The 14 Things Every Successful Person Has in Common

Successful people, whether they’re entertainers or educators, tend to have common traits, or so says Forbes contributor Dan Schwabel.

Schwabel, who has interviewed nearly 1,200 CEOs, celebrities, authors and politicians since 2007, believes these shared traits are directly responsible for their success.

The Forbes contributor adds that he has boiled the number of commonly shared traits down to at least 14. We've shared the top seven below:

7. Man Up

Successful people “aren’t relying on other people in order to get the job done. Instead, they are looking inwards and are trying to find the solutions, while leveraging their current assets,” he said. “If they make a mistake, they own up to it and immediately think of ways that they can improve next time, not making the same mistake twice.”

6. Adapt to Survive

“Successful people aren’t waiting around to be affected by economic trends. They are the ones who are creating the trends and making things happen,” he said.

5. Should I Stay or Should I Go?

“Successful people know exactly when they should change employers, start a company or fold their company. They have good intuition and aren’t afraid to make hard choices, despite opposing forces,” Schwabel writes.

4. Above and Beyond

Simply put, be the first one in and the last one to leave.

“They view their job descriptions as just the beginning of what they can do with their job. After they’ve completed their mandatory tasks, they will always ask to take on more projects that challenge them,” Schawbel said in the Forbes article. “They are even willing to take on the tedious work that no one else wants to do in order to be a team player.”

3. Learn to Get up From Falling

“All successful people know that it doesn’t come easy and they are bound to fail more than they will succeed at anything,” he adds. “They are willing to learn from each failure, as it will help them make better decisions that lead to success later. While many people give up after failing at something, a successful person will persevere.”

2. Don’t Get Cocky

“Luck is derived from hard work over time and positioning yourself for success. You won’t randomly get lucky and successful people know that,” he writes. “They will do at least one thing every single day to put themselves in a better position to get lucky and then use that luck to grow.”

1. Be Realistic

“Successful people wake up and they’ve already planned their day, while unsuccessful people are scrambling to figure out what they need to do next. Their goals are very focused, big yet obtainable and are aligned to their strengths,” Schwabel writes. “They know what they are capable of and will invest all of their efforts in it, avoiding their weaknesses.”

Click here to see the other seven traits of successful people.

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