The 77 Traits of Highly Successful people, 232 pages, by Mark Foo, is summarized here by Dr. Salma Heiss. The result is a manual of sorts that anyone who is striving to make something of his/her life must keep in hand.
Here it is:
- Do what you love- life is too short to hate what you do all day.
- Take 100% responsibility- accept responsibility for your life, know that it’s you who will get you where you want to go, no one else. So what does it mean to take personal responsibility : a) be aware of your life b) make conscious choices c) accept the consequences
- Take actions – what we think or what we know or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do. There are 3 reasons why people are not taking actions when they know that would help them if they do; first is laziness, second is the amount of tasks they need to do is overwhelmed and the third is they fear of failure. But know that handful of people achieve what they really want because they took the necessary action. And you can be one of them.
- Expect the best of your self – the most successful people aren’t necessarily the smartest, the best of networking or even the hardest working though of course all this characteristics would certainly help but one of the biggest determining factor in their success is the expectation they have for themselves. Ultimately, nobody else can make us great, we have to do it for ourselves.
- Decide what you want- the indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is to decide what you want.
- Dream big- don’t limit yourself, you are much more than that.
- Believe in your self- you have to believe in yourself when no one else does, that is what makes you winner, don’t surrender your life to random events, but take charge and shape your own future.
- Believe it’s possible – your belief is the single biggest thing that determines the future outcome. If you think something is impossible it will be impossible. If you think something is possible than it’s possible. As henry Ford puts it, “whether you think you can or think you can’t – you are right.
- Make unfaltering commitment to your goals- there is difference between interest and commitment , when you are interested in doing something, you do it only when it’s convenient but when you are committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.
- Be absolutely focused- master your attention, become absolutely focused. Choose one thing to focus on one time. Don’t shift your attention to other things. Stay focused.
- Stay positive in the face of challenges- positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.
- Be a person of value- person of value have a 4 characteristics, first they are leaders, they are respected not feared , a person of value leaves an admirable legacy and lastly they are paid, money isn’t everything but it a good measure of persons value.
- Embrace failures- failure is simply opportunity to begin again in more intelligently.
- See problems as opportunities- stop the victim mentality (why me), trash the worry and know that nothing is permanent, all things will come to an end including bad episodes.
- Be honest- honesty is fundamental human value, when we lie we stab at heart of a core essential of our humanity that means it’s not only painful for the people we lie but to ourselves as well.
- Talk to your self like a winner- the more you consciously decide to talk to yourself in an empowering manner, the more easily you will start believing it.
- Be decisive- decisiveness simply means that you have the ability to decide, from the strength of a decision you then have the ability to act. Often and often you will face greater damage by making no decision at all then by making a bad one.
- Be well prepared- practice, practice, practice. The best way to be prepared is to have rehearsed something so many times that you develop muscular memory.
- Be courageous- do what you really feel without regret or inhibition.
- Do it now- one of the most common problem is procrastination, we know what we want to do and should do, but still we end up spending hours upon doing easier work or escaping via TV, blogs or music. So to overcome this stop thinking and start doing , don’t blow a task out of proportion this means the more hours and days you put something off the worst it grows in your mind, just take the first step, start with the hardest task of the day, just make a decision- any decision , face your fear and lastly finish it.
- Welcome the unknown- change is good as it quite often leads to process of improvement, increased productivity and efficiency.
- Take small action steps- the secret of getting ahead is getting started, the secret of getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks and then starting on the first one. Don’t forget to reward yourself for small achievements and then continue improvements.
- Just get going- the single biggest reason for unaccomplished or unfulfilled dreams is the lack of ability to make a serious commitment.
- Ask for what you want- many of us have something in common when we are trying to get what we want from others we afraid to ask. This is because we are afraid the outcome will not meet our hopes and expectations. There are five steps to learn to ask for what you want, first know that its ok to have desires, second its ok to make those desires known, third be clear to yourself on what you want, forth, focus on getting what you want and lastly getting what you want helps everyone around you because this is making you a better person.
