What are those characteristics that make successful people successful?
What do they do that separates them from the crowd?
Are they just born that way?
Are they greedy because they’re successful?
Well, that’s what we’ll delve into today.
But first, over the past month, I’ve written a lot of technical stuff, and not given you as much on lifestyle and mindset as I’d like, so it’s time to get that back in balance. This week, I’ll be focusing more on the mindset of successful people and how you can develop that mindset for yourself. I’ll also be introducing you to a new guest blogger later this week, so keep an eye out for his first post here before the week is done.
Now, I started off with a bunch of questions, so let’s get right down to the answers to those questions.
What are those characteristics that make successful people successful?
Well, I have a list of 13 characteristics, and those of you who’ve been following my blog since the beginning may recognize some of these from earlier blog posts.
- Confidence
- Leadership
- Determination
- Discipline
- Consistency
- Resilience
- Hard Work
- Experience
- Skill Sets
- Stamina
- Courage
- Strength
- Persistence
If you already have most of these characteristics, great. You’re probably already on the road to success. If you’re missing many of them, don’t fret, that doesn’t mean you’re born to fail – these characteristics are not born into us, they’re learned by mindset and education.
Missing skill sets? Learn them. Missing courage? That’s just a state of mind, practice facing things you’re afraid of and getting them done despite the fear, and you’ve just taking your first step towards acquiring courage. The same goes for all 13 of these traits, you can learn them or choose to have them by simply changing your mind about whether or not you have these traits.
Want confidence? Try taking an activity or job on that you feel you can do, but will challenge you and see it through to the end, till it’s done. Once that task is done, do another one, and another, and so on. Believe that you CAN do things and then follow through by doing them and you’ll find the confidence was in there all along, you just forgot you had it.
What do they do that separates them from the crowd?
A very good question, and the answer is really quite simple – they DO things! While others may watch someone else do something, or learn about it but never actually do it, successful people do things and finish what they started. Take the most successful NHL hockey player of all time, Wayne Gretzky. Was he content to just sit in the stands and watch Gordie Howe and Guy Lafleur play hockey? No! He played hockey himself and did it with all the 13 characteristics of successful people I mentioned above.
Was Donald Trump content to sit on the laurels of his father’s success? Not a chance! He went out and made his own mark on business. He took action, displayed all the characteristics of the successful person and did it in typical massive Donald Trump style.
Are they just born that way?
© Wickedgood | Dreamstime.com – Wayne Gretzky Edmonton Oilers Photo
Maybe a few are, but for the most part, no way! They all had to build up and develop those characteristics themselves. Was Robert Kiyosaki (entrepreneur and author of many books including Rich Dad, Poor Dad) born to be successful? Nope. His dad was a government employee, a teacher, who had a typical middle class American lifestyle, big house, big car and big debts.
Did Robert do it all on his own? Again no. He did have mentors to teach him the characteristics and mindset of the successful. He had his Rich Dad, the father of his closest childhood friend, who taught him all the skills Robert would need to become a successful entrepreneur, and his own father to teach him all the skills he would need to one day also become a teacher, of his own company, Rich Dad Education.
How about Wayne Gretzky? Did he become The Great One, all on his own? Not a chance! He had his dad, Walter Gretzky, and all his childhood hockey coaches to help teach him the mindset and skills he would need to become The Great One and break about every offensive record in the books, almost all of which still stand, more than 20 years after they were set.
Are they greedy because they’re successful?
Another misconception. Most of these people are among the most generous people you will ever meet. They are as successful as they are because not only do they have, and use, the characteristics of successful people, but also because they are generous with those characteristics. They love to share them with others and help others get to where they are. Many are saddened to see so few willing to receive their help and mentoring when they offer it, and fewer still willing to take action and use it to begin their own journey to success.
I will be covering each of these characteristics in future blog posts over the coming weeks so keep looking out for them.
If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to post them in the comments section below. It really does help me to provide you with what you’re looking for if you tell me what you want me to write about. Tell me what you like, and what you want me to cover. I am truly interested in your questions, concerns and opinions.
