Why are some people more successful than others?
December 30th, 2009 by Bob Bly
A lot of people who claim to be rich and successful ? and I say ?claim? because we don?t know for a fact that they are — act as if it?s all them ? and that luck had nothing to do with it.
But the fact is, there are 6 specific factors that contribute to anyone?s success or lack thereof ? and luck is clearly one of them:
#1?Intelligence.
Some people are just smarter than others.
Intelligence is a result of genetics and environment ? your upbringing.
Since heredity and the home you are born into are purely by chance, intelligence is largely a matter of luck.
By the way, by ?smart? I don?t mean ?book smart.?
I mean smart at anything that can make money ? whether it?s business, art, computers, or whatever.
#2?Knowledge.
Successful people are students for life.
They are constantly acquiring specific knowledge in their business or field — as well as a large storehouse of knowledge on all sorts of other topics.
As a rule, the more you learn, the more you earn.
#3?Effort.
The clich? about working smarter, not harder, is B.S.
Successful people work both smarter — and harder — than others.
#4?Attitude.
Successful people have an attitude. But it?s not an attitude of ripping people off ? or making as much money as they can any way they can.
It?s an attitude of service: of giving their customers (and others) more value than they have any right to expect.
Many successful people are also goal-oriented, and it is important to them to become successful. So they focus their efforts on achievement of that goal.
#5?Aptitude.
We tend to be good at things we like and have an aptitude for.
Financially successful people just happen to have an aptitude and talent for things that make money.
Warren Buffett has said that the reason for his great wealth is that he was born with aptitudes and talents for which our society offers huge financial rewards.
Some of us are good at stuff, but not stuff that pays well. And if we pursue those interests exclusively, our incomes can be limited as a result.
#6?Luck.
As you can see, the key success factors of intelligence (#1) and aptitudes (#5) are determined mainly by chance ? and are largely beyond our control.
Yes, Warren Buffett studied finance, worked hard, and had the right attitude.
But he was also lucky, as is virtually every person who has achieved significant wealth, success, or accomplishment in life.
The honest ones admit this and are thankful.
Any rich or successful person who said luck had no part in his achievement is either in denial or unwilling to come clean.
Therefore, if you are successful, you should be humble, not arrogant and boastful.
After all, you were lucky. Right?
This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 at 7:34 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
December 30th, 2009 at 7:35 am
[...] Why are some people more successful than others? – bly.com blog – bly.com direct marketing blog bly.com/blog/general/why-are-some-people-more-successful-than-others – view page – cached A lot of people who claim to be rich and successful – and I say “claim” because we don’t know for a fact that they are — act as if it’s all them … and that luck had nothing to do with it. [...]
December 30th, 2009 at 8:16 am
[...] Why are some people more successful than others? – bly.com blog … [...]
December 30th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Bob:
I would add a 7th ingredient to the mix. People who become successful surround themselves with those who are already successful. There’s no guarantee, of course, that by doing so, they will become successful. But then, any of the other ingredients you name won’t BY ITSELF guarantee success either. It’s the combination of ingredients that will bring you the closest to success.
December 30th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
[...] Why are some people more successful than others? – bly.com blog … [...]
December 30th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
Bob. I’d add–
• Success is won by taking the risk of failure.
• Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get.
• Secret of success: Think huge, focus on working to achieve one goal at a time and always have a dream to fall back on.
• If you have tried to do something and failed, you are vastly better off than if you had tried to do nothing and succeeded.
Have a prosperous and healthy New Year if we don’t speak on the phone.
December 31st, 2009 at 10:26 pm
[...] Why Are Some People More Successful Than Others?… [...]
January 1st, 2010 at 10:15 am
Great post I especially like your point about ‘working smarter not harder’ and couldn’t agree more. You get nowhere without hard work!
Thanks for all the great tips.
Cheers.
January 2nd, 2010 at 2:22 pm
Not only do I agree but I think your wisdom shows you’re writing from experience. I would add that intelligence is too broad a description here. Making money is almost a ‘knack’. Norm Brodsky and Bo Burlingham described it best in their book called ‘the knack’ on what makes successful business.
