8 COMMON TRAITS TO BE SUCCESSFUL

I want to start this article by asking a provocative question:

What does success mean to YOU?

Being successful is too general a definition and is different for everyone.

For YOU, maybe being successful means being a great dad or mum, or maybe being fit and healthy...

Or, who knows, maybe it means the same as for me, i.e. having more FREEDOM and doing something YOU LOVE while YOU can be an INSPIRATION for others.

Bottom line...it doesn’t matter what success means to YOU, what really matters is knowing that there are some common traits among successful people.

What YOU have to make sure of is that YOU  embrace their habits as much as possible.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit”. - Aristotle

By following the principles that lead people to success chances are that YOU will be successful too.

Let’s dive into the common traits of these people to achieve success.

8 TRAITS TO BE SUCCESSFUL

1) HAVE A VISION

YOU MUST know what YOU want to be and who YOU want to become.

YOU need to have a PURPOSE, a GOAL to fight for.

Every successful person is AWARE of where they are and where they want to go.

If YOU don’t have a destination to aim for, YOU end up wasting your life, because YOU are at the mercy of circumstances.

Without having a VISION YOU drift around and YOU never end up anywhere.

What’s more, as I pointed out in one of my articles it’s not enough to have a GOAL, YOU MUST also have a strong WHY.

YOU need it because when the tough times come when the obstacles show up YOU can lean into your WHY.

This will MOTIVATE YOU to keep pushing forward no matter how big the obstacle is.

When YOU have a VISION of what YOU want out of your life YOU have a LASER-FOCUS orientation that helps YOU to manage your energy and time in the best possible way.

Do YOU know that 85% of the worldwide population hate their job?

According to Gallup World Poll only 15% of employees all over the world fall in the “engaged” category.

What does this tell us?

This tells us that most people, unfortunately, don’t have a VISION, they don’t know 100% what their purpose is.

Most people live the life they think they have to live.

They live someone else’s life.

They are unfulfilled, overwhelmed, stressed, and stuck in a system that exploits them instead of helping them achieve their highest potential.

I used to feel the same because I didn’t know where I wanted to go.

Once I decided WHAT (gain TIME and GEOGRAPHICAL FREEDOM) I wanted and WHY (be able to spend my precious time with the people that I love and be a role model for others) everything changed for me. 

I’ve started enjoying every day because I know that each day takes me closer to my GOAL. 

Why should I run the Corporate Rat Race and be a slave of a system where I trade my TIME for MONEY when I can invest in myself and learn to create a business that serves me and thanks to which I can feel fulfilled!? 

But this is my GOAL…

What about YOU? Do YOU have a TARGET to aim for?

And above all, do YOU have a strong WHY for which YOU MUST achieve your GOAL?

Bear in mind that setting a GOAL is a never-ending process.

The GOALS YOU set in your thirties will most likely be very different from the GOALS YOU set in your sixties.

Your age doesn’t really matter in the end, as long as YOU continuously revise your LIFE GOALS and work to update and achieve them.

2) INVEST IN YOURSELF

“Ultimately, there’s one investment that supersedes all others: Invest in yourself. Nobody can take away what you’ve got in yourself, and everybody has potentials they haven’t used yet”. - Warren Buffet

What successful people also have in common is that they always invest in themselves.

They know that investing in oneself is the BEST RETURN on INVESTMENT YOU could ever have.

They are AWARE that there is always something NEW to learn.

Only by investing in their personal development can they pursue their GOALS and become a better version of themselves.

Successful people read an awful lot of books.

They are HUNGRY to acquire NEW KNOWLEDGE.

Let’s take into consideration Warren Buffet, probably the most successful investor in history.

When he was asked how to prepare for a successful career his reply was: 

“read 500 pages like every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of YOU can do it, but I guarantee not many of YOU will”. - Warren Buffet   

Successful people are highly selective about what they read.

“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them”. - Mark Twain

Successful people opt for educating books rather than entertaining ones.

They are obsessed with biographies and autobiographies of other successful people because they are always looking for insights and inspiration.

Another successful CEO, Bill Gates, once said that he reads 50 books a year, i.e. almost 1 book per week.

