What Successful People Do Differently

We all know examples of extremely successful people who we admire and look up to. But how do they do it? The answer that can initially come to our minds is that they are born with specific characteristics and talents that set them apart from the crowd. This is simple a tiny piece of the puzzle. In fact, decades of research on achievement and success suggests that people experience repeated success not simply because of who they are, but more often because of the things they do. What successful people have in common is that they simply did and continue to do, things that help them realize their full potential.My Career Success  is here to highlight the things that successful people do differently that the rest of us can easily learn from.

They Take Action

In a world where you can no longer plan or predict your way to success, very few people ever live to become a success story, and there’s one simple explanation for that: they never took action! As you advance in your career, the acquisition of knowledge doesn’t mean that you’re actually growing. Growing happens when what your knowledge changes the way you live. It doesn’t matter if you have a high IQ and advanced degrees; you can’t change anything or make any sort of real-world progress without taking action. Knowing how to do something and actually doing it are two very different things.

They Practice Realistic Optimism

Successful individuals are both optimistic and realistic. This means that they engage in lots of positive thinking while keeping in mind that in order to be successful they have a solid plan. They tap into all necessary resources and they continuously evaluate different options if things don’t work out. Realistic-optimists stay positive and enthusiastic about the future, even if they recognize the challenges ahead.

They Focus on Being Productive, Not Busy

Many professionals believe that as they advance in their careers they need to be able to focus on too many different tasks at the same time. But what successful people do differently is that they focus their energy on each goals one step at a time before moving onto the next. “Work smart, not hard” is a popular get-rich-quick concept in today’s business world, but most of the time employees mistake “smart work” for only doing the bare minimum while getting a fat paycheck at the end of each month. Working smart is all about giving priority to the most important tasks that have the greatest impact on your goals.

They Don’t Get Tangled Up in Perfectionism

Our culture has raised success to illogical heights where being good is no longer good enough. To put it bluntly, perfectionism only exists in the mind and it is not real. Perfectionists have a hard time starting things and an even harder time finishing them. Successful people don’t complicate things by obsessing over every last detail. They understand that the solution is to simplify. They choose something that they think will work and give it a try. If they fail, they consider it a learning experience and move on to the next project.