Success is a controversial thing. A lot of books are written about it. But there is no book that can make us truly successful, once and forever. So we can learn from successful people. You may notice that they converge in their attitude and philosophy. In addition, they have the same habits.

1. No plan “B”

Plan “B” helps to sleep at night. And when the hard times begin, “Plan B” will allow you to drop everything without any losses (and success).

But when you have no options to safely surrender, you will work harder, longer, until the very end. You’ll collect all your strength to keep from falling. You’d be surprised how much forces you actually have. If you do not give up and learn from the mistakes, you will achieve your success.

2. Work hard

If you try a little bit, you’ll succeed a little bit. If you still try, you’ll succeed even more. But you won’t be the best if you do not invest an enormous number of hours, attention and effort into your business.

Ask any person who is good in his work. It turns out that he spent thousands of hours on it. Only this way. There is no short cut to success. You can not become super successful overnight. So do your best. The clock is ticking. You can use special task management software to monitor your and your team’s successes.

3. … and even harder

All successful entrepreneurs are much more than ordinary people. They have a long list of the things they want to do. They invest time in it. What is interesting, they want to invest time.

Your load will seem daunting to others. If you are not willing to work hard, you’re not focused on success. Anyway, this is not the way to success.

4. Avoid crowds

If you work like everyone else, then the result will be similar to everyone else. To follow the crowd – even fashionable and classy – is a guarantee of mediocrity. Particularly successful people do what others do not undertake. They work in those areas where there is no competition and where there are much more opportunities to succeed.

5. Begin with the end

Modest success is often a consequence of modest goals. Decide what you need without amendments and compromises: to become the best, the fastest, most affordable, the largest – no matter what it is. Aim for the most. Decide where you want to end up. It’s your goal. Now we move from the end to the beginning, paving the way to the goal step by step.

Never start small. Put a big goal, and you will find better decisions. You’ll achieve more results if you do not stop at half-measures.

6. Do not stop

For successful people achieving the goal is not the limit. Achievement of one big goal is just an opportunity to put an even larger goal.

For example, you want to create a large profitable company. When you do this, you can equip your capital and useful kinks to establish a charitable foundation. When you succeed in business and philanthropy, you’ll be able to become a leader of opinion on this basis, be engaged in public speaking, writing books and so on.

Achieving outstanding success in one business, you are accumulating the skills that will make you successful in other areas. Successful people do not stop at the first victory. They continue to work and achieve more and more.

7. Sell

Most entrepreneurs and directors answer the question “What skill influenced their career success most of all?” as follows: salesmanship.

Remember that sales are not cheating, not manipulation and pressure. It is the ability to explain the logic and benefits of any decision. Being able to sell means being able to attract people to work. Sales is a constant overcoming of obstacles. Sales underlie personal and business success. It is the ability to negotiate and work with failures and keep confidence and faith in yourself. Sales mean constant communication with different people.

Those who firmly believe in themselves, in any idea or company can sell without selling. You do not need an inflated ego or some prominent force. You only need to communicate, and that’s it.

8. Do not be proud

Do not be afraid and ashamed to admit mistakes. Apologize if you are wrong. Dream big. Recognize those who owe your success. Laugh at yourself. Ask for help. Fail. And do not give up.