Steve Jobs - Founder of Apple Inc.
*This blog post is Part 2 of a 5-part series on ‘The 77 Traits Of Highly Successful People‘.
I hope you’ve finished reading Part 1 of this series which is the list of the first 15 traits. Now, I’m going to hand over to you Part 2, which is the next 15 traits of highly successful people. Hope you enjoy the read.
The 77 Traits of Highly Successful People – Part 2 (Trait 16 – 30)
16. Talk to Yourself Like a Winner
We all talk to ourselves. However, average people speak in negativity while successful people speak to themselves like winners. They always tell themselves that nothing is ever too far fetch for them and that they’re capable of doing great things.
17. Be Decisive
Highly successful people can almost always make a decision within seconds. This is due to their ability to absorb and digest information quickly. And they’re never afraid of making a mistake.
Any decision is better than no decision. And any action is better than no action. Decisiveness can make or break your business.
18. Be Well Prepared
Being well prepared is one of the ways to help you be decisive and make a quick decision. Be prepared with the right information, right knowledge and the right resources. And when opportunities come your way, you will be well equipped to grab it right away.
19. Be Courageous
“Courage is not the absence of fear; it’s the conquering of fear.” – Donald Trump
There’s no way to avoid fear. Everybody has it. This is just human nature. Fear is meant to protect us from harm, but human beings have conditioned one another to allow fear to limit ourselves.
The most common fear is the fear of failure. Successful people have learnt to conquer this fear. They have learnt to act in spite of fear. Their greatest fear is not the fear of failure; it’s the fear of regret – regret of not having tried.
20. Do It Now
As mentioned in Trait 8, highly successful people are extremely committed to their goals. Hence, they tend to be very impatient when it comes to taking actions because they know that the sooner they start doing what they must do, the sooner they will reach where they want to be.
And they also know that obstacles along the way are inevitable. And those obstacles will slow down their journey. So, the sooner they face and overcome those obstacles, the sooner they will arrive.
Sometimes, being impatient can do you good rather than harm. Seek to be impatient when dealing with procrastination.
21. Welcome the Unknown
Perhaps you have already heard this: “The only thing constant in life is change itself”. Most people are afraid of change because along with it comes the unknown.
But since nobody can avoid change, successful people choose to embrace change and welcome the unknown that follows wholeheartedly. They look upon change as an opportunity to grow and seek ways to use changes to make their life better, richer, and more fulfilling.
22. Take Small Action Steps
In order not to overwhelm themselves with the size of the task they’re undertaking, successful people break it down into smaller and more manageable individual action steps using a powerful process called Mind Mapping.
With mind mapping, they’re able to chunk down large goals or tasks into daily action items, which they’ll then work on the most important item first and slowly move on to other items on the list.
23. Just Get Going
This is something I just can’t emphasise enough.
“You don’t have to get it right, you just have to get it going.” – Mike Litman
Too many people are crippled by analysis paralysis. They’re always waiting for things to be perfect before they start taking actions.
The truth is, things will never be perfect. There’s always room for improvement. And you need not be perfect to offer real value to people. Most of the times, what you have on hands is already good enough.
If perfection were required, iPhone would never have been launched because the first set of iPhones was infested with numerous shortcomings.
24. Ask For What You Want
“Whatever it is you want from any other person, just ask for it.” – Source Unknown
Asking for what you want and/or need is one of the most powerful tools for success in the world. Many people are afraid to ask because they don’t want to look stupid or ignorant. However, it’s better to ask and be deemed a fool for that one moment than to not ask and be a fool for the rest of your life.
Also, people don’t ask because they’re afraid of rejection. Rejection is a form of risk – risk of losing face and hurting one’s pride. But highly successful people is more than willing to take this risk because they understand one simple principle, which is:
If they get a ‘no’, they’re in no way any worse off than before they ask. But if they get a ‘yes’, they’d be a lot better off.
25. Hang Around With Other Successful People
Successful people like to hang out with other successful people. This is because they know that they will very likely become like the people they spend the most time with. And they can learn from one another and support each other.
If you have yet to find any successful or positive people to hang around with, seek them out in seminars, books and audio programmes. Even if you have to participate in all these activities alone, you’d still be better off than spending time with negative people who’ll hold you back and suck the life energy out of you.
26. Acknowledge That You Can’t Please Everybody
“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.” – Bill Cosby
Nobody has ever achieved pleasing everybody – not Jesus Christ, not Muhammad, not Buddha.
There’s always going to be people who love you, and people who hate you. This is the reality of life which you have to accept.
Don’t beat yourself up just because not everybody loves you or you realise there are people who dislike or even hate you. The most important thing is to love, respect, and accept yourself for who you are.
27. Leverage
If you want to achieve more success and achieve it faster, you need to capitalise on the power of leverage. Highly successful people are constantly looking for leverage to expedite and/or multiply their efforts.
According to Mark Victor Hansen and Robert G. Allen in their best-selling book, The One Minute Millionaire, leverage is the power to control a lot with just a little.
In the business world, there are 5 kinds of leverage:
• Other People’s Money
• Other People’s Experience
• Other People’s Ideas
• Other People’s Time
• Other People’s Work
And also, there are 6 forms of leverage:
1. Mentors
2. Teams
3. Networks
4. Infinite Networks
5. Tools and Skills
6. Systems
28. Never Give Up
“I do not think there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature.” – John D. Rockefeller
One of the guarantees in life is that the universe will certainly put you through multiple challenges and obstacles to test your self-belief and your commitment to your goals.
The choice of the majority is to give up because that’s an easier way out. But highly successful people will always find ways to get around, over, or through the obstacles and persevere until they succeed.
29. Exceed Expectations
Doing more than expected is something that highly successful people are naturally inclined to do. They do not need to consciously remind themselves that exceeding expectations is what is required to achieve greatness. It is in their blood.
As a result, they’re always the ones closing the deals, receiving promotions, earning extra benefits, and so on.
30. Be Proactive
There are 2 kinds of people – People who make things happen and people who wait for things to happen to them.
Highly successful people are proactive people who make things happen by going out there to find opportunities when they’re not presented with any. If they can’t find any, they will create their own opportunities.
People who wait for things to happen to them are reactive people. When they’re not presented with any opportunity, they carry on waiting and hoping that some day opportunities will just fall from the sky onto their lap.
This is the end of Part 2 of the 5-part series. In the next post, you’ll get the list of Trait 31 – 45.
Cheers~
(Update: Read Part 3 here)
P.S. If you’ve missed Part 1, please read it here.
P.P.S. If you have any views or comments, I’d love to hear from you!
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