All personal development experts are in agreement that peak performers have certain characteristics in common which enables them to achieve phenomenal success. Hence, it follows that if you were to study and adopt these characteristics that you too could dramatically improve your level of success.

Thought leader James A Ray has identified five (5) key characteristics of highly successful people.

1. Powerful Personal Will
Expressed another way, peak performers know exactly what they intend to create in life. They have an iron will. Take the real estate entrepreneur, Frank McKinney. He recently completed his fourth Badwater ultramarathon. This is 135 mile marathon described by National Geographic as the toughest marathon in the world. And the setting for this event is Death Valley. Competitors have only a 60% chance of finishing. This is an event that will finish the ill-prepared. Frank McKinney pushes himself to his limits for a very worthy cause – his Caring House Project – but it takes a strong will and enormous discipline to subject yourself to such an ordeal.

2. Laser Focus
They are incredibly focused and single-minded. Once they establish their intention and set a goal they direct their full resources to the attainment of that goal. And this level of focus doesn’t just relate to personal and business goals. It’s pertinent to everything that they do. I recently read about someone who had an interview with Tiger Woods. The interview was at a hotel and, as you can imagine, Tiger Woods was receiving an incredible amount of attention. Yet, he gave the person interviewing him his full attention. That level of focus has been many years in developing and it is just one of the things that makes Tiger Woods the phenomenal sports person that he is.

3. Highly Energetic
Ralph Waldo Emerson said “Do the thing and you’ll find the energy to do thing.” Successful people certainly know the meaning of this. You only have to look at someone like Richard Branson. He has a wide range of interests from his involvement with Formula 1 with Team Brawn to space exploration with Virgin Galactic. He plays a very hands-on role in promoting his various companies. People who are energetic tend to be passionate about what they do. Their enthusiasm and excitement is contagious. Passion for what you do is what will keep you going when times get tough and, if you’re going after anything that is worthy of you, things will certainly get tough at times. But, as Mark Victor Hansen said:

“Whoever has the most energy wins. Energy gives one confidence, power, self-esteem and new possibilities.”

4. Unshakeable Self-Belief
One of the reasons why people fail to achieve their goals is that they simply don’t believe in themselves. So they don’t believe that they can achieve their goals and they don’t take action. This is learnt behaviour. Take the example of a normal healthy baby. When that baby learns how to walk it doesn’t give up after the first attempt thinking “Dumb idea trying to stand on two legs. I think I’ll crawl for rest of my life.” No, the baby falls down and then simply gets up again and the baby keeps refining its movements and keeps trying until they can walk. It’s only later in life that we develop this attitude where if you’re not immediately successful then you give up before you start. And this attitude stems from a negative self-belief so take the advice of best-selling author of “The Success Principles”, Jack Canfield and:

“Choose the belief you would have if you knew you could be successful.”

5. Growth Driven
Declan Dunn said that when you achieve success is not the time to sit on your laurels and bask in the glory of your achievement. Instead, it’s a time when you should re-invent yourself. Madonna is a master of the art of re-invention and her results reflect this. She is the highest paid female singer in the world and has held this status for at least 3 years. However, growth is not just about re-inventing yourself. It’s about continually improving and expanding yourself and whatever business you’re involved in. And the fact is that if you’re not continually striving to improve then you will slide into a state of decline because nothing remains static. As James A Ray says:

“Spirit only has one objective – fuller expression and expansion.”

And, it is seeking to do so through you.

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