Habits of the 1%
Originally sent exclusively to The Letter subscribers on May 11th. Want to be the first to get my personal newsletter in your inbox every Monday at 7am? Subscribe for free here.
Suppose you make the decision to employ someone.
Just one person.
Not your wife for tax reasons. An actual employee.
Straight away, you move into a very small percentage of people in the UK.
There are around 4.3 million businesses in Britain with zero employees.
Only around 1.4 million businesses employ anyone at all.
Then it gets even crazier.
Only 38,000 companies in the UK employ more than 50 people.
And just 8,300 companies employ more than 250 people.
I always fact-check those numbers because I genuinely can’t believe they’re that low.
So if you want to join the 1%, you have to start doing a few things differently to the 99%.
Luckily for you, Captain, I’ve made you a starter-for-10 list.
Have a little flutter over my list, let me know if you think I’ve missed any salient points:
The 1%:
Choose their circle deliberately
Think in decades
Work on themselves first (sharpening your saw)
Keep a daily journal
Embrace failure as a lesson
Speak positively about their future
Give generously
Act before they feel ready
Work in silence and let results talk
Buy assets that grow
Seek mentors actively
Show up disciplined every day
Protect their time fiercely
Learn from every setback
Create value for others
Never stop becoming more
Practice gratitude daily
Keep promises to themselves
Live with urgency every day
Believe their best years are ahead
Everyone Else:
Stay with whoever feels comfortable
Think in days
Work on their job only
Let thoughts disappear
Fear failure and avoid risk
Complain about the present
Hoard what little they have
Wait for the perfect moment
Talk about plans but rarely execute
Buy things that impress people
Try to figure everything out alone
Show up only when motivated
Give their time to anyone
Quit after setbacks
Focus only on themselves
Settle when comfortable
Focus on what they lack
Break commitments easily
Act like time is unlimited
Believe their best days are behind them
None of this is complicated.
In fact I think it’s easy to do: but as we always discuss; If it’s easy to do it, it’s also easy not to do.
Because becoming part of the 1% isn’t about learning a secret.
It’s about becoming the sort of person who consistently does what most people won’t.
That’s the game.
And here’s the good news:
You do not need to become a different person overnight.
You just need to start making slightly better decisions than average people, consistently, for a very long time.
That’s how businesses grow.
That’s how wealth compounds.
That’s how leaders are built.
That’s how ordinary people end up doing extraordinary things.
So there you have it.
Also, I had an argument with my girlfriend last week. It got very heated. She threw her phone at me across the room.
Don’t worry though.
The phone was on aeroplane mode.
To your continued success,
James
P.S. Next week I'm teaching business owners how to make their business as valuable as possible, whether they want to sell one day or simply build a business that works without them. It's flippin fantastic, so make sure you grab your tickets here!