No matter how diverse their goals or crafts, the super-achievers shared many of the same habits. How can you follow in their footsteps? These are the 10 qualities that will set you apart.
不论目标或技艺多么五花八门,成功人士都有很多共同的习惯。那怎样才能像他们那样成功呢?以下十个品质就能让你脱颖而出:
Dedication To A Vision
为梦想全力以赴
Every great success starts with inspiration, but not every inspiration leads to success. The most common thing we found was these people’s devotion to the day-to-day struggle. Glossy magazine success stories often don’t show the dark moments, the daily grind or flagging energy that super-achievers endure to realize their goals. However, that dedication is essential to their success.
所有伟大的成功都从创意开始,但不是所有创意都能走向成功。我们发现,成功人士对生活中的平凡琐事也会全力以赴。杂志中光鲜亮丽的成功故事很少会表现成功人士的困顿时刻、日常琐事或他们为实现目标所付出的种种精力。但正是这种全身心的投入成就了他们的成功。
Intelligent Persistence
聪明地坚持
One thing successful people know: Dedication and blind persistence are two very different things. You can work hard but not smart. When something’s not working, you’ve got to tweak it. Some people just keep banging their heads against the wall. Instead of doggedly using the same ineffective tactics, super-achievers pivot and try to tackle the problem from a different angle.
成功人士都知道:全力以赴和盲目坚持是两码事。你可能工作很努力,却工作得不聪明。如果方法行不通,你就得想办法解决。有些人只会认死理,而成功人士却不会死守无效的方法,他们会换个角度来解决问题。
Fostering A Community
培养智囊团
Star performers know they can’t achieve success on their own. Instead, they must galvanize a group of people around their idea or goal. Teamwork, or having an ecosystem of supporters, turns out to be critically vital for success. It doesn’t just include partners and coworkers. It might also mean employees, customers, investors, mentors, fans and social media followers. They quote business guru Guy Kawasaki: “First you have to create something worthy of an ecosystem. Then pick yourevangelists.”
卓越名人都知道不可能凭一己之力取得成功。相反,他们必须激励其他人一起出谋划策。团队合作或有一帮支持者对成功来说至关重要。这不仅是指合伙人或同事,也可能包括员工、客户、投资者、导师、粉丝以及社会媒体人士等。引用商业大师盖伊-川崎(小编注:盖伊-川崎是苹果公司前首席宣传官、联合创始人)的话就是:“你先得建立一套有价值的系统,然后才能找到你的传道人。”
Managing Emotions
情绪管理
We found that managing emotions is a key element to success. It’s so easy to be derailed by them, but these people are able to channel anger and frustration into their work. This was an important lesson for Jessica Watson, the Australian sailor who circumnavigated the world alone at only 16 years old. While out at sea, when loneliness or negativity set in, she would acknowledge her emotions and remind herself that she could get past them. “You can’t change conditions—just the way you deal with them,” Watson said.
我们发现情绪管理对成功也很重要。人们很容易被情绪左右,但成功人士却能很好地化愤怒和抑郁为工作力量。杰西卡-沃森对此深有体会。这位澳大利亚航海员16岁时就独自环游了世界。在海上,孤独或负面情绪来袭时,她会正视它们,提醒自己可以克服它们。“你无法改变环境,所以只能改变面对环境的方法。”沃森说。
Constantly Evolving
不断进取
Successful people maintain success by consistently learning and adapting to the environment around them. Tennis champion Martina Navratilova realized this when her game suddenly started sliding. She decided to transform her training routine and diet, and soon was back on track to become an all-star athlete.
成功人士通过不断学习并适应周围环境来维持成功。网球冠军玛蒂娜-纳芙拉蒂洛娃在比赛突然退步时悟出了这个道理。她决定改变训练模式和饮食,很快又恢复了自己的实力,成为一名明星运动员。
Listening And Remaining Open
倾听和开放的心态
You don’t normally think of hard-charging, action-oriented leaders as being good listeners. These people’s ability to practice the art of listening helped them learn what they needed to know about the world around them.” For example, Zappos’ Hsieh asked all his employees to share their personal values so that he could incorporate them into the company’s values and culture.
一般来说,作风硬派、雷厉风行的领导人会让人觉得他们不善于倾听。实际上这些人很擅长利用倾听的艺术从周围获取自己需要的信息。比如说,Zappos的创始人谢家华就要求员工分享各自的价值观,从而使他们融入企业的文化和价值观。
Good Storytelling
善于讲故事
Stories have the ability to transport people to your world, and then they’re more likely to invest in you and your brand. Philippe Petit, famous for his high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of New York City’s World Trade Center in the 1970s, believed other wire-walkers were trying to make it look hard. But he wanted to be a poet in the sky and seem effortless. His narrative wasn’t in words, but it was a story he was communicating.
故事可以带领人们进入你的世界,让他们更愿意投资你和你的品牌。菲利普-帕特是著名的走钢丝艺人。他曾在上世纪70年代在纽约世贸中心双子塔之间表演高空走钢丝。他认为其他走钢丝人一直试图将走钢丝搞得看上去很难。但他却希望成为“空中诗人”,让走钢丝看上去轻松无比。尽管没有用言语讲述,但却是在讲述一则故事。
Testing Ideas In The Market
用市场检验想法
Everybody has a bias to think their own idea is brilliant. [Achievers] roll it out in an environment that’s as close as possible to the market. Bill Gross, serial entrepreneur, always tests before he invests. When he had an idea for an online car dealer, CarsDirect, no one was sure if people would actually buy a car from a Web site. He decided to put up a test site to see what would happen. Before they had any inventory, they’d sold four cars and had to shut down the site. On the upside, Gross then knew for a fact there was a market for the service.
每个人都有私心,觉得自己的想法特棒。成功人士会在接近市场的环境中试验自己的想法。比尔-格罗斯是多家企业的创办人,他在投资前总要先进行试验。当他想在网上进行汽车直销,没人确定人们愿不愿意从网上买车。于是格罗斯决定试验一下,看看到底如何。还未存货前,他们只卖了四辆车,最后只好关闭网站。从好的方面来看,格罗斯起码知道了市场的服务需求。
Practicing Patience
学会耐心
Inaction, or stillness, can sometimes be just as useful as action. The importance of patience was a primary theme among the super-achievers–whether it’s strategically waiting for the best time to make a move or continuing to pursue a larger vision without receiving immediate rewards. Jill Tarter, a director of the SETI Institute (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), has been searching for life on other planets for the last 50 years without any guarantee of success.
有时不作为或安静也和行动一样有效。耐心是成功人士第一要点——不论是有策略地等待最佳行动时机还是拒绝临时奖励而谋求更大目标。吉尔-塔尔特是SETI(外星智能搜寻)研究中心的一名主管,虽不确定成功与否,50年来却一直在搜寻外星生物。
Pursuing Happiness
追求快乐
Success fuels happiness, and happiness in turn fuels greater success. Jennings, “the winningest game-show champion in history,” said once he became a contestant on a game show, it filled his entire life with passion. That happiness helped him win, and winning ended up giving him the confidence he needed to pursue a career he loved: writing. Seeking happiness in your life and work turns out to be a win-win.
成功带来快乐,而快乐反过来也会带来更大成功。“史上最强竞赛节目冠军”詹宁斯曾说,每次参加竞赛节目,自己整个人都会激情澎湃。快乐使他赢得比赛,而获胜反过来也增强了他追求至爱事业的信心:写作。从生活与工作中寻找快乐吧,这样你就能获得双赢!