7 Signs of a Successful Person
This is a guest post by Mr. Self Development.
A friend of mine approached me a few weeks ago asking if I could make an investment into a jewelry store he was looking to purchase. Typically when I get these types of offers, I don’t give them too much attention, but this offer was slightly different.
And it’s not so much that the offer was different, but the person making the offer was different from the usual requestors.
Whenever someone asks me to invest in their business, I always go through the following “signs” to determine if the person will become a success.
If I believe they will succeed, I will invest; I don’t mind investing in success.
The 7 Signs of a Successful Person
1. Passion and Purpose
“Without passion you don’t have energy; without energy you have nothing.”
~Donald Trump
Passion and purpose are crucial. Passion is birth from purpose.
Why is passion and purpose so critical? Because there will always be unforeseen obstacles and reasons to give up, passion and purpose give you the strength to overcome these obstacles without losing hope.
Passion and purpose create the focus you need to push yourself to victory. As Walter Cronkite so eloquently put it, “I can’t imagine a person becoming a success who doesn’t give this game of life everything he’s got.”
2. Persistence
“Success…seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit”
~Conrad Hilton
In order to succeed you must have a “no-give-up” attitude. You have to be like a bulldog, Winston Churchill said, “The nose of the bulldog has been slanted backwards, so that he can breathe without letting go. Are you as persistent as the bulldog?
3. Experience
“Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment.”
~Rita Mae Brown
How much experience do you have? Experience is priceless.
Virtually every successful person I know went through many years of experience prior to becoming a success; typically, 10, 20, sometimes 30 years of experience before succeeding. What are you experienced in?
4. Courage and Faith
“The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are, for what we could become.”
~Charles Dubois
Nothing great is ever achieved without the courage to make great sacrifices, and the faith to believe you will succeed. Are you willing to put everything on the line and face your fears with faith, confidence, resolution and bravery? William Shed said, “A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.”
5. Sincerity and Integrity
“To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.”
~Douglas Adams
Isaiah wrote, “Without a vision, the people perish.” I came here to tell you, “Without people, the vision will perish.” No one can succeed without people, and people will only help those they like and trust.
6. Wisdom
“In the multitude of counselors there is safety.” ~Solomon
Do you take wise counsel, who’s coaching you? Who are your mentors? This is pivotal, it’s critical that you lean on the wisdom of others. No man is an island.
7. Growth
“He that never changes his opinions, never corrects his mistakes, and will never be wiser on the morrow than he is today.”
~Tryon Edwards
Are you willing to fail forward? I often say that the road to success is paved with bricks of failure and mortar of rejection. Failure is necessary for success. If you’re not failing, you’re not growing, and if you’re not growing, you’re dying.
In Conclusion
Will Rogers said, “In order to succeed, you must know what you are doing, like what you are doing, and believe in what you are doing.” I agree with Mr. Rogers.
In case you’re wondering about my friend’s business venture, I did make the investment. I believe success is predictable, and my friend possesses the signs of a “successful person.”
What’s your story, do you possess the “7 Signs?”
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Posted by Alex Shalman in Personal Development | July 29, 2009 | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumble | Print | 18 comments
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Very insightful list. I really like the quotes used.
A lot of people get caught up with comparing themselves to other people and it’s difficult to advance when doing that. It’s better to look inwards because external events will frequently be beyond your control. If you stop comparing yourself to people who are seemingly more successful than you are, you can start believing you are a success. Because success is subjective and can’t be compared. It has to be believed before it can manifest itself.
My story: I used to spend a lot of time comparing myself to others. Then I realized that no one is thinking about me as much as I am; in other words, I am my worst critic. I decided that I was being too hard on myself and that I needed to have faith in myself. I may not look like the definition of success to others, but in my mind I already am and that’s what counts. That belief has given me the energy to act upon it.