- Hang around with successful people- to know how much you become a successful person ask yourself how many successful person do you know. It’s not someone you know in the news, or by name but someone who can tell you what it really is to be successful. In order to succeed you need to change the way you act, feel and think.
- Acknowledge that you can’t please everybody-
- Leverage- there are 5 forms of leverage that highly successful people employ to maximize their results; first team, second mentors, third network, forth tool and lastly system. If you want to achieve predictably positive result you need to develop a system that will deliver the desired result no matter who are the people running the system.
- Never give up-
- Exceed expectations- always do more than what is expected.
- Be proactive- by having a proactive mindset you put yourself in the position of power and choice. In summary control a situation rather than responding after it has happened.
- Plan to live your dreams- if you have a dream it’s never too late to start planning on making sure it succeeds. Dreams to succeed they must not be wishful thinking but there must be a drive, passion and a desire.
- Set your goals- in order to live your fullest potential it is essential to learn to set powerful and motivating goals. For your goals to be successful it is crucial to plan thoroughly, have a burning desire and most importantly take action.
- Determine your first major milestone- in order to accomplish your goals or vision for your life, you need to determine the milestones and the resources that you will need to fulfil your big picture.
- Visualize- visualize the things you want, see it, feel it, believe in it, make your mental blue print and begin to build. Trick your mind by believing that you have already succeeded. Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.
- Take a break- short breaks to rest during the day or a break that finishes a day and begin in the next morning, if you take the second one make sure you plan well for the next day so you start earlier.
- Admit your mistakes- a man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them and strong enough to correct them.
- Fake it till you make it- to fly as fast as thought, to be anywhere there is, you must first begin by knowing that you have already arrived. It starts you being the person you want to be, it starts with your thoughts, your thoughts into actions then.
- Think long term- if we are to be successful at anything, we should never sacrifice our long term ambitions in favor of short term payoffs or distractions.
- Speak to win- the most effective people are very good at speaking with others and they standout because the average person is just not very good at it.
- Put in the sweat- the only way you are going to get anywhere in life is to work harder. The only way to master your skill is to practice, practice, practice, practice equals sweat.
- Establish good relationships- the single most important ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people. Don’t be that person whom people want to avoid. Let the people that matter to you most know that you need them, let them know they have helped or inspired you, offer gratitude and attention for their contribution.
- Give to receive- when you help others wholeheartedly, help will always come back to you.
- Stretch your self- move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.
- Be a risk taker- it’s better to have taken the risk and failed, than to never have taken the risk at all. Take the risk and do what you know you have to do.
- Be inquisitive- be curious, become a student of your own personality
- Be analytical- analytical thinkers take into account a wide scope of possible scenarios allowing them to make the best decision with the information they have.
- Be discriminate- just because it’s common it doesn’t make it right. Even if you are in the minority have the courage to use your voice respectfully. Successful people mix the right crowd, they take inspirations and motivations from their friends, family and those that encourages them to grow.
- Challenge conventions- whenever you find yourself on the side of majority it’s time to pause and reflect. You can’t do what everyone is doing and expect to have a different result.
- Be self-aware- knowing others is wisdom, knowing your self is enlightenment.
- Commit to constant improvement- he who stops being better stops being good. Here are tips to work on constant improving in any aspect; never limit your learning, read anything you can, put it in a lot of effort, work on improvement daily, accept that there is no end, support yourself, don’t give u- no matter what, practice practice practice , remind yourself of your progress.
- Maximize your time- don’t say I don’t have enough time, you are given the exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, mother Teresa, albert Einstein, Thomas Jefferson and Leonardo da Vinci. There is four time management solutions; first turn off emails (distractions) , second work on focused task for 48 minutes and rest 12 minutes that it will become 1 productive hour, third prioritize; this means 80% of your 48 minutes should focus the high value tasks while the rest 20% should focus on less valuable tasks, lastly reduce the time you have allotted for it- get the tasks done earlier than its needed.
- Be generous- you can have everything in life that you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want. Be generous with your time; give your full attention. Be generous about your talent.
- Seek opinions, advice and feedback- this will help you succeed in ways you never thought possible. Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others while unsuccessful people are always asking what is in it for me.
