How to Get Ahead of 99% of People

We all want better for ourselves. Whether it's a bigger house, nicer car, higher salary, thriving business, or more recognition, we all want things we don't have. Most of us spend the majority of our lives chasing these things. Success looks different to different people, but there's no arguing that we all have some definition of it and that we often feel far from that definition.

Thankfully, we aren't limited by our current circumstances, and with the right tools, we can get to where we want to be. Here is everything you need to start doing today to get ahead. Start by sleeping on a regular schedule. Sleeping on a regular schedule is a game changer for improving cognitive function and mood. In fact, having a consistent sleep schedule is often more important than sleeping for a specific number of hours. If you wake up at 6 a.m. for work but like to sleep in until 10 a.m. on the weekends, you might want to rethink your sleeping pattern so you sleep and wake up at the same time every day.

Doing this helps your body develop a consistent rhythm and will allow you to build a schedule that works for you and the specific activities that you engage in. When you wake up, the first thing you should do is make your bed. Making your bed right after you get up might seem insignificant, but the reality is that accomplishing this small task at the start of your day sets the tone for the rest of it. You'll get a feeling of accomplishment that gives you the dopamine boost you need to tackle the more complex tasks you take on as your day progresses. It also gives you a sense of calm.

Even if you can't control every aspect of your life, you're in control of where you lay your head to rest. Sorting out your sleeping area also means you'll be less likely to jump back into bed, which, as I'm sure you all know, can quickly lead to a very unproductive morning and entire day. I said sorting your sleeping area because even if you don't sleep on a bed or are currently unhoused, you can still get the benefits of making your bed by simply arranging your sleeping area.

Whether it's rolling out mats or folding sheets, putting these things away gives you the same advantage as making your bed. You want to read books, magazines, and newspapers—just read. Several studies show that regular reading increases the communication between parts of your brain that control language and processing. It can also help improve concentration and prevent cognitive decline in old age.

When trying to get ahead, most of us sacrifice our health at the altar of productivity. But the truth is that doing this is terrible in the long term because if you're not in good health, you won't be able to produce your best. I regularly spend loads of hours making these videos, and in the past, it was difficult for me to make time to plan and cook a healthy meal until I found Soylent, the sponsor of today's video. Soylent is a 400-calorie vegan meal replacement drink with 28 vitamins and minerals, 20 grams of protein, and just one gram of sugar.

It comes in prepackaged bottles, so there's zero prep time before the meal, no mess during the meal, and no cleanup afterwards—perfect for people that are on the go like me. Soylent was recently voted product of the year in the meal replacement category from a survey of 40,000 people by Contour Research, and I'm not surprised because of the insane amount of processed sugar in most chocolate bars. I've completely switched to the chocolate-flavored Soylent drink to give me my daily dose of chocolate without sacrificing my long-term health. The best part about Soylent is that it's affordable at just under four dollars per meal, which can get cheaper with subscriptions and bundle deals.

In fact, for more savings, the first 500 people to use the link in the description and code "aperture30" will get $30 off their first order. Back to our story, but just like exercising, meditating, and eating healthy, these are all tips you've heard before. So let's get a little more specific. How do you get ahead at work?

Well, first, it's essential to identify your goals. If you approach every workday with a big question mark, you'll likely lose focus and sense of direction quickly. But once you identify a goal, like a raise, a promotion, or a particular benchmark, you can start each day with ideas on how to get closer to your goal, even if it takes you a while to get there. That's why it's good to be specific. Think of yourself like a specialist rather than a generalist.

With unlimited YouTube videos and college courses, many of us take advantage of dabbling in different skills and hobbies. The problem is that doing too many things can spread our attention so thin that it's difficult to hone in on that one skill that will move us forward. By becoming a specialist instead, especially in your work, you're more likely to build an impressive skill set that makes you stand out in the current difficult labor market.

Of course, having hobbies and interests is essential for an excellent work-life balance, but in your career, just being okay at a lot of things doesn't get you nearly as far as being great at one or two things. Getting ahead is easier if you love what you do or at least like it. Loving your work can sometimes be misunderstood as loving every aspect of your job, which is quite frankly impossible. Work is called work for a reason. It's not helpful to set the unrealistic expectation that you'll love every second of it.

But suppose you are interested enough and perhaps even fulfilled at times by the work you do. In that case, you're more likely to push yourself further, enjoy building your skill sets, and face challenges with optimism rather than negativity. Once you get extremely proficient at your job, you'll soon discover that your skills can only get you so far. To get further ahead, you need to start promoting yourself.

Now, self-promotion can sometimes get a bad rap, but if you've put in the time and effort to become a better employee, boss, or creative thinker, you deserve to brag about it. Also, making others aware of your accomplishments can do wonders to lift you off your plateau and keep moving forward. And when you do, having the right people around you is crucial. Stanford Graduate School of Business Professor Bob Sutton says that your manager can have a more significant effect on your happiness and success than the company you work at.

So whenever you have the opportunity, always choose to work with people who are quick to offer help when necessary. One thing to remember, though, is that if your managers or co-workers are there to help you, you have to be there to help them too. Being liked by people you work with and liking them back isn't so bad. We don't need the tough exterior that reigns superior in the workplace for so long.

