17 Things Successful People Never Stop Doing

Mike: Welcome back to the FlipNerd.com REI Classroom, where experts from across the real estate investing industry teach you quick lessons to take your business to the next level. And now, let’s meet today’s expert host.
Marco: Hi, my name is Marco Santarelli with Norada Real Estate Investments and I am your host of the REI Classroom today. Today’s topic is 17 things successful people never stop doing.
Mike: This REI Classroom real estate lesson is sponsored by theinvestormachine.com, FlipNerd’s private investor coaching program and your blueprint to investing success.
Marco: Think about the most successful people you know. Here are 17 things I bet they constantly do. Now, may be we’re talking about a work colleague or a mentor or maybe this is someone you knew growing up or back in school and you can’t believe how much he or she has achieved since that point in time. I have no idea what this person looks like or what kind of business he or she is in, but success is a balance sheet. It could be defined as a balance sheet or it can be defined as a full and fulfilling life.
So everybody has a different definition of success. But I’ll bet I can tell you a lot about this person because I can identify with their good habits and there are simply a number of things that almost all really successful people do every day and that others simply don’t do to get things done. They just give up when it gets too hard or inconvenient.
But the first thing is laughing and I am going to be brief with all this because I could talk about each one of these for 10-15 minutes, but with laughing there are many times to be serious but successful people understand that that there is humor to be found in nearly any situation. The famous H.G. Wells put it this way, he said, “The crisis of today is the joke for tomorrow.” So don’t take everything so seriously.
The second thing is learning and I am big on this one. Have you heard the saying that no education is ever wasted? Well, the thing is that successful people understand this and that’s why they are always challenging themselves and learning something new. I have a saying–the more you learn the more you earn. So always be learning.
The third is listening and this is a skill. Nobody learns anything without listening. So successful people really recognize that they’re much better off hearing what other people have to say, rather than telling them what they think they want to hear. So this is a learned skill, and anybody can work on this.
Now, the fourth is asking. It’s one thing simply to remain passive and listen, but it’s another thing to combine listening and learning in a tactic we call active listening. So successful people pay attention. They think and they follow up with good questions.
The fifth thing is empathizing. It’s a tongue twister of a word. No successful person ever led a team or sold to a customer or inspired an audience without being able to put themselves into the other person’s shoes to see what the world is like as they see it. So empathy is another learned skill that pays off in spades and it’s well worth adopting.
Now, the sixth is questioning and you might be asking, “Well, didn’t we just talk about asking two items ago?” Well, yes, but questioning refers to a different kind of inquisitiveness. It means that you’re revisiting or challenging an assumption and asking, “Why not?” So question things and you really learn a lot by actually questioning things.
The seventh thing is giving. See, nobody ever accomplishes anything truly great by themselves. Successful people understand this and they know that before you can ask others to help you, you have to show that you’re willing to help others. This is just a basic human trait known as reciprocity. So learn to give.
Eighth is tied to the seventh and that’s just being thankful or thanking. Two simple words. Say, “Thank you.” You see, successful people know that gratitude gains affection and makes continued success more likely. So always be thankful because we do here in America and around the world in first world countries have a lot to be thankful for.
Now, ninth is failing. See, there is no failure without trying, but there is also no success without being willing to risk failure. So you need to venture out and you need to do what needs to be done to be successful in spite of any possibility of failure.
Tenth is adventuring. Now this sounds odd, but this can mean traveling or having new life experiences or just doing anything about, you know, anything new in your life, going beyond your comfort zone. That’s what it’s all about, you know, getting outside your comfort zone. So successful people understand that you only grow when you’re willing to change yourself and this too means stepping out of your comfort zone. So learn to be comfortable stepping out of your comfort zone.
The eleventh is a little more touchy-feely but it’s loving. Whether we’re talking about loving your family or your work or your customers or just life itself, successful people know that a life full of love is simply better and humans are born to love. So don’t fight it, go with it because it’s in our DNA.
The twelfth is forgiving. You know, successful people understand that forgiving others is as much a gift to yourself as it is to them. So to not forgive could mean carrying a grudge or a regret for the rest of your life and do you really want to live under that stress?
The thirteenth thing is remembering. Now this is kind of an odd one but remembering has to do with remembering people’s names, places, dates, important events. Learning and remembering are all learned skills. So use tools if you have to, use an organizer to help you out. But you know, this is a thing I struggle with is after a few months I start to lose or forget people’s names.
The fourteenth is honesty, and this is a big one. Life is usually easier when you’re brave enough to be candid and successful people know that the lure of being dishonest doesn’t only arise when you’re tempted to pump yourself up or to hide truths, it’s actually a danger. It’s a danger when you try to avoid conflict and go along just to get along with others. The bottom line here is this. Be honest, be truthful, be sincere and you can just live a much happier and stress-free life.
Fifteenth is risking. So, you know, every choice that you make involves some sort of risk and even the decision to do nothing different is full of opportunity costs. So successful people are great risk takers, which means that they are risk managers and that’s the key thing there is understanding that increasing your knowledge helps lower your risk. If you increase your financial IQ and the things you need to know and learn or want to know and learn, that lowers risks. So learn to take risks but be a risk manager at the same time.
Sixteenth is simply prioritizing. Successful people are usually successful at more than one thing. You don’t accomplish multiple tasks or objectives without deciding which one to do first. So learn to prioritize, and to help you a great book is one called “The ONE Thing” by Gary Keller and this book will help you to learn how to properly prioritize your tasks, your objectives in your life.
Lastly is accomplishing. You see, at the end of the day, we’re judged by what we accomplish and actually this is the way I judge most people, not to be judgmental but especially politicians. They say one thing, but really, what are they actually doing? So truly successful people know that you can’t build a reputation. As someone once said, you know, on the things that you’re planning to do in the future, your reputation is built on what you’re doing and what you did, not what you plan to do. So take action.
Anyway, for more free wealth building information, visit our website at noradarealestate.com and listen to my podcast, Passive Real Estate Investing, on iTunes. Thank you.
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