If you watch TV you might be led to believe that success depends on extraordinary luck or on extraordinary talent. Contestants on game shows win large amounts of money on lucky guesses. The winner of X factor has a remarkable voice and is loved by the public. You need a beautiful face and an impossibly slim figure to become a leading actor or supermodel. The top football players earn astronomic sums for their exceptional talents. It is easy to get the impression that most of us are condemned to humdrum lives and that only the lucky or exceptional will achieve success or celebrity status.
But success and celebrity are very different things that should not be confused. Success means achieving something worthwhile or reaching a difficult goal. In those terms each of us can be a success. Indeed success is a choice that we can make. It does not require an unusual talent or a large dose of luck (though that can help). A high level of education is beneficial but not essential. Very often if we read the stories of successful people we find that they were unexceptional at school. For example, Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin group of companies, was dyslexic and left school at 16. Ray Kroc who built MacDonald’s into the world’s leading fast food chain dropped out of school at 15. Walt Disney was another academic flop who dropped out of school at 16.
So what is it that makes some people successful and how can that success be called a choice? Successful people share some very important traits.
1. They have enormous self-belief. Successful people believe that they have something special to offer and that they can make a difference in the world. Whether in teaching, in medicine, in business, in politics, in entertainment or elsewhere, they start with an inner confidence and desire to prove themselves.
2. They have a ‘can do’ attitude. Winners believe in action. They choose to get on and do things. They get up early, they work hard, they learn new skills and they relish challenges. They see opportunities where others see difficulties.
3. They take responsibility. Successful people do not blame others. They do not make excuses. They know that they are responsible and accountable for their own success or failure.
4. They set themselves goals. There is considerable evidence that people who set themselves goals do better than those who do not. You might not achieve all the goals that you set but you can still measure your progress. The act of setting the objectives helps you to focus on the steps needs to achieve them. Successful people hold themselves to high standards and set demanding standards for themselves.
5. They are prepared to make mistakes and they learn from them. Successful people take risks. They try things. They push themselves to take on difficult challenges. Often they will fail in their endeavours but they see each failure as an opportunity to learn and to start over.
You will see that each of these five items is a choice and not an innate ability. You can choose to believe in yourself, to have a positive attitude, to take responsibility, to set yourself goals and to take risks. If you do these things then you are on the right road. You have chosen the route to success.
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