Here’s how to join the top 1% in 2024

When we get too cozy in life, we stop pushing ourselves.

The second month of 2024 has started.

And I know most of you have failed on your new year’s resolutions. It’s not because of your mistakes but because of the concept behind them.

I don’t understand how an individual can set new habits on January 1st and be consistent about them the whole year. That’s the reason I haven’t tried making any new year’s resolutions for myself.

You will never find me talking about my new year’s resolutions.

For me, every day is a new day to set new habits, to become more productive, to learn more, and improve myself.

To give you an example, in the previous year, in December, I was a bit depressed; my earnings went down as I was focused on too many areas.

I started a startup that failed, began selling digital products, focused too much on writing content, started a newsletter, started a YouTube channel, and spent my free time growing social media followers.

It was literally too much, and I lost all my balance.

That’s when I decided to try monk mode for 28 days, simply to regain my concentration, focus on a single area, and regain my consciousness.

It worked literally.

I wrote some of the best blog posts in the month of January 2024.

• 8 (New) AI Tools That Are So Useful, You Can’t Ignore Them for Your Business in 2024
• Selling Made Me Miserable…Until I Discovered These (Weirdly Simple Yet Effective) Tricks
• 9 (Ultimate & Advanced) Techniques to Get Insightful Responses From ChatGPT, Backed by New Research
• If You Think Selling Digital Products is Saturated, Read This!

Now, I have a clear vision of what I need to do, and here’s what I learned in that process.

1. Discover your driving why

Are you launching a new YouTube channel, business, side hustle, or trying to learn a new skill?

If so, let me tell you — the odds are against you.

Why? Because people usually start these things after briefly getting excited by something they read or heard, lacking a strong enough reason to drive them.

I can say this from my own experience of starting a writing business to earn extra money (it was my motivation).

For a whole year, I persisted, and consistently wrote good articles.

Finally, it paid off, and I started making real money. The difference was having a compelling motivation to keep writing even when it was tough going.

I educated myself on what works, tracked my progress to see I was slowly gaining readers, and gave it time to grow instead of expecting instant success.

So, if you’re starting something new, make sure you examine why it matters so much to you.

Use that to push past obstacles. Learn from people who are already successful in that area. With sustained strategic effort, you can reach your goals.

Sure, it’s not always quick, but progress compounds.

2. Discomfort fuels growth

Let’s be real, most 9-to-5 employees get too comfortable with the status quo.

As a result, their careers stagnate. There’s no drive to better themselves or take risks.

My situation as a content creator is very different.

I actually don’t know what each tomorrow holds.

How will my latest content perform? What if algorithms suddenly change? How will that impact my earnings?

Living with this constant uncertainty is uncomfortable, but it also keeps me on my toes, constantly striving to improve.

When we get too cozy in life, we stop pushing ourselves.

Being uncomfortable, whether it’s trying to learn new skills or taking business risks, forces growth. It’s the only way to advance to new levels of success.

The lesson here is not to avoid discomfort at all costs. Rather, embrace it strategically.

Let it motivate you to get better every single day, no matter what you’re working on.

The rewards will follow.

3. Seek internal satisfaction, not external validation

Last year, I achieved my dream of buying my perfect house.

After that, I started craving more material things — nice cars, lavish vacations, the luxury lifestyle I constantly saw flaunted online.

My mindset shifted, and I found myself chasing external validation. Soon, my dream bubble burst.

I realized that, no matter how much I earned or bought, it would never be enough. My life wouldn’t fundamentally improve.

The main problem was depending on things outside of ourselves to feel happy instead of finding happiness within.

The solution became obvious — I needed to flip my priorities.

Instead of striving for things that provide fleeting happiness, I put more value on cultivating self-acceptance and contentment from within.

Rather than pursuing endless acquisition, I focused on appreciation for what I have.

The paradox is that true satisfaction doesn’t come from chasing validation.

It stems from self-reflection, personal growth, and pausing to enjoy the journey.

I found out that having external success doesn’t necessarily make life feel truly rich and meaningful. It’s the inner satisfaction that really matter.

4. Focus on one area to excel

When I began my money-making journey, I spent a year learning web development and building websites, earning a modest income.

Then I focused exclusively on content writing for the next 3 years, finally crossing over a 6 figures income in 2023.

Buoyed by success, I decided last year to diversify.

I tried multiple new projects — launching a startup and selling digital products, building a newsletter, creating a YouTube channel — all while still writing content and building websites.

The result? My startup failed, YouTube fizzled, under 1,000 newsletter subscribers on Substack, and I faced burnout trying to manage it all.

The lesson learned? For real income growth, focus intensely on one area with your time and energy rather than spreading yourself thin.

My new plan is simple — create one quality YouTube video per week along with my content writing. That’s it.

Often we think more is better when building businesses and careers. But let me tell you, laser focus breeds success.

Do less better, then scale up thoughtfully over time once you’ve built expertise and audience. Quality first, then quantity.

5. Build systems to scale effectively

When I first started out, I handled every task manually — writing content, posting on social media, answering every email and comment myself.

As I gained success, this became unsustainable.

