25 daily rituals of the most successful people

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Popular blogger Steve Rushing conducted extensive research and studied the habits of 25 famous people. Read about what came of this in our article.

Stop believing in life hacks. On the Internet, you can find a great variety of things that are designed to make us even better and more effective, starting with something like “37 vital life hacks that every self-respecting person should know” and ending, for example, like this: “I thought that almost became a superman. But these 23 life hacks convinced me otherwise. So - stop it. Blogger Steve Rushing has a better offer.

He thinks it will be very useful to pay attention to history. How the most ordinary people reached heights and became great. It is unlikely that this happened suddenly, right after they learned about some list of miraculous life hacks. Most likely, it took them a long and painstaking work on themselves. So why not try to gain experience from them?

Steve Rushing selected several successful people and studied their habits, manner of work, behavior. He focused on everyday, repetitive activities, which, in fact, make up a large part of life. Below is a translation of what he got.

1. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian composer and virtuoso musician

When Mozart did not have a rich patron, and the European nobility did not recognize him at all, then the still unknown composer had to make a lot of efforts to earn his living. He gave an insane amount of piano lessons, took part in almost all daily concerts to win over the audience, and also traveled around Vienna in search of work. Add to all this the courting of his future wife … He certainly had no time to relax.

However, Mozart did not allow life's circumstances to ruin his dreams. Returning home around 11pm, he wrote music before letting himself collapse into bed, exhausted. And this usually happened not earlier than one in the morning. The composer got up early, at six in the morning.

2. Voltaire, philosopher and educator

For the world famous French philosopher, his bed served as such a "refuge". It was there that he read every morning and evening, worked and planned what he would do. He chose this place not because he was terribly lazy, but because he loved solitude and had a rather melancholic character.

It was here that he could fully concentrate and not be distracted by anything. But do not think that Voltaire was a recluse. The rest of the day, not devoted to work, he spent with his family or went horseback riding. But each time towards evening, the philosopher again returned to his "refuge". On average, he spent there 15-18 hours a day, this was the place where he was most comfortable working.

3. Benjamin Franklin, politician, inventor, writer

Throughout his life, Franklin was very fond of giving people different advice. It is difficult to say whether anyone followed them, but this did not prevent the writer at a more mature age from creating a special 13-week plan to help achieve "moral perfection." Each week was devoted to developing a habit, from cleanliness to willpower training.

Franklin tried the plan on himself several times and found it ineffective. Putting his ego aside, he was able to admit defeat and immediately began to draw up a new ideal schedule, in which everything was planned every minute. Until the end of his days, the writer continued to change and supplement the plan in an attempt to achieve even greater efficiency.

4. Jane Austen, English writer

Never married Jane Austen has lived her entire life in the same house with her noisy relatives. Regardless, Austin never let all this fuss to upset her plans. Getting up first, Jane made breakfast for the family every day. This was her only, but necessary contribution to housekeeping. She did this in order to lull her sister's vigilance, carve out some precious time, retire from prying eyes and write.

Austin had a habit of leaving sketches on small pieces of paper when no one was seeing. By nature, very shy and painfully responsive to criticism, for a long time Jane generally hid what creates stories. She was afraid that someone would begin to reproach her.

5. Thomas Mann, German writer

The most productive time for Thomas Mann was from nine in the morning until noon. He planned his entire day, focusing on these morning hours. Wake up at eight in the morning, breakfast, coffee with my wife. After, free from decision-making and household commitments, he was completely ready to immerse himself in work.

His working day was only three hours, during which he did not allow himself to be distracted by absolutely nothing. Working feverishly, Mann made a tremendous effort to get everything he planned on in such a short amount of time. Those cases that were not completed until noon were postponed until the next day. For the rest of the day, the writer rested and did not even allow the thought of work.

