What makes a successful person?

Most people see highly successful people as mentally inflexible, but the truly successful people in life are actually quite mentally flexible, deeply humble, and very willing to see how they are or have been wrong. It is a relaxed mind that can learn to succeed. Highly successful people may be outwardly unbending, but internally they have a humbling introspection, and as a result they have learned to see a picture of reality that is greater than one person's point of view. 

As a result of this, they tend to have a more accurate perception of the causes of success and failure. They learn to become unbending with others solely because it may be a very rare situation where others will have constructive input. Additionally, truly successful people have the habit of listening very intently, then speaking very succinctly. This is not an attempt to look like a leader or to manipulate the group, but rather it is the discipline that is a natural byproduct of an unwavering commitment to success. It is what is required, so successful people learn to do it.

Successful people let the observable facts do the talking and in many cases those facts are in direct contrast with the popular belief of that time. This is a good thing for anyone who wants to create significant success. Why? Because there are very few people looking to see what the facts actually say. So those who look are at an immediate and significant advantage. 

The best analogy I have heard to describe this reality is this: Having vision for the future (based on what the present is really revealing to anyone who is willing to look) is like standing in a brightly lit room at night and attempting to see out of the window. What do you see? You see the reflection of what is inside the room. To gain vision, you must put your face to the glass and use your hands to block the ambient light from reflecting into your eyes. When you do this you can begin to perceive what is on the other side of the glass. The longer you look, the more your eyes will adjust and you will see more and more.

The two common mistakes people make on this aspect of life are either not spending enough time looking into the night thereby not giving your eyes a chance to adjust to the darkness, or spending all of your time looking into the darkness and losing the context of present time reality. The first is much more common than the second, but they are both detrimental to creating real long lasting success.

Balance is the key.

Looking through the window is a personal thing and it requires you to block out all group agreement on the subject. You can listen to others to gain an insight as to what they see and in most cases you will realize that all they see is the reflected light from the room; everyone will be saying the same thing. Over time 96% of them will be found to be just wrong enough to be financially and many times spiritually broke.

Prove to you that you can learn and evolve and give yourself the space to make mistakes along the way. You will become a leader and a visionary in the areas of life you have passion for. This can translate into greater self-respect, admiration from your peer group and even a successful business.

Remember, the reflected light in the room is actually just a mirror of the past. Acting on this light does not allow for a new reality to be created. All of the cycles, good and bad, will just continue to repeat. This is a tragedy because the future is anyone’s to create, but no one will ever do anything different if we never see anything different, if we never focus in on our own unique perspective. It is your unique perspective and your boldness to act on what you see that is the most valuable thing you have to give back to society. Doing anything less than this robs society of something beautiful, something significant and maybe something very important.

If you would like to see these principles in action, Warren Buffet and Richard Branson (founder, Virgin Enterprises) are two great examples. 

Extracts from our educational course