When he was asked what role reading played in his life he said:

“It’s one of the chief ways I learn, and has been since I was a kid. Reading is still the main way that I both learn new things and test my understanding”. - Bill Gates

If most of the CEOs and successful people read between 40 and 60 books a year, do YOU know how many books the average American reads?

According to statistics, the average American person reads 1 book per year and reads for enjoyment and entertainment.

Can YOU spot the difference?

If reading as a pathway to success is not enough for YOU to get motivated, maybe YOU could take into consideration the following benefits reading has on health.

According to a study and different researches carried out by the Reading Agency reading helps prevent dementia, stress, and depression and so it positively impacts the general wellbeing.

Whether YOU are already a big reader or YOU want to start reading, but YOU don’t have any clue from where to start…

I strongly recommend YOU to start with Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.

This is not just about money as the title may suggest, it’s an enlightening guide for every area of your life.

If the idea of reading doesn’t suit YOU at all, there are different other ways for YOU to work on your personal growth.

YOU might take into account attending a seminar, listening to podcasts, subscribing to online courses, hiring a personal coach or mentor, etc…

It all boils down to the best investment YOU could ever make; when YOU spend time, money, and energy for your personal development YOU are always in profit.  

But YOU MUST remember that to get the investment of reading books, listening to podcasts, attending seminars, etc.. to pay off YOU MUST put into practice the knowledge YOU learn from those resources.

“Without knowledge, action is useless and knowledge without action is futile”. - Abu Bakr

3) SET UP YOUR ALARM CLOCK EARLY

According to a statistic that examined productivity levels, health, relaxation, and satisfaction, early birds are more likely to be successful in any area of their life than late risers.

I believe the main reason is that waking up early gives YOU time to work on yourself.

Not to mention the fact that if YOU are in advance on your daily schedule, YOU feel in perfect control of your life.

When YOU wake up early YOU start your day proactively rather than reactively.

What I mean is that YOU spend some time focusing only on yourself, training or meditating or reading, etc…

“Wake up early and tackle the day before it tackles YOU. Be on offense, not defense”. - Evan Carmichael

When YOU are an early riser YOU are most likely to carry out all the commitments that YOU have on your to-do list and this brings about a feeling of pride.

Just picture how different your life would be if YOU had, let’s say, 365 extra hours of working on yourself by the end of the year? 

All of us have 24 hours a day and it’s our responsibility to invest our time in the best possible way. 

Setting the alarm clock 1 hour earlier is the first step to succeed in it.

Wake up an hour earlier to live an hour more!

4) FAILURE AND PAIN ARE PART OF THE JOURNEY, EMBRACE THEM!

Successful people are AWARE that the journey that leads to success is not a walk in the park.

They know that on the track to become who they want to be they will encounter pitfalls.

They don’t focus on the size of their problems, what they focus their attention on is the size of themselves.

They know that they are bigger than any obstacles and that they can overcome all challenges.

They don’t whine about the hassle they encounter, they work to find solutions.

On the other hand, unsuccessful people are problem-oriented.

They spend their energy and time complaining about how life is tough with them and unsurprisingly they don’t come up with any solutions.

Successful people don’t run away from challenges.

They face them, because only by tackling them can they come out empowered and carry on chasing their DREAMS.

They are not afraid to FAIL, because they consider each failure as an OPPORTUNITY, as a LIFE LESSON to keep moving forward.

There's nothing wrong with failing.

YOU have to fail to climb and reach the top.

No one doesn't fail.

Both LOSERS and WINNERS fail, but while the first category falls and stays down, the second one each time they fall they get up reinforced.

YOU never fail till YOU GIVE UP!

“I have tried 99 times and have failed, but on the 100th time came success”. - Albert Einstein

Successful people also consider PAIN as something temporary, while they know that REGRET lasts a lifetime.

They are more afraid of the PAIN that would come up from GIVING UP  than the PAIN that pursuing your GOALS implies.

Successful people are ready to go through all the hustle and bustle to get where they want to go.

They are CONSISTENT and RELENTLESS, they PUT IN WORK every single day to be each day one step closer to their destination.

