9 Personal attributes of Highly Successful people

What it takes to be successful ?

Those who are successful definitely adopt and cultivate certain traits, unarguably. To some, these traits are intrinsic to certain degrees and the rest is what they cultivate, with time. For the rest, it does not pop up all of a sudden which they grab it and use it. Instead, they work hard until they realize, what works and those attributes are then imbibed and observed for results. Upon succeeding, those acquired traits eventually become their way of doing things and gets stitched in their working style.

At the onset, the most essential constituent is the presence of a right mindset to learn or to be successful. This is coming straight from my own personal experience during my career across MNCs and presently while working as a Coach. In those who’re successful you would definitely notice almost similar qualities which make them successful. Though, the approach or methodologies may vary to certain degrees, basis the work they are involved in.

The point is, having known those qualities; one can be conscious of those and bring it to practice for desired results. It is completely up to you, to look at what already exists within you and what are the rest which needs to be strengthened. Let us briefly examine, what looks to be the key traits to be successful.

1. Be courageous & feel confident

Fear is natural to all of us. What varies is the degree of its presence across aspects, basis our experiences in life. Obviously, if you think of something new, then that’s a new terrain and thus the fear of unknown and consequence would surface in your mind, be it a goal or simply selecting a dish from the menu at a new restaurant.

Most of the people do not make attempts due to this fear of failing or failure. Someone has said if you wish to succeed, then double your failure rate. Well, this need not be taken in literal sense, but then what it means is to make the best suited attempts, if required multiple times until you succeed. You make self, accountable and responsible and you stand by your decisions with confidence. Of course, you would have done the prerequisites prior to commencement of your journey.

Confidence goes with some level of self-discipline. A level of discipline boosts your confidence, which then, propels your success. Confidence is not about what you feel about self and the project, but it is also required in the form of self-control, being responsible and possessing some sense of direction for the task at hand.

2. Be clear with your objective

You need to be very clear with what you desire, how are you going to get it and to an extent what all would come your way and how to manage them all. The objective and approach should be so clear that when explained and executed, it stays crystal clear. Your entire journey would be carved out basis what you envisage to accomplish at the onset. That’s different if in-between you change track, but then those are the choices you make for what you want.

Well, you need not have to know all the answers in the world at first place. But if you broadly know where you want to be and how that can be achieved, then pulling the right levers would eventually take you there.

Your plan must have toll gates to check & review how has been the progress. Goal can only be achieved once strategy and execution are in line on a day to day basis.

3. Integrity at work

A work should be done in such a way that even the work bears pride, that it was worked upon this way. This aspect defines you. It gets reflected upon your accomplishments. But then it is not the results alone but the means too plays a vital role and this defines who you are. Creating and nurturing this attribute is highly critical to build a reputation for self with absolute integrity. The honesty you reflect in whatever you do creates a culture, an environment and attracts investors and gets reflected in the work and work culture. This in return brings trust in the entire system and people.

Your success varies directly also by the number of people who trust you, your internal Team or your external customers. Who you are and what you stand for, reflects you. The work ethics, value system and the principles what you preach and practice holds utmost significance in the growth and success of your vision. Then, even if you are not doing well, you will have support from internal and external customers. You shall always bear that pride on your shoulder of the way you managed your work and system. A leader & a Company is always seen with these attributes first, followed by the rest.

Integrity is a conscious individual choice. This calls for a genuine alignment of your thoughts, words and actions which are in line with what is obviously correct for the situation and Company. This is equally true in personal life as well.

4. Be determined and stay persistent

Unless an appropriate attempt is made, the results would not follow. Once you have decided to work on something then you will have to align yourself in the best suited manner. It is not the passion what gets results; instead, it is a level of commitment, determination is what gets what you desire. Simultaneously, it is not the hard work alone which pays, but what bring results are the continuous and appropriate efforts in same direction, tirelessly.

Irrespective of the nature or scale of work, if it does not get due effort, the result would not show up. Water boils only after it has attained certain temperature.

Being committed here does not mean only when things are moving fine and in accordance to the plan. However, it becomes all the more relevant when you find yourself with the lowest degree of enthusiasm, excitement and the feeling slowly seeps in to relax, wait, it’s not happening. This thought and corresponding feeling may come any time and the source could be anything.

What you do next is most important. How you manage self, alter your mindset and how quickly you re-align for the goal is what holds utmost relevance here. Once your goal is set, then just keep moving.

