Success in 15 Personality Traits- Valutrics

There’s no single formula for success but these traits are the core DNA of every successful person.

We all have our own definition of success. For many of us it’s measured primarily in terms of money and wealth, but there are clearly other important aspects of success. Some people value the freedom to spend their time as they want, others value the ability to help those in need. Yet, whatever the metric, there are a core set of personality traits that are common to all successful people.

I’ve seen these traits first-hand in a diverse set of successful people I’ve worked with and known over the years, from billionaires to budding entrepreneurs. Each one was very different and yet they all shared much of the same DNA when it came to the traits that made them successful. Take a look and see how many of these are reflected in your own behaviors. I’d venture a guess it’s more than just a few. By the way my favorite is #15. When I think of the greatest success stories, from Disney, to Oprah, to Jobs it is this trait that most allowed them to overcome the past and build the future.

A Need to Compete — I’ve yet to meet a successful person who does not have a deeply rooted competitive streak. Being successful is fundamentally about needing to win; the reasons vary, but the determination doesn’t. Successful people obsess over creative ways to get a leg up on their competition. And they hate losing with an abiding passion. People often confuse this with work ethic. But working hard isn’t the objective. It’s the competitive drive to do more than anyone else in pursuit of your dream that paves the pathway to success.

The Capacity to Let go — There is an important corollary to #1 above. I don’t care how successful you are, holding onto to the past or your latest mistake will only serve to slow you down. Successful people are not anchored This article was originally published on Inc.

Tom Koulopoulos is the author of 10 books and founder of the Delphi Group, a 25-year-old Boston-based think tank and a past Inc. 500 company that focuses on innovation and the future of business. He tweets from @tkspeaks.