5 Reasons Why Success Is Not Just Dependent On Self-Improvement

It is generally believed that success is dependent on self-improvement; where a person seeks to change their behavior and attitude in a way that will make them successful. And, if you are someone who holds such a belief, then it might come as a surprise to you that success is not just dependent on self-improvement. While it is a big part, it isn’t the main reason. Here are some reasons why it is the way it is.

1. Massive talent

If there is one thing that can exempt someone from social expectations and yet become a huge success, it is talent. People who are extremely talented at what they do can easily achieve success and fame in their lives irrespective of how their behavior is.

A famous case is that of an American writer Charles Bukowski. Usually, people expect writers to behave in a ‘good’ manner, at least, in social situations. But, Bukowski was completely different. He was an alcoholic with a foul mouth.  He would even attend author meetup events in front of the public completely drunk and sprouting expletives. Yet, he achieved incredible fame and wealth and he never had to change his behavior and attitude in order to be successful.

This was because of his talent alone. Bukowski was such a great writer that he became a cult author in the US in the latter half of the twentieth century. And, if you, too, have some talent, whether as a writer, an artist, an actor, a football player, or anything else; you also have a good chance of being successful without having to commit to any self-improvement.

2. Psychopathic Behavior

Surprisingly, and shockingly, psychopathic behavior can also make a person a big success. However, keep in mind that we are only talking about the behavioral aspect of psychopaths, not a true-blue psychopath who is out to kill everyone. This incredible discovery came as a result of research by Emory University which found that a large number of successful people tend to have psychopathic traits. Psychopathic traits like boldness, which is linked with extremely charming behavior, has been identified even in US presidents.

The author of “The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry”, Jon Ronson, also claims in the book that big business magnates and CEOs are four times more likely to have psychopathic behavior than normal people. Such people tend to come off excessively arrogant or domineering than others, and thereby, tend to end up being successful. Additionally, they achieve such success without self-improvement.

3. Networking

Being able to develop intimate connections with successful people is also very important for achieving success yourself. No matter how focused you are on self-improvement, if you lack the skill to connect with people, joke with them, and hold long conversations with them; you are less likely to achieve success. Because, ultimately, all people tend to support those who they like. Even if your behavior is somewhat negative, if someone likes you, they will support you in your quest for success.

4. Pure Grit

Another trait that can make you wildly successful, despite making no effort of improving yourself, is pure grit. So, what is pure grit? In simple words, it is the attitude that drives you to pursue a goal irrespective of how many times you have failed or how insurmountable it looks.

For example, two people may be tasked with closing a big business deal. The first person might be a well-behaved individual who constantly reads self-improvement books and always seeks to improve his/her behavior while the second person might be someone who has a questionable lifestyle but has incredible persistence. Now, the other business party might be very hesitant in committing to the deal. This might dampen the spirits of the first person and they might give up.

But the second person will likely persist at negotiation, no matter how many times they are declined. And eventually, it is very likely that they will be successful at closing the deal. Here, even though the first person is someone who is considered an ‘ideal’ person, it is the second one who achieved success despite having negative behavior. And this difference in success is purely due to the fact that the second person had more grit to persist with the task at hand while the first one gave up too easily.

5. Extremely Hardworking

There are people who work extremely hard for long hours at a stretch. While a regular person would work, for say eight to nine hours per day, these people will have no problem putting in 12 or 14 hours of continuous work. And inevitably, such people tend to become successful than the rest. Even if their behavior does not exactly meet social expectations of an ideal person, they are able to become successful because of their total dedication to work.

You can see examples of such people in some business organizations where a particular employee, though not seen favorably among colleagues, is provided a better pay and position by the management just because the person tends to put in a lot of effort in their work.