Life is no less than a roller-coaster ride with the twists and turns much more complex, dynamic, challenging, often stressful and frightening than the ride that we enjoy in any amusement park.
There have been many thinkers, coaches, gurus, authors, and consultants talking about how to attain success in life and suggesting ways and means to make this ride much smoother. Human beings, complex that we are, can’t have a one size fits all approach for each one of us.
But before getting into the discussion on how people succeed, let us take a step back and see what exactly is a success. Success refers to ‘the accomplishment of an aim or purpose’. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines success as ‘the fact of getting or achieving wealth, respect or fame’.
The expectations of wealth, respect, or fame would differ from person to person. Success, therefore, is a very subjective and relative term. Success also changes from time to time, place to place, and person to person. Each of us is unique with respect to the place we are born, the family we are born in, the kind of values that we grow up with, the kind of financial prosperity/ constraints we grow up with, the kind of education that we get blessed with, the kind of socio-political environment we grow up in, the kind of career opportunities we get exposed to, etc. Due to this very uniqueness of each human being, success for each one of us is also very different. For some money and power may be the ultimate measure of success but for some satisfactorily completing the days’ task may be a success. For some winning an election may be a success but for someone else topping a university examination may be the ultimate measure of success. For an author whose book might have sold a million copies may still feel he is away from success but another author may feel successful once a publisher simply agrees to publish the author’s work.
However, generally speaking, we can safely conclude based on the learnings, research, writings, teachings, etc. that we have been exposed to that to succeed in life, people need to have something different in them and need to do something extra than their peers to achieve what they have been working for and for them to be termed as successful.
While there are numerous traits that successful people have, it would be absolutely futile to try listing down an exhaustive list of traits that successful people possess. With my limited knowledge and experience though, I strongly believe that there are at least 3 key traits that all persons must have if they are to succeed in their respective streams and professions and to have a much smoother and happier life.
These 3 must have key traits for success are (not in any particular order though):
- Grit,
- Integrity and
- Positive Attitude.
1. GRIT
The term ‘Grit’ in simple words means ‘perseverance and passion for long term goals’. While ability in the respective chosen field is still critically important, the perseverance of effort to overcome the obstacles/ challenges that lie in the path to accomplishment is what makes the person succeed in life. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Grit as ‘firmness of mind or spirit; unyielding courage in the face of hardship or danger’.
Without grit, without being persistent despite the odds against, without being passionate towards your goals, it is extremely difficult to achieve success in life. Unless the achievement comes by a worthily required effort the achievement would also not be worthy enough. You may win a lottery without really doing any hard work but that’s always a chance event which you cannot expect to repeat over and over again. Also, the satisfaction that one gets on achievement if it has come after worthy hard work will never be there on winning a lottery. The worth of something achieved by being gritty, even though it may be low in monetary terms compared to the lottery winning will bring a much greater sense of pride and happiness. One may argue that there is no deficiency in the hard work, persistence or ‘grit’ of a laborer but the poor man is barely able to make his ends meet. That’s where the importance of education is all pervasive. Hard persistent work smartly directed towards the achievement of an end goal is what is important.
We all have seen examples of people right from our childhood school days to our professional days that the biggest achievers are not necessarily the most intelligent persons. The high achievers are those who built upon their intelligence by being persistent and by dedicatedly practicing in their chosen fields. You may pick up examples of successful people from top social activists as Mahatma Gandhi or Nelson Mandela or Mother Teresa to top politicians as Barrack Obama or Narendra Modi to famous actors as Amitabh Bachchan or Tom Cruise or Marilyn Monroe to successful entrepreneurs as Bill Gates or Steve Jobs to famous artists as Leonardo da Vinci or Pablo Picasso or Vincent Van Gogh. The list goes endless but the point I want to make here is that each one of these and all the other famous, successful or popular people in the world have reached their respective altars with their grit, their undefeatable urge to succeed and their persistence which kept them going when the odds were all against them. What we see is just the end result. We never get the visibility of the hardships, difficulties, constraints, criticisms that these people went through before becoming what they are today.
