There’s a common belief that succeeding before the age of 25 is essentially impossible. This is why most accolades for young people apply to those under the age of 30 or even under the age of 40.
For example, Forbes lists people who have made it young, but most of these individuals are very close to their 30th birthday. Very few make it to successful status before the age of 25 because there just isn’t enough time, or so the thinking goes.
However, it can happen, and some people under the age of 25 do achieve significant success. However, it’s usually because they’ve followed key strategies that seem to work timelessly.
So, what should you be doing if you want to join this rarefied group of people? Here are some ideas.
Nobody becomes successful without the concept of leverage. This is the idea that you’re automating income and you’re divorcing it from your labor.
Pure time-for-money trades are okay for lawyers who are earning hundreds of dollars per hour, but long-term they can be draining. Plus you always have to invest your own time. You can’t sit back and allow somebody else to do the heavy lifting for you.
When you create content, software, or investments in digital products, though, you are essentially using a form of leverage. Previous energy put into investment, as is the case with digital products or content, or current investments, continue to generate income for you. You’re not having to exchange time for money, and you don’t need to work weekends.
Another thing you’ll notice about people who achieve remarkable success before the age of 25 is that they’ve educated themselves in a way that really matters. They’ve looked at trends and where they need to focus their time and they’ve taken full advantage of them.
This is something that University of Melbourne and other institutions look out for. They want students to concentrate on the areas that are most likely to bring them success in the future. It’s this type of structured and rigorous education that produces the type of minds that are then able to take advantage of trends and opportunities when they emerge.
Once the basics are in place, those who are under 25 can execute rapidly and don’t have to spend additional time learning the skills they need.
In addition to a formal education, many people who achieve success before the age of 25 also read voraciously. They are continuously consuming old-fashioned books and journals to further their knowledge. They’re not doing what most people do and scroll endlessly on social media platforms like TikTok and X. They are structuring their learning and focusing on the high-leverage skills and abilities that will allow them to perform well in the marketplace.
This strategy is one that many of the world’s most successful people claim to follow. For example, Bill Gates is famous for reading multiple books per week and dozens, if not hundreds, of books per year. He is also looking for new insights that will enable him to perform better and push his companies forward.
Of course, to really make a lot of money, having the ability to sell matters considerably. Young people who can persuade other people to buy from them using cold outreach, pitching, and negotiation automatically put themselves in a very good position. Ultimately, every career venture or business venture boils down to the ability to sell products and generate revenue. It’s the people who can do this by understanding their audiences who are most likely to thrive and succeed.
You also see a lot of very successful people before the age of 25 living cheap. They don’t take expensive vacations or go to luxury spas, they don’t buy the latest clothes from top brands, and sometimes they don’t even own a car. This was certainly the case for entrepreneurs like Elon Musk. He often slept at his office with his partners, instead of renting a separate apartment which would have cost him money. It’s even rumoured that he refused to buy a house until he was a billionaire.
Another lever that a lot of people under the age of 25 are using is health as a performance tool. They are sleeping the recommended 7-9 hours. They’re also lifting weights and doing their 8,000 to 10,000 steps per day. Many are investing in Whole Foods so that they can have a strong body and a clear mind that’s able to make the best possible decisions for their companies and brands.
This sort of lifestyle is very different from the type of entrepreneurial lifestyle that was dominant back in the 1990s and 2000s. Back then, the prevailing attitude was that health was something that had to be sacrificed in order to be successful. But now, many are realising that that’s a false economy and that there is another way to do things.
Another thing you’ll notice about many of these very successful people under the age of 25 is that they avoid high-interest debt at all costs. Most of them have some sort of financial buffer that they can fall back on, allowing them to fully focus their energies on building their businesses and products. It’s becoming common wisdom that financial stress can kill off ambition. People who feel like they’re constantly trying to survive can’t be creative, but creativity is what’s required to be successful in business.
Finally, the era of aggressive networking is over, especially for those under the age of 25. Previously, it was all about visibility and trying to get yourself in front of the most important people to win their favour, but that is not the case anymore. Now, networking has to be authentic in order to be successful. Those who are higher up the hierarchy are wise to the game and they’re less willing to play it than ever before in 2026.
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