I bet we've all wondered why some people are so successful, and asked what do they have that we don't? When people talk about the secret to success, it's almost like they are saying there is this hidden formula to which if you could just find out what it was, you would all of a sudden be as successful. If there was such a thing, surely we would all be doing it?!
With this in mind, I found myself researching the secret to success, looking at a range of successful people, to find out what it is that makes them so successful.
Most highly successful people were not born with that 'special something' that gave them the key to success. In fact, I noticed that a lot of successful people had a tough start in life, left school with no qualifications and were not born into wealthy successful families.
Those people have acquired certain characteristics and learned valuable lessons to get them to that level of success and in general, the fact that they did not have the best start is the drive they needed.rnAs a result of my research, I am going to summarise the key things I found successful people to have:
1. -Persistencern 2. -Determinationrn 3. -Positive attitudern 4. -Patiencern 5. -Passionrn 6. -Innovationrn 7. -Hard work ethicrn 8. -Resiliencern 9. -Forward thinkingrn 10. -Proactivern 11. -Beliefrn 12. -Learning
To illustrate this I will discuss some highly successful people who have all the above characteristics and how they differ from the rest of us! These people have some, if not, all of the above characteristics;
Richard Branson - Probably the best words to describe him are resilience and persistence. When his business was failing he picked himself up and carried on. Of course he had other characteristics which helped, but these were important for him to pick himself up, dust himself down and carry on. He famously says that his failings were the making of him, learning from those lessons were vital for him to be the success he is today.
James Dyson - Determination, passion and persistence best describe James. It took eight years and 5,127 prototypes before his famous 'Dyson' vacuum cleaner took off. Belief in his innovation plus passion and hard work gave him the drive to persist. I'm guessing most people would have given up a lot sooner and that is, potentially his secret. The Dyson vacuum cleaner is one of the best innovations of the last decade, if James had given up, his idea would have been wasted.
JK Rowling - She became one of the richest women in the world in a short space of time, writing her famous 'Harry Potter' books. She was living on benefits and suffering with depression when she embarked on her journey to success. Perhaps her situation was the drive she needed? It just shows we should never be a victim of circumstance, use your shortcomings as the motivation to succeed.
Of course these people had something unique to offer, but if they didn't truly believe in themselves and what they had to offer we may never have heard of them. The smallest idea could make you a big success. Don't get me wrong these examples are rare, not every successful person achieves such a high level of success. These people more than likely had doubts along the way and had obstacles to overcome, but they never gave up.
It just shows that there is no secret, it is just about having a vision, the above characteristics and acting upon them.
Persistence seems to be a trait that successful people have in common, like the famous saying goes 'when the going gets tough, the tough get going'!
Apple Guru Steve Jobs has made a huge impact on the world with his innovations. Steve's rules for success:
* Do what you lovern * Be differentrn * Do your bestrn * Make a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)
* Start small, think bigrn * Strive to be a market leaderrn * Focus on the outcomern * Ask for feedbackrn * Innovatern * Learn from failuresrn * Learn Continuosly
If you are curious about this subject, and want to know more, a great book to read is 'The Secret' by Rhonda Byrne. You can read reviews and buy the book at
http://www.insp1re.com/product_view.php?pcatid=1
Do you think there is a 'secret' to success?
What do you think it takes to be successful ?
Best wishes,rnCassie.