What’s the most difficult part of success?
Those long years when you’re working toward your goal and have very little to show for it.
In fact, that’s the part when most people give up. Opinions of others and their own impatience eventually dissuade them, and instead of going just a little bit further, they turn on their heels and walk away.
Not everyone, though. Here are the 8 signs someone will be successful later in life – even if they haven’t achieved much yet.
1) They set their sights high
Success begins with one word. Vision. When I was twelve, I decided I wanted to become a full-time writer. Most people told me that the chances of that happening were so extremely low I shouldn’t have even bothered. The dream of sitting on my laptop all day, sipping coffee, and pouring words down on a page seemed so far away that I wasn’t even sure how I could get there. And yet I set my mind on that goal, refusing to give up.Over a decade later, here I am, writing for a living. So, the first sign someone will be successful in life is that they aren’t afraid to have high ambitions. They might decide to become an astronaut, a politician, a CEO, a film star, you name it. No matter how extraordinarily difficult it is to reach those goals, they will take their chances.
2) They don’t let other people’s opinions get to them
If I let my relatives’ or friends’ opinions get under my skin back then, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here writing this article. Look, people will tell you all kinds of things. They’ll say you’re a naïve dreamer; they’ll dismiss your dreams with a wave of a hand, telling you that you’ll grow out of it; they’ll doubt your skills or your confidence; they’ll point out it’s taking you way too long to achieve those goals, so why even bother? Listen.As long as you genuinely believe in this dream and as long as you can hear it calling out to you with so much magnetic pull you can’t seem to resist it. It’s worth it. And if it doesn’t work out, so what? At least you can say you’ve tried. It’s better than letting go and then always wondering “What if”.
3) They take active steps to reach their goals
Okay, here comes the real dealbreaker. Believing in your dream is one thing. Taking active steps in your day-to-day life in order to transport those ideas from the abstract plane into a physical world is another thing entirely.And it’s where most people cut their losses and go home.
Someone who will be successful later in life is working on their goals even if they haven’t achieved much yet.
Many popular fiction authors spent countless hours writing stories and books that never got published before their big break. Many successful CEOs had to recover from failed business ideas and keep going before they hit the jackpot.
Many athletes went through difficult training sessions, lost competitions, and returned to training the next day before they won a medal. You get the point. Just because you can’t see the results just yet doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work on yourself. And that brings us to the next point.
4) They are incredibly patient
When I was working on my first book, I didn’t know if it would ever get published. Oftentimes, it felt almost pointless – what if I was just writing away on my laptop for dozens of hours just to bin the whole story?The thing that kept me going was the belief that as long as I wrote, it was never a waste of time. In the process of writing, I was improving my craft, I was having fun, and most of all, I was confirming to myself that I wouldn’t give up.
I’ve seen way too many people go after their goals and then give up on the first obstacle. And often, that obstacle is nothing but time. It takes a long time to create and complete projects of whatever kind.
And in that time, all you’ve got is your belief that the particular project is worth the investment. It takes very strong willpower and patience to follow through and reach the finish line.
5) They are flexible enough to pivot when necessary
Having your mind set on getting to the finish line is amazing, but what lots of people don’t tell you about success is that the finish line might change. Every day, you are evolving into a new version of yourself. As you meet new people, go through new experiences, and learn new information, you’re constantly changing.
You might want to build a business now, but five years from now, you might realize that your lifelong goal is to move away from the bustle of the city and live in a self-sufficient commune. You never know. Both of those dreams are successful in their own way depending on what you want in life. And they both deserve your energy and acknowledgment.
Therefore, go after your goal with passion and fervor, but don’t stubbornly dwell on it if it no longer fulfills you on a fundamental level. It’s okay to change and grow. And it’s okay to let go of dreams that no longer work for you.
6) They display a healthy combination of entitlement and humility
Most of us consider entitlement to be a bad thing. However, even entitlement serves a function – it’s what makes you feel like you truly deserve to be happy, which then propels you into action. If you think you’re worthy of reaching success, your odds of getting there increase dramatically because you’ll fight for yourself with more fervor and confidence.On a similar note, humility doesn’t have much of a good rep either. The whole “turn the other cheek” thing makes many people feel almost appalled by humility, thinking that it puts them in a submissive and meek position. But just like entitlement, humility has a good side, too.
When you’re humble, you don’t get too cocky. You keep yourself in check. You’re self-aware enough to embrace negative feedback, learn from your mistakes, and apologize when necessary. Therefore, a little bit of humility and a little bit of entitlement make for an excellent combo when it comes to reaching success. Be confident enough to believe you can make it. And be humble enough to remain a kind and open-minded person no matter how successful you become.
7) They have an innate sense of curiosity
Speaking of humility, people who are truly successful in all the ways that matter understand deep down that they are just a drop in the ocean. They are in awe of how huge the cosmos is and how much information they don’t know, but instead of letting this ignorance dissuade them, they try their best to always soak in new knowledge and remain open to the rich variety of experiences the world offers.When they’re getting to know someone, they are genuinely interested in what the other person has to say.
When someone confides in them, they display empathy and understanding. When they look at the world around them, they ask questions that prompt them to seek answers and learn more about how everything works. You could say people like that are lifelong learners. They never cease to marvel at the complexity of the universe and they always seek new ways to explore it.
8) They have a loving relationship with themselves
Have you ever heard the quote by Stephen Chbosky that says, “We accept the love we think we deserve”?The same applies to success. It is incredibly difficult to get what you want if you think you’re inherently unworthy of it. Without even realizing it, you could end up sabotaging your journey, magnifying the negative aspects of it, and ruining every good thing that happens to you because your subconsciousness will keep screaming at you that you don’t deserve any of this.
This is why the most vital thing that people who eventually become successful share is that they foster a deep sense of self-love. They try not to engage in negative self-talk. They come to embrace all their strengths and weaknesses. They journal or meditate or invest in self-care. They aren’t their own enemies. On the contrary.
Someone who has a high chance to be successful later in life is their own number one fan, which is precisely why they refuse to give up and why they work hard to make their wildest dreams come true. The key is to be your own cheerleader.
