Top 10 characteristics of successful people.
Their goal in life is to be something, make something of themselves, make things people want or need. Sure, they have fun, but they don’t spend half their lives sitting on their butts playing video games.
Successful people are rarely born that way and their wealth isn’t from some act of God or preordained event. Rather, they learn certain behavior and methods that enable them to become wealthy and stay that way.
To me, that means you find a way to get your foot in the door, come hell or high water, and when you do, you deliver the goods, i.e. you don’t screw it up. That’s how successful people make their own luck.
Business executives, owners, and managers face adversity every day. Markets change, new competitors arise, key employees quit, products don’t perform the way they’re supposed to, not to mention software bugs, manufacturing problems, all sorts of “Oh s ** t!” moments.
COMMENTARY. Wealth disparity and distribution is a pretty hot topic these days, to say the least. And not just in America, as evidenced by the worldwide “occupy” and austerity protests.
While I support anyone’s right to protest, that’s never been my style. When I get knocked down, and that’s happened more times than I can count, I get up, shake it off, and get back in the fight.
A former CEO had his two top VPs– including me– resign on the same day. It was one hell of a blow but he bounced back and, four years later, successfully took the company public. And yes, he learned from the experience.
As I said, some people become successful by breaking the rules and making their own. They see things differently; color the world with their own crayon, so to speak.
They see the world the way it really is. Thinking you’re special can sometimes be self-fulfilling, but sooner or later, you’ve got to grow up to the reality that you’re just like everyone else and get grounded or your success will be short-lived.
Nobody ever made it by not taking risks and nobody ever made it big by not taking big risks. From any high-tech entrepreneur or small business owner to Donald Trump, you’ll find the guts and courage to take risks.
That said, successful people don’t take foolish risks and they don’t take risks lightly. They minimize and mitigate risk if they can and make sure they’re smart and calculated.
Business success, creating jobs, making money for shareholders, and the result– accumulating wealth– is a process. Once you figure out what you’re good at and how to do it right, you keep turning the crank until it no longer works.
The vast majority of wealthy people and all the ones I know work really, really hard. They’re hard-working people. Success takes hard work.
Their goal in life is to be something, make something of themselves, make things people want or need. That’s how successful people make their own luck. As I said, some people become successful by breaking the rules and making their own. Nobody ever made it by not taking risks and nobody ever made it big by not taking big risks. They minimize and mitigate risk if they can and make sure they’re smart and calculated.
When things don’t go their way, they don’t sit around and wait for someone to come along and hand them an answer. They take charge, figure it out, and adapt.
While it’s tempting to think of them as aliens who dropped out of the sky in golden spaceships, that’s not how it happens. I’ve known an awful lot of successful people over the decades.
Some people can make their own rules. There’s a “tao” or “how things work” for all things. Once you learn the tao of the business world or your specific industry or field, getting things done becomes much easier.
They don’t spend more than they make or have. To them, making money is not a windfall. When you work hard for something, you tend not to blow it.
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