What do you think successful people do that others don't?

Success is a relative word. There is no thumb rule -it depends on surroundings, up bringing, health etc. In short three Es- Education and Experience will get Enlightenment or success but it may be short term.

For sustainable success, his following tips taken from last lecture of Randy Pausch 47 yrs old, A computer Sc. lecturer from Mellon University he died of pancreatic cancer, should be followed:

Personality:
1. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
2. Don't have negative thoughts of things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment
3. Don't over do; keep your limits
4. Don't take yourself so seriously; no one else does
5. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip
6. Dream more while you are awake
7. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
8. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner of his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
9. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
10. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present
11. No one is in charge of your happiness except you
12. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn.
Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
13. Smile and laugh more
14. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Community:
15. Call your family often
16. Each day give something good to others
17. Forgive everyone for everything
18. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6
19. Try to make at least three people smile each day
20. What other people think of you is none of your business
21. Your job will not take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
22. Put GOD first in anything and everything that you think, say and do.
23. GOD heals everything
24. Do the right things
25. However good or bad a situation is, it will change
26. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up
27. The best is yet to come
28. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful
29. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it
30. If you know GOD you will always be happy. So, be happy.

Cheers for your success

Beat the best and be the best everyday
Raj Khimesra
Bangkok

I think to be successful in today's constant changing, innovative economy you must be a hustler, or an enterprising person determined to succeed; go-getter. Here the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Hustlers in Today's World of management and business.

Habit 1: Be Afraid!
Don’t be afraid of leaving your current job, career, business or way of life because of what you may lose. Instead, be more afraid of staying because of what you may not become. The worse thing in the world is what you could have been. Become!

Habit 2: Set Unrealistic Goals
Most people who tell you to make sure your goals and dreams are “realistic” don’t understand the essential point of having a goal and a dream: its not about what you obtain when you achieve your goals or dreams, its about the person you become in the process of hustling, studying, sweating and Grinding for your goals and dreams.

Habit 3: Have Blind Focus
Multi-tasking means being mediocre in many things and magnificent in nothing. Focus only on what will take you to the next level, everything else is just accessories of failure because they drain your time and energy for what really matters. I used to be a jack of all trades, doing so many things just to make money. But it was not until I developed “blind focus,” immersed myself into one single passion, took a leap of faith and grew my wings on the way down, that my success started to skyrocket.

Habit 4: Grind for Greatness!
Grinding is having audacious ambition, clear vision, unconventional strategy and relentless perseverance to achieve your greatest potential. Grinders spend ridiculous amounts of hours focusing on honing their passion and enhancing their strengths so that their weaknesses become irrelevant. However, it does not mean they ignore their weaknesses, but also spending time on them as well, if they are indeed limiting their potential to obtain great success.

Habit 5: There is No Plan B!
If you want to be ridiculously successful in your career or business, stop double dating and discounting your dreams. When you finally go after your passion and people ask you “what’s your plan b?” Tell them, there is no plan b, in fact plan b is reinforcing plan a!

Habit 6: Network & Build a Professional Brand
Your “networking” may be “not working” because you are only focused on what you can get from people instead of what you can give to people. Serve first, then watch people be anxious to help you. It’s not about who you know, its about who knows you and what you can do, that’s your brand.

Habit 7: Fail as Fast as You Can
Believe it or not, but the sum of all your failures equals your success. If you are not failing you are not growing and ultimately pursuing your greatest potential. If you have not failed at anything within the past six months it is probably because you have played life too safe. I challenge you to start failing forward as fast as you can! Do not revise your goals and dreams, instead revise your strategy. Start taking on more than you can handle. Start going after positions, tasks or assignments that you may not be qualified for or able to manage. Start overwhelming yourself and understand that failure can be your friend as long as you learn from him. If you pressure yourself, you will amaze yourself. Grind for Greatness!

I will respond in the context of business/career success:

I recently did a bog post on this very subject "is your day started?".

If you have not focused on what matters most have you really started your day?

1. Exercise Your Body - you know you should. just do it.
2. Do Something for Someone Else - Reminds you it's about helping others.
3. Thank Someone - Reminds you about being helped by others.
4. Review Communications - Only react to critical things
5. Twitter - Pop open Twitter and let it run in the background. (be social)
6. Catch up on your areas of ability - I read several biz and tech blogs specific to my area of ability (start-ups, Microsoft technology consulting, etc.)

At the end of my day I will try to:

1. Do Something for Someone Else - Reminds you it's about helping others.
2. Thank Someone - Reminds you about being helped by others.
3. Review Communications - Only react to critical things before you go
4. Give back - twitter, blog, focus

They fail, and they don't give up - ever!

How many people are successful? They are like models . . . you only see them in the magazines, but never on the streets? Like the lottery winner, you see them but not the losers. How do you define success? They hold the winners up in your face, hiding the millions of us who are the also-rans, I bought a ticket too! There is one of the secrets of success: Luck! Another secret: "You have got to be in it to win it." Preparation, but for what?

Your daddy is super rich (he was a George Bush Republican Guy who does not pay taxes) and you inherited his wealth!

I would define success as a "level of achievement." Depending on what you want to achieve. If you can define it, then you can focus on it. Less than 2% of the world's population are "self motivated achievers." The rest of us are Affiliaters/ors. We waste our lives by watching other successful people achieve. We want to belong to the big company/organization, watch the achievers achieve in the sports game, just to say "I was there.", be a part of a team, read the magazines and papers about the Achievers . . . waste your time , waste your life.

Never ever cross over into ZULU Land. If you find yourself in Zulu Land, do not pick up the spears and start dancing with the tribe. Recognize that you are there and GET OUT!

Successful people THINK differently. And, they ACT differently.

First they are Born. Then they Learn usually too late in life, if at all.