- Don’t envy, don’t resent, don’t get jealous- envy is yearning to have what someone else has, it is act of counting the fellow’s blessings instead of your own. Easy way to prevent this is to be content with what you have. Deal with resentment by forgiving the person who is causing you the grievance. Jealousy is due to low self-esteem, to overcome you have to believe in yourself first.
- Don’t eat your words- losers make promises they often break but winners make commitments they always keep. Promises are critical to your success, don’t make them lightly.
- Learn to sell- rich people are always excellent promoters. They can and willing to promote their products, their services and their ideas and enthusiasm.
- Keep an open mind- to cultivate an open mind, we need to let go of judgmental thinking. Learning to accept several possible outcomes keeps our mind open, instead of charging one imagined outcome.
- Commit to lifelong learning- successful people are always committed to learning and improving. The more you learn – the more you earn.
- Model other successful people- if you want to go somewhere, its best to find someone who has already been there.
- Focus on your dreams- dreaming is what makes you go forward. Regret is what holds you down. So which one would you choose? The good news is that you are not a habit, you are more than that, you have this fantastic power to re-engineer yourself, to rewire your brain so it will avoid the old path.
- Learn to say no- we can’t be everything to everyone, and we can’t do it all. Say no without offending or disappointing people by; Saying no with polite explanation, say no to this and yes to that, this means while you are letting the person down casually bring up another event or task that you two will be teaming up on.
- Trust your gut- your inner feeling. For example if you feel excitement , passion and enthusiasm after you took a decision it indicates that it’s a good decision,
- Be disciplined- discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment. Once you have developed this, anything is possible. You can develop self-discipline that lasts by making routine and sticking to it, by not over doing a thing or task, by using rewards or punishments at the end, by finding some inspirational figures to imitate and most importantly by finding short term and long term motivation and working on it.
- Develop new positive habits- highly successful people have two broad spectrum habits – the habit of dropping old negative habits and the habit of developing new positive habits.
- Never trade time for money- rich people prefer to get paid based on the results they produce.
- Blow your own trumpet- if you don’t tell people about your success, they probably won’t know about it. People will listen and be inspired when you have an outstanding eagerness and passion for whatever you do. So when you talk about what you do, be passionate. People can assume a lot about abilities from the way you look or the way you present yourself. So look smart, smile and act positive.
- Keep a keen eye on opportunities- opportunities may be nearby, but they are not necessarily going to be right there in your line of vision. You have to turn your head and look around. Search opportunities by being open, proactive, social, watchful, and creative and being positive. Opportunities are everywhere, we just have to know where to look and have persistent in our search.
- Stay healthy- the first wealth is health. Sacrificing your wellbeing may be effective in the short term, but maintaining a healthy lifestyle is the key to long term success. Make sure you eat right, get enough rest and exercise. Exercise will recharge your batteries and allow you work more effectively.
- Outsource and delegate- successful people often outsource work that are not within their core business, while ineffective people often want to do everything. So decide on what NOT to do.
- Respect and love money- not an extent that you are slave to it but loving it for the good it can do for you and the people around you. If you resent the rich people and think that they are a bad people, then your unconscious mind will NEVER allow you to become rich, because if you become rich then you will become the ‘bad’ person.
- Increase your financial IQ- the best asset is your financial IQ.
- Keep track of your money- list down all your sources income; your saving rate, daily living expenses and etc.
- Pay yourself first- this means before you pay your bills, before you buy groceries, before you do anything else, set aside a portion of your income to save. This encourages your financial habits and it opens a world of opportunity.
- Control your urge to splurge- splurge is the act of spending money freely. The rich knows how to control their spending urges- that’s why they are rich.
- Get smart with your spending- building wealth isn’t just about working harder or what you choose to invest in; it’s about spending smarter.
- Grow your money- whether you aspire to become a millionaire or not, should invest your money because it is the only way you can put your money to work for you in order to secure your own financial freedom. Learn how to invest.
- Protect your money- one of the reasons so many people have financial problem is because they have too many hands in their pocket.
