The 4 Characteristics of the Successful

I’ve made a study of successful people.

I was a voracious reader of biographies as far back as I can recall.

As a coach, I studied coaches and other leaders in hopes of improving my own performance.

And today, I am constantly learning from and even occasionally spending time with leaders in their respective fields.

In some cases, they have a physical talent or trait that sets them apart.

In other instances, they’re simply smarter than most all the rest.

But in the vast majority of cases…probably 90+ percent…it’s not a talent we’ll never have that sets them apart…it’s a combination of these four characteristics:

Belief.

Perseverance.

Consistency.

A willingness to be Different.

Four characteristics that we can all develop and reap the rewards of.

The successful have a belief that they can do great things.

They know that they can accomplish big things, because they embrace a truth that most people ignore:

We don’t have to settle. We can all do so much more than we typically accept as what is possible.

That belief…that mindset of thinking bigger…of ‘why not me?’ it propels them beyond the places most people settle in.

Perseverance is the second common characteristic of the successful.

The willingness to get up when they’ve been knocked down and the understanding that setbacks are part of any great journey.

In fact, the successful often thrive because of those very challenges rather than being derailed by them.

They know that their greatest accomplishments often come on the heels of them overcoming an obstacle.

And they also know that those challenges serve as a ‘weeding out’ process for those who aren’t willing to persevere…and that being willing to stay the course is a huge competitive advantage.

And that leads to the third characteristic…consistency.

Successful people know that you have to be willing to ‘show up’ over and over to ever become great at something.

That you can easily jump past 90% of the competition by simply doing good work day after day.

The greatest in any field all have put in the work and the time, and yes, while they look for ways to expedite the process and improve faster…

…they respect the fact that success is the culmination of a lot of small wins…not just a single big one.

And finally, the most successful are willing to be different.

Think of any business (whether you like them or not) that has become a market leader…

Consider any successful person you admire…

They all, at least all those I can think of, have been willing to break away from the norm.

Everyone from McDonalds to Starbucks to Disney to Apple…they all deviated from the norm to make a big splash in the market.

Every really successful person we know has been willing to deviate from the norm in some way as well.

Those successful people know that you can’t be great if you’re simply imitating someone else.

What I love about all four of these characteristics is that they are all attainable.

They’re accessible to me and to you.

Just like success is.

Sure, there are some things we may not be able to achieve – but our complete body of work…from the impact we make and the legacy we leave to the income we earn and the lifestyle we enjoy – we can all play bigger (or better) than we often imagine.

Those folks who speak in front of stadiums or author New York Times Bestsellers…they’re not superheroes or anything close.

They’re people who initially thought bigger and ultimately decided to play bigger.

They’re people who embrace and employ these four characteristics.

They’re simply the people who should remind you that you can do great things.