How the ultra-successful think – The 7 things they do differently
When we think, talk about, and visualize successful people, our minds usually race to elite billionaire entrepreneurs like the late Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Mark Zukerberg, Jeff Bezos, Phil Knight, Richard Branson, and the like. People hardly take into account great names like Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela and Lee Kuan Yew, who stand out above the rest in their general greatness of spirit and success. Since modern society equates success with the amount of cash one has in their bank account, I will focus here on how people who are truly motivated to achieve short-term and long-term financial success think and act. Money has its place, however I won’t stop there, I will also show you how people achieve ultra success in areas that money can’t even buy. Here I focus on 7 key character attributes that distinguish successful people from people who achieve average or little success, which by the way, is about 95% of the human race. To be ultra successful requires mental toughness. It requires the willingness to think differently. It requires a willingness to forego short-term gains and comfort for long-term, lasting results.
There are no talismans, concoctions or potions to ward off wealth, otherwise everyone would be rich. If you’re ready to join me on the exciting journey to freedom; If you are willing to pay the price to achieve that elusive success that we all yearn for but only a few achieve, then you are in the right place. Let us begin.
The 7 things the ultra-successful do differently
1. Don’t settle for less
Successful people set their goals very high from the start and won’t settle for anything less until they’ve achieved them. They usually have a hierarchy of goals with the highest goal they want to achieve at the top, then they go about accomplishing goals one after another with messianic zeal. We have all heard of the story of Bill Clinton, who became the 42nd President of the United States of America at a relatively young age of 47 years. When Clinton was 15 years old, in 1961, he met President JF Kennedy, who shook up the youth. hand in hand with Clinton and from that day Clinton purposed in his heart to be like JFK. He resolved to become president one day, and in 1992, he defeated incumbent President George HW Bush in a hotly contested election to become president and was sworn in as president on January 4, 1993.
two. They jealously guard their time
In his Tipping Point, author Malcolm Gladwell points out that it takes about 10,000 hours of continuous effort to perform at the highest level in any activity, be it sports, art, or science. A virtuoso pianist, a world-class conductor, legendary opera singers, a golfer in the likes of Tiger Woods, a tennis superstar in the mold of Serena Williams, basketball legends like Michael Jordan, teachers of world-class reputation , they all require an enormous amount of effort to hone their skills. That effort takes time. Remember the pilot CB Sullenberger who landed a crippled American Airlines passenger plane in the Hudson River in New York. Do you think he woke up one day to perfect such a feat? Elite players take care of their time like the apple of their eyes. They prefer to part with their bag than their time, because as we all know, time is the stuff life is made of.
3. They are action oriented.
Successful people have action as their keyword. The same with successful companies! What is a company by the way? Isn’t it a team of people united behind a common purpose? There is a difference between having action as a keyword and actually taking action. Some people have all kinds of vision, mission, values, and purpose statements, but they never really get down to doing anything. They take months to make decisions that can be made in an hour because they don’t want to be wrong? They don’t want to make mistakes. In short, they want to be perfect. Have you ever seen a perfect decision or a perfect product? Never! If you want to be hugely successful, don’t join the board of planners or the committee of reviewers, just join the team of doers.
Four. They stretch to the limit
Can you imagine the technological wizardry required to shrink the computer from a container-sized mainframe to something the size of a small suitcase? What about the iPhone, iPad and iPod, three devices so captivating, beautiful and attractive that people were willing and ready to do anything or pay any price just to have them when they first came out? There is no doubt that producing these revolutionary designs requires leaps of the imagination. Few exhibited leaps of imagination more than the late Steve Jobs. For him, nothing was good enough unless it was crazy cool. Jobs stretched his people to the limit and that is why most admired him because he made them operate at the highest level of imagination and competence. Jobs always let people know about him that the goal was to “make a mark on the universe,” a feat that the people at Apple pursued with enthusiasm, zeal, and manic determination.
5. They face risks head-on
You see obstacles and risks when you divert your attention from your goal. However, you see the reward of your achievement when you focus on your goal. You see the gold medal around your neck when you focus on your goal. Jack Canfield in his Principles of Success tells the legendary story of Chad Pregracke, then 21 years old, who in 1997 set out to clean up the Mississippi River. Can you even contemplate starting such a project or company? But that’s what Chad Pregrack did. He did not have an MBA in Project Management. He had no title, but he set out to clean up the largest river in America. Chad made it. In 2011, Chad was recognized as a Service Hero and was invited to speak before the four living former US Presidents at the Points of Light Tribute event in Washington DC. He was introduced on stage by former US President Jimmy Carter.
6. They exhibit legendary tenacity
When Henry Ford decided to double his workers’ wages to $5 an hour in 1914, there was quite a stir. Other industrialists criticized Ford, saying, “The dumbest thing ever attempted.” The New York Times editorialized with the headline: “He’s Crazy, Isn’t He?” Not to be outdone, the Wall Street Journal wrote an article questioning “the application of spiritual principles where they don’t belong.” Was Henry Ford discouraged? Of course he wasn’t. He pursued his ambition with the tenacity of a bulldog and a rottweiler rolled into one, and became the richest man in the world.
7. they play to win
Playing to win is the ultimate mentality. Thinking only in terms of winning makes you focus only on the possibilities. The most successful people only think in terms of winning. The attribute, play to win, brings together the other six attributes. When you make the first six, there’s no way you won’t win. Winning means seeing the big picture of what you want to achieve in your mind’s eye and relentlessly pursuing it. The greatest men and women in all of human history: Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Carlos Slim, Nelson Mandela, all play to win. Most of the other people just play. If you want to be great, play to win.
conclusion
These seven character traits or attributes in a nutshell, are the things you need on your journey to super success. While other gurus may urge you to set goals, keep in mind that a goal is worthless if he doesn’t achieve it. In order to achieve his goal, he must have the mental toughness and resilience to employ the 7 mental attributes to win. He doesn’t need a Ph.D., MBA, or college degree to win, considering that, as Benjamin Franklin joked, the world is full of educated bums. All success, as they say, is 90% mental and only 10% physical.