I love this type of content. Look, successful people do this, they reached success thanks to these habits, etc. I’ve listed a few things I found online. Let’s take a look together at how to be successful and how not to be.
This article has three sections:
- Things not to do to be successful
- Things to do to be successful
- Idioms and Proverbs
Photo by Razvan Chisu on Unsplash
Success: First, we need to discuss what success is—and in which field are we talking about being successful?
If you’re a successful comedian or musician, none of the common “paths to success” will apply to you. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, surviving can be a form of success, being good at your job can be a form of success, being content with your life can be a form of success. Success doesn’t always mean wealth and fame.
The Path to Success:
We’ve reached an age where nobody is satisfied with their life. As information increases and we’re exposed to every kind of bizarre lifestyle, it starts to feel like everyone else is living an exciting and easy life—except us. But behind the scenes, reality is different.
While psychology explains different personality types and differences, we are obsessed with generalizing and comparing.
If there was truly only one path to success, wouldn’t everyone be successful? Is it possible to formalize success? Can a single method work under all conditions?
If the CEO of Amazon is successful, does that mean the senior executives there, the managers in the factories, or the workers delivering everything on time are not successful? Why don’t we hear their stories?
How do we measure success?
For instance, if someone who wins a Nobel Prize is successful, does that mean the people who worked with them aren’t? What about the other nominees, the rest of the team?
If a movie wins an Oscar and the actors are seen as successful, are the others not?
Is success just about money, fame, and being recognized? Are trophies and material benchmarks the only standards of success? Is a team that reaches the finals a failure?
While asking ourselves these questions, let’s look at the list of things that are commonly suggested online for becoming successful—which, in my opinion, are things you should actually avoid doing.
Photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash
Part One: Things Not To Do To Be Successful
1. Waking Up Early
The beauty of the Turkish language—“-ma” suffix adds negation and looks like a title.
Waking up early is a very popular suggestion, supported by tons of research. You’ll see many articles starting with “Successful people start their day early.”
“I get a lot done before work.”
Okay, but are James Joyce, Elon Musk, Zuckerberg, Anna Wintour, Churchill failures then? Would they agree with this idea? (Interesting how when you search for successful people, mostly men show up. Another patriarchal wall. We keep running into it, and we get used to it, as if there are no successful women.)
“Early bird gets the worm.”
Late bird can still go far.
I think it’s more about having time to yourself and your sleep cycle—your biological clock. For example, waking up without an alarm is important for a stress-free start. A calm environment too. The moment your day begins, an avalanche of information and noise starts hitting your brain. After a certain hour, you basically stop thinking. So while waking up early might be a good tip, it won’t bring you success. Don’t set alarms and force yourself to wake up early. Especially if you work long hours, have evening responsibilities, and can’t sleep early.
2. Digital Detox
A must-have. Do a digital detox. There are even suggestions that Zuckerberg doesn’t use social media.
I don’t think the so-called “successful” people of the last 200 years have much to do with digital development. Like the previous point, it’s about the noise and information intake.
If you do a digital detox but waste time gossiping left and right, will success come? No.
3. Start Your Day With Calm Music
Why fill my brain with music first thing in the morning?
Some people blast metal in the morning and get energized, with music pounding in their ears all day—yet still do their job successfully. This is a personality thing. Are there no successful people who live without music? Or who listen to trashy pop and still succeed?
What even counts as “calm”?
4. Daytime Routine and Exercise
Routines and exercise are good for health. But not everyone is a daytime person. Some people work better at night. They can think more clearly in the silence of the night, be more creative. Same goes for exercise. Some get energized by morning workouts, others get tired all day and crash. Night workouts might be more effective for some.
Also, there’s this suggestion to leave little notes for your spouse and kids. I don’t get how that relates to success. I don’t think someone who dedicates their life to earning more money has that habit. Family is a matter of personality. Some succeed because of family; others succeed despite it.
