When you're looking for inspiration as you try to move up in your career or improve yourself generally, the best source, of course, is those who've achieved what you're setting out to achieve. But that doesn't only mean doing what other successful people have done—it's just as important to pay attention to what they're not doing. Successful people know to avoid time-wasting activities, morale-draining company, and generally negative ways of thinking. And when you know what not to do, too, you can focus your attention on all the forward-moving changes that will propel you in the right direction. With that in mind, we spoke with career and lifestyle experts to share the find out all the things that successful people never do. Because the don'ts are just as important as the dos.

There are certain things that are universal which, if you give up on them, you will find your version of success. Sometimes, to become successful and get closer to the person we can become, we don’t need to add more things — we need to give up on some of them. You can give up on some of them today, while it might take a bit longer to give up on others.

In this day and age, we tend to want things fast. From weight loss to internet speed to a response to your latest email or text, it’s all about instant gratification. This extends to the career sphere, too, where people tend to want to make money and become successful ASAP.

Truthfully, there’s no single secret hack that will make you successful overnight. However, there are certain proactive measures you can take in your career that can help you streamline your journey toward success. Try these tips to become successful faster:

Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals. Success isn’t complicated. But like financially illiterate individuals can’t understand how to become wealthy, or health-illiterate individuals can’t understand how to lose weight, success can look impossible to achieve.

But success — true, lasting success — is within your grasp. It is possible. It is available, to every person, at this moment.

Most people say that their biggest desire is to achieve success in their careers and personal lives. But, what is success? Do you really know what it means? The definition of success is not a fixed one. It changes according to each person’s perspective. That’s why it is up to each one of us to define the concept of a successful professional, and individual, to make the necessary effort to reach these objectives.

Whatever your idea of success, know from the start that it is not possible to achieve it without hard work.

With that in mind, we researched what foremost authors, inventors, and entrepreneurs consider success to be.