My thoughts on this matter are that success is a relative term. Success is defined differently by different people. For some, success may be measured in terms of financial status, whereas for others, it may be measured in terms of pure accomplishments (degrees, winnings, etc.). Therefore, it's difficult to pinpoint precise activities do in order to achieve their idea of success. However, there are generalities that are common across all definitions of success that people due to achieve their ideal definition of success. For one, visualization. Visualizing in one's mind the end result and where one wants to be is the first part of becoming successful. Creating and sustaining that vision despite the challenges that occur along the way is paramount. Another common theme is that of persistence. Regardless of the challenges that one may face, never give up if you believe that what you are trying to accomplish is meant to be for you. Third, faith in a higher power, whatever that higher power may be. Without your faith as the center of your identity, when crisis hits during your journey, life for you can very easily, if not with certainty, spiral out of control emotionally. I am speaking from personal experience. Refrain from defining your identity based on material things that can be taken away from you in a heartbeat. However, one thing is for certain, no one can take away your faith. Although it is tested daily. Keep your faith, and it will get you through life day to day towards achieving fulfillment. Another common theme is learning by reflection. Make a commitment to yourself to reflect back on the successes you have accomplished along the way and the failures you encountered along the way, and ask yourself what you did to accomplish those successes and why your behaviors resulted in success. Take the same approach when evaluating why a particular failure occurred. Ask yourself what you could have done differently, and view the failure as a learning opportunity and as ammunition for getting through the next challenge. Lastly, believe in yourself, despite what anyone may say about you. If you believe in something, you can accomplish it. The mind is a powerful thing, if not the most powerful part of our bodies. Where the mind goes, the body shall follow. Engineer, and in some cases re-engineer, your thinking patterns, that support your vision and goals. It's not an easy task and sometimes takes the help of a professional. Remember, there is nothing wrong with seeking professional guidance from a licensed psychologist or mentor to help you with your mind processes and thinking patterns. You would go seek treatment for a broken leg, right. Well, why not go get some guidance on the mind. It works, if you make it work for you. Again, speaking from personal experience.

They simply DO through predetermined goals and actions in alignment with those goals.

They have a perspective that is more self directed then outer directed,

In the field of neuroscience the experts identified the constant pursuit of excellence as a key predictor of success. Successful people are always willing to sacrifice a little bit more than everyone else to reach a higher performance level.

Stated another way they are curious and they are restless in the pursuit of perfection. If they don't have the answer they believe that they will arrive at it or at least come very close to it by working harder.

When talking about leaders something else needs to be added. In addition to being driven to excellence, successful leaders have extensive social and professional networks they use to help them accomplish their goals.

I'm not saying successful leaders are social butterflies. They are not. They typically score as moderately social people, and high on task completion.

This leads to one last point, successful people generally know how to get and use social and professional clout. This allows them to call in favors when obtaining a goal that requires additional support.

This really is a great question. As was stated before by one of the contributors, "successful" characteristics or traits are relative to the environment or cultural nuances in which they are being viewed. What may be deemed as a "successful" characteristic in one part of the world, for instance "ambition, self-reliance, and independent action in the West, maybe judged as "arrogance, neglect, and dishonorable within many other Eastern countries.

Although we must gauge "success" through lens of various societal and cultural perspectives, certain aspects of success, like "universal truths", seem to transcend borders and appear within numerous societies. Here are just a few of those "success traits" some of the most successful men and women throughout history, have utilized along their path towards greatness.

1-Successful people believe with passion.
2-Successful people determine their future.
3-Successful people expect the best and "pre-determine" the outcome.
4-Successful people have laser focus and develop their ability to concentrate.
5-Successful people exemplify integrity.
6-Successful people visualize their "Macro & Micro" goals continuously.
7-Successful people are "life-time learners" always seeking to improve themselves.
8-Successful people face their fears and strengthen their weaknesses.
9-Successful people share the glory with others.
10-Successful people practice 2 perfection.
11-Successful people persevere "through" rejection and setbacks.
12-Successful people "Act-as-if", their goal has "already been accomplished.
13-Successful continuously surround themselves with "success-oriented" people.
14-Successful people "reinforce" their "success-mindset" daily.
15-Successful people become "successful" by helping others achieve "success".

I'm with Leanne on this one. Although there are many things one can do to be successful, the key is to understand your priorities in life, create goals, make a plan (that will change regularly), and then work your plan.

Bear Bryant put it this way: "Have a plan. Follow the plan, and you'll be surprised how successful you can be. Most people don't have a plan. That's why it's easy to beat most folks."

From my experience, successful people: build long-term relationships, always do a little more than what is expected or what others might do, focus on incremental and continuous improvement, say thank you often and have balance in their lives.

I really like Tom Thorton's very concise response: "From my experience, successful people: build long-term relationships, always do a little more than what is expected or what others might do, focus on incremental and continuous improvement, say thank you often and have balance in their lives."

That said, many of the responses are debating the definition of success. Well, it should be evident the definition of success is a moving target. Southwest Airlines (along with many others) have defined their future success in terms of a triple bottom line-- People, Profits, Planet. More companies of all sizes are seeing they can do very well (financially) by doing good (for People and Planet/Community). This will become the new "balanced scorecard" as this nation attempts to sort out the root causes of the messes we have made. On an individual level, it's all about significance: did I make a difference? Were those around me better off than if I had not been involved?

Hi,

I recently read a book which professed that successful people "feel the fear and do it anyway". Many people are extremely talented, etc, etc. but their fear (be it fear of failure, fear of actually succeeding, fear of change, and the list goes on) prevents them from taking action toward achievement. Successful people don't let their fears prevent them from their journey.

dig deep into yourself and dont be afraid of being unique.