January 3rd, 2010 at 11:00 am
Bob,
I liked your blog post on successful people.
You’re right . . . they do work harder, and in many cases, are grateful for their success.
One more factor that appears in highly successful people is their unusual attitude to business and life. I have found these people often have a larger world view, and a bigger life concept than most of us. They see life a little differently than most of us do.
Lesley Peters
Qualified Communication Services
January 4th, 2010 at 11:45 pm
Right attitude is the most important thing we must consider in order to be successful in any aspects of our lives. We can acquire knowledge, improve our intelligence and spot for an opportunity, but if we can’t react on these with right attitude, everything will be put into waste.
January 9th, 2010 at 4:17 am
[...] Why are some people more successful than others? – bly.com blog … [...]
January 11th, 2010 at 1:22 am
Yes, luck and practice, practice, practice. And if that leads to getting paid well for what you like doing really well, then you’re truly blessed.
Happy New Year of The Tiger!
January 13th, 2010 at 6:55 am
[...] Why are some society more successful than others? [...]
January 18th, 2010 at 11:27 am
[...] Why are some people more successful than others? – bly.com blog … [...]
January 20th, 2010 at 12:33 pm
The only problem why some people are more successful than other is attitude. The attitude to think that we can’t do what other people can.
January 22nd, 2010 at 1:33 am
[...] Why are some people more successful than others? [...]
January 26th, 2010 at 12:13 am
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January 28th, 2010 at 1:39 am
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January 30th, 2010 at 10:23 pm
Some people are more successful than the others because they increase their knowledge. In that way, they can improve their intelligence. Since they are more confident now, they spare some effort to make everything possible. Eventually, they develop the attitude in order to be successful on what they are doing. Plus the fact that these people hve the aptitude. If you have all of the characteristics that you need plus a bunch of luck in your life, no doubt that you’ll be successful.
January 31st, 2010 at 12:18 pm
Bob,
Caution- check your scripts. There are Viagra ads baked into the white spaces on this template. Not sure how the hackers use them other than to gain seo position. If you highlight this whole page, copy it, then paste it into a word document… you’ll see them.
January 31st, 2010 at 12:19 pm
view source code on page- you have one of those script injections where your links have been changed
February 16th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
Some people are more inspired than others.
Some people are eager to be up all hours bringing ahead business strategies that could earn them thousands.
Where as other people are more calm and happy with the cash they possess- even if they aren’t rich.
March 4th, 2010 at 8:27 pm
@Jim
I think success is based on how we feel about achieving something. Basically, our eagerness to be successful is the best motivation we have in choosing the right path.
March 9th, 2010 at 10:20 pm
I agree with you, you also need to be lucky in order for you to become successful in your career. Great opportunities are part of your luck, no one can hide that fact. Of course, you must possess a great talent and appeling attitude along with this luck.
March 12th, 2010 at 3:27 am
Luck is the most difficult thing to have in life. Why? It’s because you can’t really control when, where and how you will get your luck. You’ll just need to wait for it to come at the right time and at the right situation.
March 18th, 2010 at 12:10 am
I think that luck is a substantial part of success, for some people more than others. There are a lot of uneducated people running around with money (money I guess is the world standard for success-go figure) and they are doing nothing to benefit society, take for instance, Paris Hilton, who was lucky enough not to be aborted at conception, or Beyonce, who was lucky enough to be born into a wealthy family who could support her career with their money and connections. Even people like athletes who were so lucky to be extremely good at playing a particular sport, despite whether or not they do well in college. It’s about that luck of the irish—sorry it was just an hour ago St. Patrick’s Day
June 20th, 2010 at 5:14 am
You can add a effort to the list.
June 30th, 2010 at 9:30 am
I think it’s because they have the attitude and talents that they can make use to achieve what they want in life. The combination of these two important factors can make the difference.
August 16th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
You don’t need to be extraordinary in order to be successful in life. You just need to know the basic where you can start and improve yourself in the next few times.
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