A peek into the mind-set of successful personalities

Listening to what successful people have to say is always inspiring. Their thoughts give us a sense of direction. Their words have a way of picking us up when we’re drowning. When there is no one else to build our morale, we’ll always have the words of these inspiring personalities. We’ve picked out a few for you and the valuable lessons one can draw from them.

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“You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them.”

- Michael Jordan

This is how it all begins. A belief, a hope, however faint, is all one needs to begin a journey. Even successful people have been hesitant, and have been crippled by fears and doubts. But somewhere there is a belief that they can too do “great things,” and this small voice makes all the difference. Each step towards success fortifies this belief and strengthens that voice until finally, doubts vanish and your expectations of yourself become a reality.

“If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.”

- Jim Rohn

Successful people “risk the usual” by stepping out of their comfort zones. The comfort zone is impervious to the rest of the world, and hence doesn’t allow growth of any kind. We have been taught that risk is the only way to give ourselves a shot at success. But have we ever thought of our comfort as something that needs to be risked? So long as we’re unwilling to try something different, “to risk the usual” and forego of what’s comfortable, the extraordinary will always be out of our reach.

“It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop.”

- Confucius

Success takes time, and this is something that people realise along the way. But it is at this crossroad that successful people are made. Some choose to give up while the rest grit their teeth and walk on. It is at this juncture that they see the truth – the road to success is not always scenic, and that it is riddled with disappointments. We have heard the stories of many successful people only because they made it till the end. If they had given up, their names would never have been heard.

“Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”

- Winston Churchill

Successful people become well aware of one reality – failure is inevitable. Accepting something as an unavoidable problem, however, is miles apart from accepting it as favourable. It is when we look at failure from this positive perspective that success becomes a more savoury experience. Something good can always come out of failure if we’re willing to look for it. People who have become successful have learnt to not take failures too seriously, because it is the only way to move on from them.

“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.”

- David Brinkley

Failure is when you don’t live up to your expectations and rejection is when you don’t live up to that of others. This is why rejection shouldn’t count as failure because people’s opinions of you don’t add to your success. One can be successful regardless of what people think of them. Successful people know how best to handle rejection – they use it to their advantage. They don’t let it dampen their spirits but instead they “lay a firm foundation” with it.

“Opportunities don't happen. You create them.”

- Chris Grosser

Successful people have a way of making things happen for themselves. They don’t leave things to chance or, for that matter, to other people. They take responsibility for their own lives and believe that the only person that can truly help them is themselves. We sometimes think that a lot of good has come our way, but if we remain content with that, we’ll miss out on all the great things we could be finding out there. Successful people have the strength in them to get out there and find those great things.

Success can mean different things to different people – money, fame, or contentment. Whatever it may mean to you, in the end, it is only the strength in your character that can get you there.