you decided to spend a bit more money on organic food.
This month it doesn’t have to be true you just have to get your mindset to move away from what everyone else is thinking and saying that is how you master your emotions your mind and your resilience whatever the world is doing right now isn’t working so do the opposite.
Listen to What Other People Say They’re Afraid to Do, Then Do It:
Number four listen to what other people say they’re afraid to do then do it yourself in conversations with your friends colleagues and networking events stop talking about You listen to other people listen to them talk about their ideas that they didn’t manage to get off the ground listen to them talk about things They’re struggling with and ask them about the things they’re afraid of always ask why are they afraid if one person is afraid then it means there’s a good chance a lot of other People are too so there is a gap for you.
You just have to be the one who isn’t scared when others are too scared to take action that’s when you step into the things that intimidate other people are the things that are going to push you forward there’s a chance for you to seize opportunities.
Because everyone else is playing safe making those bold career moves changing cities and starting that business be part of that 2% who face their fears not the 98% who give Fear a big old hug and allow it to dictate their entire life.
Do it Now If you’re Going to do it eventually:
Number five do it now if you’re going to do it eventually one of the biggest obstacles holding people back isn’t even an obstacle it’s a habit an excuse a pointless mindset I’ll do it tomorrow.
When I’ve got more time look 20% of people are habitual procrastinators 75% of people consider themselves procrastinators it is everywhere and it negatively impacts your rate of success it reduces your self-confidence affects your attitude toward learning and leads to feeling anxious and depressed.
You’ll have the same amount of time tomorrow as you do today all right nothing is going to be different it’s just today all over again and the majority of the world follows this mantra which is great for you okay because that means that to get done you don’t even have to take a massive leap you just have to start by doing the bare minimum the important the word here is start get off the ground no matter how small and imperfect that a small step is because time compounds.
Both action and inaction most people are waiting for the right time that’s never going to come all right if you do it now you’ll be way ahead of them by the time they realize it and start themselves this goes for everything from cleaning your house upskilling yourself negotiating your salary if you can do it now then do it.
Pick Your Hero and Then Consider Them Healthy Competition:
Number six pick your hero and then consider them healthy competition your hero is the person you already considered to be ahead of most of the people at the gym who lifts heavier and hardly seems to break a sweat compete with them the person at work who gets good results and all the praise find out how why and what they’re doing differently your most sociable friend.
Who effortlessly charms everyone watches how they do it sees if you can do it better for everything you want to be better at picking the best person you know to compete with make sure it’s a healthy competition by focusing on what you admire about them research shows that people who have good role models are more likely to feel established in their career they feel more fulfilled.
They’ve got a career that pays enough don’t become obsessed with them don’t judge them and do not copy them use them as a way to measure your progress and keep yourself motivated the day you surpass them is the day you know you have to set your sights a little bit higher.
You need to be a Little Selfish:
Number seven you need to be a little bit selfish if you want to be better than everyone else you have to be a little you can’t feel guilty about wanting more money Better Health and being better looking with nicer clothes and a more Charming personality seeing the world as a competition isn’t evil there are perfectly ethical strategies of winning everyone secretly wants more of something.
But they’re scared of being judged for it so they’ll never admit it to themselves if you can admit your most controversial goals to yourself you put yourself ahead of everybody else and you should know that you can’t take care of anybody else if you do not take care of yourself you have to feed yourself first your rise to the top will require some selfishness that doesn’t mean stepping on anybody else it just means that for a short time You have to let go of The Virtue signaling and narrow your focus slightly you can pay everything forward once you found your footing.
Treat Yourself Like Your Best Manager Treated You:
Number eight treat yourself like your best manager treated you if you’ve ever had a brilliant manager, then you know just how much they can inspire you how easily they share knowledge and wisdom, and how much better you feel after a meeting with a great manager who can talk about your weaknesses without making you want to hide away from them they can tell you exactly what you have to do to leverage your strengths and you leave your meetings feeling inspired.
