Successful People Treat Others with Respect

Successful People are typically respectful of others. 

Rather than focus on your own success first, help others develop and shine by respecting their strengths and talents.

Remember that to give respect is to get respect.

People with high emotional intelligence are usually successful in most things they do. Because they have a deep understanding of self, they make others feel good about themselves, and they go through life with much more ease and enthusiasm.  

 - Derived from an article titled “7 Ways You Can Unlock Your Hidden Emotional Intelligence” by Lolly Daskal

Successful People Know They Don’t Know Everything!

(Image Credit: NotebookAboutQuotes.BlogSpot.com)

People who have a a noticeable success and hold on to it realize they don’t have all the answers. As a result, they are always on the lookout for new and better ways to do things.

Successful people surround themselves with people who offer different approaches. They have mentors and accountability partners. They are willing to consider ideas that conflict with their current way of doing things. If the new approach is better, they adapt. Their ego doesn’t get in the way of their intellect. When they are wrong, they don’t fight it or take it personally.

Contrast that with people who think they have it down. Their mind tells them they have life mastered. As a result they can’t learn anything. Worse, they don’t see it when the universe says “no”. They stick to their antiquated approach and usually get run over by reality.  

- Derived from an article titled “7 Ways Rich People Think Differently Than the Rest of Us” by Neal Frankle

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence (or E.I.), put very simply, is your ability to acknowledge your own emotions, recognize emotions in others, and use that information to guide your behavior.

Developing your own E.I. can help you understand and improve your social interactions.

- The New York Times – “An Adult’s Guide to Social Skills, for Those Who Were Never Taught.”

Successful People Train Themselves To Delay Gratification!

The classic Marshmallow Experiment of 1972 involved placing a marshmallow in front of a young child, with the promise of a second marshmallow if he or she could refrain from eating the squishy blob while a researcher stepped out of the room for 15 minutes.

Follow-up studies over the next 40 years found that the children who were able to resist the temptation to eat the marshmallow grew up to be people with better social skills, higher test scores, and lower incidence of substance abuse. They also turned out to be less obese and better able to deal with stress.

But how to improve your ability to delay things like eating junk food when healthy alternatives aren't available, or to remain on the treadmill when you'd rather just stop?

Writer James Clear suggests starting small, choosing one thing to improve incrementally every day, and committing to not pushing off things that take less than two minutes to do, such as washing the dishes after a meal or eating a piece of fruit to work toward the goal of eating healthier.

Committing to doing something every single day works too. "Top performers in every field--athletes, musicians, CEOs, artists--they are all more consistent than their peers," he writes. "They show up and deliver day after day while everyone else gets bogged down with the urgencies of daily life and fights a constant battle between procrastination and motivation."

- Derived from an article titled “7 Scientifically Proven Ways to Achieve Better Success in Life” by Christina Desmarais

Successful People Are Not Perfectionists!

Successful People should generally be very motivated, yet, they must understand that perfection is impossible.

Successful People understand that done is better than perfect, and an actionable plan ready today is better than a perfect one ready tomorrow.

Successful People adapt and learn from mistakes.

Successful People Are Empathetic!

The hallmark of Emotional Intelligence, being able to relate to others, makes people with high Emotional Intelligence essential in the workplace!

Successful People work on acquiring and enhancing their ability to understand what co-workers or clients are going through, eventually reaching their goals, or at least getting through difficult times drama free.

Successful People Never Allow Themselves to Whine! (Or Complain! Or Criticize!)

Your words have power, especially over you. Whining about your problems always makes you feel worse, not better.

So if something is wrong, don't waste time complaining. Put that mental energy into making the situation better. (Unless you want to whine about it forever, eventually you'll have to make it better.)

So why waste time? Fix it now. Don't talk about what's wrong. Talk about how you'll make things better, even if that conversation is only with yourself.

And do the same with your friends or colleagues. Don't just serve as a shoulder they can cry on. Friends don't let friends whine; friends help friends make their lives better.

- Jeff Haden (modified by Amr Badran)

Successful People Celebrate the Success of Others!

 

Many people — I guarantee you know at least a few — see success as a zero-sum game: There's only so much to go around. When someone else shines, they think that diminishes the light from their stars!!

Resentment sucks up a massive amount of mental energy — energy better applied elsewhere.

When a friend does something awesome, that doesn't preclude you from doing something awesome. In fact where success is concerned, birds of a feather tend to flock together — so draw your unsuccessful friends even closer.

Don't resent awesomeness. Create and celebrate awesomeness, wherever you find it, and in time you'll find even more of it in yourself.

- Jeff Haden (modified by Amr Badran)

Successful People Have “Grit”!

First the word:

Grit.

Now the definition:

"The ability to work hard and respond resiliently to failure and adversity; the inner quality that enables individuals to work hard and stick to their long-term passions and goals."

The definition of grit almost perfectly describes qualities every successful person possesses! Period.

Successful People Exploit What Works For Them!

The business world has become a very confusing space. It is possible to work on creating a community, begin a black-hat operation, sell a blog, or start whatever business! The options and choices are countless. And inside all of these endless options, there's a lot of space to become lost and become distracted from what's working.

Therefore, if you discover something that you're obviously good at and something that is making money, you ought to attempt to exploit this avenue for as long as possible. Do not waste time searching for something new, as you have something that already works.

- Murray Newlands

Achievement Will Never Be As Fulfilling As The Journey!

It is one thing to set a goal and enlist the help of others to see its achievement through. It is entirely another to sacrifice your own well-being, and the well-being of those around you, for that goal and its achievement!!

