It's human nature to mimic those we perceive as more successful than us. Thankfully, many tech CEOs and celebrities are willing to share their daily routines, claiming they ensure maximum productivity. But whether it's Musk's punishing scheduling approach or Bryan Johnson's immortality grind, such routines are often rather extreme. They're incompatible with the average person's life.
So why do numerous successful people end up promoting such bonkers daily routines? For many high-profile millionaires, their status often hinges on volatile factors like the stock market and economic shifts. These elements are unpredictable, leaving even the most successful individuals at their mercy – a situation that can create a sense of unease and instability.
While we can't control the randomness of the world around us, anything that allows us to feel in control provides psychological reassurance. It's easy to see how this could drive powerful individuals to adopt gruelling, seemingly irrational daily routines. It's not about logic and reason, but rather about wrestling with a sense of control over their fate.
One approach is to assert your superiority in other ways, like establishing an extreme daily routine that most people couldn't hope to replicate. You could become the hardest working, most disciplined successful person you know. But if many of your peers do the same, group polarisation kicks in, pushing everyone to more extreme and ridiculous lengths.
But how many of these high-profile people followed their punishing routines before they were 'successful'? The odds are, not many. Daily multi-hour exercise sessions and an unconventional sleep schedule demand a high degree of personal and financial independence. That's what you obtain after becoming successful.
Also, the one factor always omitted from coverage of the 'secrets' of successful people, is plain, simple luck. Whether it's being in the right place at the right time or having access to influential family, social connections, or opportunities, the majority of highly successful people owe much of their success to good fortune. No amount of focus on motivation, intellect, or work ethic can change that reality.
Luck, though, is random. You can't really take credit for it. This likely conflicts with the mindset of those who amass vast personal fortunes. It can create a powerful cognitive dissonance, which may be resolved by convincing oneself, "I'm not successful because of luck – I earned it! It's because I'm disciplined and hard-working!"
Ultimately, people dislike randomness and have an innate desire to believe the world is fair. So it's much more reassuring to believe that success is the result of gruelling daily routines. Even though that's almost certainly not the case.