What is the Most Common Factor in Successful People

Resilience.

Resilience is the ability of a person to bounce back from a setback and overcome adversity. This is the one trait I’ve seen in people that I’ve found inspirational, dedicated to their craft, and what society views as a successful person. These are the individuals who have encountered obstacles and failure to no end and managed to pick themselves back up and achieve amazing things.

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Failure is natural, and yet I see so many of my peers stall their lives by doing anything to avoid it. This unfortunately means that taking risks is not a part of who they are. This does not mean that they are slacking, it means that the fear of failure has outweighed their dreams of personal growth. What I’ve seen in those who have experienced failure have taken it as a lesson to drive their next move. These are the individuals that overcome those experiences and built an opportunity for themselves to rise into the great things they’ve accomplished next.

Resilience requires great amounts of emotional intelligence (the ability to manage your emotions, empathy, and understanding people). Our emotional intelligence can be developed through practice and self-awareness.

Upon the stories I’ve read of incredibly inspiring people that I admire, I saw their resilience through their learned experiences, expertise, and the level of drive they had to achieve credible feats. This drive came from different approaches to solving the problem and led them to their success.

Here are some other common threads on the types of resilient people:

The Optimist

This is the individual who maintains a constant positive outlook and always seeks the good in any situation. The one that finds the gem that comes with a setback and uses that as the drive into their next move.

Known Optimist: Dianne Von Furstenberg is a notable fashion designer. In her memoir, The Woman I Wanted to Be, she recounts her long career through multiple failures and struggles of maintaining her brand and business. Her life lessons are what drove her to keep going, and as her book title states, she knew what she wanted to be despite her obstacles.

The Go-Getter

The Go-Getter always has a plan and a handful of backup plans to adapt to their environment. They don’t take “No” for an answer and take advantage of their resources to take on the alternative ways to reach their goals.

Known Go-Getter: Arlan Hamilton is the Founder and Managing Partner at Backstage Capital. In her book, It’s About Damn Time, Arlan shares her stories of finding her way to become a manager of one of her favorite bands to becoming homeless and living in an airport. Her grit and perseverance drove her to pursue venture capital by taking up space in a white-male dominated world. Her VC firm, Backstage Capital, has raised over $200 million in 200 companies in 2022.

The Cheerleader

The most reliable person on a team is always the one hyping up everyone to build motivation and persevere through a challenge. They value team camaraderie and strive for others to succeed. Their enthusiastic attitude can permeate within a team.

Known Cheerleader: Oprah needs no introduction. Her resilience has shown throughout out her career from getting fired as a news reporter to running the highest rated talk show in our time. What was beautiful about her work is that she has focused on amplifying others through her philanthropy and continues to be an inspiration for women and the POC community.

The Dreamer

The one that seem like their head is in the clouds, when they are actually visioning their desired outcomes before executing their plan. While they may praise manifestation, they know that you cannot just sit in your dreams, you have to pursue it.

Known Dreamer: Lizzo is a singer, rapper, and flutist. As someone I would describe as a musical renaissance woman, she started studying music at the age of 10 and pursued her music career in her early 20s. Through little mainstream attention, she remained true to herself and her unique musical talent. It wasn’t until 2019 where her work gained more traction that launched her into leading the Billboard charts. All through these years and into today, Lizzo continues to defy cultural norms and inspires her community.

The Connector

The connector knows everyone…maybe not “everyone”, but it will look like they do. They know how to use their network to build relationships, collaborate, and develop lasting connections that will benefit the greater good.

Known Connector: Cathy Heller runs the successful podcast, The Cathy Heller Show (formerly Don’t Keep Your Day Job), and is a renowned singer/songwriter. Her past podcast guests include Rainn Wilson, Matthew McConaughey, Seth Godin, Deepak Chopra and many more. Cathy started out seeking a singing career and was signed and later let go from a record label. This set back led her to use her network to launch a career in song writing and later offering courses in pursing the career of your dreams. Her podcast includes the stories of her guests and her own personal experience to inspire others.

Overall

You’re never going to be able to predict every set back, but working on developing emotional intelligence in your life can prepare you for the times you will face failure and struggle so you can pick yourself back up more easily. The opposite of success is not failure, it’s idleness. It’s not taking action on your goals and dreams. Realize that failure is going to happen. Expect it. Plan for it, because it is eventually going to lead you to success.

Can you recognize any one you admire (or even yourself) in any of these categories of resilience?