Photo by Ben Kolde on Unsplash
5. Healthy Eating
Vegans will take over the world. You’ll see them everywhere.
You can be successful and unhealthy. Or your health can suffer because you’re successful. Or, being too focused on health can make it harder to reach your goals.
6. Meditation
My favorite popular topic. As people drift away from religion, they cling to other rituals. Most people who claim to meditate either don’t or can’t.
The mindset is actually the same as waking up early or working in the quiet of the night. It’s about staying calm, reducing input, and gaining awareness within the current.
Meditation doesn’t bring success. It just helps you make time for yourself. Helps you disconnect from thoughts and worries. It reduces noise.
7. Journaling
I’ve journaled for years. I’m not “successful” in the popular sense.
The benefit of journaling for me was seeing my patterns, recognizing recurring issues. Also, I noticed I only like writing when I’m upset. When I’m happy, I don’t feel like writing.
What good did it do? Nothing. Still, I recommend it. Will it bring success? Who knows. But it teaches you to restrain your impulses, ambitions, and frustrations. That much is clear.
8. Gratitude
I don’t think someone who measures success by money and power would say, “This is enough. I’m grateful for what I have.”
Sounds more like poor man’s comfort.
They’re probably saying, “I’m thankful for my health—but if I were president, that’d be even better.”
Or “Thank God we got here. Now I just need to eliminate potential rivals.”
Honestly, I don’t think successful people set out with success as a goal. Material goals come after, not before.
9. Set 3 Daily Priorities
Spending 10–15 minutes in the morning thinking “What will I do today?” is good for mental clarity. Helps reduce uncertainty and chaos.
Does it bring success? I don’t think so.
Even if you set 3 priorities, there are tons of things out of your control.
Setting a goal doesn’t mean it’ll happen.
10. Read About Your Field
Knowing your field is definitely important. Increasing your knowledge will make a difference.
But are the people we see as successful today really the most skilled?
11. Consuming Motivational Content
This should top the list of things not to do.
I’m sick of seeing people reading identical motivational content and affirming each other.
If I were a boss, I’d publish magazines full of this stuff just to hype everyone up and make them push beyond their limits.
Hope is the poor man’s bread… Give a promotion to just one of them, and it’s game over.
The remaining 99.999999% will keep working like crazy, clinging to that same hope.
Tell me, isn’t someone who’s stepped on a landmine and lost a limb, or someone who worries every day about what to eat, where to find water, and how not to freeze to death—aren’t they dreaming too? Aren’t they also struggling?
If they are dreaming, then saying “You can do anything if you just believe” is total nonsense, isn’t it?
12. Surround Yourself with Positive People, Compliment More, Hug More, Call 3 Loved Ones and Let Them Know You’re Thinking of Them
Now I understand why I don’t have successful people around me. Now I get why I’m not as successful as I want to be.
Let me just go out and shut the door on all of them.
Sure, complimenting more is important for a more positive environment. Hugging someone you love, feeling secure, feeling good—these are all important.
Spending time with people you love, calling them to let them know you’re thinking of them—same thing.
But if we do all of this every day, when do we have time to work?
Don’t some people draw strength from negativity?
Would so many famous authors have become successful if not for their pain?
Again—it all depends on the person, their character, their circumstances, and their definition of success.
13. Learning From Mistakes
If you’re not foolish enough to repeat the same mistake, you’re probably wise enough to know mistakes are inevitable.
When it comes to success, I think it’s more important to learn from others’ mistakes than your own.
14. Scheduling Fake Meetings, Blocking Out Time Slots
Back to the earlier topic. The idea of creating time for yourself, reducing noise and consumed content, thinking clearly.
But it’s hard to do this by blocking time—because not everything is under your control.
Your kid cries, or falls and splits their head open.
Are you going to say, “Sorry kid, this is my time slot”?
I tried blocking time at work once or twice—every 10 minutes someone came in asking something.
Some urgent, some not.
