“If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do…” ~ Tony Robbins
One basis for my closest friendships throughout my life is that they have a trait (or traits) that I admire and wish had developed more within myself.
John has a drive that’s motivating. Troy is kinder than I think I’ll ever be. Mike’s demeanor is unflappable. Matthew is non-judgemental and accepting of others to a level I’ve never seen before.
Over the years I’ve realized that it’s rarely a learned trick or new strategy that is the reason for accomplishment.
It is the person a man has become that is the foundation of his success.
So what is foundational for men who have achieved success in their lives?
I reached out to a group of men – some I know personally, some whose work I follow and respect and some who I was told to seek out – and asked them this one question:
What is one trait that you found to be fundamental to your current level of success?
As I received their answers I was blown away! Each and every one had a powerful and personal perspective on an essential reason for their success.
So, I present to you, 30 foundations of successful entrepreneurial men!
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Matthew Kelly – Motivational Speaker, Partner at Floyd Consulting and Author of “Off Balance”, “The Dream Manager” and “The Rhythm of Life”
The pursuit of virtue. Two patient people will always have a better relationship than two impatient people. Two generous people will always have a better relationship than two selfish people. Two humble people will always have a better relationship than two proud people.
Chris Brogan – Speaker, CEO and President of Human Business Works and Author of “The Impact Equation” and “Trust Agents”
Be open to learning all the time. Permanence is the enemy.
Michael Port – Entrepreneur, Professional Speaker and Author of “Book Yourself Solid”, “The Think Big Manifesto” and “Book Yourself Solid Illustrated”
Fundamental building block to any successful endeavor is the ability to make commitments and fulfill them. Say you’ll do and do is the secret to success.
David Meerman Scott – Speaker, Online Marketing Strategist and Author of “The New Rules of Marketing and PR”
Never follow the competition. Always lead.
Scott Dinsmore – Entrepreneur, Founder and Chief Experimenter at Live Your Legend
Surrounding myself with people who make me better. Your standards and belief of what’s possible will transform based on the people you surround yourself with. They can either kill dreams or make them come true. I call it brainwashing the impossible: the fastest way to do the things you don’t think can be done is to hang around people already doing them.
One perfect example of this in action for me was that for the first 4 years of running a website, it grew by 0%. No revenue and only my friends and family following. Then I moved to San Francisco and suddenly started to meet some amazing people online and in person, who were running the type of businesses I’d only dreamed about. I did everything in my power to hang around them. Within 6 months of meeting them our community at Live Your Legend grew by10x. Within another 12 months it had grown by 160x and turned into a meaningful business and movement. And through that I get to help people in a real way every day. So fun! The people around me took my thinking from ‘how could I possibly do this’ to ‘how could I possibly not”. That changed everything.
John Lee Dumas – Host and Founder of EntrepreneurOnFire
Setting a disciplined schedule that brings me closer to my overall goals every day, and keeping my eye and ear blinders on when the white noise that surrounds us all becomes too loud and bright.
Chris Guillebeau – Entrepreneur, Founder of The Art of Nonconformity and Author of “The Art of Nonconformity” and “The $100 Startup”
Asking questions repeatedly, especially about my own motivations.
Todd Henry – Founder and CEO of Accidental Creative and Author of “The Accidental Creative”
Doing whatever it takes to make rare opportunities count. When I see a window of opportunity, I will do what it takes to ensure that I leverage it, even if the payoff won’t come until farther down the road. In other words, treating my life like an investment portfolio.
Chase Reeves – Mixing Business, Design and Marketing at Ice to the Brim, Think Traffic and Fizzle
For me it’s been a kind of brash and raw honesty. It seems to be an essential part of my nature to try to make sense of all the gritty human stuff. It’s about a 60/40 chance I end up with my foot in my mouth, but that 40% has been worth it. It’s been the battery behind great writings and videos as well as the foundation for so many relationships.
Jonathan Mead – Founder of Paid to Exist
Living and breathing integrity.
Cliff Ravenscraft – Speaker, Creator and Host of The Podcast Answer Man
Setting priorities. For me, when I’m crystal clear about my priorities, it is very easy for my yes to be yes and my no to be no. Also, knowing my priorities allows me to focus on doing the work that is most important each day.
David Jehlen – Marketing Expert, Speaker and Author
Four years ago my life was a cardboard cutout of what I actually wanted. It had the trappings of success but I was utterly miserable. I wanted a life of purpose, meaning and contribution. After hitting emotional rock-bottom and through shear desperation, I created an amazing life. I attribute this remarkable turnaround to my persistent use of Focused Imagination.
