Take responsibility for your actions, abilities, and inabilities, even if circumstances are not your fault, as this is crucial for moving forward. When mistakes occur, acknowledge them and commit to doing better.
Enhance decision-making and future outcomes by consistently putting yourself in a position of strength through good preparation, rather than reacting from a position of weakness. This includes actions like sleeping well, eating healthy, and studying.
Prioritize achieving the best possible outcome in any situation by focusing on what is right, rather than being driven by the desire to “feel right” or protect your ego, which can lead to ignoring contrary evidence.
Overcome willpower battles by establishing automatic rules for desired behaviors, such as “I don’t eat dessert,” to turn them into default actions and reduce social pressure.
Shift your mindset from negotiating “if” to “how” by committing to daily practice of desired activities, even if for a reduced scope or duration, to make them default behaviors.
Nudge yourself towards desired behaviors by joining groups (e.g., book club, running club) whose default actions align with your goals, leveraging environment over willpower alone.
Be willing to go against popular belief and take risks to create “positive deviation,” as doing what everyone else does will only yield the same results, and true outperformance often requires doing something different.
If your work is undifferentiated, either commit to working harder than everyone else to outperform, or take the risk to innovate and “change the game entirely” to achieve superior results.