By the end of the day, I couldn’t even get 30 minutes alone—I was losing my mind.
15. Five-Minute Focus Breaks Per Hour (drink water, quick walk, read for 5 mins, etc.)
I don’t get these suggestions either.
Some people can focus and work for hours. The slightest movement, a break—it destroys all motivation.
Some people can’t function without these breaks.
Still, making time for yourself is important to reduce mental noise and distraction.
The point isn’t taking a break—it’s what that break gives you mentally.
16. Being More Aware of Your Health
Okay. Sure.
17. Move During the Day, Don’t Stay Sedentary
If we allocated 30 minutes to each of these suggestions, we’d have no time left.
Take Bill Gates. He apparently dedicates most of his time to reading and learning—not to exercise.
Sure, he probably does something for his health, but still—I don’t believe this tip is universal.
Same with Warren Buffet.
He says his diet is basically fast food and sugary drinks.
Steve Jobs, for example—he was into minimalism and spiritual awareness. He wasn’t known for being sporty.
You can be successful and still die early because of a terrible lifestyle.
Look at rock stars.
How many of you even know Sixto Rodriguez?
He’s actually a successful rock star. No booze, no drugs. Just a calm guy.
But he’s not as famous as Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, or Janis Joplin.
18. Listing Tomorrow’s Tasks After You Finish Work
As a project manager, I’d say this is something you definitely shouldn’t do. A perfect move towards failure.
Your life is already run by to-do lists.
Sure, glancing at tomorrow’s tasks in the morning is fine.
But why list them at the end of the day and stress yourself out?
19. Keep Your Environment Clean and Tidy
Einstein, Mark Twain, S. Jobs, Picasso, T. Edison—case closed.
20. Be More Social
Again, take Einstein, Johnny Depp, Bill Gates, David Bowie, Emma Watson, Mahatma Gandhi—all introverted people who avoided social interaction.
If being social were the key to success, the entire Middle East, the Balkans, and southern countries would be living in a success utopia.
In today’s world, self-marketing and “networking” are important—but quality matters more than quantity.
You could know thousands of people, but none of them might be as useful as one guy’s uncle.
21. Make Time for Self-Care
We’ve talked enough about this.
22. Get Enough Sleep
Sleep quality is more important than duration.
Waking up without an alarm is key.
In my opinion, starting your day in a panic is more exhausting than waking up sleep-deprived.
23. Specialization
Same question again: Are the most successful CEOs the most skilled in their fields?
I think this is the biggest trap of our time.
When you become a specialist, expectations rise—but when you don’t get rewarded for it, people become dissatisfied.
Once, an engineer friend of mine said:
“For me, success is doing the work I love and being able to keep doing it.”
That’s why he rejected every promotion and raise offer.
He was happily doing his thing, tinkering away at his desk.
24. Time Management
Possibly the only item I can agree with when it comes to success.
Using your time wisely is important—but I don’t believe time management can be squeezed into a single definition.
Productivity and efficiency do not automatically bring success.
Sometimes laziness can actually spark more creativity.
25. Building Your Personal Brand and Strategizing Around It
Another modern-day fallacy.
“Start your own business. Don’t work 9–5. Create your own brand. You’ll become a legend.”
The people who say this never mention how many startups, side hustles, and freelancers crash and burn.
Aren’t there people who start their own business and can’t even pay their bills?
Their stories don’t sell hope—so they’re not profitable either.
The vast majority get swept up in a few cherry-picked success stories.
If something is truly valuable, it will be rewarded—it’s not about doing your own thing.
For example, engineers worship Elon Musk. He and people like him are always the subject of discussion.
But the thousands who tried and failed? They’re invisible.
26. Talk to Successful People
At university career events, famous and successful people are always invited.
They give hour-long, empty speeches. Then they’re applauded and escorted out.
