Develop the 5 attributes of a successful person, and you will find yourself moving quickly toward your goals in life!
Thick Skin
If you want to be successful, people mustn’t be able to easily offended or hurt you. There will always be people who are jealous or envious or out to bring someone else down—but you must develop a way to see past it and let it roll off your back, like “water off a duck’s back.”
Ducks have feathers that are tight and dens so they repel water like oil. This keeps the duck dry and warm. So when water (cold or otherwise) lands on the back of a duck, it simply rolls off. Let criticism roll off your back in a similar manner, because if you are going to be successful, you will receive your fair share of criticism. You can count on it.
Obedience
Although this might seem strange to talk about to adults and not children, it is important to consider that in order to be a leader, you must first learn how to obey one. You must learn the principle of loyalty to a leader if you want to lead others.
Consider this: 175 of the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are former US Marines, and 27 US Presidents served in the military. Once you have learned how to obey and to follow directions, you can lead others and understand how important commands and orders are an organization and an individual.
Courage
Bravery is not courage, but you cannot have courage without being brave. Courage is the moral fortitude to stand up for your character (touched on in the last article) and to do the right thing, even in the face of adversity.
When you have courage, you follow through on your vision and you get more out of life. Why? Because when you have the strength of your conviction, you can find the courage to put it into action. And if you do, you’ll be glad when you look back on your life later.
Intolerance
This isn’t what you might expect to find in an article about success, but each of us must be intolerant of any number of things if we are going to be successful.
We must be intolerant of abuse, injustice, and immoral, unethical, and illegal behavior. That way, we can maintain high standards for ourselves and those around us. It’s okay to be intolerant of the negative things in life. In fact, it’s essential for personal success.
Sense of Humor
If you don’t have a sense of humor, you will probably fall flat on your face at some point along your journey. A lack of a sense of humor makes it hard to do well in life, because a good portion of the road to success is filled with blockades and potholes.
If you come up against one and go down, you must have the ability to laugh at the situation and yourself. If you don’t, you will be angry and bitter about your misfortune and struggle to move past it, setting yourself back.
Laugh at yourself and what you run up against and you’ll find your climb to the top is quicker and more enjoyable than you thought it would be.
