Whether you are concerned about gaining ground in your professional life, or want to make the most out of your personal life, you may wonder whether successful people share some common traits. The fact is that every successful person has succeeded in part because of some attributes that uniquely are his or her own. However, in the grand scheme of things, there are five traits that commonly are shared by successful people.
Successful People are Willing to Take Risks
A common trait shared by successful individuals is that they are willing to take risks. In this regard, a successful person doesn’t take reckless risks or unnecessary ones. Rather, a successful individual is willing to throw caution to the wind in a more calculated manner. In the grand scheme of things, not being at least something of a risk taker is likely to limit a person’s potential over time. Risk can begat success, as is demonstrated in life stories of many individuals who have achieved a great deal during the course of their lifetimes.
Successful People are Willing to Work
Pay little attention to all the “stuff” you will encounter online that equates leisure with success. Truly successful people are not of the leisure class. Less successful wannabes are lounging about.
One consistent trait associated with successful individuals is that they work hard. Indeed, they work tirelessly. This is particularly the case when an entrepreneur is starting a new business enterprise. In the end, there may be no rest for the wicked, but in many ways there is not rest for a person intent on being on a successful course in life.
Successful People are Willing to Admit Mistakes
Failure happens. Nothing is more true when it comes to accepting the challenges that you must face and accept if you want to enjoy success. A stark reality is that some failures individuals face is a result of mistakes they have made.
Although it is something of a cliché, it is often noted for good reason. The problem isn’t making a mistake. The issue is what you do in the aftermath of making a mistake.
Successful people share the wiliness to admit they have made a mistake. They take full, complete ownership for their errors. Indeed, they tend to be individuals willing to take more global ownership of an entire project, on which they played a part, that encounters a shortcoming or failure.
By accepting responsibility for a mistake, successful people also make themselves leaders in the solution. Through their ability for critical thought and creativity, after accepting responsibility for a mistake, they develop strategies to move forward and one down the roadway to success.
Successful People Set Boundaries
Successful people do not say “yes” with abandon. Successful people are not people pleasers. Rather, successful individuals are those that understand when and how to say “no.” They understand that unless they are in the business of making balloon animals for children, pleasing other is not necessarily the primary goal in their business or professional endeavors.
With this in mind, successful people set clear boundaries. They set boundaries associated with their time, their money, and other aspects of their life.
Boundaries assist a successful person in being able to appropriate marshal his or her time for important tasks. Boundaries also ensure that a successful person makes appropriate and not spurious and unnecessary commitments to others.
Successful People Know How to Delegate
Another of the key attributes associated with successful individuals is their ability to delegate. They are not control freaks.
As part of their ability to delegate is a companion trait of being good at building solid teams to support a business or project. Intellectually and intuitively, a successful person is good at identifying and bringing together talented people to work on his or her team.
As an aside, a successful person is also willing to share credit. Indeed, a common trait of a successful person is being self-effacing and pleased to shrug of credit for an accomplishment, particularly when he or she is a team leader. A successful person is eager to give others credit, even above and beyond garnering accolades for his or her self.
In the final analysis, a truly successful individual is likely to have all of these traits key traits. The reality behind these traits is that they complement one another. For example, a person who works hard is likely apt to achieve a particular goal. If that is part of a team effort, a successful person is likely to be more than eager to share credit when a milestone is achieved.
Jessica Kane is a professional blogger who writes for Faxage a leading company that provides Internet fax service for individuals and businesses.