Inspirational, Informative, and General Reading

The Thirteen Most Important Character Traits for Success

by Mary Eule Scarborough

"Losers make promises they often break. Winners make commitments they always keep. "
Denis Waitley

After years of working with small business owners and managers, my partner (and husband), David A. Scarborough, and I have developed our own list of personality traits that we believe enhance people's ability to be more successful personally and professionally.

Briefly, these folks are:

1. Passionate - They love their chosen career and can't think of anything else they'd rather do.

2. Life-long learners - They are endlessly inquisitive and committed to becoming and/or remaining students of business and marketing.

3. Perceptive - They understand that perception is reality.

4. Patient - They know that "get-rich-quick" schemes are hooey.

5. Prepared - They've done their homework and are poised and ready for opportunity when it comes knocking

6. Tenacious - They have a long-term perspective and are willing to stay the course.

7. Optimistic - They face the brutal facts of reality but choose to maintain a have a positive attitude.

8. Focused on the present - They repeat their past successes and don't dwell on their past mistakes. They live in the present, their most valuable asset.

9. Reliable - They keep their promises and do what they say they're going to do.

10. Honest and trustworthy - They understand how long it takes to develop a great reputation and how quick it can be destroyed.

11. Good listeners - They understand that their best marketing tools are their ears.

12. Willing to change - They modify their behaviors, beliefs and attitudes after gaining knowledge that effectively disputes previous notions.

13. Accept responsibility - They step up to the plate and are accountable for their behavior and their actions and never look to blame others.

Wise people recognize that time is their most precious asset. I've never heard of, or met, anyone who's managed to escape life's disappointment. It's true? life is not always fair. Believe it and move on.

What happens to you is far less important than your reaction. Attitude is not something that just happens? it's something we choose.

In other words, "Face it, trace it, and erase it." And while I'm not suggesting that you avoid confronting the brutal facts of reality, I am advising you to reach in your "baggage" and pull out the valuable lessons you've learned from your mistakes, disenchantments, frustrations, and the like.

One of my mentors, Brian Tracey, says, "All the good ideas have already been found. It's up to you to apply them. Don't worry about the stuff you can't do anything about. Let go of the past? Stop the, ?if - onlys?' The only good thing about the past is that it teaches you how to be successful in the future."

Following is a simple self-assessment that you can use to rate yourself from 1 to 10 on the following 12 traits (1 is lowest, 10 is highest). Over the next several weeks, work on improving any that you scored six or less on.

1. __ I maintain healthy relationships with others, including those who have different opinions and perspectives

2. __ I give and ask for constructive feedback.

3. __ I listen to others carefully and then carefully respond.

4. __ My friends, co-workers, employees, customers, and family members know that they can count on me to keep my word.

5. __ I share my time, talent and knowledge freely with others.

6. __ I am committed to life-long learning and actively seek out information on a variety of topics.

7. __I accept responsibility for my attitudes, decisions and actions.

8. __I organize and prioritize my time and tasks.

9. __ I generally focus on why things will work, rather than why they won't.

10. __ I am not afraid to uncover and work on my own "blind spots."

11. __ I am a resourceful and innovative thinker.

12. __ I understand that building a business takes time, energy, planning and hard work.

Remember, excellent marketing begins in your head. If you consciously adopt a healthy attitude and learn and apply sound strategies and tactics you're half way there.

See Also:

The Top 7 Signs of Self-Sabotaging Behaviors
Are you being held back from success by self-defeating behaviors? Learn how to recognize and overcome them.

The DNA of Success
The key to success is understanding the building blocks of that success - your success DNA.

A Positive Mindset is the Foundation for Success
Don�t limit your thinking, as this will limit your beliefs and these will limit your actions, which will limit your successes! Success starts in our minds and the sooner we understand this, the better a chance we have at achieving it.

Develop Goals, Visualize, and Get It
Your mind is your mental workshop. You can build anything you want in it. The beginning of your success is in your imagination.

What can I do to succeed?
SUCCESS, beginning now, is entirely on what you do beginning TODAY! Successful people have a future orientation. They are also action oriented not excuse oriented.

We Are Exactly Where We Choose to Be
If you ever find yourself digging a hole deeper and deeper and wishing you could get out of it, just stop digging! Because, when it's all said and done .

Go Kiss the World
Success to me is about Vision. It is the ability to rise above the immediacy of pain. It is about imagination. It is about sensitivity to small people. It is about building inclusion. It is about connectedness to a larger world existence. It is about personal tenacity. It is about giving back more to life than you take out of it. It is about creating extra-ordinary success with ordinary lives.

Helping Others Win
Inspirational Story. What matters in this life is more than winning for ourselves. What matters in this life is helping others win, even if it means slowing down and changing our course.