One of the frequent questions I am asked is: “what makes successful people successful?”.
Put another way, what were the common success traits of all self-made millionaires, I found in my Rich Habits Study?
There were six traits that almost every self-made millionaire seemed to possess:
- Passion
- Curiosity (Desire to Learn)
- Focus
- Hard Work Ethic
- Patience and
- Persistence
What’s even more interesting is that, according to the wealthy individuals I interviewed, those traits were dormant most of their lives and only came to the surface after they decided to pursue some dream.
These traits did not manifest themselves all at one time. Like dominoes, one success trait set off another success trait and another and another…
The success trait, however, that set everything in motion, that brought all of the other success traits to the surface, was passion. And what brought passion to the surface, was, in every case, the pursuit of a dream.
When you find your dream (see Dream-Setting Process) and decide to take action on your dream, like a mushroom, passion bursts forth. Passion fuels your desire to learn everything about your dream. Fueled by emotional energy (passion), this desire to learn unleashes within you the ability to focus for long periods of time. This focus makes it appear to the untrained observer that you possess some incredible, relentless work ethic. That work ethic gives birth to patience, as you are forced to face and overcome problems, obstacles and pitfalls. The ability to overcome so many things gives others the impression that you are persistent.
Think of the pursuit of a dream as the fuse that sets off all of the different fireworks you would see at some major event or celebration. Each one of those different fireworks represent the different success traits.
We are all genetically hardwired with these innate success traits. Finding your dream and taking action on it, sets them off, exposing them for all the world to see.
Until you take action on your dream, those success traits will remain dormant, waiting for you to light the fuse.
About Thomas C. Corley
This is a great post. I need to use these traits to lose some weight.
Another great post, Tom.
Well done Tom, This is brilliant.