Success has less to do with your natural talent and more with your daily habits, traits, and mindset. And the good news is that we all have the ability to develop them! Find out five personality traits that can make or break your success story.

Success is one of the most complex concepts to define because it is subjective.

For some, success is scaling their business and making millions in revenue. For others, it is raising a beautiful and healthy family. How you define success greatly impacts the things you need to do to be successful.

Whatever success means to you, one thing is sure — you have to learn, unlearn, and relearn certain attitudes to have a better chance at achieving your goals.

In this article, we’ll look at five powerful personality traits that can change your success story for better or worse.

5 Personality Traits of Successful People

Despite how the news and social media may make it seem, there is no such thing as an overnight success. There is no magic wand — success takes hard work and determination.

While some people have personality types that make things a little easier for them, the good news is that everyone has the ability to develop the necessary skills and traits required to be successful.

Here are 5 personality traits that can make or break your success:

Efficiency

Successful people are efficient people. They know how to manage their time and resources to get quality output. Research has found that people working long hours are not necessarily the most efficient. Efficient people instead work smarter and not harder, which distinguishes them from their counterparts.

You can be more efficient and productive in a work setting by pre-planning and organising your schedule.

You can also do better at your job by having a goal in mind every day, as it gives your mind something to focus on for the day. Your daily goal can be as simple as replying to all your emails or tying up loose ends on a project. So take time to analyse your current routine and seek changes you can make to become more efficient.

Growth Mindset

For successful people, there is no such thing as losing — they win, or they learn instead. If you want to position yourself for success, you must develop a growth mindset. It is the belief that you can achieve anything if you invest the time and effort required.

For example, being a pilot will require skills you may not possess. Instead of saying, “I can’t become a pilot because I lack the skills,” a growth mindset says, “I can become a pilot; I only need to learn the skills.”

A growth mindset goes beyond being positive. It is also the ability to embrace challenges and see them as learning opportunities. It can also be in the form of better reception to constructive criticism.

For example, someone with a fixed mindset will say, “How dare they correct my recipe? Everyone knows that I’m a great cook!” But a growth mindset will say, “Thanks for your thoughts on my recipe, there’s always room for improvement.”

Discipline

There is no success story without a period of discipline. To achieve specific goals, you must be willing to leave your comfort zone and impose some restrictions on yourself. For example, if you must wake up early, you must be ready to go to sleep a little earlier.

Discipline doesn’t always have to be a painstaking experience. A simple formula is to start a new habit slowly and trick your mind into accommodating it. You can start by taking the stairs instead of the elevator rather than beginning a full-blown HIIT workout routine to get a fitter body. This way, it is easier to stay consistent and achieve quality results.

Emotional Intelligence

Successful people know how to maintain good relationships with others. They also know how to regulate their emotions when faced with certain situations, which is possible through emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to manage your emotions appropriately and that of others. It encompasses self-awareness, empathy, social skill, self-regulation, and motivation.

Managing other people’s emotions can be challenging because you cannot control how they react to certain situations. However, emotional intelligence helps you understand the underlying intention and feelings behind a person’s behaviour. This skill will sustain your relationship with the people you meet on your road to success.

Some ways to build emotional intelligence are to be mindful of your reactions to situations, communicate openly with those around you, and strive to understand their non-verbal communication.

Confidence

Your skill, connection, or education will undoubtedly open doors for you, but how you stride through that door matters. Confidence is one crucial skill you must develop on your road to success. It is the consciousness of your worth, abilities, and the skills you bring to the table.

It is also seeing an opportunity and understanding that you deserve it even if you don’t have all it takes — not in an arrogant manner but with the certainty that you would put in your best when given a chance.

In the corporate world, people with more self-confidence are often awarded more opportunities than those with only talents. You can start by moving out of your comfort zone, asking for a raise, or taking that supposedly tough interview. However, be careful to maintain a healthy level of confidence, as overconfidence leads to arrogance and a fixed mindset that could be detrimental to your success.

You Can Develop a Success Mindset!

There is no universal formula for attaining success.

Still, there are non-negotiable personality traits that will make success more attainable, whatever path you choose. Start with the ones listed above and see yourself make outstanding progress!

Of course, learning a new habit or building a new mindset is one of the hardest things to do. Check out a technique known as habit stacking, and develop your new success mindset step by step.

Author Bio — Charles Adeoye, BrainManager Team

BrainManager.io is on its way to becoming a leader in psychometric testing, self-assessments, personal growth, self-improvement, and career development. As a member of the BrainManager team, Charles Adeoye holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of Exeter.

Being someone who struggled with mild OCD as a teenager, Charles has always been curious about how the human mind works. Now, he’s invested in discussions around personality types and how understanding each other’s unique personalities can help foster harmony across families, friendships, relationships, and in the workplace.