Their stories usually go like this:
“I always dreamed of this. I worked really hard. One day, I met someone—and my life changed. One day, a miracle happened—and my life changed. I was a manager somewhere, then I opened my business—and my life changed.”
Same old nonsense.
That so-called miracle part is never explained.
Or it remains a miracle forever.
“Work hard—one day, a miracle will find you.”
There’s no such thing.
In my opinion, the stories of successful people are mostly garbage—just for branding and ego stroking.
Following the exact same path will never make you successful.
The only one I actually liked was Can Bonomo.
He once came to our school and in a quick chat said:
“Dude, numbers and formulas are super cool. I envy you guys—but it’s just not my thing. I like poetry and music. I don’t like overthinking.”
I think that’s the secret to success—acceptance and enjoyment.
Did I realize that from talking to him? No.
I realized it after hearing the nonsense from other so-called successful people.
And is Can Bonomo even “successful”?
Maybe not to most people.
Does he care? Nope.
27. Value Your Family, Make Your Parents Feel Special
Family can be both a source of motivation and a brake system.
Do all successful people come from great families? Of course not.
This has nothing to do with success.
28. Make a Travel Bucket List
Loved this one.
A new piece of pop culture fluff.
Although I love traveling and being a traveler, I still don’t see how it’s connected to success.
Travel helps you discover more about yourself, push your limits, broaden your perspective.
If possible, travel alone—especially in your 20s.
Don’t be a tourist.
Go to authentic places, connect with locals, avoid tourist clichés.
Otherwise, it’s no different than mindlessly watching TV.
29. Be Yourself, Stick to Your Own Path
One of the rare items I actually agree with.
The part I don’t agree with: that this is the key to success.
You can be yourself and still succeed—but it depends on where and how you define success.
Being yourself could also work against you in many situations.
30. Read a Lot
I already mentioned the Bill Gates example. His number one piece of advice: Read.
But what does “reading” even mean?
Apparently, Bill Gates reads by taking pages and pages of notes—sometimes thicker than the book itself.
Reading is such a cliché.
Lots of people read, but what are they actually reading?
When asked, they say they read a lot—but really, they’re just consuming.
31. Build Meaningful Relationships
Yes, building strong relationships is important for self-confidence.
But a good environment can also expand your comfort zone to the point where it traps you inside it.
Life’s struggles, dead-ends, and conflicts can also be part of the path to success.
A guy who fought with his brother and added “Öz” to the restaurant name might become more successful than the original place.
Someone who’s been told, “You’ll never make it as an artist,” might end up as the biggest name in his own twisted world.
32. Recognize Your Own Achievements
Well.
If you’re constantly tearing yourself down, you’re doing it wrong.
Being aware of what you’ve accomplished is important.
I see this point like this:
Your achievements are simply steps along the path you’ve taken.
They show that you’re not standing still—you’re moving forward.
Still, it’s good not to get drunk on those small victories.
33. Learn About Other Cultures
Again, another point where I don’t really see the connection to success.
Learning about other cultures is important for getting out of your shell and realizing how diverse the world truly is.
Sometimes you realize that your so-called dead ends aren’t actually dead ends—they’re just cultural hang-ups and limitations.
Does that awareness bring success?
Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t.
Can a villager who’s never left his own neighborhood be successful?
Yes. Yes, they can.
34. Don’t Trust Everyone
No need to go into a long explanation here.
35. Don’t give a fck, sht, damn
In my opinion, this is important for mental health.
But as a strategy for success—like “follow your own path no matter what”—it’s not always the right move.
The key here is breaking free from the pressure of “what others think.”
Letting go of those constraints.
Part Two
So that’s it for the “what not to do” list. It could be even longer, but no need.
Now here’s my list of what to do to be successful:
Photo by Mihály Köles on Unsplash
1. Talk to Unsuccessful People
What you learn from unsuccessful people is far more valuable than the incomplete stories of successful ones.
Because successful people may have made it for entirely different reasons. You have no idea what’s going on in the background.
