The definition of success depends on the person defining it, but generally speaking, success is the accomplishment of one’s aim or purpose. We all have deserve to succeed in life, but success isn’t going to happen without a little luck and a lot of hard work. The secret, though, does not all rely on working hard, because it’s possible to work like a horse and still not succeed. On the contrary, it relies on ensuring that you put yourself in a position where success can flow. It’s ensuring that you constantly put yourself on the path of success. Here are four attributes you should possess in order for you to accomplish your goals and succeed in life.
Self-Discipline
Self-discipline is defined as the act of training oneself for personal improvement. This is the first and one of the most important attributes that separate successful people from unsuccessful ones. Whether you like it or not, no form of self-discipline is easy, and unless you don’t develop it to a high degree, it would be impossible for you to achieve your goals. Successful men and women are highly disciplined and are able to control their behaviors, as well as their appetites. If you can do the same, you will being to achieve the same exact results that they do and very soon.
Optimism and Confidence
You are what you think, so when you have negative thought patterns all the time, you’ll have a hard time succeeding in life. Be like successful people who have positive and confident mindsets. They don’t allow negative self-talk to hinder them from reaching their goals, but constantly think and tell themselves that they are capable of anything. Do you have a habit of constantly complaining and saying negative words to yourself? Do you always tend to put yourself down with negative self-talk? If you do, it’s time to bridle your tongue and change your mindset and start shutting down negative thoughts and replacing them with positivity and confidence.
Strategic Thinking
It’s true that you cannot predict the future, but the presence of strategic planning can minimize your chances of failing. Successful people understand this and make sure they always carry with them a clear roadmap. They also understand the importance of breaking down their goals into small tasks in order to make them specific, measurable, and achievable. This is especially important if you have a goal ahead of you that seems so big and overwhelming. When you break down a big goal into manageable pieces, it will be a lot easier for you to focus and succeed.
Grit
Grit goes hand in hand with self-discipline, but the former is a better predictor of success. The reason is that while self-discipline is the act of training yourself to achieve your goal, grit is what keeps you on keeping on coming back and showing up to practice. At first glance, it seems that talent and self-discipline is everything. However, if success is simply about how good you are at hitting the ball or scoring a goal, then only those who have been gifted with good genes have a chance for succeeding in life. That is not the case with many of history’s geniuses, though. Beethoven, for instance, while being musically inclined even at a young age, wouldn’t have become great if he didn’t spend 10,000 hours practicing on his piano. Michael Jordan, too, wouldn’t have become one of the greatest NBA scorers of all time if he didn’t practice as hard as he played every single one of his games. To cut the long story short, it is having grit, or strength of character and willpower to accomplish what you want to accomplish that will lead you to become a successful individual. To quote what Woody Allen once said, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” Show up, even if you don’t feel like it. Your body will soon adapt to what your mind is thinking, and you will eventually see yourself drawing nearer and nearer to your goal.
There is no single formula for success, and what may work for others may not work you. However, there are basic attributes you will notice every successful man and woman both in the past and in the present possess, and the ones mentioned above are just a few of them. How about you? What attribute do you think should an individual possess in order for him or her to achieve her goals and purposes and succeed in life? Don’t hesitate to share them with us on the comments section below.
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success