Everyone wonders how to reach the top 1%; most people think it's all about discipline and hard work. In this video, I'm sharing the deeper success habits I've learned from Joe Hudson that go beyond typical productivity advice. These principles have transformed my life this past year, and I hope they help you too..
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:32 - Prioritise Pace over Perfection (The Iterative Mindset)
00:05:35 - Change Your Relationship with Emotional States (Embracing Negative Emotions)
00:31:27 - Use Enjoyment as a Compass (Enjoyment Equals Efficiency)
00:43:10 - Eliminate the "Shoulds" (The Anti-Discipline Method)
01:02:52 - Escape Time Poverty
1. Prioritise Pace over Perfection (The Iterative Mindset)
Instead of getting bogged down in meticulous planning and waiting for everything to be perfect, highly successful individuals focus on taking action with minimal preparation (around 20%) and then iterating based on feedback. The pace of movement is considered more important than getting it absolutely right initially because it accelerates learning and allows for necessary adjustments. A common barrier to action is the fear of making public mistakes. This habit aligns with an "Ready Fire Aim" approach.
2. Change Your Relationship with Emotional States (Embracing Negative Emotions)
The fear of failure often stems not from the consequences themselves, but from the negative internal emotions (like embarrassment or misery) that failure might trigger. The brain's habenula naturally dampens motivation after negative experiences as a survival mechanism. The key is not to avoid failure, but to fundamentally alter one's relationship with these internal feelings by embracing them rather than resisting. Resistance can make emotions feel worse, whereas approaching them with curiosity can help in understanding and processing them, making them less intimidating. Emotions are viewed as underlying drivers of decisions; by feeling through potential negative emotional outcomes, decisions often become clearer.
3. Use Enjoyment as a Compass (Enjoyment Equals Efficiency)
Top performers seek efficiency, meaning they use less energy to achieve their goals, which supports sustainable progress. Joe Hudson's first law posits that enjoyment equals efficiency. When you enjoy your work process, you expend less energy, have more energy afterwards, are more likely to repeat the activity, and often perform it better. Enjoyment comes from *how* you do something, not solely *what* you do. Tracking enjoyment can serve as a diagnostic tool to identify inefficiencies. Asking "What would this look like if it were fun?" can reveal ways to inject enjoyment into tasks.
4. Eliminate the "Shoulds" (The Anti-Discipline Method)
Reliance on willpower, obligation, guilt, or the internal voice saying "I should do this" creates significant internal friction and inefficiency ("dirty fuel"). This often backfires due to a natural resistance to being compelled, even by oneself. Highly successful people are frequently driven by alignment and genuine desire ("want") rather than mere discipline or obligation. Recognising that you are *choosing* to do something (often to avoid consequences) reasserts autonomy. The word "should" tends to drain energy, whereas focusing on what you "want" provides it. Often, beneath a "should" lies an underlying "want" or impulse that can be reframed to find a more enjoyable path. Duty and obligation, when acted upon solely without love or genuine desire, can lead to a lack of joy and authentic connection. Feeling guilty about not being productive is often a learned behaviour.
5. Escape Time Poverty
Many people feel constantly rushed and reactive to urgent demands, living in a state of "time poverty." The top 0.1% cultivate a relationship with time where it acts as an ally. They focus on long-term thinking and making investments that will yield significant future results or make numerous other tasks easier or obsolete, rather than chasing the immediate satisfaction of checking off small items. Rushing due to feeling time-poor can decrease effectiveness and lead to missed opportunities. They understand that "slow is steady, steady is fast" and that productivity isn't just about getting things done quickly but about making meaningful progress over time.
