Think of a few people you highly admire. Have you ever thought about what they have in common? Have you ever wondered what makes you admire them in the first place? As Paloma Cantero-Gomez explained in Forbes, This definition might make you think of someone living a perfect life in a perfect house, driving a fancy car, making eight figures per year; however, what usually these people have in common are some traits that inevitably lead them to success — and that most of us tend to admire.
1. Admired People Tend to Be Antifragile
I love how author Nassim Taleb defines antifragile: “Some things benefit from shocks; they thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, and stressors and love adventure, risk, and uncertainty. Yet, in spite of the ubiquity of the phenomenon, there is no word for the exact opposite of fragile. Let us call it antifragile. Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better.” It amazes me how some people always become a better, stronger version of themselves after they go through a hard time. In fact, this inner strength they have makes me admire them, because it’s their superpower, a superpower only few people have. These people not only survive to and overcome their worst obstacles, but in some way they leverage them. They learn from their mistakes and they see setbacks as lessons and opportunities.
How to apply this:
Learn to find the opportunity in every crisis. Always remind yourself that failure is essential to growth and success.
2. Admired People Are Consistent and Self-Disciplined
Self-discipline is one of the hardest skills to learn and master. See, it’s easy to say “today I’ll skip,” or “I see no results, this isn’t for me, I’m going to give up.” And many of us tell themselves these things, unfortunately. Few people are truly self-disciplined and consistent, and keep working towards their goals no matter what. Let me give you an example. I have a friend, Anangsha Alammyan, who is one of the most consistent people I’ve ever known. She has been writing for a long time on Quora, on this platform, and on LinkedIn, without expecting immediate results. She kept posting even when she didn’t see much engagement, even when she was tired, and despite having a full-time job. Guess what? A few months ago, she was able to quit her job, she’s now a successful freelancer with 58K followers on Quora — where she’s also a verified user — 25K followers on this platform, and every time she posts something on LinkedIn she gets tons of views and reactions. Her consistency and self-discipline clearly paid off. And I admire her because she’s a model to follow.
How to apply this:
Now you might say, “OK, wonderful, I have to be like Anangsha, I have to be more consistent and self-disciplined, but how can I actually put that into practice?” The answer is, it’s not simple, but it’s definitely possible. To be consistent it’s essential to identify a few important goals you want to reach — focusing on too many projects is where most people fail, so choose only a few motivating and realistic goals. Once you have done this, you have to identify the habits that, if repeated every day or week, will lead to your goals. For example, writing a blog post every day, reading self-improvement content every day for 30 minutes, not smoking, not drinking.
3. They Are Passionate
Another thing most admired people tend to have in common is their passion for life, for everything they do, and for what they’re learning. I like to think of passion as a superpower, because when you’re truly passionate about something, you achieve great things, you go far, and it feels almost effortless. Passion is like a special fuel that gives you the strength to be consistent and believe in your vision, no matter what. And you never run out of it. And most admired people have that unlimited fuel. This is why they seem to have an edge on everyone else.
How to apply this:
Find what truly makes you tick and dedicate your time and energy to it. Let go of all those things you think you have to pursue but don’t add much to your life. Focus on what truly makes you feel alive.
4. They Harness The Power of Dissatisfaction
As I mentioned in a recent post, being dissatisfied isn’t necessarily a weakness. In fact, as Brianna Wiest explained in Forbes, it’s something most successful people tend to have in common. Being dissatisfied with your situation pushes you to strive to improve every single day and to become the best version of yourself. There is a Japanese concept related to this idea, that I love, it’s called kaizen; it means change for the better and it refers to the idea of continuous improvement in every area of your life.
How to apply this:
Apply the kaizen concept to your life. Learn the habit of looking for what you can or could have done better, even when you succeed at something. Do it in a positive way, without forgetting what you have achieved, and see this habit as a tool to continuously improve in every area of your life.
What Admired People Have in Common: Bottom Line
To sum up, what follows are the qualities admired people tend to have in common:
Antifragility,Self-discipline and consistency;Passion for their life;Dissatisfaction.
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