"problem is that most people try to be normal than natural" Dr. robert Anthony

successful people

1. read a lot
2. pay attention to the needs of others
3. listen others problems without thinking of giving judgment
or treating them as failure
4. they are not reactionary people, dont base on reactions
5. but also cant accept mediocrity and victimization
6. they ll never compromise on morals and thier convictions
7. and some time pay a heavy price of being different till god showers mercy and success on them

The answer is in the verb "do". Successful people "do" what they envisage, they act as if they are already there, they show their interest to the people around them, they tell everybody around them what they plan and share their progress. if you look at successful people you would always be able to say what it looks like what they are doing. An example; if you want to become a professional golfer and compete internationally for those titles, it should look to the people around you that you are on your way there, you should walk the walk, talk the talk. You must act as if you are there already, or at least on your way there.
The same said in a different way, if you tell people you are on your way to New York and you get lost, they will certainly go look for you at New York or at least, en route to New York.
A hint to the politicians; if you made a promise, make sure it looks like you try to deliver.

Successful people see the opportunity in every difficulty. Others see only the difficulty in every opportunity.

Many good answers here already. Here are a couple of qualities that I think contribute to seccess

1. Learn continuously
2. Give generously
3. Evolve purposefully
4. Listen actively
5. Think deeply

First I will tackle the definition quickly:
----
DEFINE: SUCCESS
Success is simply, achievement.
Achievement of a goal = success.

People are free to define this goal any which way, but success is the achievement of a goal. And there is a known formula which regularly (more often than not), increases the probability of such success.

----

#1. Focus.

(quite an appropriate point for the website, wouldn't you say?)

Do what is important first... and recognize importance of two timeframes:
a) Tactical (priority immediate issues)
b) Strategic (put long-term plans to action)

-
#2. "What other people think of you is none of your business."

No wiser words.
Focus on improving you and your success, not your perceived self or success.

-
#3. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

Change is the constant. Adapting your personal success and business to allow for such an important reality... that change will happen... is the key.

According to my experience and what I believe, success is when you are very useful and helpful to others whether your family, your friends, colleagues or other people around you.
In many terms, might with your money to backup and support your family, with your knowledge to teach others, with your expertise to solve the problem, with your suggestion when they get difficulty or only with your empathy when they have hard time.
And the "secret" is when you are ready to give your full service of what you have and what are you doing to them. When you are willing to give your comitment to serve and give what they need in any way.

Although I am still in college pursuing my undergrad but from my experience so far, successful people make things happen and unsuccessful people wait for things to happen. Moreover, successful people do things that unsuccessful people do not dare think about. I tried to keep it simple. Thank you.

Are true to themselves...following their inner "gut" and learning to trust it regardless of what "convention" may dictate.

Simple they are unafraid to fail and do not worry about unsolicited feedback. They continually plow forward keeping their eye on the prize until the reach their desired goals.

I believe Successful People Have a Dream. They have a well-defined purpose. They have a definite goal. They know what they want. They aren’t 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 say can’t be done.
Remember: It only takes one sound idea to achieve success.
Remember: People who excel in life are those who produce results, not excuses. Anybody can come up with excuses and explanations for why he hasn’t made it. Those who want to succeed badly enough don’t make excuses.

In my opinion, they are
1- Clear vision and objectives
2- Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize
3- Right people on the team & Respect for the individual
4- Adapt and are resilient
5- Lifetime learning
6- Listen very well and intellectually curious
7- Finally, a secret ingredient (distinctly different in some aspect)

There are as many definitions to "success" as there are people with opinions and I have read many great ideas in how to become successful, however, I believe the common traits are the ability to set a goal and have the willingness, motivation, and talent to do whatever it takes to accomplish the goal but the more important trait is having the constitution not to redefine the goal because of the difficulty achieving. This same trait also will prevent a potentially successful person from setting a goal that cannot be reached. If my goal is to climb Mt Everest and I only get halfway up, I have two options: 1) Admit I did not succeed, or 2) Redefine my goal as an attempt to climb Mt Everest, then consider it a success. Successful people can admit failure and continue to set lofty goals. Less successful people alter their goals so they can be considered successes.

Get up early.

Quite honestly I’m not sure what Dr. Gell was trying to say. Also I would be interested in learning for what the author of the question was looking. Before answering the question, we must define successful people. We’ve all seen people who have accumulate wealth, fame, and power and yet are miserable. Is that success? Yet not all wealthy, famous, or powerful people are miserable and maybe they are successful. I have learned that success is often defined from one’s background. If someone grows up in a family where the yearly income is $20,000 and they earn $50,000 they consider themselves successful. If someone grows up in a family that made millions and they make $500,000, often they think of themselves as a failure. A child of a famous athlete or powerful politician may excel is something totally different but often feels unsuccessful. My own grandfather was a self-sustaining farmer and when I was a child, I didn’t consider him very successful. However, as I grew older and began to understand what it meant to be successful, I totally changed my mind. I also know a car-hop (yes some places still have them) that after 35 years said he loved his job. How many people do you know that can say that? When I questioned him, he said that he had made a decent living and had been able to send two children to college. I think he is very successful. Maybe we should define success as doing something we enjoy, being content, and having joy. Notice I didn’t mention happiness because being happy is too dependent on our circumstances.

This is probably not was being looked for, and I will gladly give my 2 cents once I hear the definition of success. Choose to make it a great day.

I think too many people define success with a focus on money, power or fame. Andy Warhol said that in our life we will all get our 15 minutes of fame. Maybe but does that make you successful. I have had more than my 15 minutes of fame however, no one remembers it and it did not make me successful. I was successful in what I was trying to accomplish that placed me in the spot light.

What is success? Is it that we set a goal and then strive to achieve it? That when we achieve it we are successful.

If you set out to climb MT Everest and only make it half way up do you consider that a failure? You did make it to the mountain and started the climb that is more successful than others who have set that goal but never left.

So can we say that success is a relative term based on your perception of what success is?

I think too many people define success with a focus on money, power or fame. Andy Warhol said that in our life we will all get our 15 minutes of fame. Maybe but does that make you successful. I have had more than my 15 minutes of fame however, no one remembers it and it did not make me successful. I was successful in what I was trying to accomplish that placed me in the spot light.

