What Defines Highly Successful People?
Passion, perseverance and grit.
An unbridled determination to succeed even in the face of overwhelming odds.
An ability to break down potential obstacles and foresee challenges before the arise.
A relentless ability to focus on the things that matter, those things that will enable the most progress every single day. They possess the ability to filter out the distraction and remove the things that will slow them down from their life.
This can come across as ruthless, because it is. Successful people know what they want and the go after it. Those less focused are less willing to make the sacrifices necessary to succeed.
That is the brutal reality.
People like to make excuses when something goes wrong or they don’t achieve their goals. They make the argument they were bullied or extenuating circumstances impeded their pursuit.
The truth is somebody else just wanted it more than you.
Whether that is a parking space in a car park, the last piece of candy in a bag or a million dollar contract; life is about competition.
If you’re not ready for the fight you’re going to get knocked out.
Successful people are prepared but they are also agile. Some are chameleons who can change to their surrounding and influence everyone around them while others are more brutal and bend the world to suit their will.
The outcome is the same.
Success breeds success. Succeeding when nothing is going wrong is easy.
Failure is the differentiator. It’s what separates the two types of people.
Failure can either paralyse you from pursuit or it can embolden your stance.
Successful people learn the lessons of defeat, those who aren’t only feel the pain.
Life is a competition; successful people win.
Successful people set goals, breaking the process down into constituent tasks which they can track. The transparency enables them to hold themselves to account while helping them simultaneously improve and grow.
Other people dreams and hope for the best.
Successful people make things happen, they don’t wait for things to be handed to them. They seize the day and take the things they need. You can either realise you possess this ability to influence the world around you or you can sit back and hand people your lunch money.
The world is a difficult place. Nobody ever hands you anything for free. I’m not saying there aren’t good people in the world but if something seems too easy, it almost always is. If something is too good to be true you’re probably missing something. Successful people recognise this.
Successful people possess one ability that eludes the general population.
Understand this contrarian truth: the more successful you are the more often you say no.
The most successful people say no so often so that when a remarkable opportunity arises they can accept without distraction.
And cliches are cliches because they are true. Successful people don’t count the days, they make the days count. They don’t view the world in weeks, years or decades. They are singularly focused on the value of how the spend each second.
They are breathtakingly efficient because they recognise their time is so valuable.
Whether you want to accept it or not life is a zero sum game. You are either achieving or you are not. If someone is flying high it is to the detriment of someone else.
Successful people realise that life isn’t always going to be pleasant or fair, so they alter the paradigm.
They skirt the rules and sometimes cross the line.
They don’t wait for permission to enact their grand plan. If Uber waited for government approval at every junction they’d never have passed go.
There are two types of people in the world; producers and consumers. By only accepting the latter role you forego the opportunity to influence development, and it is a conscious choice. The only thing that stops you becoming a creator of value is your willingness to do so.
Successful people recognises this, others don’t.
Ultimately what drives successful people is to leave a mark.
They want to achieve something of significance; that can be changing the world or amassing a massive personal wealth.
And they let nothing stand in their way.
Every individual’s potential is only constrained by a lack of imagination and a willingness to act.
Whether you are successful or not, what define you is how you answer this question.
Will you or won’t you?
Whether you think you can, or think you can’t — you’re right.
Attitude is everything.
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