Reddit co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman credits much of his success to a habit he picked up in his 20s: acting quickly and often on his goals.
Huffman, now 40, co-founded Reddit with his college roommate Alexis Ohanian when he was just 21 years old at the University of Virginia.
In the nearly two decades since, he’s followed the same mantra “every day,” he told LinkedIn co-founder and entrepreneur Reid Hoffman in an Aug. 29 episode of Hoffman’s “Masters of Scale” podcast.
“The thought is, ‘You aren’t who you are, you are what you do,'” he said. “So, if you want to be somebody who works really hard, you have to actually work really hard.”
Similarly, “If you want to be somebody who goes to the gym, you actually have to go to the gym,” he added. “If you want to be a good friend, good spouse, good colleague, you have to actually do those things.”
If following Huffman’s mantra seems daunting, Chelsea Jay, a career and leadership coach, recommends breaking down big career goals into small, repetitive actions until they become ingrained as habits.
For example: If you want to get promoted to a leadership position within your organization, practice raising your hand and sharing your opinion in meetings, or offering to run point on a project.
The power of small actions lies in their ability to build momentum.
It helps to eliminate the feeling of overwhelm that often comes with tackling a daunting project, applying for a new job or achieving a different professional milestone, Jay explains. These small victories might even motivate you to continue working toward your objectives.
“Acting like the person you want to become can help you feel more confident,” she adds. “When you see yourself behaving in a way that is consistent with your goals, you will start to believe that you are capable of achieving them.”
Huffman shared another trick that’s helped him get ahead in his career: reframing stress with gratitude.
It’s a strategy he learned from reading “Man’s Search for Meaning,” a memoir by psychiatrist Victor Frankl chronicling his experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps during World War II.
“What that book kind of flipped around for me is the sort of stress that I have in my life is a result of the work that I do and the job that I have, which is truly a privilege,” he said. “I have my dream job and it’s hard. And so if I didn’t have that stress, what’s the alternative? I’d be bored.”
Adapting that mindset has helped Huffman feel “a lot less stressed” and recover faster from the inevitable challenges that come with running a major social media company.
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