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There are plenty of articles with the best habits of successful people (all sorts of variants based on that title).

Yet, when you read most of the articles with such titles, you’ll find that the titles were 100% misleading.

The authors didn’t go through biographies of famous and successful people, didn’t spend time with them, and didn’t interview them.

No, the authors of such articles simply present a list of what they think and 100% imagine that a successful person would do.

I feel a bit annoyed to see how such articles exist and flourish, considering that they have misleading titles.

I’m also to blame; I click on articles with such titles, encouraging their further development.

Sure, a title that says, “These are eight things that all the successful people do,” is more attractive than “What I imagine and fantasize that successful people do.”

I used to wonder – “How do they do it? How do they know what those eight things are? How did they find out?” It seems it’s just imagination, presented in a manipulative way.

So, coming back to the title of this article: “The best titles that all articles about successful people have.” What are they? I don’t know.

But I would hope that they’re not misleading and, instead, they’re just the truth.

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I once heard Horia-Roman Patapievici saying something along the lines of: I used to have emotions when doing public speaking. Then I realized that it was a form of pride, and my emotions disappeared.

I remembered his line of thinking but couldn’t understand it well until I reached the same conclusion with the emotions in my life.

Recently, I discovered one more thing related to this: if I think of a mistake in the past and regret it, I’m culpable of being too proud.

What do I expect? To have a perfect life?

Sure, some things in the past are embarrassing, things don’t turn out the way I intended, and I made some small, medium, large, and more than large errors.

But it’s part of life, part of learning. I couldn’t have done it any better, and I wouldn’t be the man I was today had it not been for those errors.

A man who claims they should have made no errors is a proud man (not in a good sense).

It’s best to avoid errors, to not do them on purpose, and to be prepared & alert.

But if errors and mistakes happen, they’re part of the line.

Remembering them makes them vivid in my mind. If this isn’t a helpful behavior, avoid it altogether.

There are some clear advantages of being melancholic. But if, overall, it doesn’t help, avoid this state.

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What a wonderful quote:

“Love is what remains when all other emotions are gone.” – Naval Ravikant (via; via)

Sometimes, you might get upset, feel resentment, or be angry. Time passes, and you care about the person.

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If you tell a lot of jokes, you might notice this reaction:

• If they know you as a funny person, and trust you, you’re more likely to make people laugh, even with poorer jokes/assertions. Just by saying something mildly funny, people will laugh. When in doubt (Is this a joke?), they’ll tend to laugh.
• If you’re known as a serious person, when telling a joke you might notice this answer – “Hmm, what you say is paradoxical. Are you sure that’s a right assertion?”. “Of course I’m sure, the paradox is actually a joke!”. The problem was not the joke itself, but you being known as a funny person (or, as it the case, less so).

So, if you want to make people laugh, set yourself an image as a funny person.

Two things on the matter:

#1

GoodFellas Tommy DeVito “Funny How?” – YouTube :

#2

George Bernard Shaw’s lively aphorism, “If you want to tell people the truth, you’d better make them laugh or they’ll kill you” (via: If You Want To Tell People the Truth, You’d Better Make Them Laugh or They’ll Kill You – Quote Investigator)

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This quote might look funny, but I find it very insightful:

Groucho Marx’s letter of resignation to the Friars’ Club: “I don’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as one of its members.” (via »)

I tend to use it a lot.

See an article on the topic ».

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When you get an occasion to receive something, you think of yourself, “I deserve this. People don’t know me very well, but I know I’m a good person, I should receive something good. I’m worthy. I’m entitled to this!”.

When analyzing giving something to someone, criteria appears – “Do they deserve this? Is this the gift good fit for them? Am I doing a good thing by helping them?”.

Of course, if you tend to consider yourself worthy of good things coming your way, you should start with the assumption that others are also a good fit.

On the other hand, when analyzing the negative things, one might think “Hmm, I don’t deserve this. But if X receives this, they deserve this.”.

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

(Luke 6:27-36 NIV – Love for Enemies – “But to you who – Bible Gateway)

Why is forgiving and loving enemies so important? Because it’s a battle on two fronts:

• You see yourself as not deserving of a good thing but deserving of a bad thing and accept it with grace.
• You see others doing evil things and still loving them, even if your instincts tell you that even good people shouldn’t be loved.

It looks simple – “How hard is it to view myself as a person not deserving a lot of good things and of others being worthy of love even if they do evil things?”.

In practice, it’s more difficult than it appears.

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In the Old Testament there are some rules meant to change how people behave in a specific context.

In the New Testament, there’s yet, another change – updating the old Laws, changing the paradigm, and making it Universal.

The first rule in life? Change things (aiming for the better, of course). The second rule? Change them in such a way that you do a positive thing.

The New Man – the Church wants people to change, for the better, of course. But, first, change.

The first rule is change; only the second one is actually succeeding.

At least, that’s how I see things.

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