What is success? Is it that we set a goal and then strive to achieve it? That when we achieve it we are successful.

If you set out to climb MT Everest and only make it half way up do you consider that a failure? You did make it to the mountain and started the climb that is more successful than others who have set that goal but never left.

So can we say that success is a relative term based on your perception of what success is?

i agree with Mr. Kallas. The difference between success and mediocrity -- no matter how you define success -- is work. Successful people have motors that run faster and longer (not necessarily more efficiently or smarter or whatever).

The reality is that people who have less success do all that other stuff ( focus, be polite, think outside the box), but successful people have the drive and energy to exceed other people's performance.

Michael:

I agree with much of what you say, but must respectfully disagree that it doesn’t matter how you define success. I know people with drive and energy working 50, 60, 80 hours a week; they have accumulated wealth, fame, and power but are not satisfied. They are not content nor do they have joy. As a matter of fact many are just plain miserable. Do you consider them successful? I don’t.

I have no clue what anyone thinks success is. I assumed we were speaking of temporalities.

We need to be careful with the logic chain here. Not everyone whose motor runs faster and longer is successful. But everyone who is successful has a motor that runs faster and longer.

Successful people take more risk than others.

Michael,

In my opinion, its not they take more risk but that they see more and different opportunities than their less successful colleagues

I believe successful people think differently, take risks but build safety nets, have the courage to do things differently because of confidence in themselves and faith in a higher power. They do great things for others and in doing so, help themselves. Because of this selflessness and a solid work ethic, people admire them and strive to be associated with them.

Success cannot be defined here by any one person, because success means something different for everybody. As for 15 minutes; that depends on the person. 15 minutes can last as long as you like. No matter how challenging, we all need to continually adapt and grow.

I believe there are people that are very good at what they do that never get a break and never achieve the type of success we are talking about. I have also watched others fumble their way to success and somehow always seem to get a break. But generally as a rule, I think the most successful people are the people that follow the beaten path of those that have done it before. Follow a successful plan and work the plan. It is hard to argue with a proven track record. I considered myself successful at one point of my life...but I was not really happy. Now I am happy and get true joy out of what I do, but do not consider myself successful at it .....Yet!!!

They do the right things at the right time for the right reasons.

I'm successful every day! I'm also usually unsuccessful every day. I think "successful people" focus on accomplishing tasks that lead to achieving goals. They don't focus on being successful but, rather, on successfully accomplishing tasks. Successful people make "to do lists" and they focus on getting those tasks done every day.

Successful people take the time to think and as David Petraeus taght me, "get the big ideas right." They don't allow the bias for action (inherent within all of us) to consume the time they take to think.

If success is defined as consistently achieving one's goals, whatever they may be, then I think the one quality that successful people share is focus. Focus is ignoring the extraneous and temporary in favor of that which serves the goal.

"Accidental Persistence." This is the best definition for success I ever read from a seemingly meaningless, unknown book. I like it for two reasons. One, persistence (a.k.a. the person loves what they are doing with no ulterior motive other then they love to do what they do.) is the one human quality that seems to most likely (not guaranteed) to result in success. Smart or dumb. Jerk or not. Honest or dishonest. Organized or disorganized. Evil or good. Whatever. All have same chance to succeed. Two, chance is the most underrated success factor. A persistent person...or someone born with an extraordinary talent at a moment in time when what they love doing happens to be meaningful and useful to a whole bunch of people...or just to themselves.

Successful people set goals and review those goals frequently. They are working towards those goals on a daily basis. They have a to-do list for the day, week and month that will help them accomplish smaller mini-goals towards their long-term goal they are trying to achieve. Successful people are taking action and making things happen!

Believe in themselves; treat others with respect; and stay true to their values. Being successful is not always about money although that is what we typically think of. I think being happy is being successful. Part of being happy may be to have enough to be comfortable and enough to share with others - but it is definitely more about feeling my life is making a difference somehow - that to me is success.

Successful people don't stop before the miracle. What do I mean by that? They don't allow their limited belief systems to stop them. They are tenacious in their focus to go for the gold and reasonableness doesn't enter the picture!

Michael - As to your original desire for looking for successful traits or characteristics. I was reminded of the the book Fail-Safe Leadership. The authors discussed this concept of successful traits in leadership and helped the reader to understand that there really aren't any. Everyone is unique.

The best way is to start with the desired results. And then develop people to secure those results based upon their own inherent talents, strengths, traits or characteristics.

Successful people have the following in common:
1. Have clear goals
2. Surround themselves with people with the right skill sets to achieve these goals
3. Focus - Concentrates on what needs to be done
4. Make time daily for exercise, quiet time for reflection and planning
5. Live the "Golden Rule"

Wonderful thread... I've liked many responses so far...

The one thing I would add is that most successful people I know think 6 months ahead. They think about now and the future... long term but they also have a keen awareness of what will happen or what needs to happen in 6 months. Successful people always seem to be ahead of mere mortals.

My three cents.

People are successful when they keep their eye on the prize.

If they know what the prize is at the end , then they know what things are of value and they develop ways to obtain them.

The question is then what is the prize and how do you know if it will have value at the end?

If people imagine that the prize of life is gain wealth, fame or power , what is the value of these things at the end of life?

If people believe that the prize of life is materialism (cars, TV's , electronics) what is the value of these things at the end of life?

I wonder how a child looks at the prize in the beginning of life.

It would be a shame to direct all actions while we live to that which is valueless in the end.

Wow - tons of great answers. Go Focus!

I have only a mere twig to add to this bonfire of inspired wisdom.

Two (more) things successful people do well that others don't:

1. They accept that a successful life includes its share of problems.

2. They are good at upgrading their problems.

HI,

I think a successful person always have a clear objective and can make a correct choice....This would be the key differences for them.