Great article, love the quotes….I love the part about passion and purpose….in this day and age…so many people are trying to “get rich quick…” they forget to focus on their “passion” and “purpose”…the entire list is great!…I’ll be sure to bookmark this page….thanks for the information….
My story: I’m on my way to having all of the seven signs….
Hi mr SD
Good list of success principles here and 7 that you will find in most people who made it in their field. I think this list could also be classed as core values in a person. If you can develop the core values above then success will surely follow.
Hope you made a wise investment.
Hey guys….thanks for the comments….great story Valerie….
Tammy you’re right….the key to success is staying focused on “your” life’s purpose…everyone has a purpose…you must discover that purpose and then dedicate your life to fulfilling it in order to have true success…
Steve….great comment…you’re right, these are also great core values….btw…I do enjoy reading your site….
You’re absolutely right with these factors for success. I’m grateful that passion and courage have led me to gain some experience and growth over the last couple of years, specifically in the areas of leadership and real estate investing. I’m glad you stated experience is priceless, because I have paid some high price tags for obtaining the experience I have gained so far! But yet, it’s when we are most uncomfortable that we grow the most, and can then succeed the most.
It’s amasing to see what people can do having solid principles. I think everybody has an oportunity to be a successfull person, but few of them have the passion, the purpose, the courage and faithe to start.
Great article. If many of today’s business managers regularly practiced these principles as a part of their regular life as well as in the business world, there would be more successful businesses and a better economy would result. Too many business owners are concerned with money and greed and can’t understand why their business fails. If they changed their perspective and motives plus adding these principles, there would be changes to make a difference in the business world.
@Valerie @Tammy @Steven @Steve @ Claudiu @Bruce Thank you guys for your early comments, and thank you @MrSelfDevelopment for the great post.
Someone once said to not judge people by your own standards and values, but to judge them based on their own. Having these 7 principles as your standard and spending your life trying to live them will have you operating at a higher level whether you’re 100% or not. It’s like “shoot for the moon, and if you miss you’ll still be among the stars.”
Yes, that is very true. I often found myself in lack of energy whenever I was doing things I was not passionate about. It is important though not to be ignorant, and trying to find passion whenever you can. When you can’t, you’d better re-evaluate whether you’re doing the right thing.
Persistence is one of the key traits that I believe will help us to be successful. As long as we don’t give up, we will definitely reach our desired destination.
Cheers,
Vincent
Every successful person has also developed a positive mental attitude.
By developing a positive mind, you tend to see thing as half full instead of empty.
Being able to attack your work with a great BIG POSITIVE attitude changes the result you receive from working. The result are better than expected and you do mroe than you could have dreamed of before.
great post.
Nice Article
Being a self-employed freelancer I find it can be quite a lonely profession in which you have to make a lot of choices / decisions on your own. This can be tough and stressful at times and you need to have strong self belief that you can pull through.
I”ve made quite a few mistakes along the way and I find every six months or so you look back on what you have done and grow from your experiences.
It’s all part of the learning curve in your path to success!
Hey, great tips! I guess I only apply 2 of all the tips…your article really improves my lifestyle.
Great article
If you look at biographies of people who have achieved worthwhile success, you can trace all those traits back to these people. My favorite sign is # 7 
I bookmarked this link on http://www.OptimistList.com for other readers to enjoy!
Another winner. Thanks! I think if you have passion and persistence and the base of it all, everything else will follow.
So very true!
These are great tips. I especially thrive off passion and purpose. I think back on the things that I’ve been passionate about all my life that I’m still actively involved in ’til this day.
I can surely say that if I wasn’t passionate about those things I would have given up a long time ago and that’s speaking from experience.
Great Article. All the quotes were great and very inspiring. The thing i liked the most is growth. Growth is important because with everything you do in life it is always a way you can grow from the experiences and growth helps you to succeed at things. Even if you fail at something the first time you try it most likely you will succeed the second time you try it with the experience and growth you got from the first experience. Thank you for sharing this in formation.