The 5 Main Traits Of Highly Successful People

The Five Main Traits Of Highly Successful People 

By Mark Wager

As a Leadership & Mindset Coach I work with two types of people. I coach people who are aspiring to be successful and I also coach people who are already highly successful and this provides me with a unique insight on what the common characteristics are that all highly successful people share and that is what I want to share with you this week because once you understand these characteristics then you will be able to launch your own journey to achieve your own personal goals.

Successful people are realistic  

When you talk about successful people “ambition” is often mentioned and understandably so because they often achieve highly ambitious goals but when I work with these kind of people I see them more as being “realistic.” They have a very grounded, realistic understanding of where they are and just how far away they are from where they need to be. 

This is an area in which others tend to struggle. I see a lot of people who have an inflated impression of how good they are. They live within an illusion of success which means they don’t put in the work necessary in order to reach their goals because they don’t believe they have to and when they fail they don’t look at themselves instead they blame everything and everyone else which leads to the next characteristic.

Successful people focus internally 

When I coach people who are successful and coach people who are not one of the key differences in our discussions is that successful people focus internally while everyone else focuses externally. What I mean by this is that successful people focus on their own performance and what they can control while other people tend to focus more on external factors such as what other people are doing, why the situation is unfair and why they are unlucky. 

To be successful you need to come to terms with the reality that life is unfair. Not  everyone’s path to the top is the same. Some people have more of an advantage than others and this can be difficult to accept because not everyone  plays by the same rules. However, by focusing on this you take away from what really matters which is what you need to do because you do not control what anyone else does and if that means you have to work harder to achieve the same level as someone else then that is what you need to do. Any other thoughts are nothing but excuses.

Successful people are obsessive  

Every successful person I have ever coached are truly obsessive. While other people want to achieve their goals successful people need to achieve their goals. Failure is not an option. Their chosen area of expertise is an integral part of their life it’s not an interest instead it’s a consuming passion that can sometimes come across as an unhealthy obsession to people who don’t share their interests yet it’s this passion that drives them to work harder and push themselves further than other people.

There’s a lot of people who fall in love with their destination but it’s falling in love with the journey that makes the difference, if you open a restaurant because you love  money that’s fine but if you open a restaurant because you love cooking then it’s not a surprise which person is going to find the inner strength to push through the difficult times.

Successful people focus on the mental game

The barriers standing between where you are today  and where you want to be can be broken down into three categories, technical, environmental and mental. Technical barriers are when people lack skills and knowledge, environmental barriers are when people lack the resources and tools and mental barriers are when people lack the motivation and focus. In my experience the average people focus on one barrier, good people focus on two barriers while successful people focus in all three.

The famous Henry Ford quote “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right,” illustrates just how important mental performance is when it comes to success. Too many people fail before they even start because they convince themselves that they don’t have what it takes to succeed and instead they settle for a life that falls well below what is possible. When I coach successful people we spend a lot of time on their mental skills showing them how to overcome self-doubt.

Successful people take action 

The last characteristic I want to share is an obvious one but it’s also the most important. Every week I am contacted by someone who had read an article or heard about the work I do and they ask me for advice on how they can achieve their goal and in reply I always ask what have they done so far in order to achieve their goal and overwhelmingly the common response is a silent pause followed by “nothing or not much”

When people are striving for success they tend to look for some hidden secret or technique that they are missing that if learnt will catapult them to success but the truth is far less mysterious. The biggest difference between people who are successful and people who are not is that successful people take action. They don’t just talk about achieving goals they are actually taking action, they don’t spend anytime moaning about how difficult their life is instead they are taking action to make things better and without doubt there are many skills to be learned especially mental skills but it’s all for nothing unless you are willing to take action. There are many obstacles standing between you and success but hard work will help you overcome most of them.

“Success is not always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Constant hard work leads to success. Greatness will come” - Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson 

Author: Mark Wager 

Are you a manager struggling with poor-performing staff, team motivation, or effective delegation? As an experienced leadership Coach with over 30 thirty years managerial experience Mark Wager specialises in helping managers like you tackle these challenges head-on. Imagine transforming your team’s performance, boosting morale, and mastering delegation, so you’re not shouldering all the work. With tailored strategies and personalised support, Mark will empower you to lead with confidence and ease. Let’s work together to unlock your full potential and create a thriving, productive workplace. Reach out today and take the first step towards exceptional leadership. Contact Mark for a free 30 minute strategy session 

Mark Wager is a Leadership Coach with over thirty years of managerial experience across a range of industries. Mark, originally from England started his career in Retail  before moving into a Broker Sales Manager role with a leading London Finance House and then Senior Management roles within the public service. Mark then moved to New Zealand twenty two years ago and become the National Manager for the Ministry of Justice in New Zealand prior to establishing the Australasian Leadership Institute.

A strong believer in taking complex leadership & psychological theories and making them accessible to people regardless of their background, education or industry Mark has helped develop Leaders from some of the Asia-Pacific region’s top organisations such as Amnesty International, Red Cross, Oxfam, the NZ Rugby League, the Blues, the Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, Weta workshops and many more.