Most people habitually talk about and picture in their minds exactly what they don’t want. This is the precise recipe for disaster I cooked up for myself. By returning to my roots, listening and reading positive, uplifting materials and clearly seeing what I deeply desired, it all changed quickly.
By vividly and consistently seeing yourself as you want to be something seemingly magical happens. You actually begin to change your self-image to reflect what you really want to be like. It’s not long before your actions, desiring to be congruent with your visual message, follow suit and productively move you towards your goals.
You really are what you think about.
Matt Walker – World-Class Mountain Climber, Speaker, Founder of Inner Passage and Author of “Adventure In Everything”
A willingness to engage. I have always found that a willingness to engage in the work, get my hands dirty, try, experiment, and “see what happens” a key component to success. I am not too detailed of a person so I don’t get too hung up on having everything “just right” or perfect. The result is that I can engage with others that are more detail oriented and I can stay “big picture” and get the work and projects out into the world. So, in part the other personal trait I consider fundamental to success is also recognizing my own strengths and when to bring in the expertise of others.Matt
Thomas Willeford – Artist, Writer and Creator of Infernal Devices at Brute Force Studios
Determination. Everything else falls second to the determination: talent, connections, etc. Of course, the requisite side effect is that I abhor laziness.
Jason Van Orden – Entrepreneur, Media Strategist, Founder of Internet Business Mastery
Self awareness in general is very important. Specifically, awareness of strengths and focusing on strengths – spending my time doing the things that I am best at and that fulfill me most. That also allows me to set up systems and teams to handle the things that are not my strengths, things I’m not competent at, that drain my energy and that I have no business doing.
Caleb Wojcik – Blogger, Podcaster and Online Entrepreneur at Pocket Changed, Think Traffic, Expert Enough and Fizzle
If there was a single trait that I’d deem extremely important to the success I’ve had in my life it would have to be habit building. It isn’t sexy to talk about, but the most successful people determine what makes the biggest impact to spend their time doing and then they do those things over and over again. If you can build positive habits (and quit negative ones) you’ll be on track to success and fulfillment.
Thomas Mangum – Entrepreneur and Connector at Learn To Connect NOW
Connecting with a person’s soul no matter what; seeing through their external persona, seeing them as a great human being that I have the profound priviledge to share the moment with.
And if you didn’t notice it requires leading with love because really…love it all there is.
Leading with love allows us to be the hardest of hard asses, getting shit done in the process. That and that alone has brought more business, talent, resources into my life.
Jayson Gaddis – Relationship healer, Psychotherapist, and Guide
Developing a fundamental trust in Life.
Derek Sivers – Entrepreneur, Minimalist and Learning Addict
Knowing how to change how I feel about anything, at any time, to suit my goals.
Most people say, “Hey – I can’t help the way I feel,” and everyone nods as if it’s fact. But you can! First, you have to realize it’s possible, and want to do it. Then just stack up some supporting beliefs and reasons, and literally change your mind. You may fall back a bit, of course, but you remind yourself of the reasons and the rationale, and train yourself into this new mindset.
I’ve used this for emotional things, like taking something bad that’s happened and asking, “What’s great about this?” (Then really feeling the answer, until I’m fully convinced that this is a great thing that’s happened.)
I’ve used this for skills, which are often limited by identity, like “Oh no, I’m not the kind of person who could fly a plane.” First you change your self-identity around it, then can whole-heartedly dive into learning the concrete skills.
I’ve used it for experimentation, like, “I’m such an American. But what if I were to leave the U.S. and never come back, and not have it as a safety net?” Knowing I can reframe my fears and update my self-identity to suit my adventure and growth goals.
Marc Chernoff – Dispenser of Practical Productive Living Wisdom at Marc And Angel Hack Life
Successful people work outside of their comfort zone.
The number one thing I persistently see holding smart people back is their own reluctance to accept an opportunity simply because they don’t think they’re ready. In other words, they feel uncomfortable and believe they require additional knowledge, skill, experience, etc. before they can aptly partake in the opportunity. Sadly, this is the kind of thinking that stifles personal growth and success.
The truth is nobody ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises. Because most great opportunities in life force us to grow emotionally and intellectually. They force us to stretch ourselves and our comfort zones, which means we won’t feel totally comfortable at first. And when we don’t feel comfortable, we don’t feel ready.
Significant moments of opportunity for personal growth and success will come and go throughout your lifetime. If you are looking to make positive changes and new breakthroughs in your life, you will need to embrace these moments of opportunity even though you will never feel 100% ready for them.
