We know the case of many tremendously successful people. Have you ever thought of the fibre they are made of? How are they different from us? What made them what they became?
If we go through the life history of a few highly successful persons from different walks of life, as diverse fields as science, art and literature, business, cinema, and politics, we will know the common attributes of these individuals who made a mark in life. We should look at the circumstances in which they were born, the trials, the tribulations, the humiliations, the struggles, the failures and the hurdles they had to pass through in their trajectory towards ultimate success. It would not be difficult for us to see that all these successful people had a set of positive attributes. It would also be interesting to observe many of these traits in your colleagues who scaled the corporate ladder fast and with ease. You will happily notice that you too do have many of these traits. But then why do you not belong to the class of achievers? What is holding you back from plunging into action? We will come to the answer a little later.
Now, let us see these common traits and qualities. While reading this, please keep in mind the case of any number of successful people and achievers and see whether according to you they possess these traits.
1. All successful people have a dream. They have a well-defined purpose. They have a definite goal. They know what they want. They are not easily influenced by the thoughts and opinions of others. They have willpower. They have ideas. Their strong desire brings strong results. They go out and do things that others find impossible to do.
2. All of them have a burning ambition. They have a yearning to accomplish something. Ambition is the fuel which propels them forward with a high fuel efficiency.
3. They have clear and specific goals which they chase till they achieve them with a never-say-die approach.
4. They are all focused, their efforts are strongly positioned towards the direction of achieving their set goals. They have a steadfast ability to prioritize projects that will move them closer to their goals, and avoid distractions that will prevent or hinder their progress. They do not get side-tracked. They work on the projects that are important, and do not allow those projects to sit until the last minute. They are productive, not just busy.
5. All of them have unshakable positivism and optimism, which act as a catalyst in using the potential of their mind. However difficult things get for them, they never get deterred or disillusioned. They have a consistently positive and upbeat mentality which ensures their drive, and their desire never diminishes despite challenges or difficulties.
6. They have strong self-belief, strong conviction about their own abilities. They encounter obstacles and challenges with a strong confidence that they will be overcome and a positive outcome will result.
7. They have a penchant to excel in their chosen field, as nothing else will give them the mental satisfaction which they crave for.
8. They have a passion for improvement. They perpetually try to improve themselves. They are their worst critics. They are never satisfied and always strive to be better.
9. They have an obsessive attention to detail, which take them to near perfection.
10. They have the quality of perseverance. They show great inner strength to keep pursuing their goals despite facing seemingly unsurmountable challenges.
11. They have the capacity to let go. They are not anchored by the past. They learn from it, fast, and move on to a bigger challenge.
12. They are willing to accept responsibility for the events and circumstances that occur in their lives, whether they initiated them or not. They refuse to play the victim or spectator of circumstances and become victor of circumstances. Thus they are able to make the necessary changes and create the right circumstances that will bring about their desired success.
13. They consistently strive to fill the gap between “what is happening” and “what you want to make happen” through untiring work and persistence.
14. Most of them keep an inventory of their accomplishments, not because they want to put them on display, but because it reminds them, and those around them, of how overcoming the impossible is often just a matter of dogged perseverance.
15. Not wavering in a crisis is their very common trait. One of the greatest determinants of success is the ability to keep your head in a firestorm. Successful people do not lose their sense of purpose or direction in a crisis, and by doing so create a reliable compass setting for those around them.
16. They refuse to be deterred by failures. They believe that success is a net positive outcome of an abundance of failure, experimentation, and learning.
17. They always look for solutions to problems. They believe that many a time solutions are deeply embedded within the problems. They are opportunity minded. When they see opportunities they take advantage of them.
18. They have the courage to admit they have made a mistake. When they make a mistake, they admit it, fix it, and move on. They do not believe in wasting a lot of time, energy, money, or other resources trying to defend a mistake or a bad decision.
19. Successful people work with and co-operate with other people. They have positive, outgoing personalities. They surround themselves with people who offer them help, support, and encouragement. They are leaders.
20. They are always striving for authenticity. It is nearly impossible to achieve any degree of success without being trustworthy. For successful people being authentic means that they are clear in expressing their opinions and consistently truthful and transparent. You do not have to agree with them but you will never be confused about where they stand.
21. They discount the praise of others. They are equanimous in the midst of praises and accolades from others. They do not let it get to their head. They realize that agreement does not constitute infallibility.
22. They have a desire to give back. They make it a point to encourage and motivate others. They realize that they have the power to help others to increase their confidence in themselves. In doing so they create life-long loyalty that comes back many times over.
23. They are strongly motivated towards achievement. They take great satisfaction in accomplishing a task.
24. They are enthusiastic. They are excited by what they are doing, and that excitement is contagious. They draw people to them because these people want to work with them, do business with them, and be with them.
25. They have the quality of emotional intelligence. They know how to balance their emotions with those of whom they deal with. They are good people managers. They have the ability to empathize and communicate with others and are good team leaders.
26. They love what they do. They have an incessant drive, hunger and vitality which inspires them towards their goals and success.
27. They do not shudder at failure. They realize that failure is an essential part of success, and so do not waste any time and energy worrying about it. They all seem to adopt the philosophy of the great poet Samuel Beckett “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”
28. They are flexible and open to feedback. High achievers generally limit their bravado. They are open to hearing how a problematic situation can be handled better, and they are eager to effect improvements even if it means pivoting from their own ideas. Avoiding blame and bruised ego are generally not a concern for them.
29. They enjoy the present without regrets. They have the ability to sidestep regrets about past decisions, even decisions that would typically haunt the normal person.
30. They see opportunities instead of threats. High-achieving individuals view demanding tasks as a challenge and / or an opportunity, whereas people with track records of low achievement view such tasks as threatening.
31. They have a well-developed personal philosophy. They know what their philosophy is; they understand their thinking and their reasoning. A clear philosophy allows you to set your expectations and articulate your definition of success so you can set a clear path to your goals. It prepares you for an extraordinary destiny.
32. They have passion. It provides the ignition they require to succeed. When one can believe in something with a passionate heart, one will do whatever it takes to make into a reality.
33. They live with an unwavering commitment which cuts through the uncertainty and wavering that a less committed person would trip over on their path to success.
34. They reject the urge to procrastinate. The biggest hurdle of achievement is procrastination. It is easy to put things off. It is too easy to push the pause button and not start. But starting is the key. High achievers know the secret to success is to start.
Please keep in mind that the attributes enumerated above have not been theoretically conceived but drawn from actual life of successful people who earned for them a unique place in history. Hence if you are really keen to make a mark in life, to leave an imprint in the world, to become a great accomplisher in life, you would do well taking pains to develop these traits and qualities. Any amount of efforts taken for this would not be too much. Now, back to the question as to what holds us back from putting in hard work in spite of having many of the above attributes. The answer is lack of inspiration. How to draw inspiration and from whom to draw it? Look at the lives of these successful people, achievers, study their life history. Then your latent traits and attributes will come to the fore and your mind gets charged to perform to make amazing things happen in your life. When you find you need a skill or talent you do not have, just look for a person or group of people with the skills, talents, and training you need, skills and talents that complement your own. These people should be made your teammates, professional advisors, and friends.
N.Vijayagopalan