That is how you have to manage yourself you need to have weekly and monthly performance review meetings with yourself just like a great manager you evaluate what you’ve done well where you messed up and what lies in store before the next meeting you encourage yourself you celebrate and show yourself opportunities that you should consider for Progress everyone is auto-piloting through relationships career finances emotions and physical and mental health and this process grounds the autopilot to a halt.
Master Skills that Compound Over Time:
Number nine Master skills that compound over mastering skills is a more action-oriented way to get ahead of people a lot of what we’ve spoken about in the other points is based on your mindset or following one key rule this one takes a bit more work you need to choose one skill and spend the next year mastering it do some research on the 10 most coveted hard skills that will be valuable in the next years read about them.
Write down two or three skills that you like the sound of research how much money people make from them right now look at the predictions for their value in the future you’ll see things like coding content creation data analytics project management and a range of other skills come up quite.
Often so choose one and then for the next year throw yourself into multiple courses to learn about it while you’re doing that you’re also going to perfect soft skills time management confidence communication or diligence look up the most valuable skill and throw yourself into learning about this too.
While these skills are valuable not enough people are paying attention to them yet there is movement but it’s slow and even fewer people are focusing on the combination of hard and soft skills the people who throw themselves into both are going to come out on top these skills compound over time.
So you’re not going to just use them in a company you’re going to use them to create your own thing freelance consult work for yourself you can scale this type of knowledge so that one action leads to multiple results.
Become a Specialist by Putting in 11,000 Hours of Work:
Number 10 becomes a specialist by putting in 11,000 hours of work you know they say it takes at least 10,000 hours of work to become a specialist so you need to put in 11,000 hours that’s a lot of hours we get it most people won’t even come close so whatever you specialize in you can’t just learn about it.
You have to make it your job before you’re even considered an expert that’s the only way you’re going to be able to do it in a reasonable amount of work you can’t wait until you know everything before putting what you know into practice you can’t let your lack of knowledge in the area hold you back from pursuing it only working on your Expertise.
Your spare time isn’t going to cut it okay it has to become a part of your life so you find a way to bring it in think about your experiences and your current career do you enjoy it would you like to throw yourself into it some more or do you want to change direction if you decide to change direction you have to do it fully the specialist is ahead of everyone else if you want to get there you have to find a way to put in 11,000 hours of work that is how you join that 2%.
Constantly Check the Connection between Your Priorities and Actions:
Number 11 constantly checks the connection between your priorities and actions your priorities change more often than you realize but even more importantly even when you’ve outlined the things that are important to you it is easy to Veer off track without.
Realizing it’s as if you’re wearing a blindfold when you’re walking a straight path you think you’re moving in a straight line but when you take off that blindfold you see just how far off course you’ve gone checking in to see if your actions match your priorities is like taking that blindfold off it’s like taking that blindfold off the day-to-day chores of Life can derail your plans.
But if you do a quick Check every day or every week you can slot in a step that will get you closer to your goal but an even smaller percentage takes off their blindfolds regularly and does a little course correction you need to get in with that crowd you’ve put yourself ahead by knowing your priorities and planning your actions and now you need to give yourself an extra boost by making little shifts now and then to stay on track.
Downplay the Bad Stuff, Embellish the Good Stuff:
Number 12 downplays the bad stuff and embellishes the good stuff, ah you know This one might make some people uncomfortable but let’s be clear this isn’t about lying or being delusional it’s actually about calming yourself down and doing it in a way that most people don’t do its positive thinking and we know it sounds cliché but studies show it leads to lower blood pressure levels healthier lifestyle chaotic.
Better coping skills for most people when they have a stressful day at work they can’t wait to get home to their partner hop on a call with their parents or head out for drinks with friends so they can vent they talk about their stressors their worries and their
Problems they might feel better for a minute but then later on in the evening everything they spoke about seems even more overwhelming.
