---
title: "Knowledge Nuggets: Life in Half a Second"
description: "In this Knowledge Nugget, discover the 5 doors to success from Matthew Michalewicz's book \"Life in Half a Second\"."
image: https://blog.hellostepchange.com/hubfs/asdasd.jpg
---
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# Knowledge Nuggets: Life in Half a Second
[ Ashton Bishop](https://blog.hellostepchange.com/blog/author/ashton-bishop) 22 September 2022 / 6 min read
- [Business Strategy](https://blog.hellostepchange.com/blog/topic/business-strategy)
- [Culture & Leadership](https://blog.hellostepchange.com/blog/topic/culture-leadership)
- [Knowledge Nuggets](https://blog.hellostepchange.com/blog/topic/knowledge-nuggets)
When it comes to success, there's already so much content based on opinion. But what if there was a proven path to success based on science and research? Join us as we dive deep into Complexica CEO Matthew Michalewicz’s fact-based formula for success in his book, [Life in Half a Second](https://www.lifeinhalfasecond.com/).
In this knowledge nugget, discover the five ‘doors of success’ that have been scientifically proven to drive success across all disciplines. Each door explores a specific factor, why it works, and how it can benefit your business, career, or life. Watch the full interview with author Matthew Michalewicz and Step Change CEO Ashton Bishop below:
---
In "Life in Half a Second", Matthew Michalewicz talks about how our entire life only amounts to half a second if we compare it to the entire existence of the universe.
In other words, time is limited and it’s our most precious resource. That’s why now is the best time to work on our personal and professional goals.
**Insight:** It's not uncommon for businesses to fall short on their goals. However, some businesses don’t even set goals in fear of not being able to achieve them ([Fast Company](https://www.fastcompany.com/3024250/a-business-model-with-no-goals)).
**Data:** Study shows that 90% of businesses fail to achieve their strategic goals ([The Economist](https://impact.economist.com/perspectives/strategy-leadership/closing-gap-designing-and-delivering-strategy-works)).
**What’s the step change:** Applying the insights from "Life in Half a Second" and the principles from the 5 “doors to success” will increase your chances of achieving business success.
[](https://blog.hellostepchange.com/blog/knowledge-nuggets-life-in-half-a-second#lead-form)
## 5 Doors of Success and the Keys to Unlocking Them
Data-driven and scientifically proven, here are Matthew Michalewicz's five doors to success and how you can incorporate them into your business.
### **1. Ensure Clarity**
“It’s hard to achieve success if success hasn’t been defined by you.” - Matthew Michalewicz
Like any plan for success, it starts with a goal. As a business, it’s important to know what you’re aiming for. Whether it’s increasing your yearly revenue or aiming for a specific sales target, it doesn’t matter what the definition is or what your goal is, as long as it’s clear.
*Key: Be precise about your goals.*
Gather your leadership team, have a strategy meeting or an entire strategy day, and clarify what you want your business to achieve. At the end of the day, your organisation should have a fixed target that they’ll be working until your set deadline.
Watch the snippet for Clarity here:
### **2. Channel Desire**
Sometimes, it’s not enough to just set a goal. Without the drive or the motivation to work towards them, they’ll end up just like 80% of new year’s resolutions that are [abandoned](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleystahl/2021/12/09/this-new-years-set-goals-not-resolutions/?sh=353e907f1ece) and never achieved.
*Key: Align your goals to what you innately want.*
Recall a time where you’ve been madly in love. Remember the passion and excitement you felt and then try to imagine that you had this emotion for the goals you’ve set. This will increase your chances of achieving your goals.
On the other hand, if your business isn’t doing so well, another way to find motivation is to think about the biggest problem your business is facing. What’s the problem that you want to solve right now? Use that pain as your driver for desire.
Watch the snippet for Desire here:
### **3. Forge Beliefs**
One of the biggest contributors to your success is your belief that you can achieve your goals. Countless studies show that beliefs influence success and people who really believe they can succeed are people who do. They put in the effort, they solve problems, and they find ways to achieve their goals.
If there is an absence of belief, then chances are, you’ll give up at the first obstacle. Belief guides your actions.
*Key: Change your environment.*
Surround yourself with people who also believe that you can achieve your goals. As an organisation, it’s also crucial that everyone is on the same page and that they’re working towards the same goal.
Watch the snippet for Belief here:
### **4. Gather Knowledge**
The road to success also comes with challenges. You can have a clear goal, the drive to pursue it and the belief that you can achieve it. But if you don’t have the knowledge to help you move forward, you’ll still be stuck. And sometimes, when you set too big a goal, it can have the opposite effect. A big goal can demotivate and demoralise, which can then lead to the abandonment of the goal.
*Key: Take the goal and break it down into smaller goals and milestones.*
Here’s a guide on how to break down your big goal. Ask yourself the following questions:
1\. What needs to happen for the goal to happen? The answers are your major milestones.
2\. What needs to happen for your major milestones to happen? The answers are your medium milestones goals.
3\. What needs to happen for these medium milestones? The answers are your small milestones.
And by doing this process, you can already start gathering the knowledge to work on your goal one step at a time.
To help you understand how to create a goal pyramid, take a look at this [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fepn0zNrYEQ) by Matthew himself.
Watch the snippet for Knowledge here:
### **5. Get into Action**
The last door is the most important — taking action. A crisp goal, enough desire, belief, and knowledge is nothing without action. You can only achieve your goals by taking action. It might not guarantee success but it gives you a better chance than having done nothing at all.
*Key: Conquer your fears.*
With your goal pyramid and with your goal broken down into small actions, all you need to do is execute. You may encounter failures along the way but failures will help you learn to be better. And as long as you keep going and your actions are consistent with your goal pyramid, you’ll be one step closer to your goal.
Watch the snippet for Action here:
## **Summary**
These 5 doors are not the be-all and end-all of success because there is no universal framework to success that works for everyone. Everyone is different and everyone has different experiences.
These principles weren’t meant to guarantee success for your personal or professional life, they were meant to increase your chances of achieving it so you can make the most out of the time you have on earth.
At the end of the day, your measure of success should be whether or not you are happy with your life and with how you achieved your business goals. And remember, you are not a failure if you fail to reach your goals. It just means you have another opportunity to try again.
***Download our Knowledge Nugget on Life in Half a Second and discover the path to success proven by science and research here.***
Written by
[Ashton Bishop](https://blog.hellostepchange.com/blog/author/ashton-bishop)
Ashton Bishop is Australia’s Predatory Thinker — an expert in pinpointing how businesses can grow by outsmarting their competitors. His niche is in strategy, where he has spent the last 20 years working internationally on some of the world’s biggest brands. He’s a business owner and serial entrepreneur; challenging, sometimes even controversial; but always focused on what gets results.
[Older post3 Reasons Why the Future of Business Is Green](https://blog.hellostepchange.com/blog/3-reasons-why-the-future-of-business-is-green) [Newer postKnowledge Nuggets: How Minds Change](https://blog.hellostepchange.com/blog/knowledge-nuggets-how-minds-change)
[Featured seriesKnowledge Nuggets](https://info.hellostepchange.com/knowledge-nuggets)
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