January 1, 2014

9 Things Successful
People Do Differently
Heidi Grant Halvorson
2011 Harvard Business School Publishing
Adapted by permission of Harvard Business School Publishing
Corporation
ISBN: 978-104221-8561-2

Key Concepts
Heidi Grant Halvorson has identified nine strategies
that successful people use to pursue and attain their
goals:
1. Get specific. Articulate both the goal and potential
obstacles clearly.
2. Seize to moment and act on your goals. Decide in
advance when and where action can be taken. Ifthen planning is an effective tool which motivates
people to take action.
3. Know exactly how far you have left to go. Use
feedback to stay motivated. Shorter term goals require more frequent assessment and monitoring
than longer term objectives.
4. Be a realistic optimist. Believe that success is possible, but recognize that success requires effort,
planning, and dealing with obstacles.
5. Focus on getting better rather than being good.
Use get-better goals to develop new abilities, master new skills, and increase motivation to succeed.

6. Have grit. Commit to long-term goals and do not

get intimidated when difficulties arise.
7. Build your willpower muscle. Regularly engage
in tasks you have been avoiding to build self-control and remember to replenish willpower reserves
when they become depleted.
8. Dont tempt fate. Consider implementing if-then
plans to shield against temptations and avoid pursuing two goals simultaneously that both require
significant self-control.
9. Focus on what you will do, not what you wont
do. Although it is important to stop engaging in
counterproductive activities, it is also important to
consider what constructive behaviors will fill the
gap. Try developing replacement if-then plans and
ignore if-then plans.

Introduction
The hallmark of success is reaching ones personal
and professional goals. Yet, what makes some people

Business Book Summaries January 1, 2014 Copyright 2014 EBSCO Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved

9 Things Successful People Do Differently

more successful than others is often unclear. In 9

Things Successful People Do Differently, Heidi
Grant Halvorson has gathered research from experts
around the world and identified nine strategies that
anyone can use to increase the likelihood they will
attain their goals.

Strategy 1: Get Specific

It is essential when setting a goal to articulate it in
very specific terms. This can be done by defining what
success will look like and identifying the specific
actions that are required to reach the goal. Research
has found that framing goals with specificity is something that people often overlook, but it is one of the
greatest contributors to achieving a goal.
Getting specific also means clearly identifying any
obstacles that could prevent a goal from being
attained. Halvorson recommends using a technique
called mental contrasting to clarify what needs
to be done to transform a goal into a reality. Mental
contrasting occurs when a person thinks about what
they want to achieve and then contemplates the steps
required to get there.

Strategy 2: Seize the Moment and Act on

Your Goals
Finding opportunities to act on a goal requires some
advance planning. One way to seize the moment is
to decide in advance when and where action can be
taken. Planning of this nature increases the likelihood
of reaching a goal by 300 percent. One effective tool
for becoming more productive is if-then planning.
An if-then plan is structured in the following way: If
X happens, then I will do Y. For instance: If I have not
taken time to exercise before breakfast, I will make
time to go to the gym after work. If-then plans are
highly effective because they are written in terms of
contingencies. Studies have discovered that humans
are good at both encoding and remembering information that is articulated in if X, then Y form.

Strategy 3: Know Exactly How Far You

Have Left to Go
Achieving a goal requires not only action and planning, but also consistent monitoring of ones progress.
Feedback is the key to staying motivated. The human
brain subconsciously focuses on discrepancies
between where a person currently is and where she

Heidi Grant Halvorson

wants to go. The brain then devotes resources to closing those gaps.
The duration of a goal will dictate how often progress
should be assessed. Shorter term goals require more
frequent assessment than longer term goals. While
self-monitoring is very important, it also requires significant effort and willpower. Using if-then planning
is a good way to ensure that self-assessments occur.
There are two ways that people evaluate their goals:
to-date thinking and to-go thinking. To-date thinking
focuses on how much a person has already achieved,
while to-go thinking focuses on feeling a premature sense of accomplishment. To-go thinking tends
to be more effective because it causes motivation to
increase.

Strategy 4: Be a Realistic Optimist

Engaging in positive thinking is important when
working toward a goal. However, there is a big difference between a person who believes they will succeed
with a goal and a person who believes they will succeed easily. Realistic optimism is defined as believing
that success is possible, but recognizing that success
will only occur through effort, planning, and dealing
with obstacles.
People who acknowledge that the path to success will

Further Information
Information about the author and subject:
www.heidigranthalvorson.com
Information about this book and other business titles:
hbr.org

Click Here to Purchase the Book

Related summaries in the BBS Library:
Fantastic
When Being Good Isnt Enough
By Alan Austin-Smith
No Excuses!
The Power of Self-Discipline
By Brian Tracy

Business Book Summaries January 1, 2014 Copyright 2014 EBSCO Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved

Page 2

9 Things Successful People Do Differently

not be easy often experience greater success because

their mindset forces them into action. One way to
develop realistic optimism is to blend a positive attitude with a frank analysis of upcoming challenges.
Consider visualizing the specific actions that must be
taken to make success happen.