A very apt quote from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow couldn’t explain this further. This is also one of my favorites since my childhood days: “The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.”
2. INTEGRITY
Integrity is defined as ‘the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.’ The dictionary lists various synonyms of the word ‘Integrity’ as honesty, uprightness, probity, rectitude, honor, honourableness, upstandingness, good character, principles, ethics, morals, righteousness, morality, nobility, high-mindedness, right-mindedness, noble-mindedness, virtue, decency, fairness, scrupulousness, sincerity, truthfulness, trustworthiness, etc.
Being a person of high integrity helps to earn the trust of others, whether they be customers, suppliers, colleagues, supervisors, team members, etc. There would always be situations where easy gains may be possible in work and/ or personal life by resorting to unethical activities. Examples of unethical behavior can be numerous ranging from simply calling in sick at work to attend a personal engagement to instances as grave as violating company policies, committing company funds fraudulently, bribing governmental/ regulatory authorities for personal/ company gains. Being a person of integrity and strong ethics requires a lot of courage and character. Sometimes people may achieve success and even attain world fame resorting to unethical and dishonest ways but such success will always be short lived. You may succeed but your conscience will always be rebuking you. The guilt inside will always diminish the worth of the success attained. After all, what is the use of such success which keeps you awake at night under constant fear of being caught for the wrongdoings.
The people who really succeed are the ones who may be howsoever enticed by easy gains from unethical ways but who keep their resistance power strong and do the right thing come what may. The kind of respect that persons of high integrity command is unparalleled and such persons are bound to succeed in their endeavors in life. Success may be delayed but would be well deserved, long lasting, and forever cherished.
It is extremely important to remember “Wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it. Right is right even if no one is doing it.” It is also worthwhile to quote Robin Sharma here, “The price of discipline is always lower than the pain of regret.”
3. POSITIVE ATTITUDE
Having the right attitude to life is extremely important for anyone to succeed in life. One who doesn’t think positive in life would always have reasons to crib about. Such persons would always spend their best energy cribbing about things either beyond their control or which are not even relevant to them and their success. Such persons would wish for rain on a sunny day and for sunlight on a rainy day. They are such personalities which would hamper not only their own progress but even the progress of others they come into contact with. Negative people are energy vampires. As against this, positive persons exude brightness, energy, brilliance, and vitality. Positivity is infectious and spreads happiness and vigor. The vibes coming from a positive person improve the most depressed of gatherings. Positivity energises life and gives you a fresh urge to deliver your best despite all odds.
We are all so vulnerable to get affected by a host of negativity brewing around us all over. Work done with a positive attitude is bound to bring in positive results. Positivity helps increase business morale. It motivates people to deliver to the best of their capabilities and beyond. Having a positive attitude to life is a matter of personal choice that we and only we can make each morning. We have the right to be positive and happy in our lives.
The path to success is not easy. It is filled with road blocks, challenges, difficulties, etc. but the one that is successful is the one who maintains a positive attitude despite having all odds against, the one who is persistent in such difficult times, the one who conquers fears with a smile on the face.
Positive people maintain their calm in the toughest of situations, trust their inner wisdom and intuition in difficult times. Positive persons are more likely to accept responsibility for their mistakes, would be keen to improve as compared to negative people who would generally look for excuses and passing the blame. Positive persons approach anything with a sincere hope that there is always something good however bad the situation while negative persons always approach anything being sure of negatives however good the situation may be.
There are numerous researches confirming that people with a positive attitude are happier, healthier, and more successful.
There is a wonderful quote from J. Sidlow Baxter, “What is the difference between an obstacle and an opportunity? Our attitude towards it. Every opportunity has a difficulty, and every difficulty has an opportunity.”
Ending Note
On an ending note, it is worthwhile to read and reread the wonderful quote by Wilferd Peterson, “Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, the planners, the doers, the successful people with their heads in the clouds and their feet on the ground. Let their spirit ignite a fire within you to leave this world better than when you found it.”
Happy reading!!!
Nalin Chandna
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