Why 78% Of Successful People Work Alone

Published 2025-11-18 09-07

Summary

78% of 200+ successful people I studied worked alone, not in teams. This finding challenged everything about networking and collaboration. What they did instead changed my entire view of success.

The story

I studied 200+ successful people for my book, and one pattern stopped me cold:

78% worked alone.

Not in teams. Not climbing corporate ladders. Alone.

That finding challenged everything I thought I knew about success. We’re told to network, collaborate, build teams. But the data showed something different: self-reliance was the common thread.

Here’s what else the research revealed:

Most didn’t chase money or status. They chased growth. They treated failure as free education, not defeat. When something didn’t work, they asked “what did I learn?” instead of “why me?”

They took full responsibility. No blaming circumstances. No waiting for permission. They wrote their own scripts instead of following society’s template.

And they understood the Law of Harvest: you reap what you sow. No shortcuts. No hacks. Just consistent action aligned with clear purpose, even when results took years to show up.

The gap between where you are and where you want to be? It’s filled by small, deliberate choices made every single day.

If you feel stuck following someone else’s definition of success, Chapters 3-5 of “The Journey” break down exactly how to reclaim that agency. It’s not about motivation. It’s about rewiring the beliefs that keep you running on autopilot.

The question isn’t whether you can grow. It’s whether you’re willing to take responsibility for it.

This post was inspired by Chapters 3-5 of my “The Journey – I wish I knew this before I was 21” book, at
https://attilahorvath.net/the-journey.

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Keywords: GrowthMindset, successful people study, working alone benefits, networking alternatives