6. Karl Marx, German philosopher, public and political figure

After emigrating to London, Karl Marx devoted himself to the revolutionary struggle. The main business of his whole life was "Capital", and only death prevented him from completing the final, fourth part. The dream of completing the book was a huge incentive and perpetual motion machine of his work. Marx worked daily from 9 am to 7 pm in the reading room of the British Museum. He suffered from health problems: liver disease and eye inflammation often prevented him from working, but he still did not stop working on what subsequently changed the world in many ways.

7. Ernest Hemingway, American writer

Hemingway was a man of passion, but he was surprisingly tough and demanding about his work. He woke up with the first rays of the sun, even when he had drunk most of the previous night, and spent the quiet morning hours, handwriting everything that came into his head. He sat at the typewriter only when the work went well.

After the stream of thoughts dried up, Hemingway always counted how many words he wrote per day. The Nobel Prize Laureate in Literature harbored no illusions at his own expense, and therefore he was satisfied only with the exact results of his work. After counting the words, Hemingway considered himself free from all the "burdens of writing life" and with a clear conscience abandoned work until the next day.

8. Francis Scott Fitzgerald, American writer

Fitzgerald's mode of operation can be characterized as follows: he was thrown from one extreme to another. A little short of the final exams from Princeton, he volunteered for the army. Soon after, his debut novel, This Side of Paradise, was published, with a circulation of 120,000 and was sold out in three months. It was this novel that brought Fitzgerald fame and success.

During the writing of the novel, Fitzgerald had practically no free time, because he was in the military service. He had to carve out free minutes and jot down notes in a notebook, which he hid in an army textbook.

Later, when he was still caught doing this, Fitzgerald had to switch to a different schedule: writing from 1 pm to midnight on Saturdays and from 6 am to 6 pm on Sundays. A few years later, the writer could envy himself: without rigid restrictions and clear deadlines, he simply spent time aimlessly, not doing anything particularly. He applied to the bottle in order to somehow stimulate himself, but it did not help much.

9. William Faulkner, American writer

Faulkner worked at the power plant in the evenings, so he had to write at night. There were times when it was necessary to write before noon, because the rest of the day was devoted to repairing the dilapidated family estate. Occasionally, the Nobel laureate would sketch in the city library, taking with him the handle of the decrepit home door so that no one could open it and enter the mansion.

For Faulkner, it did not matter at all where and in what conditions to write. Life was too unpredictable, and there was no time to find fault.

10. Charles Darwin, naturalist and traveler, author of the theory of evolution

When Darwin moved from London to the quiet countryside, he had good reason to be afraid. His theory of evolution was too radical for the time and could shake prim Victorian society to its very foundations. The possibility of harming personal reputation and social status should not be ignored either. To strengthen his position in society and increase scientific authority, Darwin chose an interesting tactic.

He waited for 17 years, all this time gradually consolidating his position in the scientific community. He established himself as a renowned expert on shellfish and received the Royal Society of London Medal for a three-volume scientific work. Only a narrow circle of confidants knew about his theory. As a result of such strict restrictions, the scientist acquired an impeccable reputation as a person about whom no one could say anything reprehensible. And then he decided to present his theory of evolution to the world.

11. James Joyce, Irish writer and poet

A noble alcoholic, an outstanding procrastinator and a permanent participant in all parties without exception, history is unlikely to ever forget James Joyce. Debt collectors lined up outside his door. He worked in moderation and inconsistency only to make ends meet. He gave English lessons and piano lessons. Constant in his life was only one thing: every night he went to the bar. His family never knew what time he would return home and whether he would return at all, whether they would have the money to buy food, or would have to starve.

It is worth noting that, despite all this, Joyce managed to create a real masterpiece. His "Ulysses" is undoubtedly beyond praise. The writer claimed that he used the time spent at the bar as an opportunity to clear his mind in order to start writing with renewed vigor the next day. After completing the book, Joyce calculated that he had spent seven years on it, of which 20,000 hours he devoted directly to writing.

12. Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter and sculptor

Closing in his studio at about two o'clock in the afternoon, Picasso was able to work at least until dusk. His family and friends were on their own until dinner. But even then, the artist who came out of the studio rarely exchanged even a word with them. There were days when he could not say a word, except when someone from the company forced him. Picasso was known as an unsociable person.