I read a few articles about how to be successful person. hope they are helpful.

http://www.edustarzone.com/Successprinciples.html

http://www.edustarzone.com/Blog.html

I always keep Steve Jobs, whom I am sure we can all agree is wildly successful, advice in mind when it comes to what it takes to be successful. In his 2005 Stanford Commencement address, on the theme of “You’ve got to find what you love.”, Jobs ended his speech to the graduating class with: Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

Follow those words and you'll be successful on your own terms.

You are successful if you are using "all resources at your disposal" efficiently to better your life and those around you in the process.

Nick,
Without going down the philosophical path of asking “what do you mean by success?” and talking about important things like life balance, I’ll assume you mean the classic notion of success – people who are really damn good at something.

For Complex Enterprise Selling (the world I’ve lived in my whole career) I believe there are three key talents that differentiate good from great:
1. Curiosity: Are you insatiably curious? Do you figure out ways to keep asking why? Do pat answers annoy you? Do you like to learn and listen?
2. Rapport: Do you naturally build rapport quickly. One of the best measures for this to me is a sense of humor. But, this isn’t about people liking you. It’s more about respect.
3. Drive: I don’t mean personal drive, although that’s certainly a good trait. I mean the ability TO drive. Drive a conversation. Drive a meeting. Drive an executive. Drive a process. Drive a deal.

More generally, I believe
• When we see wild success or greatness we are seeing the marriage of massive talent and tons of hard work and practice (and probably a healthy dose of luck). The notion that ANYBODY can be good at ANYTHING is simply ridiculous to me.
• Talent is much rarer than hard work. So if you’re hiring, you should select for this first.
• But Talent is much like luck. You can’t control it (and btw you shouldn’t really “take credit” for it). I think the idea that talent is simply practicing something for 10,000 hours is misguided (Talent Code). People who are great have innate talent first.
• Please know I’m not being dismissive of hard work. It is vital. Without it Talent goes almost nowhere. Hard work is what we can control, so focus on that. When I say hard work I mean all the things that others have said better than I can. Things like: Applying Steven Covey’s Seven Habits, fighting through failure, focusing, persisting, saying thank you, being humble, etc.

To Net it out, successful people have found their talent, and are working their tail off to maximize it.

So, the key is to find one’s talent – where do you have natural innate abilities – then maximize them through hard work. Say what you will about them personally, but people like Michael Jackson, Kobe Bryant, or Jim Carey have/had massive talent first that they then worked hard to maximize. I appreciate what I’m saying is somewhat provocative or even controversial. Doesn’t mean it ain’t true.

Ask yourself this, are the funniest people you know - people who are or could be stand-up comics – simply the ones who worked hardest at being funny or the ones who were already pretty funny naturally?

Successful people
Are consistent and patient
Are resilient and treat failures as an opportunity
Are creative and always try something new
Are not satisfyed by their present state and are searching for improvement
Are able to focus on their activity and avoid distractions
Are able to plan their activity and use their time effectively
Are less prone to stress as they know what to wexpect from themselvers and others

You can find more insights here http://www.soldlab.com/7-habits-of-less-successful

They plan realistically, they connect with employees and customers, they have experience and know where to get other experience of they don't have it, they measure and adjust their plan based on new realities.

simple. they don't talk. they do.

Sadly one can't upload pictures here. Otherwise I would show the picture I'm looking at right now.
https://picasaweb.google.com/117568918061122677024/MediababeByggVarumarkeRela...

It's Sunday and I'm working. To me that's the essential answer to your question;
"I work because I love this shit!"

Being passionate about your work and be willing to sacrifice other pleasures to enhance your capacity and position is the key to success. Malcom Gladwell's Outliers or not, you need to keep up practising and focusing on work, on your craft, on your business if you want to succeed.

They don't overprepare. They are always ready, BUT the hyper successful people approach projects and people with open minds. Instead of insisting on their own agenda and prejudices, they pay attention to what's going on around them and know how to change, reshape, rally, or incorporate at an educated whim. They are focussed, but flexible. There is no impossible - only scheduling and staffing, and drive.

This allows them blue ocean solutions.

The hardest part of this question is to believe in your own success and to define it for yourself, for your family and for your life. And to also understand that this definition changes depending on your life stage. Success is almost always externally defined and in our society, it is marked by how much money you make, how impressive your client list is, and how our network of contacts are. I'm not naive- I understand our system and I'm a part of it.

In my work, however, I see alot of people who do not feel good about their achievements because they are always comparing themselves to others. I've seen amazing women who have achieved so much, who have raised incredible kids and who have made a contribution to their companies and communities- not feel successful because they haven't arrived at the top of the ladder. Or entrepreneurs who have touched lives but haven't made the million. They succeed in quiet and unassuming ways. And yet they doubt themselves because others have done 'more' . Then there are those who drive themselves so hard, striving for acceptance and success in their careers- only to lose a piece of themselves in the process. To the outside world, they have highly successful lives. But inside of themselves, they are deeply unhappy people.

So what is success. It is being strong and resilient. It is following your dream in the face of opposition. It is believing in yourself even when nobody else does. And it is being determined enough to get up every morning and following your chosen path, even when everyone around you is telling you to do something else- do what is safe, sensible and logical.

For me, the people who are successful are comfortable in their own skins, they follow their own path, and they stay strong in the face of opposition.

A lot of interesting and thought-provoking answers. Mine is a big simpler. Successful people suit up and show up -- every day, no matter what. I am thinking of one man I had the good fortune to work with, who if I named him and his achievements, has a "name you know". But I'll bet few people know the personal and family tragedies, financial worries, and setbacks he had along the way -- because he never let them stop him. And many of them would have stopped nearly anyone else. He isn't the only successful person I've known who "suited up and showed up", though -- they all do. Elie Weisel wrote of concentration camp survivors that some were more resilient than others, but the thing that kept survivors from curling up in a ball and giving up was the certain knowlege that doing so would lead nowhere except certain death. Not showing up (emotionally, physically, mentally) is the same thing in business. So when I fell and broke my pelvis a few years ago, as soon as I could walk, I showed up for a job interview (walker and all), and I got the job. When a blizzard turned Dallas into an icy no-drive zone, I showed up for another job interview -- and I got the job I have today. Over and over, it's been proven to me that "suiting up and showing up" is more than half of what it takes to succeed in life and in business.