Knowing how not to do something is more effective than trial and error.
2. Don’t Chase Perfection
This is an education problem.
We’ve been sold this dream: study hard, become somebody. The things we learn, the knowledge we gain, will bring us comfort and peace.
The important thing was to produce. And our education always taught us how to be better.
But that’s not how reality works.
It’s not the best product that wins—it’s the fastest marketed one.
It’s not the best who succeed—it’s those who try the most.
It’s not the most flawless—it’s those who accept their flaws and stay open to growth.
3. Don’t Compare Yourself to Others
I’ve never seen anyone reach success by constantly comparing themselves.
In general, successful people own what they do and don’t obsess over the rest.
They don’t chase after silly content or live in pursuit of others’ paths.
This applies to science too.
Success doesn’t come to the guy who improves something by 0.0000002%.
It goes to the one who competes with himself and reaches a result he’s satisfied with—even if no one else is.
Even if he doesn’t reach it, he feels successful.
Our education system constantly throws us into competition—but success doesn’t come from winning that race.
Here’s a simple example:
The top student in class doesn’t always end up successful in life.
The most popular actor of one era may end up broke.
The top scorer in a national exam may not always end up in a good place.
The valedictorian doesn’t always land the best job.
Success has nothing to do with any of that.
It’s more about your personal goals, desires, and choices.
The most well-known pop star isn’t famous because they’re the best.
Usually, you don’t know what the people you compare yourself to have been through.
You don’t know what they’ve sacrificed, what’s going on behind the scenes.
You’re only comparing surface-level metrics.
You can’t become successful by copying others or burning your brain out trying to match them.
If that worked, gossips would be the most successful people alive.
Photo by YY TEOH on Unsplash
4. Passion, Consistency, and Continuity
From both my own life and stories of public figures, here’s what I’ve seen:
The people who are considered successful aren’t trying to be successful.
They don’t even see themselves the way others see them.
And that’s exactly why they end up successful.
Usually, it’s because they believe in what they do and are passionately committed to it.
Their work becomes their life.
And throughout their lives, they remain consistent about it.
They don’t do “a little of this, a little of that.”
Their entire focus is on the values they believe in—and the work they do for those values.
Their lives shape around it: relationships, social circles, habits—all aligned.
In other words, all those items we listed above—the ones you find in every self-help blog—they’re all trash.
If you repeat something enough, you become an expert.
If you stay consistent with one thing, you inevitably reach a certain level.
The rest is about personal talent, luck, and opportunism.
5. Be Organized
There’s no one-size-fits-all formula for being organized.
You might be organized, but look messy from the outside.
Being organized doesn’t mean listing every task or planning out your day down to the minute.
If you do that, you turn into a German.
Being organized means having a big picture.
It means being consistent in your actions, keeping your focus in the same direction.
Otherwise, something new catches your attention, and suddenly your focus drifts.
Even if it doesn’t benefit you, it steals your time and energy.
And then there’s this: doing one thing at a time.
In the modern world, this is hard. There are so many distractions.
But at the very least, when you’re doing one thing, your mind shouldn’t be elsewhere.
Theoretically, you can’t do everything at once.
But when you try, the result is usually that you end up doing nothing.
6. Opportunism, Risk, and Fear of Loss
One of the biggest differences I’ve noticed between successful people and others is this:
Successful people may seem materialistic, but they don’t see what they have as untouchable.
They’re not afraid of losing it.
They’re not afraid to take risks.
Losing the things they worked so hard for doesn’t scare them—because they know they can earn it all back through effort.
And probably with less effort the second time around.
But people like us—poor folks—we treat everything we get as sacred.
Because we got it without taking risks.
Losing it becomes our greatest fear.
Yet every loss can be a new beginning—and a new source of motivation.
There’s a famous saying among the poor:
“While chasing rice, you lose the barley in your hand.”
But if the person did end up getting the rice, would this still be seen as a negative outcome?
