1. Ten Traits of Successful People
by Claude Hamilton
I am very lucky to have been mentored by a good friend and an amazing person, Orrin Woodward - one
of the top ten leadership gurus in the world. When you get to spend time with people like Orrin, it
ignites your passion, and in turn, a knowledge-hungry student only encourages the mentor to pour
more into them. I have been blessed by this association with Orrin and I encourage you to read his
books or see him speak if you can.
The thing I’ve learned about success is that anybody can have it. It’s not an elusive mystery. It’s not
something that only other people get.
Although there are occasional factors beyond our control that may influence our chances of success, we,
as individuals, really do have the most control of our own future.
The way in which we act and think determines our chance of success. Over time, I’ve seen ten specific
traits that are common to successful people and I’d like to share them with you.
1) Successful people have focus. They have a sense of purpose.
It has been said that if you don’t have a goal, you will hit it. People who are truly focused will
give up a good opportunity at the moment so they can have the best in the long run. Here is an
example:
Over the years, as my business grew and I started becoming successful, people wanted to know
what we were doing to create that success. I was offered the opportunity to speak often - and
these gigs paid good money! In the short term I was making some money, but I could see it was
causing my core business to suffer. It was a tough decision to make at the time, but I realized
that these speaking engagements were taking me away from my main focus, my business. I
pledged to myself that I would only speak once a month, as opposed to every weekend. Today
my business takes much better care of me than speaking opportunities would. I maintained my
purpose despite short term temptations.
2) Successful people are always striving for excellence. They are seeking to self-improve.
It’s said that when you think you’ve arrived, you’re done. Successful individuals know that the
destination isn’t the prize; it’s the journey along the way.
As a Canadian, I love watching hockey. You can watch some of the best paid pros on the planet
and see that they consistently still do drills and are always working to stay on top of their game.
The moment you stop striving, your competitors have a chance to keep striving longer than you.
Sometimes the game (or business competition) is won by the person who just strived a little bit
longer than anyone else. When you watch anyone who has become amazing at their trade, you
notice that they are always striving for excellence.
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2. 3) Successful people make people feel good.
I have not found yet any type of sport, job or occupation where people are not the main
component. If you don’t have the skills to maintain relationships you will not be successful.
Every business is a people business.
Lana and I undertook a two year project to build our home. When it was completed, I had a lot
of people ask me what was the most important thing about building a house. I would answer
“people skills”. This would surprise them, but the relationships we had with the contractor,
construction people, flooring people, the electricians, plumbers, etc. were important to us. My
wife and I visited almost every day and treated each individual with respect.
We created such good relationships with these people that they all truly enjoyed working on our
home. This was a two year project, so we got to know them quite well and all of them said that
this was one of the more enjoyable projects that they had ever worked on. This had an impact
on the final result because they were willing to go that extra mile. The project was a great
success and I attribute that to the relationships we built, along with a feeling of true mutual
respect.
It doesn’t matter what business you are in or what you do, you deal with people. Successful
people leave these people better in some way than when they met them, even if it’s only by
making them smile.
4) Successful people take responsibility.
I remember when my brother was playing hockey and he was a goalie. I was watching one of his
games and his team lost. He came off the ice immediately blaming the defencemen – he said his
other teammates were terrible. It wasn’t his fault that he let the puck in the net; it was his
defencemen who didn’t do his job defending him.
As long as he blamed those defencemen he wouldn’t get any better at his game because he didn’t
own the problem. It was their problem so he was powerless to fix it. He lost control of his own
success. As soon as he laid blame on others he lost the power to get better. I said to my brother,
“let’s say you are right and that these defencemen are terrible. Aren’t the best goalies the ones
with the worst defencemen because they have to be that much better?”
You have two choices in life and in business; you can blame others and think it’s not your
problem or you can take responsibility. You need to solve the problem. If can make your level of
play a little bit better to compensate for others it will increase your success. When you take
responsibility for a problem, whether it’s yours or not, it’s an opportunity to get better.
5) Successful people consistently take on new challenges.
It’s easy to get into a comfort zone. You know your job; and you stop taking on new challenges.
That means you’re not staying fresh - as a leader, you’re not “sharpening your axe.”
