Why Quit People Achieve More: 7 Silent Strategies for Success
Have you ever wondered why silent people are so successful? Life is loud, chaotic, and distracting. It’s filled to the brim with demanding mental and physical challenges.
You’re swept up in a tidal wave of stress, but successful people separate themselves from the noise and chaos. Successful people understand the power of silence, so here are seven ways that silence can change your life for the better.
1. Thoughtful Silence
A moment of silence is a moment of thought. Well, let’s say your co-worker asks you for a favour. They want you to drive all the way across town and deliver some documents they forgot to send.
When confronted with this question, you may have a knee-jerk reaction, and without thinking, you might say sure, no problem. But 10 seconds later, you suddenly realize it is a problem.
You’re pressed for time and overwhelmed by stress all because you answered without thinking. A few seconds of silence can spare you from these stressful scenarios.
Instead of answering right away, what if you took a moment to think about your schedule? You remember how much work you already have; you tell your co-workers that you’re too busy, so they ask someone else instead.
Just like that, a brief period of silence keeps your priorities straight and your schedule clean. That’s why successful people pause whenever they need to, and they view silence as an opportunity to consider their options.
Because every decision is worth a few moments of thought now, of course, not everyone can silently analyze their problems. You may feel so awkward that.
You can barely think straight before you’re able to use these pauses constructively, and you have to overcome your fear of silence.
That’s why many of the wealthiest and most influential people in the world are also the quietest.
2. Persevering Integrity
A brief pause does more than simply give you time to think. When you pause for a second, a minute, or an hour, your decision becomes more careful and more decisive.
Instead of doubting and second-guessing yourself, you know that you did your due diligence, you weighed the pros and cons, and you double-checked your schedule.
Now, with all your boxes checked, you can move forward unimpeded. Whether you answer yes or no, your decision is now clear and firm. As you become more decisive, you’ll notice a change in the way people treat you.
They’ll start respecting your decisions and valuing your choices. Why is that so? It is because decisive people mean what they say. For example, they consistently fulfil their promises, so instead of saying yes to everything, they only say yes to the commitments they intend to keep.
People will respect you more because they trust you more; when people trust you to follow through, your word carries more weight. That newfound sense of dependability works wonders in any relationship, personal or professional.
Your friends and partners will genuinely believe in the promises you make, and your bosses and co-workers will have faith in your ability to succeed. Something as simple as silence can strengthen your relationships and earn you the respect you deserve.
3. Direct and Concise
Talking a lot and saying a lot mean very different things. Have you met someone who rambles for 15 minutes without really saying anything? Many people feel compelled to talk constantly; silence makes them nervous, so they fill every blank space with gibberish and small talk.
The problem is when they’re constantly talking, they’re rarely thinking. They say very little, even if their word count flies through the roof. Some people talk too much and say too much. Have you ever heard the term fast talker?
A fast talker is someone who tries to trick you by burying you under a mountain of ideas and incentives, and by the end, you barely understand what’s going on.
Oftentimes, they do this to push their agenda. Salesmen, for example, confuse customers with a flood of information. Many people imitate fast talkers by accident.
They talk, and they talk because they don’t know when enough is enough. They don’t realize how little sense they’re making. Successful people, on the other hand, talk a little but say a lot. In other words, they’re always direct, and they’re always concise.
When a successful person needs something, they present their needs in a way that’s simple and easy to understand. They don’t dance around the point they don’t hide their agenda under a flood of extraneous ideas.
They say what they need to say, and then they stop. This is one big reason why successful people seem quiet. They’re experts at shaving their needs down to the bare essentials; if two ideas can be explained with one idea, they always go short and sweet.
4. Psychological Liberation
Silence isn’t just a tool for professional success. It’s also a powerful source of mental clarity, as shown by growing accustomed to silence.
You can provide your mind with a space to think and feel freely. Our daily routines are packed with crowds of stimuli, from traffic jams on the freeway to densely packed spreadsheets.
Your brain is exposed to an incredible volume of information every day. It’s challenging to remove yourself, even for a moment, from the downpour of distractors in your life.
But as you discover the power of silence, you’ll find a rare opportunity to set your mind free. You can liberate your thoughts from the shackles of your daily life instead of worrying about unanswered emails.
You can use these periods of silence to enjoy the present moment. This is one way that successful people balance their demanding lifestyles with such an extraordinary amount of pressure on their shoulders.
It’s easy to crumble, lose control, and fall into a downward spiral. But moments of silence keep your stress at bay each time you feel the pressures of your lifestyle creeping in.
Just take a brief moment to yourself, tune out the world, and remind yourself about the things that really matter: your goals, your passions, and your loved ones.
Remind yourself where you started and how far you’ve come; tell yourself that it’s okay to make mistakes and that failure is natural. Gradually, these moments will melt away your stress, returning to your work with a clear head and a positive attitude.
You can fill your day with as much silence as you need. Some successful people enjoy moments of silence every couple of hours. Others set aside a longer period of time to completely relax their minds.
According to a 2016 study in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, achieving a state of wakeful relaxation requires just three simple things.
Find somewhere comfortable to sit, free yourself from distractions like your computer and your phone, and gently close your eyes.
The first few times, your mind will be restless and packed with leftover stress and anxiety, researchers call this jumble of thoughts and feelings the monkey mind.
Your brain swings from one idea to the next, but over time, you’ll get more comfortable in silence. You’ll learn to soothe your nerves, unravel your stress, and liberate your Restless mind.
5. Enhanced Concentration
Not only does silence help you relax, but it also Fines down many of your most productive traits. Well, take concentration, for example. Your ability to focus on a single goal is critical for any project.
Few characteristics are as productive or valuable as razor-sharp concentration. Mindful silence has helped countless successful people grow their concentration, and it can help you, too.
As it stands, not many people can sit in silence without getting restless or bored. They are itching to pick up their phones, open their computers, or do something active.
As strange as it sounds, doing nothing is a real challenge, but it’s a challenge worth tackling. A 2012 study from the Journal of Neuroscience found that practised meditators, people who sit in silence on a regular basis, had many cognitive advantages over people who never meditated.
The largest discrepancies revolved around attention for experienced meditators. The areas of the brain responsible for attention were much more stable. Because of that stability, meditators can rein in distracting thoughts faster than most people.
In other words, by sitting in silence, you teach yourself to tune out distractions from your environment and yourself. You learn how to keep your mind focused and lengthen your attention span so you can focus longer and harder than ever before.
Sitting in silence may not look like much on the outside, but its impact on your brain is nothing short of incredible.
6. Inner Wisdom
As you become more comfortable in silence, you may notice a change in yourself. Suddenly, you can hear your inner monologue more than ever before. Your thoughts are jumbled, indecisive, and confusing.
You struggle to make decisions and think through problems on your own. But as you spend more time inside your mind, your thoughts become richer and louder.
You overcome nervous hurdles, discover what you want in life, and give your inner monologue the opportunity to speak for itself. Now, at this stage, you may be surprised by how much wisdom you have to offer.
Normally, you’re so overwhelmed by doubt and fear that you ignore your own instincts, you tune out your gut feelings, and you invalidate the lessons you learn and the wisdom you have to offer.
Successful people use moments of silence to nurture that voice inside them. They trust their instincts and value their own opinions, but that takes time and practice.
Right now, your head is so noisy that you can’t hear your own voice. But as you grow more and more comfortable in silence, you’ll hear your wisdom loudly and clearly.