Putting up walls will help cut you off from opportunities and, more importantly, relationships. Ask anyone, anywhere, in any field, and they'll all tell you that relationships are the key ingredient to a successful career. And how do you build relationships? Network. It's an annoying word, I know. Like me, you probably cringe at the idea of artificially making acquaintances for the sole purpose of advancing your career. But networking doesn't have to be like that.

Think about all the people you've collaborated with. You might not have become friends with them, but you did get to know their innovative, motivated, and creative sides. If they needed a recommendation, wouldn't you happily give them one? Exactly, networking in a meaningful way doesn't have to feel forced. It's about building genuine connections with people who understand your work and are likely to help you in the future.

As your network expands, you might start to compare yourself to others, but you shouldn't do that because comparison is the thief of joy. Sometimes the best thing you can do to get ahead is to take what you want out of the equation. It may seem counterintuitive, but recognizing how your work contributes to other people's lives can make you more productive than just thinking about how it benefits you.

Adam Grant is a renowned organizational psychologist who studies human behavior and helps people find motivation and meaning in their lives, especially in the workplace. In one of his earliest jobs selling ads for a travel guide series, he brought in a student who had been awarded a scholarship from his travel guide company to meet his colleagues. After meeting the student, the entire company staff spent 142 percent more time on the phone and brought in 171 percent more revenue using the same sales scripts as before. Even though the content of their sales pitch didn't change, they were motivated consciously and subconsciously to do better by simply seeing someone who had been positively impacted by their work.

So instead of worrying about what other people can do for you to help you get ahead, flip the switch and start thinking about what you can do for others. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how much more productive you are when you know your work is improving other people's lives.

Now, the truth is these things we've discussed aren't gas pedals you can step on to automatically speed you to the front of the rat race. Because in reality, getting ahead is about more than a set of quick fixes. In fact, ahead isn't even a destination. It's a mindset, and it's essential to recognize that what might feel good in the short term might limit you in the long term. Eating an entire bowl of ice cream might seem like a fantastic idea today—and it might be—but keep doing that every day for the next few years, and your health will suffer as a result.

The same goes for how you can work to get ahead in life. Finding shortcuts or avoiding conflict can feel good, but when you decide to take the easy route, you're cheating yourself out of potential learning opportunities. Of course, it's equally important to be smart. Dragging things out just to feel like you're doing something can be a nasty trap, mainly because maintaining your stamina is another critical component to getting ahead.

It's easy to quit; most people do it. To become one of the people who don't, you'll need to push yourself, but not so hard that you burn out. You have to seek out challenges; nothing impossible—just practical ones that give you a healthy dose of dopamine once you accomplish them. You'll find small bits of motivation to hang on to when things get tough; you'll dig in and hang on even when things get rough.

Failure is inevitable in all areas of life. No relationship is perfect; no job is perfect; no family is perfect. But instead of thinking of failure as a setback, think of it as an opportunity—it's information about your current mental and physical limitations and data about how you can improve. It's a reminder of how good it feels to try, even when things don't work out. Failure teaches you that you aren't in this alone and that asking for help isn't something to be ashamed of.

Asking for help is actually one of life's remarkable skills, and so was saying "I'm sorry." Accepting responsibility when you've done something wrong and not dishing out a meaningless apology allows others to see your humility. Once you accept that you make mistakes, sometimes even ones that hurt others, you're freed from the assumption that you always know what to do.

Confusion is a part of life, and if you want to get ahead, you better learn how to navigate it. The only way to do that is by being able to adjust. We're all born into certain circumstances, hold particular beliefs, and expect different things out of life, but change is necessary, even when it doesn't feel all that great.

But here, science has our back. You've probably heard the distinction between right and left-brained people. The theory is that if you're right-brain dominant, you're more intuitive, a creative thinker, qualitative about the way you perceive things, and you tend to look at the world with a big-picture lens. On the other hand, if you're left-brain dominant, you're said to be more analytical; you pay attention to details, are ruled by logic, and you view the world more specifically and objectively.

The 2013 study by the University of Utah looked at the brains of over a thousand young people between the ages of 7 and 29 and found no evidence of what we've been told about left and right-brained people. The study found that the activity in the left and right halves of a subject's brain was similar, regardless of their personality. This is freeing because it means that there isn't some inherent brain chemistry that determines how you think and act. Depending on the situation, you can choose to be more analytical or more intuitive; you can adapt.

So what is getting ahead? Is it earning more money, or is it about being able to look back and be proud of not just what you've done, but who you are? I'd argue for the latter because just as much as you want to get ahead, it's easy to get ahead of yourself—to a place where you become so obsessed with your future, a place where your specific goals and feelings become so crucial to you that you lose sight of your journey.

When people say it's lonely at the top, I often reply that they neglected everyone on their climb who loved them because they were so focused on the summit. Think about getting ahead more as a process rather than a race that you need to finish. Even as you're striving for excellence, always remember to stay in the present, looking around to take in the beauty of the experiences you're given on this journey of life. Getting ahead shouldn't have us running so fast that we pass on in an attempt to pass others. After all, life isn't a race to the finish, but an experience to be relished.