Strategy 5: Focus on Getting Better

Rather Than Being Good
An important element of attaining a goal is believing that it is possible to develop the skills needed to
succeed. When faced with new responsibilities, many
people feel intimidated. However, research shows
that individuals who give themselves permission to
make mistakes actually make far
fewer errors.
The good news

Heidi Grant Halvorson

motivation to succeed and also reduce the likelihood

that mistakes will occur.

Strategy 6: Have Grit

People who have grit are willing to commit to
long-term goals and are not intimidated when difficulties arise. Grit is based on effort, planning, and
persistence. Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck has
identified two schools of thought about ability. Entity
theorists feel that their abilities are innate and their
performance over time will be stable. Incremental theorists believe their abilities can change over time with
effort. Research suggests that the incremental theorists view of the world is more valid and that people

is that if you arent particularly gritty now,

there is something you can do about it. People who lack grit,
more often than not, believe that they just dont have the
innate abilities successful people have.

There are two types of goals that

people use: be-good goals and
get-better goals. Be-good goals
are focused on demonstrating
that a person already knows
what they are doing. In contrast, get-better goals
are focused on developing new abilities and mastering new skills. Be-good goals are problematic when
a person encounters something new because they
generate anxiety. Get-better goals are helpful because
even if a setback occurs, people tend to stay motivated.
The key to removing anxiety is to recognize that
improvement takes time. This will increase ones

About the Author

Heidi Grant Halvorson, PhD, is a social psychologist, speaker, and author of Succeed: How
We Can Reach Our Goals. She is also Associate
Director of Columbia Business Schools Motivation Science Center, serves on the advisory
board of several companies, and is an expert
blogger on motivation and leadership for Harvard Business Review, Huffington Post, Forbes, Fast
Company, and Psychology Today.

can develop new abilities if that is what they desire.

A key component of grit is not giving up when faced
with challenging circumstances. Entity theorists often
give up when a setback occurs. In contrast, incremental theorists believe improvement is always possible,
so they try harder when obstacles arise. In order to
make the most of ones potential, it is essential to
believe that change is always possible.

Strategy 7: Build Your Willpower

Muscle
Without regular exercise, self-control weakens over
time. If a person engages in a task that they have
been avoiding, it often results in stronger willpower.
To build the willpower muscle, Halvorson recommends taking one activity that seems challenging and
developing a plan for addressing any troubles that
may arise. It is important to recognize that willpower
varies from moment to moment. It can be depleted by
routine tasks like making decisions. When this occurs,
self-control diminishes. Ways to replenish willpower
include resting, thinking about role models who have
significant self-control, or engaging in an activity that
generates positive feelings. To build more willpower,
try augmenting a daily routine with an activity that
requires suppression of an impulse or desire.

Business Book Summaries January 1, 2014 Copyright 2014 EBSCO Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved

Page 3

9 Things Successful People Do Differently

Heidi Grant Halvorson

Strategy 8: Dont Tempt Fate

son explains how success is possible for anyone

through setting specific objectives, making smart
choices, seizing opportunities, and taking action. This
book is of interest to anyone who wants to enhance
their effectiveness at work and at home. Each section
concludes with a concise Putting It into Practice list
that clearly outlines how to make the nine strategies
a reality.

It is counterproductive to make reaching a goal

harder than it already is. Since resisting temptation
is a central component of reaching most goals, it is
important to understand that willpower is a limited
resource. Too often, people believe they have significant willpower and then they expose themselves to
temptations.
Stress depletes willpower, so it is a good idea to identify stressful times and then implement if-then plans
that will act as a shield against temptation. Another
strategy is to avoid pursuing two goals simultaneously that both require significant self-control.
Halvorson notes that it is easier to avoid a tempting
activity completely than to give in a little and then try
to stop.

Strategy 9: Focus on What You Will Do,

Not What You Wont Do
While it is important to stop engaging in counterproductive activities, its also important to consider
what more constructive behaviors will fill the gap. It
is human nature that when a person tries not to do
something, the desire to engage in that very thing is
stronger than ever. If-then plans are a good tool, but
care must be taken when wording them. There are
three types of if-then plans:

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1. Replacement plans replace a negative behavior with

a more positive one.
2. Ignore plans focus on blocking out cravings or selfdoubt in order to decrease their effect.
3. Negation plans clearly articulate the actions that
will be avoided.
Researchers have found that negation plans are much
less effective and in some cases lead people to do
more of the things they are trying to avoid
g

Features of the Book

Reading Time: 1.5 hours, 34 pages
9 Things Successful People Do Differently provides
a set of actionable strategies that can help people
attain their personal and professional goals. HalvorBusiness Book Summaries January 1, 2014 Copyright 2014 EBSCO Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved

Page 4

Copyright of 9 Things Successful People Do Differently is the property of Great Neck

Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a
listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print,
download, or email articles for individual use.