Like everyone else I´ve spent some time thinking about why some people are so successful in life. And what factors in success that are under more personal control than others.
Successful people might be intelligent. Or have had a socially well connected upbringings. Or be naturally energetic and open and positive.
But a lot of the factors that make some people more successful at almost anything in life are very much under their control. And much can be improved in anyone’s life by learning from the people that have gone before us.
Here are some of the thoughts on success that I´ve come up with from reading/watching documentaries throughout the years about people such as Michael Jordan, Thomas Edison, Eleanor Roosevelt and Henry Ford. The following factors of success are just a few and I´m quite sure there are a lot more.
They make decisions and take action
Right or wrong action, they take it. Either way it’s always better than making no decisions and taking no action at all. As Franklin Roosevelt said:
“It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.”
They do things even when they don´t feel like it
I think this is a pretty huge factor. A lot of us back down when we don´t want to do something, even though it may eventually bring us to a wonderful experience or goal. Successful people may not always like doing some of the things they have to do. But they do them anyway. And in the longer run that makes all the difference.
They do the most productive thing right now
Instead of trapping themselves in doing productive but not so important tasks or projects they realise what’s most important and do that. And after they´re done with that they do what´s most important again. Instead of just doing a lot of things, they think and plan before they act and try to focus as much as possible of their thoughts and actions on those few very important things.
They do one thing at a time
Many of them don´t seem to multi-task. Some reasons for avoiding that may be that it creates internal confusion, wastes time and spreads the multi-tasker too thinly. Instead, they do one thing and focus on that until it is done. Then they do the next thing until it is done. Focusing 100% on one task at a time will get it done quicker and better.
They have a positive attitude
A negative attitude can be very damaging and limiting to one´s life. A positive one can open new doors every day. It can open your mind to new ideas and input and create or sustain great relationships. It helps you through the hard times as a successful person often sees an opportunity within what others would merely see as a problem.
Have a look at Take The Postivity Challenge for more thoughts and practical tips for creating a more positive attitude.
They have redefined failure
While a lot of people see failure as a way to rationalizing the feeling of wanting to giving up or as a sign that it´s actually time to do something else successful people tend to see it more as useful feedback. They may not like to fail, but they don´t fear it – or at least they have little fear of it - and they know that if they fail they´ve been there before and they can start over again and succeed. This is of course a very useful belief and keeps successful people going while the rest have already given up.
They don´t let fear hold them back
They overcome fear and slay that dragon whenever they face it. Or they may have defined or redefined reality so that fear is substantially decreased or even gone in some areas of their life.
Doing this enables you to take action on your thoughts. This pulls down the barriers in the mind and create new roads and opens up to whole new possibilities. Have a look at 5 Life-Changing Keys to Overcoming Your Fear for more on both slaying your dragons and redefining your reality to contain less fear.
They have found a purpose in life
They are internally driven rather than externally driven. They do what they have a burning desire to do rather than conforming to what others think they should do. Even if what the others think may be positive and successful stuff.
The Michael Jordans, the Edisons and the Stephen Kings have figured out what they want to do in life and are doing it (or did it).
The purpose, I think, is largely why they can keep on going and be motivated while others may tire or just go and do something else that they find more purposeful. The successes love their purpose and when they aligned with it then it seems to push them forward with enthusiasm and energy through life.
They don´t get distracted
When others get too caught up in everyday life to do what they really want to do the successes don´t. They can really focus on actually doing what´s important and what needs to be done. Again, this seems to go back to having a purpose and more clear sense of direction in life.
They value their time highly and plan it out well
A lot of people don´t value their time that much. Successful people have a purpose in life and therefore they do. They have so much they want and an inner urge to do it and therefore need to plan well to use their days effectively.
They´ve got awesome communication-skills
So very much of what we do in life has to do with other people. So it seems quite obvious that to be successful you´ll probably have to have good or great communication-skills (or hire someone that has such skills).
People skills is fortunately something anyone can improve and develop. Have a look at Do You Do these 10 Mistakes in a Conversation and How to Make a Great First Impression for some useful tips.
They have an open mind and are willing to learn
Successful people take the time to study and learn – and often seem to really like doing it - what is necessary to improve their skills. They are open to thoughts, suggestions, solutions, new information and change rather than thinking they already know everything, that there is not much more to learn and that everything should be as it has always been.
What to focus on?
Now, what factors are the most important ones, where should one focus the energy? I am currently focusing on improving my ability to take action, doing what I may not feel like doing and doing the most productive thing right now. To me it seems like these three factors are very important and since they are pretty interconnected they are easy to combine.
I think what you should focus on varies a lot. And it’s up to everyone to figure that out for themselves. But if you´re anything like me you probably already know what areas you need to work on.
译文:
为什么有些人总能成功?
和每个人一样，我也曾花时间思考为什么有些人总能在生活中如此的成功。成功中有哪些是自己的因素多于外来因素?
