7 Science-Backed Secrets for Achieving Success in Life

7 Science-Backed Secrets for Achieving Success in Life7 Science-Backed Secrets for Achieving Success in LifeSuccess is a subjective notion, if there ever was one. But for simplicitys sake, lets assume the higher you are on Maslows hierarchy of needs, the better youre doing. In case you dont remember the levels from Psych 101, essentially, people cant be their best possible selves (self-actualization) until lower-level needs are met first. In other words, you cant be an iabsprache version of yourself if you dont have enough food and money to pay the bills, or enough love and esteem to feel good about your value as a human being. So, what can you do to move yourself up the pyramid?Check out the findings from several studies, which shine a light on what it takes to achieve more in life.1. Increase Your Confidence by Taking ActionKatty Kay and Claire Shipman, authors of The Confidence Code, wrote a stellar article for The Atlantic on this subject. Highlighting scads of studies that have found that a wide confidence gap exists between the sexes, they point out that success is just as dependent on confidence as it is on competence. Their conclusion? Low confidence results in inaction. Taking action bolsters ones belief in ones ability to succeed, they write. So confidence accumulates- through hard work, through success, and even through failure.2. Broaden Your Definition of AuthenticityAuthenticity is a much sought-after leadership trait, with the prevailing idea being that the best leaders are those who self-disclose, who are true to themselves, and who make decisions based on their values. Yet in a recent Harvard Business Review article titled The Authenticity Paradox, Insead professor herbeiminia Ibarra discusses interesting research on the subject and tells the cautionary tale of a newly promoted general manager who admitted to subordinates that she felt scared in her expanded role, asking them to help her succeed. Her candor backfired, Ibarra writes. She lost cr edibility with people who wanted and needed a confident leader to take charge. So know this Play-acting to emulate the qualities of successful leaders doesnt make you a fake. It merely means youre a work in progress.3. Improve Your Social SkillsAccording to research by University of California Santa Barbara economist Catherine Weinberger, the most successful business people excel in both cognitive ability and social skills, something that hasnt always been true. She crunched data linking adolescent skills in 1972 and 1992 with adult outcomes, and found that in 1980, having both skills didnt correlate with better success, whereas today the combination does. The people who are both smart and socially adept earn more in todays workforce than similarly endowed workers in 1980, she says.4. Train Yourself to Delay GratificationThe classic Marshmallow Experiment of 1972 involved placing a marshmallow in front of a young child, with the promise of a second marshmallow if he or she could ref rain from eating the squishy blob while a researcher stepped out of the room for 15 minutes. Follow-up studies over the next 40 years found that the children who were able to resist the temptation to eat the marshmallow grew up to be people with better social skills, higher test scores, and lower incidence of substance abuse. They also turned out to be less obese and better able to deal with stress. But how to improve your ability to delay things like eating junk food when healthy alternatives arent available, or to remain on the treadmill when youd rather just stop?Writer James Clear suggests starting small, choosing one thing to improve incrementally every day, and committing to not pushing off things that take less than two minutes to do, such as washing the dishes after a meal or eating a piece of fruit to work toward the goal of eating healthier. Committing to doing something every single day works too. Top performers in every field- athletes, musicians, CEOs, artists- they are all more consistent than their peers, he writes. They show up and deliver day after day while everyone else gets bogged down with the urgencies of daily life and fights a constant battle between procrastination and motivation.5. Demonstrate Passion and Perseverance for Long-Term GoalsPsychologist Angela Duckworth has spent years studying kids and adults and found that one characteristic is a significant predictor of success grit. Grit is having stamina. Grit is sticking with your future, day in, day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years, and working really hard to make that future a reality, she said in a TED talk on the subject. Grit is living life like its a marathon, not a sprint.6. Embrace a Growth MindsetAccording to research conducted by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, how people view their personality affects their capacity for happiness and success. Those with a fixed mindset believe things like character, intelligence, and creativity are unch angeable, and avoiding failure is a way of proving skill and smarts. People with a growth mindset, however, see failure as a way to grow and therefore embrace challenges, persevere against setbacks, learn from criticism, and reach higher levels of achievement. Do people with this mindset believe that anyone can be anything, that anyone with proper motivation or education can become Einstein or Beethoven? No, but they believe that a persons true befhigung is unknown (and unknowable) that its impossible to foresee what can be accomplished with years of passion, toil, and training, she writes.7. Invest in Your RelationshipsAfter following the lives of 268 Harvard undergraduate males from the classes of 1938 to 1940 for decades, psychiatrist George Vaillant concluded something you probably already know Love is the key to happiness. Even if a man succeeded in work, amassed piles of money, and experienced good health, without loving relationships he wouldnt be happy, Vaillant found. The l ongitudinal study showed happiness depends on two things One is love, he wrote. The other is finding a way of coping with life that does not push love away.More From Inc.How to Instantly Click With Everyone You Meet10 Best Ways to Start a CompanyHow to Beat Your Competition With LovePhoto of escalator courtesy of Shutterstock.