The high at the end is never worth the emotional strain that takes place to get there!

If you are not able to enjoy the journey with those around you, then the end goal will become meaningless!!

- Nicolas Cole (modified by Amr Badran)

Successful People They Challenge Their Own Beliefs!

Successful People realize the value of questioning widely held assumptions and biases - those around them, as well as their own.

Successful People listen attentively to positions that don't necessarily align with theirs, and ask questions to gain a broader perspective.

It's not an overblown ego or purely contrarian mindset that drives their decisions, but rather a deeply held conviction in a higher mission that necessitates truth-seeking to gain better results.

Successful People are seekers of truth.

Successful People Verbalize Their Respect for Others!

Everyone knows that in order to be respected, you first need to be respectful. While there are obviously exceptions to this rule, this is a pretty basic tenet of earning the respect of those around you.

But what I'm talking about here goes beyond simply being respectful. It deals with telling people you respect them.

According to the principle of spontaneous trait transference, others automatically attribute the same traits to us that we describe in them. This means that if we tell someone they're worthy of respect (if it's true, of course), they're more likely to feel we're also worthy of respect.

Takeaway: 

Be generous with your praise.

If you respect someone, let them know — it could be the key to earning their respect as well.

- John Rampton (modified by Amr Badran)

Successful People Exhibit Warmth, Not Just Competence!

Many people assume that if they're smart enough, skilled enough, or competent enough at their job, they'll naturally earn the respect of those around them.

However, according to Harvard psychologist Amy Cuddy, competence is only the second most important trait for earning respect. Surprisingly, the first is warmth.

According to Cuddy, when we meet a new person, we ask ourselves two questions: "Can we trust this person?" and "Can we respect them?" Trust comes from being warm, while respect comes from being competent.

But here's the catch: According to her research, trust needs to happen before respect. This means a person needs to find you warm before they can ever respect you. She writes, "From an evolutionary perspective, it is more crucial to our survival to know whether a person deserves our trust."

Takeaway: 

If you want to earn respect, you first need to be perceived as warm by those around you. 

To project warmth, it's key to put yourself in the shoes of those around you. 

Really listening to those who are talking to you, and showing empathy where appropriate, will help those around you feel like you really care.

- John Rampton (modified by Amr Badran)

Successful People Read!

Warren Buffett is undeniably one of the best-known and most respected investors and philanthropists of our time. A Google search reveals countless articles on Buffett's habits and traits we can emulate in the hopes of achieving some modicum of success.

But perhaps the most surprising of Buffett's habits is his dedication to reading. He reportedly reads for approximately 80% of his day.

Harry S. Truman said, "Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers." There are many examples of respected leaders who have been voracious readers, including Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.

But why is this?

We do know that reading helps develop a variety of skills and traits that ultimately help build respect. These include:

- Increased Verbal Intelligence

- Improved Understanding of Social Cues

- Improved Emotional Intelligence

Takeaway: Many of the most respected leaders of our time are avid readers. Incorporate reading into your daily routine as a way to develop important social and leadership skills that will lead others to respect you.

- John Rampton 

Successful People Do Not Sugarcoat!

That may seem a bit counterintuitive. Isn't Emotional Intelligence all about making other people feel good? Well, no. Not really.

As author Mark Murray writes for Forbes, "Emotional Intelligence requires recognizing emotions in others, but this other awareness doesn't mean shying away from speaking the truth or using tricks to try and soften the blow of tough feedback.

People with Emotional Intelligence know how important it is that tough messages get heard."

- Áine Cain (Modified by Amr Badran)

Successful People Question Themselves!

Questioning yourself probably doesn't sound like a great trait. Confidence is key, right?

Well, there's a difference between overwhelming self-doubt and self-reflection. As Justin Barro wrote for Inc., it's important to hone your Emotional Intelligence by asking yourself whether or not certain things need to be said.

These questions shouldn't make you doubt yourself, they should simply boost your self-awareness.

- Áine Cain

Successful People “Don’t” Plan More Than They Produce!

You have ideas, maybe lots of them. You spend hours, weeks, months, even years thinking about them, planning them, and examining the pros and cons from all angles.

But when push comes to shove, you find a million reasons not to do them!

They probably won’t work anyway, you tell yourself.

And what if you put your heart and soul into one of these projects and then it’s met with ridicule or, even worse, silence? Better to wait until everything is perfect.

The reality: Yes, it would hurt if your brainchild were met with indifference or derision, but what’s the alternative? Never taking a chance? Never seeing what you can really do? Stripping away the layers of creativity. until all that’s left is an inoffensive shell?

Perfection is an illusion, of course, and virtually every success story is preceded by a string of failures, sometimes spectacular.

Be willing to have your own.

Even if nothing turns out as you planned, you’ll learn plenty about what to do next time. At the very least, you’ll be able to look yourself in the mirror and say, “I gave it my best shot.”

- David Sack (modified by Amr Badran)

Successful People Can Disagree with Someone without Reacting Emotionally!

There is a huge difference between disagreeing with someone and having an emotional discussion that ends in flames! One is productive and one is chaotic!

Ending a discussion in agreement isn't required for a dialogue to be positive.

People can disagree and still respect each other.

It's when people speak from an emotional place that conflict tends to arise.

- Nicolas Cole

Smart People Try To Recognize Their Emotional State and Actively Make Moves To Improve It!

The people who struggle with emotional intelligence hardly know where they stand at any given moment emotionally, let alone someone else!

One of the most important parts of being intelligent in this capacity is knowing, and being able to take responsibility for, your emotional state.

- Nicolas Cole