The business world is a competitive environment. You can’t just stop. As I explained earlier, for
leaders it’s not the winning or the destination that’s important, it’s the journey. Scientists and
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3. psychologists have studied the human psyche and determined that humans are happiest when
they are striving. Not when the victory is won, but during the battle. Of course the victory is
sweet, but only because of the journey. Get out of your comfort zone – keep conquering new
terrain.
6) Successful people produce regardless of a situation.
I once heard a speaker say that “winners win.” A lot of times it’s easy for people to say they have
no control over the situation or believe there are insurmountable odds against them. As soon as
you believe a problem can’t be fixed that’s when you quit – and, of course, then you can’t win
and achieve success.
Often, people don’t succeed because they are so depressed over the situation they are in. As a
leader, one of things you do is give vision to others. If you get to the point where you can’t
produce because a situation seems insurmountable, you are now unqualified to provide that
vision.
Winners win and for leaders it’s unacceptable to not produce even though the situation may
seem dire. You can blame a situation, blame the weather or whatever, but as soon as you believe
a problem can’t be fixed, it won’t be.
7) Successful people are willing to work.
For leaders, it’s not just labour that makes a difference; it’s doing the labour with the right
attitude. If you do the work with the wrong attitude you can get the wrong results regardless of
how hard you work.
One thing all leaders have in common is they are not only willing to work but they have a work
ethic. They are willing to pay the price. I heard once that sacrifice is the creating of sacred
things. If you want something sacred in your life, whether it’s financial freedom, family,
success in sports or business, you will have to sacrifice and create that sacred thing that you are
chasing.
8) Successful people invest in themselves.
Abraham Lincoln said if he was going to chop wood for eight hours he would spend seven hours
sharpening his axe. As a leader, you have to value yourself and understand that the best
investment you can make is in yourself. Once you invest in yourself, nobody can take that away -
it’s not like anyone can come and repossess it.
The most important thing to a leader is serving others. Adding value to yourself assists you in
creating more territory and in serving more people. An employer will pay for their employee’s
professional development because they are building an asset. As an independent business
owner or a leader, you have to be willing to do the same.
I remember spending money (money that I could have had a lot of fun with) on books, CDs and
on travelling to seminars. I invested in myself and in the long term, it created the lifestyle that I
wanted.
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4. 9) Successful people persevere.
People know it’s important to not give up when times get tough. Being successful means you
have to think long term and not let the daily ups and down, weekly ups and downs, and even
yearly ups and downs affect your work.
We’ve had good years in our business and we’ve had bad years in our business. If we hadn’t
persevered through those bad years, we wouldn’t have been able to harvest the crop down the
road. Sometimes you just have to preserve a little bit longer than your competitor, or the
problem can persevere.
I read once that no problem can withstand the sustained assault of thought. I found that if I
continually assault a problem long enough I will eventually conquer it. Despite what the media
portrays, success is not instantaneous. Leaders have persevered and kept the dream going while
others didn’t stick with it. Remember, nothing great has been accomplished in the world
overnight. God’s delays are not necessarily God’s denials.
10) Successful people have the ability to prioritize.
Busy people get things done, we’ve all heard that. As we add responsibilities to our lives we need
to prioritize. In regard to time management, one of the most important elements is to decide
the things to purposely not do. As you add responsibilities to your plate you will need to
prioritize. I had to decide what things I purposely would not do.
I love hockey. I coached hockey, watched hockey, I played hockey. But for a few years I realized
that watching and playing hockey wasn’t going to get me to my goal. I had to prioritize and put
that on the back burner for a little bit. Failure is giving up what you really want in the future for
what you can have in the moment. If I chose to watch hockey every day on TV, I wouldn’t be
able to build success so I could go to see the Stanley Cup every year. You have to jettison some
things that won’t get you to your goal.
Successful people have common traits, they all have focus, they are always striving for excellence
and they leave people better than when they met them. They take responsibility. They persevere
and keep going when other people are quitting. They take on new challenges and can always
produce, regardless of a situation. Successful people are willing to work and to invest in themselves.
Lastly, they know how to prioritize.
Success isn’t natural. Most people are average. If you want success you can’t get it by following your
natural likes and dislikes. Success is unnatural; it comes when we don’t necessarily do what we feel
like and instead do what we should.
If you are reading this, it means you have decided to invest in yourself and take responsibility for
your own leadership education and your own personal development.
Congratulations and God Bless.i
Claude Hamilton
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