When you travel from destination A to B, do you keep on counting the number of turns, speed breakers, barriers or other things in the journey or you keep an eye on destination?

You lose only if you give up. There is always a hope, if you have not given up. Also, please do remember, you are being looked at by many and you should not bring your morale down in the journey, until you succeed.

5. Be clear in your communication

It all beings with clear communication, one-on-one or in various other forms, all around. Any flaw anywhere may lead to creating a different story altogether. Communication is not what you convey to others; instead, it is what gets understood and perceived by the receiving body or entity. This needs to be managed really well.

Absence of a dialogue or in excess or in a fashion which is not appropriate may all lead to unnecessary chaos and disappointments. Communication is also about the culture that prevails, the policies, the compliance, messaging, rules and guidelines and what transpires even without any surface presence of a genuine cause.

Communication is also about what you say to self, every day. That’s relevant in this project as well.

6. Be positive and stay optimistic

Our mind does processing in a liner fashion, irrespective of the simultaneous tasks it has to perform, it is always linear. When it comes to thoughts, your mind does not differentiate between a positive thought (good thought) and an opposite one. It just executes it or brings it to play.

A thing is done with certain thoughts around and what goes along are the feelings and your present state. If you are just on the edge of time and rushing to office with the thought that hope traffic is not there, then inadvertently, chances are that you would encounter traffic and you may get delayed for your scheduled meeting. What you think is what you attract.

How can you do a task when you are in a state of constant fear? A player does not go to a field to play with a thought – hope we do not lose. If such thoughts prevail, then it is suggested not to play at all, as defeat is guaranteed.

Yes, planning and being aware about the possible consequences should be part of the plan. One must definitely plan for probable risks or must have devised a backup plan, which is fine.

Being optimistic is a strategy, which comes with a level of belief in what you have embarked onto. Being positive keep you going, it makes the journey exciting and you look forward to the next step. Staying in a positive mental frame does not guarantee success, but then it definitely increases the probability of success. This boots your confidence and you march with an expectation of positive outcome as a result of your efforts. It keeps you inspired in the journey and keeps the environment and Team charged up for the tasks ahead.

7. Be patient and responsive

What would you do if result is taking long, if Clients are not coming or signing up, if none of the deals are getting closed? Remember, you’ve come a long way and the amount of effort which has gone in is worth waiting for some more time. Things might not happen when you want it. Instead, this could also be a time to do little re-alignments, re-look at the approach, figure out if any small but critical part requires due attention and multiple other factors.

Treat it like, you’ve got a red signal at crossing, why not just re-arrange your rear view mirror, have a sip of water, re-adjust your seat and gear up to push pedal when signal becomes green again. On the contrary, if you create panic then things may become tougher for you, for the Team and for the project, in totality.

At times, there are no shortcuts; you just need to keep on making attempts until you succeed. Get into a mindset that the wait will be worth it. Fix opportunity areas to boost confidence in system, people and most importantly, in self.

Stay persistent now as well, but by staying positive.

8. Be resilient & acknowledge setbacks

What would you do, despite genuine efforts if you encounter a roadblock? Would you give up? You might have envisaged most of the things even before you embarked on your trip, still, there are possibilities that you may still come across some unfamiliar problems. The first thing to do is to shift the mindset from considering this as a problem, to a situation. With this slight mental change, it may open doors of opportunities for you. You would now start to look at ways to overcome this situation and soon you shall be out of it.

Setbacks are bound to come, what vary is the frequency of occurrences and the magnitude of each of these occurrences. Being resilient is a quality which would throw you back into managing it all, once again. This is what needs to be nurtured well.

In case you find yourself in a fix as to what to do, and then you may definitely seek external support from an individual or an entity to inspire you or to coach you.

9. Imbibe learning in self & system and credit success to Team

Professionally & personally, you keep learning in this journey, called life. Certain things you know through other persons experience and knowing and rest you learn through your direct exposure and experience. The point is to make note of these learning, knowledge and skills to upgrade you.

A leader is one who leads the Team to a goal. The team achieves it under his or her leadership. Then a time comes when the objective it met; small little wins may happen a multiple times as well, in the journey. True leader is the one who respects Team work, acknowledges their efforts and then passes on the credit to the Team. At the same time, a leader takes full accountability and responsibility for any setbacks in the journey. A leader’s task is not over until the Team succeeds.