Of course not.
They’d say, “Look at them—started with nothing and got the rice too.”
They’d become the dream of every barley-holder out there.
7. Do It or Drop It
This one is part education, part anxiety.
You either do something—or you don’t.
Overthinking it is the perfect recipe for failure.
If you really want something, you’ll do it without even worrying about success.
If you’re not doing it, just forget it—it clearly doesn’t matter that much to you.
It’s not something you truly believe in.
That’s why procrastination is the exact opposite of the path to success.
By endlessly delaying our dreams, our plans, our desires—we’ll never reach anything.
8. A Pinch of Negativity
As I mentioned above, negativity can actually be a source of motivation.
Instead of falling for naïve positivity—“everything happens for a reason,” “there’s good in every hardship,” “spread positive energy and good things will find you”—try being realistic.
Being just negative enough not to paralyze yourself is also important.
9. Luck and Powerful Connections
Sometimes, it all comes down to pure luck.
One day you meet someone who says,
“Wow, you’re such a good person—come, marry my daughter, and I’ll put you in charge of the defense industry.”
Your whole life changes in an instant.
10. Free Your Mind from Clutter
There are so many things unnecessarily occupying our brains.
Identifying them—and understanding what’s truly holding you back—is crucial.
Think about it:
• Trashy content on social media
• Empty TV shows and films
• Social anxiety
• Social expectations
• Meaningless obligations
• Traditional pressure
These things don’t just occupy your mind—they shape your thoughts.
They can even physically rewire your brain.
Getting rid of them is vital if you want to actually achieve anything in life.
11. Versatility and Knowledge Transfer
People who make a difference—maybe not all, but most—are multi-dimensional.
Because being versatile expands your perspective.
It helps you see from different angles.
And most importantly—it teaches you how to transfer what you’ve learned from one area to another.
Sure, spending countless hours on one thing can get you somewhere.
It can make you good at that thing.
But if you want to transcend even yourself, you need to open your eyes, recognize opportunities, and apply your knowledge across different fields.
12. Work Isn’t Just About Office Hours
No need to re-explain this one.
If you don’t feel the need to improve yourself once the workday ends—
If you waste your time with shallow conversations—
If you squander your free time—
Then you simply don’t stand a chance.
Of course… that depends on how you define success.
Photo by Ismail Salad Osman Hajji dirir on Unsplash
Part Three: Cultural Handbrakes
Let’s talk about the subtle cultural beliefs that quietly hold us back.
Some of these sayings sound wise on the surface—but when it comes to personal growth or success, they often function more like internal speed limits.
1. “Better a little with peace than a lot with stress.”
It sounds comforting, but it also teaches you to settle.
Instead of dreaming bigger or taking a leap, you’re told to be content with the bare minimum.
2. “Live within your means.”
Financially smart, sure.
But this mindset gets twisted into: don’t try anything bold, don’t aim higher, stay in your lane.
Growth rarely happens in that zone.
3. “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.”
A useful reminder, but often misused as a warning against even preparing or hoping.
It becomes a mindset that says, “Don’t even think about it until it’s already in your hands.”
By then, it’s often too late.
4. “Be kind without expecting anything in return.”
Noble, yes.
But when this turns into never advocating for yourself, never asking for what you deserve—it becomes a roadblock, not a virtue.
5. “Be grateful for what you have.”
Appreciation is good. But not when it’s used to silence ambition.
There’s a fine line between gratitude and giving up on growth.
6. “Don’t lose what you’ve got chasing something better.”
This is the anthem of risk-aversion.
And sure, some caution is wise—but if we always play defense, we never score.
Progress requires a bit of calculated risk.
7. “You get what you give.”
Hard work pays off. But not always.
This saying implies life is fair and effort is always rewarded—which ignores luck, timing, privilege, and systemic factors.
Sometimes, success isn’t just about how hard you work—but also where and when you plant the seed.
bahadirhancicek 
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