His friend Fernanda saw the reasons for this disgusting behavior in a poor diet. It's not hard to guess that she had nothing to do with it. In fact, Picasso just didn't want to lose concentration. If it were not for the attempts of others to introduce him to social life, he could have been standing at the easel for three or four hours without getting tired and without stopping. Once tuned in to the right wave, he did his best to stay focused as long as possible, despite family obligations.

13. Agatha Christie, English writer

Agatha Christie, like Jane Austen, found it terribly difficult to acknowledge her own accomplishments. She did not consider herself a "real" author even after she wrote ten books, and continued to think of herself simply as a married woman. She was not even embarrassed by the fact that some of her works became real bestsellers.

Agatha Christie was very afraid of reproach or disapproval from others. She feared that people would think of her as “I'm not sure you write your own books because I've never seen you at work. I didn't even see you leave to start writing. That is why Agatha often tried to escape from everyone to a place where no one would interfere, in order to retire and avoid such hints.

14. Louis Armstrong, famous jazz trumpeter

From early childhood, Louis knew that the work required enormous sacrifices. He always lived with the feeling that he had spent 20 thousand years traveling nonstop by train and airplane.

Music is life, but it doesn't mean anything if you can't offer it to the public.

Louis Armstrong talent

15. Maya Angelou, American writer and poet

Maya never worked from home, she had her own "office". Waking up early in the morning, usually around half past five, and having coffee with her husband, she headed to a nearby hotel. She rented a number in it in order to work.

The decor in this room was absolutely Spartan: the tiny room had only a bed and a washbasin. Maya worked from seven in the morning until two in the afternoon in absolute silence and not being distracted by anything. Sometimes she was accompanied by a dictionary, a Bible, a deck of cards and a bottle of sherry. When the time was up, the writer completely threw the work out of her head.

16. Charles Dickens, English writer

Throughout his life, Dickens's daily routine remained the same: getting up early, breakfast, a little work until it was time for lunch with his family, at which he was only physically present, thoughts were far away. Then work again until two o'clock and, finally, the long-awaited three-hour walk in order to refresh the mind. Dickens was very fond of such outings and during them always looked for inspirational things that would give him food for thought. Returning home, he was full of energy, she just bursting him from the inside. After the walk, he waited with a vengeance for the next working day to think things over and put his impressions on paper.

17. Victor Hugo, French writer

Exiled to islands off the coast of France, Hugo began to devote most of his time to work. Waking up every morning to the sound of a shot from a nearby fort, he wrote until about 11. Then he was forced to communicate with visitors. Two-hour walks on the beach helped to relieve stress and clear his mind.

Daily visits to the hairdresser made it possible to feel renewed and refreshed. Almost every day, Hugo traveled by train to his mistress, and in the evenings he devoted time to his family. Due to such varied activities during the day, the writer had to carry small notebooks with him. Hugo recorded in them the emerging ideas and thoughts that could slip away. As his son later said, "nothing is lost, everything will go to print."

18. Herman Melville, American writer

At the time of writing Moby Dick, Melville was working eight hours a day. To distract himself a little, the writer needed to find some kind of extraneous occupation, not related to the main activity. After moving to Berkshire, Massachusetts, he suddenly found a great solution - farming.

Melville went out every morning to feed the livestock and farm. This made him feel alive. After a whole day of hard work on the novel, he threw it out of his head and returned to the field and to the animals again. He abstracted himself from "Moby Dick" and eagerly absorbed everything that was happening around him. Before going to bed, he once again skimmed through what had been written during the day. Melville found an amazing zen in agriculture that could completely occupy him for a while.

19. Leo Tolstoy, Russian writer and thinker

You've probably heard something about the so-called muscle memory. It works like this: your brain remembers what it needs to do, because once you have repeatedly performed this action.

