What We Can Learn from People Who Achieve Great Things

Over the past few months, I’ve realised that instead of looking for motivational quotes, I prefer observing people. Not the ones who speak the loudest about success, but those who simply show up every day and do their work.

One of those people is Anil Markandya, whom I’ve had the opportunity to observe and speak with during everyday work. Many people know him for his academic achievements and his contribution to environmental economics. What captures my attention, however, is something entirely different. Not his titles, awards or recognition, but the way he works.

There is something in his approach that feels increasingly rare today—patience. Persistence. Calmness.

We live in a world where everything is expected to happen instantly. We start a business and expect customers within a month. We publish our first video and hope for thousands of views. We create a product and wonder why the world hasn’t noticed it after only a few weeks. Reality doesn’t work that way.

The greatest achievements rarely come from a single brilliant idea. They are built through hundreds of ordinary days. Through mornings when motivation is nowhere to be found. Through moments of doubt. Through continuing to work when nobody is watching and nobody is applauding.

That is what inspires me most about people who have achieved remarkable things. Not the success itself, but the journey that made it possible.

Watching people like this continually reminds me of my own FocusZen philosophy.

Calm. Focus. Action.

First, calm your mind. Without that, it’s difficult to make good decisions.

Then focus on the next step instead of trying to solve everything at once.

Finally, take action. Not tomorrow. Not when you feel perfectly motivated. Today.

For me, FocusZen has never been about finding motivation. Motivation comes and goes. Some days it’s powerful; on others, it’s almost impossible to find. I trust systems far more than I trust emotions.

When I look at people who have reached the highest level in their field, I notice one thing they all seem to share. They don’t appear to rely on motivation every single day. They rely on consistency.

That consistency is what eventually leads others to describe them as extraordinary. Yet their daily lives are often surprisingly ordinary. Another day of work. Another improvement. Another conversation. Another decision. Another step forward.

Perhaps that’s why it’s worth paying attention to people who have travelled further than we have. Not to compare ourselves with them, but to understand that success is rarely a single defining moment. More often, it is the result of thousands of small decisions made over many years.

I find that thought incredibly reassuring.

Because if the path looks similar for a scientist, an entrepreneur, an artist or an athlete, then perhaps we don’t need to do extraordinary things every day.

We simply need to keep going.

And maybe that’s the greatest lesson I’ve learned from the people I admire.

Not their success.

Their persistence