The key: Focus on what you need versus what you want

The Secret to Success: Mental Strength and the Power of Focus

Success isn’t about having the best ideas, the most talent, or even the right connections. The real differentiator—the hidden force behind every great entrepreneur, athlete, or leader—is mental strength: the ability to focus on what needs to be done, even when it’s uncomfortable, tedious, or unappealing.

Most people, including founders, fall into a mental trap: they default to doing what they enjoy, what feels productive, or what they’re naturally good at—even if it’s not what actually moves the business forward.

The difference between those who succeed and those who stagnate? The ability to prioritize what’s necessary over what’s enjoyable.

The Mental Trap: Why We Avoid the Hard, Boring, and Uncomfortable

Let’s take a startup founder as an example. Say this founder is a brilliant strategist. They love brainstorming, mapping out the market, and creating high-level plans. So, instead of picking up the phone and calling customers, networking, or selling their product, they spend days refining a PowerPoint deck about strategy.

Why? Because it’s comfortable. It’s in their zone of expertise. It feels productive.

But in reality, the business isn’t growing. The customers aren’t coming in. The real work—the unglamorous, uncomfortable, and sometimes annoying tasks—aren’t getting done.

This is the same reason why:

• A designer might spend months perfecting a logo instead of launching a product.

• A developer might build unnecessary features instead of getting user feedback.

• A writer might endlessly tweak their draft instead of publishing and promoting their work.

We avoid what we don’t like. But success comes from doing what must be done, not just what we prefer doing.

The Marshmallow Test: Proof That Mental Strength Wins

This mental battle—between instant comfort and long-term success—has been studied for decades.

One of the most famous experiments on this was the Marshmallow Test, conducted by psychologist Walter Mischel at Stanford University.

In the study, children were given a simple choice:

• Eat one marshmallow now OR

• Wait 15 minutes and get two marshmallows.

The researchers then followed these kids for years, tracking their progress into adulthood. The results?

The kids who resisted temptation—the ones who waited for the bigger reward—went on to achieve significantly greater success in life. They had:

• Higher SAT scores

• Better jobs

• Stronger relationships

• Greater financial stability

Why? Because they had developed the ability to delay gratification, resist distractions, and focus on long-term rewards rather than short-term pleasure.

This exact principle applies to entrepreneurship and any kind of success. Those who can push through discomfort and focus on what truly matters will always outperform those who only do what feels good in the moment.

The Key Differentiator: Focusing on What’s Needed

Every successful founder, athlete, or leader has mastered one thing:
The ability to focus on what’s necessary, not just what’s enjoyable.

This requires:

1. Mental Discipline

• Success isn’t about what you “feel like” doing—it’s about what needs to be done.

• The best founders don’t wait for motivation; they build habits and execute, no matter how they feel.

2. The Ability to Push Through Discomfort

• Selling, cold calling, networking, fundraising—it’s often uncomfortable, but it’s necessary.

• Those who power through discomfort win. Those who avoid it stay stuck.

3. Delayed Gratification

• Just like in the Marshmallow Test, choosing short-term discipline leads to long-term rewards.

• The founder who puts in the hard work now—closing deals, securing customers, building relationships—sets themselves up for massive success later.

The Concept of Expandability: Learning to Love What’s Needed

Here’s the good news: You can train yourself to love the hard stuff.

This is called expandability—the ability to shift your mindset and find meaning in tasks you once disliked.

It works like this:

• Instead of thinking “I have to do this,” reframe it as “This will help me succeed.”

• Instead of “This is tedious,” tell yourself “This is how I grow.”

• Instead of “I hate sales,” remind yourself “Sales is how I make my vision real.”

Over time, as you see the results of your efforts, you start enjoying the process. You expand your mindset to embrace even the difficult tasks because you see their value.

Conclusion: Mental Strength is the Secret to Everything

The real secret to success isn’t talent, intelligence, or luck. It’s the ability to focus on what’s needed—not just what’s enjoyable.

Those who can:
✅ Push through discomfort
✅ Prioritize necessity over preference
✅ Delay gratification
✅ Learn to love the hard stuff

…will always outperform those who only do what’s easy or fun.

This is the mental shift that separates top founders, leaders, and high achievers from everyone else.

And once you master this? There’s no limit to what you can achieve.