Successful people are basically focused on what they do, they follow their vision. Determination to succeed in spite of weakness is the catalyst for unstoppable progress in life. Successful people create other successful followers.

Success is definitely not something we are born with. It is something that we learn over time.

For me success is all about actions & behavior. Ever noticed the difference in behavior & activities between successful people and those who fail. So in essence, we must live the success we want. If you live the success, then you practice it until you become it. Many successful professionals devote all their time to matters of their profession. In the process they learn how to do and behave appropriately for success. That way they become absolute guru's in their field.

"Live the success you want"

Excellent answers and thinking. But, Lets keep this on the track of "Success." We live in our Capitalist World. Try living without money. The Forbes company (Capitalist Tools) gives out shirts which reads "The winners in Capitalism are those who dies with the most toys." I don't think Steve and his father Malcolm are talking about children's toys, failure, love, Emerson, Edison, Babe Ruth, or all the other nice thoughts about trying and failing.

Success is one of those perfect words to open a conversation at a social gathering. What is Success? So is Love. What is Love?

Actually words have no meaning. Only people have meaning. Success and Love are two examples of abstractions. Once you ask the question it is best to keep your mouth shut, if you want to "Win Friends and Influence People."

It would also be a good idea to read a little of my good friend, Senator/Professor S.I. Hayakawa (pasted away.) Understand History and Wisdom or repeat the painful steps to failure.

Best of Success, and Good Luck to you all!

Successful people consistently:

Spend time getting clear on the outcomes they plan to bring about before starting to work on them.

Handle deviations of path and approach without sacrificing the outcomes they have committed themselves to.

Enlist the support of others regularly--and help them learn along the way.

Invest time on achieving and maintaining alignment among project contributors

Practice what they preach.

Negotiate clearly and authentically.

Keep an open eye to helping everyone get more of what they want.

Don't publicize their "Plan B", but always have one.

Share accolades freely with others yet often shield them from criticism.

Love what they do and do what they love.

Leanne,

You are so right. I have received several replies to my response to the question, but no one has defined success. I'd like to hear everyone's definition of success or what it means to be a successful person.

Actually Doc I like your points. I think successful people do think differntly and they act differently. I also think that because of this, others have a hard time understanding why successful people are successful. Luck does play a part, no doubt. Thanks for the insight!

More work.

Amen brother!

Great responses and interesting reading.

We stick to the realistic plan :)

Successful people know the value of success & they stick their plan & unsuccessful people only know to make plan & than next day destroy the same plan & than start to build new plan :D

six habits of successful people can be a guide,
in one sentence : 'do things differently'

Motivate people.

I really was looking for personality traits of people you would consider successful.

Successful people focus on being in the news (positively), while others focus on reading that news.

they stay away from all toxic things

I think successful persons use to do the things differently where as the normal persons do different things. Success come to you when you are in the correct path with correct desires.

Good evening! Having read all your answers, i believe I will become successful starting tomorrow. Thanks very much. You are all great!

They know how to say "no"!
They do not worry about things that does not matter.
They have good time management skills.

It is interesting conversation. I think we are trying to describe the attributes of successful people. If we look into all the comments -- everyone has a little different concept of success. It is your perception – how you see things.

Great discussion. Appreciate all the responses. Perhaps we need a round table discussion on the topic. I may send a note to Lauren on this.

Thinking of doing a roundtable discussion on the topic. Anyone interested in sitting in on it? Send me an email at mnick@roi4sales.com and I will pick a few of you to have an open discussion on the topic.

Thanks everyone for all of your input.

Successful people tap into their purpose and passions to help others. Give and you shall receive.

I'm guessing they're doing what they're supposed to do and do extra reading about various items that'll boost their intelligence.

Hi !

First of all, thank you for this interesting question. Its one of my favourite topics.

To be honest, rather than kowing what people do after they are successful, I am more keen to know, how these people reached the milestone called success and maintained that position. Because, its easier to benchmark or copy process. Success can only be consumed or experienced.

So, moving on with my conviction I did a small research and found that great men constantly gauge their surrounding. They constantly gauge their anbience like a magnet. They analyze their efforts and its outcome. They look within themselves, what their values are. It’s not done once twice. For them, it’s a habit. They are quite simple and disciplined about asking fundamental questions.

Here are few fundamental questions that when you ask regularly, will give you clarity to excel.

1. What is that event or action over next 90 days that I should do to make me feel that this was the best three months of my life or my business?
2. How do you want people to remember you at the end of your life?
3. What’s my potential? Am I performing accordingly?
4. Who are my peers whom I consider successful? {No bias or jealous please}. What are those five qualities and actions of my most successful peers?
5. What are my non-negotiable? The things, that I will always pursue or the values I will never violate

Great people in business, leaders, celebrities, globally recognized athletes, visionaries and the best of artists visit similar questions every now and then! Again and again.

Once you receive success, and move up the career ladder, the answers keep changing. But, the fundamental questions remain the same. Answers change with your next set of ambitions of your life and your desire, your dream to move further. Having the discipline, to ask these questions to you on a regular basis will change your life.

If you are keen to read the entire post.please check this link - http://callmeramzo.in/?p=42

Cheers!
ram

1. Listen to your client
2. always do what you say your going to do
3. follow up
4. Preserve

Are all famous (not infamous) people successful?

9 Things that Successful People Do Differently was a blog article at Fearless Competitor.

http://fearlesscompetitor.net/2011/07/28/nine-things-successful-people-do-dif...

ya.. luck comes in the last turn ..before crossing the success line

By the way ..everybody talk about job success.. it is part of success but not the whole success..