Tolstoy, in a sense, turned out to be a prophet: his manner of work was completely based on this method. Without him, he would hardly ever have finished War and Peace. Those who have read his works are familiar with the feeling that you are lost in an endless stream of words and sentences. But he invented it all and wrote it!

It is imperative to write every day not so much for the success of the work, as in order not to get out of a rut.

Lev Tolstoy

Like his habit of constant writing, his daily routine has never changed either: waking up at about nine in the morning, breakfast with his family, and work until dinner is served. For Tolstoy, the secret to success lay in monotony. He freed his mind from everything that did not directly concern his main business.

20. Mark Twain, American writer and journalist

Every summer, Mark Twain went to a farm in upstate New York and lived there according to a certain routine. He ate a hearty breakfast and then locked himself in a specially equipped office in order to write. Here he remained alone with his thoughts until supper. No lunch, no breaks, no excuses - nothing was supposed to get in his way.

The only thing he paid attention to was the sound of a signal horn, which was heard only when something out of the ordinary happened. After working hours were up, the writer would have dinner and read aloud to his family what he had managed to write in a day. Adhering to this routine, Twain created most of his works.

21. Vincent Van Gogh, Dutch artist

Van Gogh's life belonged entirely to work. He stood in front of the easel from dusk to dawn, not feeling tired. His enthusiasm and attitude towards work is really worthy of respect. Van Gogh tried to nullify everything that was not related to work. He often forgot to even eat if he didn't find something within arm's reach. For Van Gogh, work was the strongest drug he could not tear himself away from.

22. Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone

In his youth, Bell worked almost around the clock. He was overwhelmed with ideas that needed to be urgently tested in practice. Bell's working day usually took 22 hours, and there was simply no time for sleep. The scientist did not allow himself to take even a short respite and was constantly in search of new solutions.

Later, his pregnant wife insisted that Bell spend at least three hours a day with her. Even so, ideas prevailed. His work stole his heart.

Bell confessed to his wife that he had "periods of restlessness": his brain was so overwhelmed with ideas that he simply could not stop and think about something else.

23. Ayn Rand, American writer

Some great sacrifices bring worthy results. Ayn Rand was fully convinced of this. When it was necessary to finish The Source, a huge problem was revealed: the writer suffered from chronic fatigue and nervousness, and from this it constantly seemed that she would never finish the book.

Rand sought help from a doctor who prescribed benzedrine, an activity-stimulating drug. And it worked: Ain began to work day and night, sometimes without closing her eyes for several days. In the end, she finished a book in less than 12 months, which would have taken years at best.

After Rand, for another three decades, she took this and several other similar drugs. The pills became her support. The drugs, of course, had side effects: frequent mood swings, unwarranted irascibility and paranoia. Rand could never be the same again.

24. Lyman Frank Baum, American writer, classic of children's literature

The second true passion, besides writing, for Baum was gardening. His Hollywood home had a large backyard in which the writer laid out a cozy garden. He woke up every morning with the thought that someday such a flower or tree would grow, for which he would definitely be given some kind of reward. Even writing books faded into the background for him.

The alarm clock traditionally rang around eight in the morning. Baum drank huge amounts of coffee and went to work in the garden. After lunch, he set aside some time to write. His workplace, of course, was the garden. The writer said that surrounded by flowers, he feels a surge of strength and energy, and inspiration overflows. Another required attribute was a cigar.

Baum did not work long, but efficiently. And although he devoted relatively little time to writing, he nevertheless managed to write as many as 14 books about the wizard from Oz and many other excellent stories.

25. Stephen King, American writer

Already the author of an impressive number of books, King continues to write every day, regardless of whether it is a holiday, a weekend or his birthday. Under no circumstances would he miss a day without writing exactly two thousand words. King starts work at eight or nine in the morning and finishes by noon on particularly successful days. But this rarely happens, and usually the working day lasts much longer.

On his free evenings, Stephen King relaxes watching the Red Sox games, answering the backlog of letters or going out for a walk. He does this with a pure heart, without fear of wasting precious time.