When you downplay the problems you take away some of their power and you make your mind believe it’s manageable enough for you to conquer it when you give more attention and gravitas to the good stuff your mind gets a little ego boost and motivation so now you’ve given yourself more resources to tackle a smaller issue you don’t feel as overwhelmed about it.
So you also have more mental energy and Clarity to deal with the problem and make sure it doesn’t happen again everyone else is following the opposite strategy and we can see it is not working for them.
Become a Question Master:
Number 13 becomes a question, Master networking is one of the best but one of The least used strategies in getting better career opportunities are not just because people don’t understand the value of networking and aren’t doing it as often as they should.
It’s because people have no idea how to network they’re treating it like it is some kind of sale walking up to someone you admire at a conference and talking about your brilliant idea and how you would love to join their team is so socially awkward unless you’re brilliant like Bill Gates or Elon Musk kind you need to stop that okay the best networkers are Masters at asking questions and honestly, 98% of people just talk about themselves.
They don’t even know that they’re doing it but people feel great when they talk about themselves they love it when others ask them a genuinely interesting question they’ll feel connected to you not because you were not because you were vulnerable and shared a story but because you were interested in them and they shared something with you so now they’re vulnerable become a question master and everyone will think that you are a fantastic Company.
Set One Impossible Goal – and Tell Everyone:
Number 14 sets one impossible goal and tells everyone to keep their smaller achievable goals to themselves or share them with others if they want to that’s totally up to you but for this one for this one huge goal that seems impossible to everyone else share it it might take you a lifetime to reach that goal.
But that’s a great one to have it might be crazy but it’s fun to pursue it and see how far you’ll get it’s also fun to see people’s reactions and disbelief when you tell them that disbelief and doubt are like fuel for you to keep pushing toward that impossible goal have some ambition and pair it with a decent amount of work see how far you can get and then keep going further than the goal alone will set you apart in the steps toward it no matter how small Leap Frog you forward.
Become a Master Storyteller:
Number 15 becomes a master storyteller people are terrible communicators, truly they have no idea of how to convey their ideas in interesting ways they hesitate they add Caveats to their pitches and bring in details that don’t even matter sometimes.
It’s because they don’t know what they’re doing but a lot of the time it’s because they don’t know how to get their message across there’s a method to storytelling a formula to follow that will entice people to claim their doubts and make them believe that you know.
What you’re doing if you can master that then you’ll be able to persuade influence and Inspire the people around you will be at the top part of that 2% and everyone will be looking to you for the next move and that’s all.
Conclusion:
The article presents 15 strategies to outperform 98% of people by improving self-discipline, productivity, and mindset. It emphasizes the importance of organizing personal life, challenging conventional thinking, embracing opportunities that others fear, and mastering skills that have compounding benefits. Through deliberate action, introspection, and resilience, these methods encourage individuals to overcome mediocrity and achieve personal and professional success. Key themes include setting ambitious goals, becoming a specialist, and fostering creativity, all of which require courage and consistent effort.
FAQs
- What is the first step to getting ahead of others?
Begin by organizing your personal life. A structured and orderly environment enhances productivity and mental well-being, which serves as the foundation for further growth.
- Why is mastering a single skill important?
Mastering a skill, especially one with future relevance, not only builds expertise but also creates compounding benefits, making you valuable in professional settings and beyond.
- How can I overcome procrastination?
Take immediate action on tasks rather than delaying them. Starting small but consistent actions today prevents the compounding effects of inaction.
- What does it mean to be “contrarian for the sake of it”?
It means challenging conventional wisdom and adopting a mindset that diverges from the majority, which can help uncover unique opportunities and foster self-discovery.
- Why is setting an impossible goal beneficial?
Pursuing an ambitious, seemingly unattainable goal pushes you beyond your limits, provides long-term motivation, and sets you apart from others, regardless of whether you achieve it.