Bottom line is that successful people believe in themselves and those around them. If you don't believe and trust your own judgements, who will? It starts with belief, what you do from there.... is everything else.

Successful People - Understand what Success means to them. Then they set their minds to accomplish those events and goals that will drive that success - and they don't sweat the small stuff inbetween.

To me is a rather simple one.. Model yourself after the most successful peole you know (or know of) and this includes family, community, faith etc...) and then even more simple- just do the opposite of the ones who are NOT successful (same criteria as above) and that way you have to great models to choose from.

Prioritization, delegation, time management and good listening skills seem to be common in the successful people I know.

THE BEST PERFORMANCE FOR SUCCESS REQUIRES SEVERAL TOP SKILLS

Constantly researching for new INFORMATION.(VITAL)
Acquiring the best skills as a SELF-discipline methode.
Changing the equations variables.( FUNDAMENTAL)
Joinning charismatic people as an almost compulsive behavior.
Desire of been the most profitable leader of a team with a mission.
Creating valuable influence to the comunities.
Promoting the best product or service to hellping others achieving results and solving problems.
Normaly been focus in a vision for a living.

Great ideas and thank you Michael, for asking the question. I just have this feeling that all of these ideas are coming out of the mind of successful people and they're succesful largely because they had the luck to work with the right people.

A little cynicism is actually healthy towards creating success!

I have no challenge on doing actual tangible actions towards being successful (i.e. the hard work model), but I still think that has limiting results too.

You'll note my comments are specifically directed at the belief we can create a mindset (or at least change our current one).

Whether you believe the nurture or nature model, what is consistently agreed is that by about age 8 our mindset is axactly that "set".

So the belief that one can change ones mindest is singnificantly flawed but goes along way to create a selffulfilling industry pedalling mind change.
If you look at elite athletes and high calibre business people they largely have two things in common:
* Their mindset to win was inherently obvious at a young age; and
* A genetic predisposition to a talent or skill that would greatly assist them (eg in business this could be the ability to get by on very little sleep and still not have imparied decision making, whereas in sport this could be your body type.)

Often "successful" people also have had a few other advantages, namely:
* a vision of their own, also at a young age; and
* the right people around them at the right time.

People coming in down the field didn't have any of the genetic predisposition at a tender young age and often had to find the right people and work out the right timing etc. But importantly it need sto be seen that they have largely bought into the belief that one can change ones mind and also overcome the genetic predisposition that those ahead of them have.

What I can concede is that where the greatest demonstration of mindset change occurs, is actually through events of significant impact or trauma. SO before all the readers out there regail me with tails of people who did change their mindset in their adult years, please take a look at who you draw upon and what underlying factors they were exposed to that actually created their mindset change....leading them to success.

It depends what you mean by successful - there are as many definitions as there are individuals. So, for me, it involves knowing what you believe and why, and then living the values that spin off from that. Which doesn't necessarily mean making a lot of money, but may well involve having a rich, fulfilled life.

I don't think it is a case that all successful people have a strict regime that makes them succeed (however i definitely helps...) I believe they optimise their natural behaviours, values and thinking/decision making styles to optimise their peak performance within the culture they're succeeding in. Additionally, they have the support of people who can offer strengths in complementary areas of business. The closer someone can perform in their environment to their natural talents, rather than adapting them to suit the role, along with the necessary experience, knowledge and a bit of luck in risk taking, the more successful and motivated they can become.
I suppose successful people just know their own genius?

Sadly one can't upload pictures here. Otherwise I would show the picture I'm looking at right now.
https://picasaweb.google.com/117568918061122677024/MediababeByggVarumarkeRela...

It's Sunday and I'm working. To me that's the essential answer to your question;
"I work because I love this shit!"

Being passionate about your work and be willing to sacrifice other pleasures to enhance your capacity and position is the key to success. Malcom Gladwell's Outliers or not, you need to keep up practising and focusing on work, on your craft, on your business if you want to succeed.

A strong self belief and confidence are the hallmarks of successful people

Owning our life fully and not leaving it up to other things or people is essential to achieving success.

Discipline!

Is this a complicated question? It can be if we consciously enjoy the inquiry. The definition and measure of success is apparently arbitrary; financial, social, political, intellectual, spiritual, etc. and as measured by the "math of sufficient" to survive (with minimal harm?), above average, above most, above expectations (of self, kin, community, world). Consider also time (15minutes of fame, long enough to share, in time to die, etc.) or purpose: (for the journey, struggle, toys, power, good, etc.). Perhaps the wider a perspective we can find for the success of others, the better we can enjoy our own. What better success (or reason for living) is there than our meaningful interactions and enjoyment of oneself and those around us?
by 'Not so wealthy as would be convenient'

They don't do different things; they do things differently...And yes, they take calculated risks which people like us don't....The harder they work the luckier they get.

Above all, they learn to fail and keep trying :-)

unlimited courage

1 They anticipate and expect hurdles
2 They know when to allocate time to what #1 priority
3 They are old souls

1 They anticipate and expect hurdles
2 They know when to allocate time to what #1 priority
3 They are old souls

It is my understanding that successful people are able to focus because they have a purpose for doing things. They are well organized, they are able to manage their time, have a plan for every aspect of their life, business, as well as pleasure.
On the other hand, success is measured differently by each person according to their lifestyle. Having a lot of money does not mean that a person is successful because, it depends on how the money is being made.

The foundation for success is developing a vibrant mind. Being able to be creative, always wanting to learn new things, sharing knowledge, accepting people for who they are, knowing how to listen in order to communicate with others, being patient.

