Six Characteristics You Need in order to be successful

Success doesn’t just happen. Success is created. As with anything else in life there are certain abilities that are needed to be successful at well….being successful. To be a success at something simply means to accomplish a goal. Short term goals are typically more achievable. It is the long-term goals that many of us struggle with. That’s because long term goals take a lot more energy and time to accomplish. Not only that, long term goals require us to stretch and grow out of our comfort zones. They also cause us to build upon certain characteristics that we may not have been aware of that we needed.

Most people ditch their long-term goals because they lack the traits that I’ll be sharing below. But if you sit and talk to any successful person, they will mention these characteristics in one way or another. No matter what success means to you, becoming aware of these traits will greatly benefit you.

So, if you’re ready to see continued success in your life, keep reading to find out the six characteristics you need in order to be successful for the long term.

1. Perseverance

This is definitely number one. In order to achieve long-term success, you must learn how to persevere. The ability to persevere means to keep working towards something despite any difficulties that may arise. I’m here to tell you that you will be met with roadblocks on your journey. Multiple times. These roadblocks are another reason why people abandon their goals. They want everything to always go smoothly and the moment resistance is present they jump ship. But if they could perceive these roadblocks as learning curves and opportunity for growth, they would be more able to persevere. Everything is built on perception.

2. Willpower

Ya gotta learn to stay the course man. You have to learn to resist the urge to quit on your goals just to chase something else that appears will make you successful quicker. I love the quote that Positive Psychology used from Mahatma Gandhi that stated:

“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.”

We think that that our physicality is our true strength but it’s not. Our mind is. For if you cannot ‘will’ the mind first, you won’t be able to ‘will’ the body. You must learn to overcome your own thoughts, judgements, and short-term gratifications if you want to reach long-term success.

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3. Focus

In this day and age, it is definitely quite the challenge to stay focused. We are bombarded with so much outer stimulus that our minds are shifting gears every millisecond. This again, ties into mustering up your will power. It takes a high level of will power or stamina to maintain your focus. Focusing means being able to maintain your thought and emotional energy despite what’s going on around you. There is an art at knowing how to go within yourself and create a vision of your life and maintain that vision until it comes into completion in your outer reality.

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4. Flexibility

Be steadfast with your vision but flexible with strategy. Although you may have a certain path envisioned in your mind, you must remain open to different paths. The reason why it’s not a good idea to get attached to one particular path is again because of the roadblocks. Usually, we have a clear linear path in mind but in reality, it goes completely different….most times.

I’m pretty sure we’ve all seen this picture before. This is why it’s important to remain flexible. When things begin to take unforeseen turns, we sometimes interpret that as though we should quit. We start to unconsciously self-sabotage because we lacked the perseverance, willpower and focus to stay the course. So, detach from the path or plan you have and open yourself up to a greater plan. We may not understand it at the time, but the Universe is always working in our favor. Even when it doesn’t look like it.

5. Discipline

I know you’re tempted to turn that tv on, but didn’t you say you were going to exercise today?. Yes, your friends called, and they want to hang out, but you told yourself you were going to build your website. That new restaurant serves all your favorite foods, but you said you wanted to start making more home-cooked meals. Discipline is the name of the game.

Shortly said, do what you said you were going to do. Hold yourself accountable. You have a choice in these moments. To continue on as your old self and keep getting the same results out of life. Or to put on your new self and continue to create the life you want. We are literally overcoming our ‘selves’ when we remain disciplined and not give in to instant gratifications. I’m not saying any of these characteristics are easy, but they are required if you really want to achieve long-term success.

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6. Patience

Life is not a sprint. It’s a marathon. And you don’t need to accomplish everything today; although you may feel like you want to. Trust me, I get it. When you have that vision in your mind you feel excited to want to actually live in it in this physical reality. But this can also be counterproductive because it puts the pressure on us to believe we have to make it all happen right now. So, when we don’t see quick results we get discouraged and want to give up.

But always keep this in mind: there is a process to everything in life. The flower doesn’t grow the same day the seed is planted. A baby isn’t birthed the same day of conception. I don’t know how long or short your process may be. But if you continuously implement and embody these characteristics, you may receive results a lot quicker than you think.

In case you haven’t noticed all of these traits are not needed to fight against anything outside of you. It’s actually all about overcoming YOUR ‘Self’. They all point back to you. You must be willing to change yourself in order to create a life full of successful wins for the long haul.

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