What about YOU?

Are YOU ready to pay the price of FAILURE and PAIN knowing that it will pave the way for your success? 

Are YOU ready to be CONSISTENT and UNSTOPPABLE?

5) BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND TAKE ACTION: YOU CAN ACHIEVE WHATEVER GOAL YOU SET!

Every successful person believes in themselves.

YOU MUST start adopting the “I CAN” attitude.

When YOU are CERTAIN, YOU are going to get the results that YOU want, and that is going to change your life for the better forever.

Having absolute CERTAINTY makes YOU tap into your FULL POTENTIAL, take MASSIVE ACTIONS, GET MASSIVE RESULTS, BE REINFORCED, and DEVELOP the STRONG BELIEF that YOU can ACCOMPLISH EVERYTHING.

But how can YOU be so CERTAIN that YOU will succeed?

To get CERTAINTY, YOU MUST condition your mind, YOU MUST master it.

In a nutshell, YOU have to VISUALISE yourself at a stage where  YOU have already achieved your GOALS, YOU have to experience the FEELINGS, the EMOTIONS that come from being the person YOU want to be.

By conditioning your mind YOU will take massive action, YOU will start getting results and this will RAISE the BELIEF that YOU CAN follow through.

YOU will create a VIRTUOUS CIRCLE that will serve for the rest of your life.

It’s a SELF FULFILLING PROPHECY!

 6) DON’T LISTEN TO THE NAYSAYERS

Successful people don’t allow someone else’s criticism to prevent them from hitting their TARGET.

As I mentioned in one of my articles, along the track that leads to success YOU will bump into people who are ready to judge YOU.

They will tell YOU that YOU ARE CRAZY, that YOU CANNOT DO IT, YOU CANNOT BECOME THE PERSON YOU WANT TO BE, THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE.

They behave like that because they are living a mediocre life, and they want the same for YOU.

They cannot cope with YOU chasing your DREAMS.

It’s your responsibility to make them SHUT UP by showing them that YOU are a WINNER and that YOU will achieve whatever YOU want out of your life.

“It always seems impossible until it’s done”. - Nelson Mandela

Prove to them that YOU have made the IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE.

YOU can do it!

7) HAVE A POSITIVE SELF-TALK

I have already stressed the importance of words in the Power Of Words.

Words have the power to shape your life!

Every successful person pays attention to what they say to themselves over and over.

As I mentioned before, they have the belief that they CAN do whatever they want.

They repeat it in their mind continuously.

They speak positive words to themselves.

The 3 MAIN PHRASES that they have in their vocabulary are: I AM, I CAN, I WILL…. followed by positive and empowering expressions!

How could YOU speak negatively and have a positive attitude and a positive life as a result?

What do YOU say to yourself most of the day?

What do YOU think of any major area of your life?

Do YOU believe that YOU deserve a better life?

If so, start investing in positive and constructive words.

YOU MUST become your number one fan.

8) SURROUND YOURSELF WITH LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE

Successful people look at other successful people as a way to motivate themselves.

They say to themselves:

“If they can do it, I can do it”!

Successful people, unlike unsuccessful ones, are grateful that someone else has succeeded because they now have a blueprint that will ease their track to success.

They think:

“Why should I reinvent the wheel when there are proven methods for success that work for basically everyone who applies them"?

Being surrounded by people that share your same VALUES and VISION is also important because it makes you deliver on your commitments.

YOU will be each other’s accountability partner.

Needless to say, YOU will become like the people YOU are surrounded by.

“If YOU want to fly with the eagles, don’t swim with the ducks”! - T. Harv Eker

To become successful, YOU MUST make it a point to only ASSOCIATE yourself with POSITIVE and SUCCESSFUL people.

YOU MUST make it a point also to STAY FAR AWAY from NEGATIVE ones.

The choice is yours!

If YOU want to wing your WAY UP and reach the TOP, stay with the eagles, OR if YOU want to QUACK just be around ducks.

In conclusion, success is a journey, it does not happen overnight, it requires devotion and consistency.

If YOU work every day on what YOU want out of your life and do not give up, I can guarantee YOU will SUCCEED.