The previous Blogs have addressed the many factors that might contribute to the "successful" person, (although I agree that the definition of success should be addressed). One point that should be stressed as being crucial to any definition of success, is failure. Various levels of failure abound in the life of every successful person. How failure is handled, and what it produces, are critical. Thomas Edison succintly defined failure, after 1000's of failures making a light bulb, as not a failure, but learning how NOT to make a light bulb. Failure can be a learning and teaching experience beneficial to all.But all too often, failure results in a blame game, with people avoiding responsibility, rather than taking responsibility, and providing 'lessons learned'. This is also the reason successful people understand History well, (especially the parts pertinent to their endeavors.

There is very little in what I've read that cannot support a pathway to success I would add the courage to fight through fear

There is no secret to success, it takes lot of hard work and some risk, but then there is still no guarantee, many successful people are in the right place at the right time its that simple!

The one trait that most successful people have is their willingness to take a risk and run with something.

Contrastingly, what is it to fail if failure is just success waiting to happen? If Einstien said the 1000 failures in trying to invent the light bulb was just a 1000 ways to not to do it right, then is failure really failure?

If Edison's goal was not how to find 1000 ways not to make a lightbulb, then they were failures. However what Edison had was the internal strength to be able to field 1000 rejections and still press forward to his goal.

Overcome Fear

For starters, manage yourself; have a "why," a purpose, a specific vision; see challenge as opportunity rather than as obstacle; have a focused willpower; want to be better rather than merely good; honestly reflect on how you're doing; be a realistic optimist as well as a romantic realist; take risks;isn't afraid of mistake and ready to learn from it; persevere; endure; accept limitations and don't tempt fate; concentrate on "let's see" rather than "I can't" or "it won't;" not worry about what others think; be flexible and adaptable; fight not to let others make you into the person they want you to be; oh, and do all this in the service of others.

Louis Schmier

I think it comes down to persistence and the person will to win and overcome adversity or a challenging situation. When you find yourself faced with a complex sale or a difficult discussion you need to stay focused keep a level head and understand that some things you just need to keep grinding away at. It is all about mental strength and when other say "Wow, that sounds like it is going to be a lot of work!" Agree with them but focus on the reward and how that is going to change your life in the near an long term and not how lossing a few hours of sleep is going to affect you.

The answer to this question is simple: They don't give up.

One caveat that most people don't realize is that successful people have had their experience with set-backs just like the rest of us, but they don't just give up and walk away when things get hard/bad.

Instead, they dig in, formulate plans, tweek their approaches and hold onto their dreams with tenacity.

Successful people believe they deserve success.
They are secure. They have support. They have a plan and manage their time well.
Ultimately, it starts with Desire and is followed up with Effort.
As another poster mentioned, they often have the advantage of good parenting and luck.

In answering this question, it's my strong belief that the first and foremost important thing that every successful person has in their life is their faith as the center and core makeup of their identity. When I speak of faith in this post, I speak of faith as being a mere belief that a power, or being, higher, greater and more powerful than ourselves exists. Whether one characterizes their faith in the form of a specific religion or something else that may not be religiously oriented, faith and belief is what will guide you down the road to prosperity, peace and success. Our actions, behaviors and our lives as humans are a manifestation of our beliefs that make up our core inner self and circulate in our head day to day. No one, but yourself, can take your faith and your belief away from you. Whereas, material things can be taken away from you in an instant. Thus, if your inner self is composed exclusively of material things rather than heavily faith and belief based, what are you left with when the material things are gone, when they are ripped from you? I am speaking from personal experience. I endured three highly traumatic events this year within a 90 day time period. A time period in which my inner self was built upon material things, all of which were ripped from my world instantly. With material things as your center, your world will spin out of control when its flipped upside down and all of the material things fall right out. However, when an individual is faced such a situation, as I was this year, the one thing you do have, and sometimes the only thing you have, is your belief, your faith, in whatever that faith and belief may be in, as that is your choice. You are and you shall become what you believe.
Six months ago I had all the material things that made up my inner self ripped from my world and I believed at the time that I had nothing left and would be down on the ground indefinitely unable to get back up in life. I changed my mind. I changed my beliefs. I installed a highly powered faith as my inner self. As a result....... Six months later, that being today, I have started my lifelong dream of owning and operating my own HR Consulting business, which has taken off like a rocket in only four months. I am at peace. I am happy, and I am looking forward to tomorrow. Why? Because I made the choice to re-define myself with faith and belief that I can do anything if I set my mind to do it. Set your mind to "If you believe it, you will see it" rather than on "If I see it, I will believe it."

As is stated in an old Japanese proverb, fall down seven times, get up eight.

After reading all of these answers I am beginning to think there are a lot of people that are not as successful as they think they are. Success is measured by ones self. Only you have to make you happy.

Qualities of successful people

1. Recognize their own weaknesses
2. Surround themselves with people better than they are and manage them

in 4 steps:
1. use the eye to observe...
2. use the ear to listen...
3. use the brain to think...
4. then act smartly...

I'm sure several people have mentioned this but you first have to define what success means to you as an individual.

I won't go into the whole thing, but I just (last night as a matter of fact) wrote an article for my blog talking about that very thing.

To me it's about "Legacy."

What will be left behind after I'm dead and gone.

If you're interested in the reading the entire post... http://ow.ly/5XaAP

it is all about strong willingness, faithfulness .. and some luck

Successful people like myself take personal responsibility for their calendar...after all it is their life! And they are steadfast to keeping the commitments they make to themselves and others. They are masters at managing themselves in time in a way that eliminates the overwhelm caused by to much to do and not enough time. They have learned to stay in their strength behavior and get their intrinsic needs met. Successful people experience less stress. And they really get that 100% of their success or failure is totally up to them and not left to outside conditions or circumstances. While there is more to success...this is my contribution for today.

Cliche;
Cliche;
Cliche;
Cliche;
Oh and a few metaphors and analogies for good measure...plus a little deity love along the way...
Stop looking at a blog for the answer on how to have the mindset for success!
Stop believing that there is a mindset that will get you there. It will be very different for each and every human being.
You'll know when you're there, even if others don't.

just follow the law of Karma and it will surely work out ...