成功人士可能都是聪明的，或者有很好的社会关系培养起来的。或者是精力充沛的，思想开放和积极的。
但是很多使人们在生活中变得很成功的因素都处在他们的控制之下。很多是从前人那里学到如何提高生活。
有些关于成功的想法是我通过这些年阅读有关迈克尔 •乔丹，托马斯•爱迪生，埃莉诺•罗斯福 和亨利• 福特 的文献而想到的。我肯定的成功因素不止以下的这些。
他们作出决定并采取措施
无论是错的还是对的措施，他们都会采取。任何一种方法都比根本不作出决定和采取措施要好得多。正如富兰克林•罗斯福所说：“采用一种方法并进行尝试这是一种常识。如果失败了，就坦然地承认并尝试另外的方法。但是首先，得尝试某种方法。”
即使他们不想做事的时候他们仍然会做
我认为这的确是很重要的一个因素。当我们中的许多人不想做某件事的时候我们就会选择放弃，即使这件事最终会让我们取得一个了不起的经验或达到目标。成功人士可能也不想做一些他们不愿意但却必须做的事情。但无论怎样他们都会做。从长远来看，结果是很不一样的。
他们即刻做最有结果的事
不是让自己陷于做一些费事的却不重要的任务和项目中，而是他们认识到什么是最重要的然后才会去做。在他们完成所做的接着又再去做更重要的事情。不是做很多的事情，在他们行动之前，会考虑和计划尽量地把他们的注意力集中在那些比较少却非常重要的事情上。
他们每次只做一件事
他们中的很多人并不见得是同时能做很多事情的。避免那样做的一些理由也许就是那样做会造成内部的混乱，浪费时间并过分稀释了多做事情的人的能力。上一件事情完成后然后他们才会做下一件事情。每次把百分百的精力集中在一件事情上才能把事情更快更好的完成。
消极的态度对人的一生是有害的并限制了这一生。积极的态度可以让每天都有很多新出路。这样积极的态度可以让你敞开心扉去接受新的思想并能导入和创造或保持重大的关系。它可以帮助你渡过困难，作为一个成功人士，别人认为是困难的你却能把它当作机会。
看一看“采取积极的挑战”这本书寻求更多的思想和实际的技巧以创造一个更积极的态度。
他们重新定义失败
当许多人把失败看做一种方法来合理化他们想放弃的感觉或是作为是时候该做别的事情的一个标志，成功人士看到的是更多有用的反馈。他们可能不会失败，但他们不惧怕失败-或者他们至少有点担心失败，他们知道如果他们曾经失败了，但也可以重新来过并能取得成功。这当然是一条很有用的信念使得成功人士别人已经打算放弃的时候可以继续向前进。
他们不会让恐惧阻止他们前进
他们能克服恐惧，无论何时遇到都能控制住恐惧。或者他们可以定义或重新定义事实那样的话恐惧就能逐渐地减少甚至可以从生命中的某些领域消失。
这样做的话可以使你在思想上采取行动。这样可以推倒心理的障碍并能创造出新的道路和打开一整片新天地。看一看“改变生命克服恐惧的五个关键”这本书以寻求克服恐惧和重新定义现实去容忍更少的恐惧。
他们找到了生活的目的
他们自我受到的激励多于外部的激励。他们有强烈的欲望去做事情而不是遵从别人认为他们应该做的才去做。即使别人所认为的也许是很积极的成功的事情。
迈克尔•乔丹，爱迪生和斯蒂芬•金已经想出他们生命中所想做的事情并完成了或者已经正在做他们想做的事情。
我想就是目的为什么能使成功人士保持前进并受到激励而别人也许觉得累了或者只想着放弃和去做别的他们认为是更有意义的。成功人士热爱他们的目地并和它连在了一起，似乎这样他们在整个生命中就可以满腹热忱和精力充沛地前进。
他们不会心烦意乱
当别人陷在每天的生活中而没法做他们真正想做的事情的时候，成功人士却不会那样。他们可以把精力真正集中在重要的事情和需要完成的事情上。再者，这似乎可以找回到生命的目的和更有清晰的方向感。
他们非常重视时间并能很好地安排时间
很多人都不怎么重视他们的时间。成功人士有有生活的目标，因此他们会重视时间。他们有很多他们想要的，并且内心急于完成它，因此他们需要很好的计划和有效地使用每一天。
很多我们生活中所做的都是和别人有关的。因此，似乎是很明显地，要成功的话你得有很好或很了不起的沟通技巧（或者雇某些有那样技巧的人）。
沟通技巧很幸运地成为人们可以提高和发展的东西。看一看“在谈话中你犯有这十处错误么”和“如何制造第一绝佳印象”这两本书寻求一些有用的技巧。
他们思想开放并且愿意学习
成功人士花时间学习--似乎经常都喜欢这样做，这是他们提高技巧所必需的东西。他们接受想法，建议，方案和新的信息和改变而不是认为他们什么都已经知道，那样的话就有很多东西要学，而不是每样东西都永远是老样子。
什么是要集中注意的？
现在，什么因素是最重要的一个？哪里是应该集中精力的？我目前所做的就是集中精力提高我采取行动的能力，做一些我可能不想做的，即刻做最有结果的事情。对我而言，这三个因素是非常重要的，因为他们是非常相关的并很容易连系在一起。
我想你该集中注意的地方会有很大的不同。找出适合自己的取决于每一个人。但是如果你和我一样是小人物的话，你可能已经知道哪些领域是你需要努力的。