What Do Successful People Have in Common? (More Than You Think)...

There is a scene in Oliver Stone's 1987 movie Wall Street in which Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) and Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) are riding in the back of a Limo. The car is stopped in traffic. Horns are honking. The two are staring out the window. Gekko, pointing, says to Bud "look out there…" and motions out to the busy street corner. A richly dressed executive carrying a briefcase stands at the curb next to a bum with a shopping cart filled with garbage. "You really think the difference between this guy and that guy is luck?" asks Gekko.

There are always exceptions but, generally speaking,successful people tend to have a lot in common. Maybe
more than we realize. Looking at the common traits among successful people, it seems that the same ten or so qualities always seem to make the lists. Those who enjoy the benefits of large sums of money, status, and/or power can legitimately lay claim to roughly the same ten attributes. I think Napoleon Hill would be the first to agree. 

While you're thinking about what numbers one through five could be, I'd like to share my thoughts about numbers six through ten. Make that seven through ten-because the top quality shared by nearly all successful people is passion. Successful people are passionate about what they do. Rounding out the bottom four are persistence, taking action, self-improvement, and having a plan. Hmm, let's see…a desire to improve one's self, a plan for how to do it, the will to take action, and the persistence to see it through. I wonder… sounds like an effective health and fitness program to me. 

Are successful people actually fitter and healthier than the rest of us? Must be. After all, they're the ones that can afford Personal Trainers, Nutritionists, Massage Therapists, Reiki Masters, and Personal Chefs. Except for one thing; you can pay a trainer to come to your home and count reps but they can't actually do the exercise or eat the healthy food for you. So it is a choice. And, it seems, it is a choice they have made.

Successful people are fit. They take care of themselves. For most of them, living a healthy lifestyle is a necessity in order to keep the hours and the demanding schedules they have to keep without succumbing to "clinical" exhaustion, depression, and illness. "Research has shown" to borrow the cliché, that successful people have routines-like most of us. They eat well. They exercise. They have to. Most Americans could benefit from the example of the President. The presidency is an exhausting and formidable undertaking. President Obama is clearly in great shape but so are our former presidents. They are very robust and vigorous even though a couple of them are over 80. This shows the absolute necessity of staying healthy, vibrant, and fit. Politicians, Corporate Executives, Studio Heads, etc.; for the most part, they are all fit people.

It has been said that how you do one thing, is how you do everything. It is a reflection of how you live your life and what your priorities are. Enduring a schedule that "only a President could love," would be reason enough for your average world leader to insert "nap" into the slot where "exercise" had been. But today's leaders, executives, and business people know better. Being fit and healthy is what keeps them going-its their life's blood. With so many people today studying the lives and practices of the super-successful, it is clear that eating right and exercising daily, are business decisions. It's time we all see that way.

Oh, and by the way, they love books. They are almost always avid readers.
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Fitness expert and Athletic Specialist Jini Cicero, CSCS, teaches intermediate exercisers how to blast through plateaus to create incredible transformations. Are you ready to take your fitness to a whole new level?  Find out now!  Take Jini's "Are you Ready?" Quiz at www.Jinifit.com.


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