All successful people have certain similar characteristics. These similar traits drive them to succeed; whether knowingly or unknowingly. Some of these people are aware of the results of their ability to exhibit these success habits, while others are simply unaware. The unaware group sometimes think that their ability to follow through in whatever they start, is what is responsible for their success. Studies have shown that all successful people exhibit the habits listed below.
Our habits determine who we are because habits determine character. Character is the total of all qualities making up individuality. Character can also be said to be the reputation of possessing moral qualities. We can therefore safely say that, our character determines our destiny. The good or the right habits produce success while the wrong or bad habits limit or prevent success.
Some of these characteristics are:
Gratefulness
Successful people have a sense of being thankful for favours. They know a favour when they get one. They are grateful to God for their present condition while continuing to get better in whatever it is, they are trying to achieve. Successful people appreciate their employees, thereby creating in them a sense of affiliation. They also appreciate their families, friends….. Successful people appreciate what they find along the way and give gratitude to whom it is due.
Association
Successful people know how to join the right associations because they know that association can limit or propel a man. They understand that the kind of association someone chooses can make or destroy him. They strategically associate themselves with those that matter, because they know that some relationships fast track destiny while some others simply mar destinies. They also understand that isolation is limitation and are smart enough to disengage from people or associations that can destroy them or thwart their plans. They are smart enough to identify and terminate relationships that are parasitic in nature. Symbiosis is their style.
Prudence
Successful people exhibit the habit of acting with careful deliberation. They do not jump into untested and unknown waters. They are careful to make sure that they get all necessary information about a journey before they embark on it. They are careful with resources.
Decision
Successful people are good and quick decision makers. They understand that not taking a decision at all is a decision in itself, so they weigh the options available to them, and then select the best course of action.
Excellence
Successful people know that ‘better’ is not enough. They are not satisfied with just ok. They almost always strive for excellence. They aim to be the best in all that they do. They understand how to do the ordinary things in extra ordinary ways. Like Aristotle, they know that we are what we repeatedly do; and that excellence is then not an act, but a habit. Successful people possess the ability to do things well to an unusual degree. They dislike mediocrity.
Specialization
Successful people are specialists. They devote themselves to their areas of expertise. They know almost all that there is to know in their areas of specialization. They are not jacks of all trades because they want excellence.
Innovation
Successful people are innovators. They introduce new things and ideas. They bring about change.
Meditation
Successful people practise meditation. They reflect deeply on the things that they set out to achieve. They are very thoughtful people, because they know that meditation can transform situations; and that what we think deeply, is what will change us. They are conscious of the fact that thoughts attract God. Successful people understand that it is what we think about that we act upon. Whatever a man can think and imagine, he can achieve.
Planning
Successful people are schemers. They are able to arrange situations beforehand. They preempt and predict the future. They think of possible changes and solutions to problems before they evolve. They plan in order to avert crises that may arise during projects. They plan in order to make the best use of available resources.
Motion orientation
Successful people are motion oriented. Do you remember Newton’s first law of motion which explains that a stationary body maintains the same position unless another body moves it or a force of motion acts on it. Successful people know that in nature, nothing moves unless it is being moved by you or another force. They understand that action is superior to information. An important information is useless to you if you are never going to act upon it. Successful people know that Success comes when you take lines of actions.
Persistence
Successful people are very persistent. They are consistent with their actions until they get result. They understand that there can never be success without constant practices. They know that success is more of persistence than knowledge. A fraction of successful people believe that perseverance almost always beat real talent. They maintain effort regardless of obstacles and objections.
Responsibility
Successful people are dutiful, dependable and accountable. They act in answer to any stimulus. They have the ability to respond to different situations according to the demand of each situation. They understand they must stand by the results of their decisions and be willing to shoulder consequences of their actions. They examine their motives at all times i.e. they are ensure that their motives are always justified
Integrity
Successful people are people of honesty. They exhibit the quality of possessing and steadfastly adhering to high moral principles or professional standards. They care about their reputation. They are careful not to get involved in situations that can mar their reputation. They know that bad reputation is malignant to success.
Growth
Successful people are not stagnant. They constantly seek self improvement. They always seek to increase in knowledge and its applications because they understand that knowledge has no value except that which can be gained from its applications towards some worthy end.
Time management
Successful people are good time managers. They understand that they cannot get more than 24 hours a day, so they make the best use of the available time allotted to them. They do the important things first. They know when to play and when to work. They understand the concept of ‘Time is money’. They do not waste their time.
Seed Principled
Successful people know that actions, deeds, thoughts and words are all seeds. They know that what you want in the future is what you must plant today. They believe in the law of cause and effect. They know that you cannot plant bad deed and expect to reap good, like you do not plant the seed of laziness and expect to reap wealth.
Service
Successful people are given to service and they help others. They are usually part of a system organized to provide for the need of others. They help and support good causes.
Regeneration
Successful people undergo regeneration. They understand that renewal is significant to success. They reproduce and mentor their kind, other successful people. They reorganize again and again.
