Over the last three years, I’ve gone on one hell of a journey. I’ve met people who’ve created life-changing, not for profits, I’ve met billionaires, I’ve met Prime Ministers and I’ve hung out with the next generation of millennials who are going to change the world.

Through these interviews and meetings I’ve learned so much and it would be criminal of me not to share what these group of individuals do.

I feel like I’ve been able to peek behind a door that contains all of the treasures needed to succeed in life and business. It’s time for me to share that with you. Here we go.

1. They challenge the word “no”

Successful people don’t bend over when someone asks them too. They constantly challenge every single person that dares to tell them no. They believe that they can turn any no into a yes, and that no is just a temporary setback in their mind to achieving their ultimate goal.

No means they’re on the right track and taking action rather than frothing at ideas and what might be possible.

2. They disrupt the status quo

These crazy successful people are rebels at heart. Wherever or whatever they are doing, they’re disrupting the way things are done. They are championing for change and they don’t apologize for it. They know the solution to the problem lies in doing something completely and utterly insane.

3. They wake up before sunrise

You’ve heard it all before compadre haven’t you? Get up early and all your dreams will come true because you’ll have more time. Guess what? It’s true and that’s why you hear it regularly. Sleeping in is what’s killing your success.

You need time to make your goals come true and those extra minutes you need are found in the early hours of the morning. Without fail, I haven’t met a successful person who doesn’t wake before sunrise. Time is the only resource we all have equal amounts of so use it instead of wasting it.

4. They have a zero care factor

You don’t like what they’re doing? They don’t care. You think they’re crazy? They would probably agree because they hate mediocre which is the other option. How about opinions, do they care about them? Only when it’s warranted and helps the cause.

Successful people don’t care about trying to please everyone or about whether or not people agree with them. They are the rebels with a cause and caring about the insignificant distracts them from smashing their goals out of the park.

5. They are loaded with energy and fired up

These passionate people are loaded with energy and they let you know it. They don’t hold back and know that the key to convincing you of their grand plan, is to demonstrate it through their energy.

Successful people are fired up about what they are doing and they won’t be happy until they achieve their mission.

To support this mission they take care of themselves by eating foods that fuel their body and exercising to get the blood flowing.

They know that movement and vibrancy are infectious and people are attracted to this state of being like a magnet.

“The difference between a good idea and a bad one is often enthusiasm and passion. Successful people can make bloody breakfast cereal sound incredible”

6. They are relentless

When everybody else has given up trying to launch the rocket into space, successful people are still trying. No strategy will go untested and no obstacle is too big. They’re prepared to fail one thousand times in a row because there is a chance that on attempt number one thousand and one, things might fall into place and happen.

This may sound like they’re overly optimistic, but really they are just relentless in their pursuits. It’s their mindset that is centered around positivity that allows them to think this way. They’re fighting against their flawed human brain which takes guts and a lot of hard work.

“It’s not easy being relentless, but it’s necessary for greatness”

7. They time box social media

The understanding that social media is designed to hook you in, waste your time and then make you take an action you hadn’t previously planned, is a concept that insane, successful people understand. For this reason, they time box social media.

They use social media to get their message out, create content and get ideas. The difference is that they know how addictive and time wasting it can be to so they limit it to short bursts once or twice a day. They’ve found a way to suppress the dopamine hits that social media gives them.

8. They listen intently and take notes

Talking too much is what is killing your success. Crazy successful people listen to what others have to say, and then they filter out what is not relevant to their mission. They also take stupid amounts of notes because that’s how they retain and sort everything they’ve learned.

Successful people don’t trust their brain to remember anything. By having things stored in the form of notes, it allows their mind to be free and focus on creating cool and interesting ideas which they can then execute on.

9. They lock everything into their calendar instantly

You’ll never ask a successful person for their time without seeing them look at their calendar. Everything is scheduled in their diary except time with their family, which is a must.

They spend time asking what the meeting is about up front and they know how wasteful meetings for the sake of meetings can be. Their calendar also has parts of the daytime blocked for thinking, eating, exercising and creating.

10. They take time to chill the F out

Always being “ON” is a passionate, successful persons biggest enemy. Having intense energy requires gaps of nothingness in the form of travel. Every successful person I have met spends time scheduling travel to escape the patterns and routines they have become so accustomed to.

Time to decompress and think about what they’ve achieved so far is the therapy they need to not become consumed by all the failure they must endure on the road to greatness.

11. “No” is the most frequent word they use

The word “no” is a successful person’s most used word. Being focused is high on their priorities and so anything that doesn’t align with their mission is ignored. They use the hell yes or hell no response in their head to quickly decide what to say yes to.

If their instant reaction to an opportunity isn’t hell yes and they don’t feel inspired by the request, then they say “no.” To do anything else would be risky to their grand plan and potentially hijack what they have dedicated their life to. That’s not a sacrifice they are willing to make, so no becomes the default response.

12. Serving others is at the core of what they do

Whether it’s serving a community, customers, employees, or people in need, successful people serve someone other than themselves. It’s this mission of service that all of their ideas revolve around. For them, it’s about doing something that is bigger than themselves that leaves a legacy beyond their own human existence.

When they combine this commitment to service with their passion for what they do, people are attracted to their cause. It makes their success look so easy when in actual fact it’s very misleading. It’s taken them years to realize that they want to serve others with all of the passion in their body.

They didn’t just wake up one day and realize this crucial universal law called “serving others.” It took many traps like money, toxic relationships and addictions to get down to the core of their existence.

13. They see money as a resource to fuel their dreams

Successful people think about money completely different. They see money as a resource to help them reach more people and make a bigger difference. Money to them is not about some selfish goal to buy luxury items and show off or prove others wrong.

Money is a means to change the world in some significant way.

14. They have a two-line mission statement

All of these crazy, successful people can tell you their mission in two sentences or less. The core idea that their life revolves around is so concrete in their mind that it only needs two lines to explain it.

“Being able to get to the point so quickly, with so few words, has taken them years to figure out”

They have repeatedly thought about what their life is going to mean when they are dead and that’s why now it seems their mission is so clear. It’s with deliberate thinking that they figured out their intention, not by accident. Everything you want happens when you keep taking action.

15. They inspire people

The final thing these crazy, insane, passionate, successful people do differently is inspire people. A conversation with them is uplifting and it changes the way you think. They create a feeling inside of you that feels good and makes you want to achieve some significant goal in your own life.

They’re inspirational because they are trying to create change. It’s addictive to see someone taking action and getting the rewards for doing so. We can all be inspiring and be successful just like these rare individuals I’ve spoken about.

It’s a choice. Are you willing to make it and accept the sacrifices, hard work and mindset that is required to be in this class of crazy, successful people?

If you want to increase your productivity and learn some more valuable life hacks, then join my private mailing list on timdenning.net