2 Stubborn Habits That Predict Long-Term Success, By A Psychologist

InnovationScience2 Stubborn Habits That Predict Long-Term Success, By A PsychologistByMark Travers,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about relationships, personality, and everyday psychology.Follow AuthorMay 20, 2026, 09:40am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.The fundamentals of productivity, discipline and habit-building still hold the most merit, despite all the new advice you might be receiving.gettyWe are living through a golden age of self-improvement advice. There are productivity systems, morning routines, habit stacks and an entire genre of content devoted to the idea that success is one optimized workflow away. Most of it focuses on what to add — a new ritual, a new tool, a new mindset. What gets far less attention is what high achievers quietly refuse to give up.Psychology research keeps arriving at a similar, unglamorous conclusion: the habits that best predict long-term success are not the flashy ones. They are the ones people maintain on the days when motivation is low, and the feedback loop has slowed to a crawl. They are, in a word, stubborn.Two of these habits, in particular, emerge with striking consistency from the psychological literature. Neither requires exceptional talent or unusual circumstances. They do, however, require something that is increasingly rare: a willingness to stay uncomfortable for longer than feels reasonable.Habit 1: Tolerating Boredom Without Abandoning The TaskAsk most people what separates high achievers from everyone else, and they will say things like passion, drive or talent. Ask a psychologist, and the answer is often less inspiring: the ability to keep going through tedium.A landmark series of six studies published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 2007 introduced the construct of grit, defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals. MORE FOR YOUA...