People chase shortcuts to success: the right morning routine, a “productivity hack,” or the single book that will change everything. Harvard researchers don’t hand out magic bullets. What they do offer, after decades and decades of careful study, is something more mundane but far more powerful: repeatable habits that stack up over years to produce better health, clearer thinking, stronger relationships — and, yes, more sustained success.
Below are five habits rooted in Harvard research. Some come from big population studies linking lifestyle to longer, healthier lives; others come from the institution’s long-running psychological research into what makes a life “go well.” I’ll explain the evidence, the limits of the claims, and — importantly — how to make each habit stick.
1) Invest in close relationships — they predict long-term success and well-being
If you want one single, repeatable habit to copy from Harvard, this is it: nurture deep, consistent relationships.
The Harvard Study of Adult Development — the famous longitudinal project that has tracked participants for over 80 years — consistently finds that the quality of our relationships is one of the strongest predictors of happiness, health, and resilience as we age. It’s not simply being popular or being married; it’s the depth and stability of your social connections that matters most. Better relationships predict better mental and even physical health decades later.
Why this matters for “success”: people who are supported by trusted friends, partners, and mentors recover faster from setbacks, sustain high performance longer, and are less likely to burn out. Put simply, success without connection is brittle — and Harvard’s data shows it again and again.
Practical step: schedule regular check-ins. A five-minute text, a weekly coffee, or a monthly call with someone important to you — consistency beats intensity. If you’re busy, calendar the relationship like a meeting.
2) Move your body — regular exercise shows up in the data as essential
Harvard public-health researchers (and many cohorts they analyzed) repeatedly show that regular physical activity is strongly associated with longer life, fewer chronic diseases, and better cognitive function. In pooled analyses of large cohorts, people who met the threshold of around 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity per day had substantially better disease-free life expectancy.
Why this matters for “success”: exercise sharpens attention, improves mood, increases resilience to stress, and protects your brain — all of which make you more reliable, creative, and productive over decades. Think of exercise not only as fitness but as a keystone habit that helps other habits stick.
Practical step: pick a small, non-negotiable movement goal (e.g., one 30-minute walk, run, or cycle each day). Make it repeatable and time-blocked so it’s part of your daily architecture.
3) Eat well and maintain a healthy weight — diet matters more than fads
Harvard researchers studying large U.S. cohorts (N >100,000 across decades) found that following a healthy eating pattern (e.g., higher in whole plants, fish, healthy fats; lower in processed foods and sugar) combined with maintaining a healthy BMI is associated with many more disease-free years and longer life expectancy. People who adhered to these dietary and body-weight parameters had several more healthy years compared with those who did not.
Why this matters for “success”: metabolic health affects energy, concentration, sleep quality, and mood — all core inputs to sustained high performance. Small daily choices about food compound year after year into big differences in energy reserves and cognitive bandwidth.
Practical step: simplify your food rules. Focus on adding — more veg, whole grains, protein — and removing the most damaging foods for you (for many people that’s sugar-dense processed snacks). One reliable lunch swap per week becomes five in a month; small wins scale.
4) Don’t smoke; drink in moderation — lower risk = more runway
One of the clearest signals across Harvard’s large cohort work is that smoking drastically shortens life and increases disease risk; conversely, avoiding smoking is one of the single biggest moves anyone can make for long-term health. Similarly, moderate alcohol (or avoiding it) was associated with better long-term outcomes compared to heavy drinking in these pooled analyses.
Why this matters for “success”: smoking and heavy drinking are risk multipliers. They degrade performance, increase sick days, and shorten the time you have to do meaningful work. Staying smoke-free and keeping alcohol under control preserves the runway for long projects — and long lives.
Practical step: if you smoke, seek evidence-based cessation support (counseling, nicotine replacement, medical options). If you drink, set a simple rule (e.g., alcohol only on weekends; a 2-drink cap) and track adherence for 30 days to build the habit.
5) Keep learning and set specific goals — habits of continual growth show up in Harvard business research
Harvard’s business and behavioral researchers (Harvard Business Review and affiliated scholars) emphasize goal specificity, deliberate practice, and lifelong learning as core drivers of professional success. Studies and syntheses from HBR show that people who habitually set concrete, measurable goals, who practice deliberately, and who build learning into daily life sustain higher performance and adaptability. These aren’t glamorous— they’re systems: specificity, immediate feedback, and repetition.
Why this matters for “success”: the world changes fast; the people who stay valuable are the ones who update their skills, receive feedback, and intentionally practice. These habits protect you from obsolescence and keep you in positions where opportunity finds you.
Practical step: set one small, measurable learning target every month (e.g., read 2 papers on a new tool, build a mini project, or practice one negotiation script). Use short sprints and immediate feedback loops.
A quick note on evidence and language: Harvard shows associations, not miracles
Two important cautions:
- Association ≠ causation. Harvard’s longitudinal and cohort studies are powerful, but most show strong associations (e.g., people with X habit tend to have Y outcome). Those associations are persuasive and often robust across populations, but human lives are complex. Habits increase the odds; they don’t guarantee outcomes.
- “Successful” is multidimensional. The Harvard studies above measure health, longevity, and well-being; HBR research measures workplace success and skill growth. Success can mean wealth, impact, relationships, meaning, or health — and the habits that matter will differ by which outcome you prioritize. I’ve focused on habits that show up across Harvard’s research as crucial to long, productive, flourishing lives.
How to actually adopt these Harvard-backed habits (practical blueprint)
Harvard-fronted research and Harvard Business Review both point to the same behavioral principles for long-lasting habit change: make it obvious, make it small, measure it, and anchor it to existing routines. Here’s a compact playbook you can apply today.
- Tiny first step — make the habit so small you can’t fail. Five minutes of body movement, one extra veg at dinner, a two-minute call to a friend, one page of focused learning.
- If-then anchors — tie the new behavior to something you already do. “After I finish breakfast, I’ll walk for 15 minutes.”
- Measure and celebrate — track whether you did the habit each day for 30 days; small wins build identity: “I am the kind of person who….”
- Environment design — remove friction. Keep running shoes visible, delete smoking triggers, block distracting sites during learning sprints.
- Social accountability — tell a friend or create a micro-group that checks in weekly. Social pressure is one of the strongest habit boosters.
Final truth: Harvard doesn’t sell secrets — it shows patterns
What Harvard’s work actually offers — and it’s gold — is this: decade-scale patterns. People who sustain health, purpose, and productivity over their lives tend to invest in relationships, move their bodies, eat well, avoid smoking and heavy drinking, and keep learning. Those habits pile up. They don’t promise instant fame or overnight riches, but they dramatically improve your odds of a long, capable, and meaningful life — and that’s a more durable kind of success.
This article was written by Lachlan Brown who is a psychology graduate, mindfulness enthusiast, and the bestselling author of Hidden Secrets of Buddhism: How to Live with Maximum Impact and Minimum Ego.