Lou Bortone – Branding Specialist and Entrepreneur
In a word, I’d have to say “over deliver.” I’ve always tried to do more than promised or go the extra mile, whether it was when I was working in a corporate environment, or serving my current clients. Delivering more than promised has resulted in loyal, happy customers who are happy to refer you to new clients.
Richie Norton – Speaker, Coach and Author of “The Power of Starting Something Stupid”
Don’t wait. Start stuff.
You’ll read in the book [The Power of Starting Something Stupid] how my brother-in-law Gavin died unexpectedly in his sleep at age 21 and how my son passed away at only 76 days from a communicable disease called pertussis. I learned from this experience that you can’t wait to start “something stupid” and came up with Gavin’s Law: Don’t wait. Start stuff. I use this principle to create a life without regret.
Dragos Roua – Entrepreneur, Personal Development Fanatic and Blogger
For me it’s curiosity and stubbornness. Curiosity makes me try new things and stubbornness makes me commit to them, if they really worth the price, of course.
Ken Wert – Teacher and Creator of Meant To Be Happy
I tend to throw myself into what I do. I don’t wait to master a thing before starting. I don’t wait to get an invitation. I don’t wait until the right cards are dealt or the all the stars are aligned just right or I have my degree or license or black belt in the thing I’m curious about doing. I just do it.
Starting my blog is a good example of how this quality has benefited me. I knew nothing about blogging. I knew (and still know very little) html or any other coding language. I was virtually nonexistent on any social media platform (I may have had a Facebook account with 3 or 4 Friends when I started). I was almost completely in the dark and unplugged and tech-challenged.
But I loved writing and loved happiness and loved the idea of connecting my ideas about a topic so deeply pregnant with the substance of meaningful living to the lives of people spread across the globe, that I quickly became infatuated with the idea.
So, despite the murky depths of the choppy sea I was looking at, the lack of time, resources and know-how, I jumped in head first and started dog paddling (often spelled s-i-n-k-i-n-g) until I learned how to swim a bit. Thus was born Meant to be Happy.
Michael Trow – Sales and Marketing Coach, Speaker
The ability to be myself around peers, colleagues and clients to build better relationships. This aids in the building of genuine relationships and gives me more of a chance to associate with like-minded people.
Tim Sanders – Business Consultant, Speaker and Author of “Love Is The Killer App” and “Today We Are Rich”
When I meet someone, I look for a way to help them succeed through knowledge sharing or networking. It’s a reflex on my part. It’s led to all my connections, great friends and business partners. So often, too many people screen others for value when they meet them, thinking errently that they are “networking.”
Tripp Lanier – Coach, Consultant and Host of The New Man Podcast
If you give a crap about your quality of life then develop the skill of paying attention to your experience — specifically the activities and choices that have you feeling more alive, free, at peace, and giving/receiving love. We tend to deny these experiences in a tradeoff for safety and comfort. But there’s a catch. Orienting your life around passion, freedom, peace, and love requires guts and great trust. Why? Because they lead you off the beaten path and onto your own path. Yes it’s a path of uncertainty, but peel away all of the bullshit and distractions and these are the life experiences we truly want. It doesn’t need to be any more complicated than that.
Corbett Barr – Entrepreneur, Founder of Think Traffic, Expert Enough and Fizzle
Tenacity and resourcefulness are the most important personal traits in success. Being persistent and working through obstacles with whatever skills/resources you have are the two factors that almost ensure success.
Tim Brownson – Life Coach and Author of “How To Be Rich And Happy”
I really have no problem with people criticizing me and never take it personally. And the reason I have no problem is because I see it as an opportunity to learn. I either learn that I got something wrong or I learn that the person criticizing me isn’t worth taking seriously. There is an NLP presupposition that suggests, “There is no failure only feedback” and this is very similar to that.
Having a blog leaves you open to attack if people feel so inclined. I always weigh up what somebody says to see it makes sense and may have merit or it’s just somebody lashing out. There have been occasions when I have gone back into posts to edit them and credited the person who left a comment for putting me right. On the other hand, if I think somebody has got something wrong I’m not averse to saying so, often quite vehemently.
C.C. Chapman – Explorer, Humanitarian, Speaker and Author of “Amazing Things Will Happen” and “Content Rules”
Helping out others whenever possible.
Over and over again I’ve had the simple act of helping someone come back to me in amazing ways.
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I’d love to hear which of these resonates with you most! Please share in the comments below.
~ Kirk