Have you noticed how some people seem to flutter through life and make a success of it, even though the odds are strictly against them? To outsiders, they seem superhuman. But it turns out that they have a specific mindset. While other people are stuck in unconscious prisons, the people at the top of society are freer in their thinking and able to look at the world differently. 

But what, specifically, is the 1% mindset? Well, you’re about to find out. This post explores some of the characteristics of people in this group and how they outperform their peers. 

Continuous Learning And Growth

One of the first things you notice about the top 1% of people is their passion for continuous learning and growth. While it might seem like they’ve reached the top of their game, many of them still see opportunities for expansion and improvement, continually moving their lives forward. 

In practice, this approach means seeking as many opportunities as possible. They develop new skills, learn new approaches to business, or work on their inner conversations to improve them. 

This continuous learning and growth is about struggle and change. It’s about accepting the challenges that life poses and dealing with them, one by one. 

A Love of Failure

People in the top 1% also have a love of failure. These individuals embrace the idea that they don’t know whether their ideas will be successful. And when they don’t work out how they planned, they accept it, fail fast, and move on. 

That’s not to say that successful people like failing or aim to do that. Instead, they bring it into their calculus. Truly high achievers understand that it comes with the territory and that sometimes they will need to accept big losses if they want to make even bigger gains. 

In some cases, the degree of failure can be spectacular. Now-celebrated Steve Jobs was actually fired from Apple before the company went begging to have him back at the end of the 1990s. 

Networking and Collaboration

Moreover, people in the 1% also network and collaborate with others. Contrary to some opinions, they are not lone wolves. Successful individuals understand the power of networking and regularly seek out new opportunities to leverage their influence on the world. Smart individuals know they can get more done with the help of other people instead of grinding away in solitude. 

These days, networking means more than talking to work colleagues at inner-city bars. It’s also something that’s become much easier to do online. Twitter and other social networks are exceptionally good at providing people with access to others and making connections. 

Investing in New Opportunities

Another feature of the 1% is their ability to see and invest in new opportunities. Members of this group aren’t afraid to expand and try something new. 

Take crypto, for instance. It was often the wealthiest people who got into the market first. Now that it has become more active and well-known, they are moving to other activities, such as blockchain mining. 

The 1% are also the first to use new tools to understand where to put their money. Using a crypto mining profit calculator is second nature to many because they are so used to quantifying their approach to finance. 

Consistency And Discipline

You also find that the 1% are consistent and disciplined. Successful individuals keep plugging away at things because they know long-term habits will ultimately shape their destinies. 

That’s why members of the 1% regularly go to the gym, regardless of how challenging their lives become. These individuals understand that regular habits, like exercise, will ultimately serve them, even if it feels like a struggle today. 

This consistency and discipline apply to multiple areas of their lives. Many of these individuals spend decades building their finances, businesses, and relationships, providing them with a basis to have a genuinely remarkable life. 

Extreme Time Management

Another feature of the 1% is their obsession with time management. Most operate under the mantra that money is infinite, but time is scarce, so they use it as best they can. 

High achievers rarely waste time (or allow others to waste it for them). If something isn’t serving them, they move on and try a different approach. 

Many also work to a strict schedule, at least before they achieve massive success. Routines often involve waking up early, doing the challenging stuff before everyone else is at the office, and then using the afternoons for reflection, contemplation, and family time. 

Understanding the value of time is perhaps the single greatest thing that separates the 1% from everyone else. When you truly get it, actions make considerably more sense. 

Supreme Resilience And Grit

You also often discover that the 1% display remarkable resilience and grit. Regardless of setbacks, these individuals seem to bounce back, even in the face of extreme challenges. 

This approach comes from the deep realization that setbacks are a part of success. The road to glory is never a straight line. Instead, it is usually a flat line followed by a sudden break-out when the opportunity comes. 

Grit is the sense that a person can keep going, regardless of the challenges they face. Even if the odds seem stacked against them, they have an inner belief that they can achieve the things they want to do. 

This level of resilience is rare among many people, but it is overrepresented in those who ultimately wind up with the most success. The 1% keep coming back for more and often seem to return from the dead even when everyone else thought they were down and out. 

Outside-Of-The-Box Thinking

People with the 1% mindset are also innovative thinkers. These individuals see the world in a fundamentally different way and are open to new ideas, regardless of how crazy they might seem at first. 

This ability comes from being high in trait openness. Highly successful people often have curious, exploratory personalities that cause them to investigate every little detail of a particular subject to learn more about it. 

Ultra-successful people also take steps back to observe the world and think creatively and originally about it. The individuals are not afraid to let go of their limiting beliefs and assumptions and try something new. 

Responsibility

Another interesting trait of people in the 1% is their capacity to take responsibility for their decisions. Many people fall into the victimhood trap, believing the world is against them, but these individuals don’t. Instead, they see events in their lives as consequences of their actions, regardless of how small the actual relationship might be. 

Taking responsibility means taking accountability and exercising ownership over everything that happens in one’s life. Individuals in the 1% don’t blame others for their failures or make excuses for their mistakes. Instead, they confess to them and move on, changing course as soon as they see they have made a mistake. 

Goal Orientation

People in the 1% are also fond of setting ambitious and lofty goals. For many, fulfilling their objectives is one of life’s great pleasures. 

The majority use some sort of goal orientation framework, like SMART. The idea is to make goals tangible and achievable so that they can become reality, eventually. 

Those in the 1% can sometimes set goals decades out. In fact, that’s precisely what many of the most successful entrepreneurs do. These people have the energy to invest and dedicate their entire lives to achieving something extraordinary or unique. 

This goal orientation can feel unnatural to many. But the approach can work for a vast number of people who need that level of clarity to know where they are going next. 

A Positive Outlook

Finally, you also often discover that the most successful people have a positive outlook on life. Instead of viewing the world as somewhere hostile that requires contention, they see it as an opportunity for growth and development, regardless of the situation. 

Adopting a positive mindset often means focusing on solutions: the things that will lead to success. It’s less about dwelling on problems and looking back at past mistakes. 

You’ll notice that the most successful people don’t do this. These individuals have a distinct future-focused outlook that lets them play the long game.

Being a pessimist can seem rational. After all, the world is a challenging place to live and things can and do go wrong in life. However, it can sap your energy and cause inaction because you expect failure and problems to hound you, regardless of where you go or live. 

Adopting a positive outlook helps to prevent this from happening. While your perspective might seem unrealistic, it can help motivate you to get to where you want to be. 

Conclusion

So there you have it: the 1% mindset and how you can achieve it. If we were to sum up how these people think in one word, it would probably be “hunger.” These individuals want to expand their lives and they won’t give up until they achieve it. They aren’t afraid to go big or try new things.