Qualities of Successful People – Part Two of a Three Part Series

Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true. Cardinal Leon Suenens

The mightiest works have been accomplished by men who have kept their ability to dream great dreams. Walter Bowie

Qualities of Successful People: Part 2

“What are the qualities of successful people?” This past summer, in our “Yes, I Can!” Basketball Camps, we identified a number of qualities that successful people have in common. At the end of Motivational Moments #224, I invited those who were interested in obtaining the full list of qualities to email me. The response was much greater than anticipated. As a result, I have decided to continue writing on the Qualities of Successful People. In Part 2, I will list an additional six qualities. I will finish the list of Qualities of Successful People in Motivational Moments #226.

The initial list of qualities included: Integrity, Honesty, Persistent/Perseverance, Ability to handle adversity, Passion, Focus, Positive Energy, and Accepting Responsibility for their actions. Our staff continued listing Qualities of Successful People (I might add that these qualities are in no particular order)

1. Dreamer: Malcolm Forbes stated, “Living and dreaming are two different things – but you can’t do one without the other.” Business consultant Robert Kriegel continues –

“A dream is an ideal involving a sense of possibilities rather than probabilities, of potential rather than limits. A dream is the wellspring of passion, giving us direction and pointing to lofty heights. It is an expression of optimism, hope, and values lofty enough to capture the imagination and engage the spirit. Dreams grab and move us. They are capable of lifting us to new heights and overcoming self-imposed limitations.”

Here are some questions to ask yourself about your dreams –

What are your dreams?
Where are you now? Where do you want to be a year from now?
What do you see as being necessary to accomplishing your dream?
Can you see yourself being there?

2. Risk-Taker: NFL Hall of Fame Coach, Tom Landry said, “A successful leader has to be innovative. If you’re not one step ahead of the crowd, you’ll soon be a step behind everyone else.” Risk takers are willing to push back their comfort zones walls. They know that most action in the game of life happens outside the comfort zone. They are aware that in their comfort zone, when nothing changes, nothing new happens, and no new challenges come their way, BOREDOM sets in. Risk takers realize that in the safety and security of their comfort zone, mistakes are not as costly nor as painful.

Most importantly, risk takers realize that long term success is not possible in the safety and security of the comfort zone. There are no guarantees that you will achieve success if you leave the comfort zone. But if you never leave it, you ae almost guaranteed not to achieve success.

Be brave enough to live creatively. The creative is the place where no one else have ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You can’t get there by bus, only by hard work, risking, and by not quite knowing what you are doing. What you’ll discover will be wonderful: yourself. Alan Alda

3. Belief: Roman author and statesman Lucius A. Seneca stated: “The size of your success is determined by the size of your belief.” And Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius added, “What the mind can believe, so can it achieve.”

Are there certain qualities that you like about yourself? Are there certain things that you do well? Are there certain people who bring out the best in you? Is there a time in your life that you felt the thrill of victory on the playing fields or in the game of life?

Years ago, a young minister was given the challenge of building a congregation where none existed. He was given little money to work with. But he accepted the challenge, and using his Possibility Thinking built one of the most beautiful churches in the country – The Crystal Cathedral. Here is the Possibility Thinker’s Creed written by Robert Schuller:

When faced with a mountain,
I WILL NOT QUIT!
I will keep on striving
Until
I climb over,
Find a pass through,
Tunnel underneath,
Or
Simply stay
And
Turn the mountain
Into a gold mine
With
God’s help!!

4. Resilient: When I was a little boy we played with a little pink rubber ball appropriately named a “pinkie”. We played games with a “pinkie” because it had the ability to bounce higher than other balls. Successful people are like those “pinkie” balls. They keep bouncing back. Thomas Edison struggled with his inventing the light bulb. When asked about failing over 1,000 times, Edison replied that he successfully found over 1,000 ways not to invent the light bulb. Psychologist Simone Caruthers stated, “Life is a series of outcomes. Sometimes the outcome is what you want. Great. Figure out what you did right. Sometimes the outcome is what you didn’t want. Great. Figure out what you did so you won’t do it again.”

5. Take Action: For years, Nike had a slogan, “Just Do It!” What a beautifully simple message. One of the sayings we use at camp is, “To have what you have not, you must do what you have not done.” In other words, take action. Take action until -until what you may ask. Until you get the result that you want, or until you change the desired outcome.

One step and then another, and the longest walk is ended.
One stitch and then another, and the longest rent is mended.
One brick upon another, and the tallest wall is made.
One flake and then another, and the deepest snow is laid. Anon.

The way to get to the top is to get off your bottom. Dr. Eugene Swearingen

Remember, you don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.

6. Goal Setting: JC Penney, founder of the JC Penney said, “Give me a stock clerk with a goal, and I will give you a man who will make history. Give me a man without a goal, and I will give you a stock clerk.” Author Harvey Mackay added, “Goals give you more than a reason to get up in the morning; they are an incentive to keep you going all day. Goals tend to tap the deeper resources and draw the best out in life.”

There are three main reasons why goals are necessary.
A. They provide purpose and motivation
B. They provide specific direction
C. They keep you single minded on your task

Dr. Schuller, in his book, Power Thoughts states: “The first thing Power Thinkers do is Potentialize – they look for what they could do, what they could be. Do it now! Do it again tomorrow! Do it every day that you are alive. Potentialize!”

Schuller adds,

“Ask yourself the following questions:
o What would I try to do if I knew I might succeed?
o What goals would I set if I knew I could not fail
o What price am I willing to pay?
o What sacrifices am I willing to make?
o What could I do?
o Where could I go?
o What could I become?”

“Find out what you want and go after it as if your life depends on it. Why? Because it does!” Les Brown