11 Traits of the Successful

The best of the best all share similar characteristics, principles, and habits. It doesn't matter if they played football or the violin or they worked with numbers, a sledgehammer or a scalpel—when I asked them how they approached their work and asked them to tell me about their routine and asked them why and how they had become the best, they would all say many of the same things.

I honestly was a little disappointed at first. Like most people I was expecting a magic formula or some sort of secret recipe. I was hoping to hear something I haven't heard before. But that didn't happen.

Instead I received a valuable insight that there is a pattern to greatness that cuts across all races, genders, and professions. There is a formula for success no matter what kind of work you do.

There are things that the best do that others don't and things that they do better than everyone else. There is a way that the best of the best approach their life and work and craft that differentiates them from others. The formula is predictable and simple to understand. But it's a process, and more than anything it requires someone who is willing to pay the price.

Here are the 11 traits of the Best of the Best:

• The Best know what they truly want.

• The Best want it more.

• The Best are always striving to get better.

• The Best do ordinary things better than everyone else.

• The Best zoom-focus.

• The Best are mentally stronger.

• The Best overcome their fear.

• The Best seize the moment.

• The Best tap into a greater power than themselves.

• The Best leave a legacy.

• The Best make everyone around them better.

Click on the video tab above to hear Jon Gordon's talk about the traits of the Best of the Best