Characteristics of Success

Like beauty success is in the eyes of the beholder. Success is something that you must define for yourself. It has been said: “Never pity a man who has everything that is important to him and pity the man who has everything but what is important to him”. I hope that working through your goals has helped you to define what success means to you. This section of the planner is not to define what success is but to understand some of the common characteristics that show up in successful men and women through out the world. 

To talk a little more about success I would like to refer to the classic international best seller we have referred to earlier. “Think and Grow Rich” Under the guidance of Andrew Carnegie, Napoleon Hill had studied 500 of the richest men of America to try to better understand the road to success. Many of these men have claimed that his teachings contributed to their vast fortunes. Some of these men are Thomas A. Edison who became the world’s greatest inventor with only 3 months of formal schooling, Charles M. Schwab, Henry Ford, Theodore Roosevelt, Wilber Wright, John D. Rockefeller, F. W. Woolworth, Woodrow Wilson, Alexander Graham Bell. He stated at the beginning of the book that he will mention over 100 times the keys to success and making money. This is something that you must see with your inner eyes if it is going to have any impact on your life, if you are ready for it. After reading the book you will come to the conclusion that the answer is summed up in this quote of his. “There is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it.” Napoleon Hill

I would like to share with you some of the characteristics of successful people whom I have studied. I call it the G.A.P. theory. I have adopted this acronym to help me remember the common personal characteristics of great men and women of the past and to remember the big 3 characteristics that they have all seemed to master. The G.A.P. theory is not a theory but a fact. It is the fact that these three fundamentals produce most of the characteristics of successful men and women around the world. It is these qualities and characteristics that set apart the winners and high performers.  It is these characteristics and qualities that will be produced in you as you engage in the process of doing, becoming and having all that life offers.

The G.A.P. Theory
G = Goals     A = Attitude     P = Personal Development

Consider these values or characteristics and check which ones you feel you have and circle those which you feel you should improve upon. Now that you have completed the exercises of the planner you probably have most if not all of the traits under Goals on the left, but what about the other two boxes. What is your attitude like? What personal development traits do you display in your daily life or better yet when things get a little tough. Can you still act with integrity? Do you still have the courage to make the right decision even when it may cost you some time or money?

I would now like to conclude with a couple of teachings from Jim Rohn. The teaching actually stems back to the great philosophers and sages of the past. It is simply that our beliefs, the way we think affects our attitudes which in turn affects our behaviors which give us our results. Mr. Rohn has created an excellent formula to help us remember which goes like this;

Your Beliefs = Attitude  = Actions = Results
(and then he adds this creates your life style.)

It is the information age. A shift from manpower to mindpower. In this new age, you are no longer rewarded for the hours you put in but what you put in to those hours. The mind is the key to change, to understand the underlying beliefs that propel us forward or hold us back. For too long in sports, business and education the emphasis has been on physical or technical skills and not on mental skills. With athletes as well as business professionals it is clear that outcome is based on psychological factors. It is the way we think about things, the way we feel about things that we need to develop, understand and take to new levels. Change the way you think and everything will change for you in the direction of your newly established goals.

Attitude by Jim Rohn
“The only limitation placed on our abilities is the inability to easily recognize our unlimited nature .  It takes effort to become aware of our staggering and limitless abilities, it takes effort to become enthusiastic over a cause or an occupation. It takes effort to continue when our results as well as our friends tell us to give up trying. It takes effort to feel right about everything that happens, the joy and the sorrow of life. It takes effort to learn to love ourselves above all others, especially when we are so conscious of our failures, doubts and tragedies. It does not however take effort to fail. It is ironic that one of the few things in this life we have total control over is our attitude and yet most of us live our entire life behaving as if we have no control whatsoever. By our attitude we decide to read or not to read, by our attitude we decide to try or to give up, by our attitude we blame ourselves for our failure or foolishly blame others. Our attitude determines whether we love or hate, tell the truth or lie, act or procrastinate, advance or recede, and by our own attitude, we and we alone actually decide whether to succeed or fail”