I realized I needed to systematize and create processes around my core business functions — whether it be through automations using AI, delegating to a team, or documenting my approach in order to train others.

Creating these systems allowed me to rapidly scale without sacrificing quality or client experience.

The key insight was that the owner should work ON the business, not just IN it.

My focus shifted to optimizing operational workflow rather than getting entrenched doing low-value work.

Systemizing freed my time and mental bandwidth to work on high leverage activities like vision casting, innovation, and strategy.

Let me tell you, in the beginning, it’s easy to do everything yourself and skip foundational work like documenting processes.

But when scaling, nailing your operations and systems makes all the difference. It’s as important as your product or content itself.

Make this your top priority if your goal is growth rather than remaining a an average guy.

6. Rest and recovery drive long-term productivity

When I first started out, I bought into the hustle mentality.

I worked nonstop for months, thinking grinding harder would accelerate results. Instead, I burnt out. Progress stalled completely.

Through that painful experience, I realized sustainable success requires significant rest and recovery time built into the process.

Things like taking regular vacations, avoiding work at night and on weekends, exercising, etc., contribute to the necessary rest and recovery.

Also, putting effort into rest and health actually boosts creativity, motivation and productivity over the long run.

I know, we have been sold this idea that pushing to sheer exhaustion is heroic and guaranteed to bring external success.

However, the hustle mindset is often driven by insecurity and only leads to mediocre results, which are covered in a blanket of exhaustion.

True achievement comes from consistent, focused effort over years, interwoven with intentional recovery, self-care and celebration of small milestones.

7. Cultivate self-belief for the long haul

In the early days, I often doubted myself and my abilities.

But in studying those who achieved great success, I noticed a common pattern — they had an irrational self-belief even when no one else believed in them yet.

They were confident and that’s the reason they can able to accomplish their lofty goals, despite little external evidence in the short-term.

This gritty self-trust was key to their eventual triumphs.

I realized persistence is fueled by faith in your own potential when outer results seem underwhelming.

You must believe fully in your value and vision, especially when few others do.

Allow no one, not even your own inner critic, to hijack the narrative that you can and will do great things.

Of course self-belief alone does not guarantee external success. Hard work, competence, systems and smart strategy matter greatly too.

But unshakable confidence provides the emotional fuel to endure repetitive failures, criticisms and setbacks on the journey.

It gives you permission to take bold risks despite uncertainty.

Victory awaits the self-believing.

8. Balance across life domains is key

For years, I was obsessed with my business and thought about it 24/7.

I believed complete devotion was essential and made no time for other life priorities.

But this lopsided approach isn’t healthy or sustainable long-term. I burnt out repeatedly using this strategy.

The better model is maintaining balance across business, health, close relationships, leisure activities, passion projects, and all domains that comprise a rich life.

When you neglect one area for too long, everything else inevitably suffers too. Just like riding a bike, if your wheel isn’t properly balanced, progress becomes shaky and exhausting.

Achieving success requires sacrifice and focused effort.

But self-care, down time, nurturing connections, and enjoyment of hobbies are not distractions.

Rather, they are critical ingredients to thrive mentally, creatively and physically through challenging entrepreneurial endeavors.

Make time for all aspects that energize you.

Value relationships as much as revenue. Master the art of rest amid striving.

An integrated, multidimensional lifestyle sustained over decades trumps short-term grinding to the detriment of wellbeing.

9. Manage finances wisely for lasting success

I learned from my mom that saving money helps a lot.

That’s why, from the initial days of working, I started investing my savings much more than I had ever imagined.

For sure, I never liked it, but today, that investing is helping me to grow further, buy a dream home, and buy whatever I want.

I realized that alongside generating strong income, you must pay yourself first by diligently setting aside funds, no matter how small.

Learn about and automate investing, and work closely with financial advisors to create an iron-clad fiscal foundation.

Simply making more money means nothing if you fail to manage it wisely once in hand. I can say that becoming skilled not just at making money, but at keeping it.

Educate yourself on investing, accounting, minimizing taxes legally, and building diverse income streams.

Sure, investing is not easy; that’s why I have spent hundreds of hours learning about it.

10. Surround yourself with masters to shortcut your learning curve

I grew up in a lower-middle class family.

We had just enough to get by and I studied at an underprivileged school in a tough city.

This environment conditioned my mindset around scarcity — focusing on making less money, complaining about bosses, dreaming of quick riches as the only way out.

But during the pandemic, I started following leaders who promoted abundance mindsets — working hard after your 9-to-5, building multiple income streams, gaining lifelong skills, focusing less on materialism.

I have to be honest, surrounding myself with this wisdom enabled me to pursue bigger dreams and goals. Having the support of those further ahead provides motivation to keep going during difficult times.

I also realized the importance of community more broadly.

Connecting with other entrepreneurs who understand the journey makes all the difference compared to going it completely alone.

Attend meetups, conferences and industry events to progressively build your network.

Asking for help used to feel like weakness to me. But making connections actually multiplied my learning and progress.

Lifting others up creates opportunities for you too.

Lastly let me tell you, true success requires interdependence with others, not just independence.

Together, we rise higher.

Hope you like it.

That’s it — thanks.

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