The 13 Personality Traits of Highly Successful People (And How To Adopt Them)
Become a visionary like Mr Beast and Elon Musk
You read something, you cite sources on it, you read some more, you study it, you hear it repeated over and over and over again, until one day it becomes a part of you
You think about it regularly, you’re aware of it in the back of your mind, it sits in your subconscious just waiting for the moment to appear when it can come to the forefront of your thought processing
That’s what programming is
Anything can be programmed.
It’s the reason trump supporters are so passionate about Donald Trump. They’ve self programmed themselves by consuming literature, talks, audio, and speeches of his philosophy, so now they believe in it
This new belief results in new traits and behaviors
Your current perception is that traits are not teachable (they are)
I mean, you’re born with your current traits, and there’s no way to change that, right?
WRONG
Traits are programmable, same as behaviors, perceptions, and world views
Make someone believe in something enough, and they end up adopting it
Adopting that perception results in new behaviors
Those new behaviors cause the development of new traits
Like how before you never really attended political rallys, but after consuming Trump’s philosophy and message, you start attending his speeches in person
You just developed a new trait, because you were programmed by your surroundings
In the book “Surrounded By Idiots”, Thomas Erikson breaks down his world renowned personality trait and behavioral psychology framework called the DISC or DISA framework (200 million person personalities analyzed)
He explains that the reason why certain people don’t get along with others, is because they have different personality traits
He then divides personality traits into 4 categories
Red, yellow, green, and blue
In these 4 columns, there’s 16 personality traits highly successful people have
But according to the book, people typically have a personality that’s a combination of 2-3 of the categories, with a small percentage (5-10%), having only 1
Erikson wrote this book to explain how to analyze and understand these people, but I’m going to show you to program your mind with these traits (yes its possible)
This means developing the same traits highly successful people have used to get where they are today
In an interview with Mr Beast, he explained that any time he spends while he’s awake, where he does not work on his YouTube brand, he’s agitated
He can’t function without working, its ingrained in his mind
Similarly, Elon musk has been known to sleep in the Tesla factory, so he can get up and go back to work immediately (despite being the richest man in the world)
While Jimmie and Elon might have way too much neurochemical production in their brain, which is causing this obsessive behavior, it is possible to reproduce something similar for yourself
A Red person is a dynamic and driven individual. He has goals in life that others may find difficult to even imagine. Since his goals are so highly ambitious, achieving them seems to be impossible - Thomas Erikson
I’m sure if you know anything about Mr Beast or Elon Musk, you recognize that trait in them
This is the trait of obsession, but also ambition
A highly ambitious individual will have goals beyond your understanding.
Yet here we have a multimillionaire, and a billionaire, who’ve achieved the unthinkable
If I had to explain to someone who doesn’t know about them, what they’ve achieved, they’d call me insane (exactly what Erikson refers to)
The red personality trait refers to the dominant category of personality traits in Erikson’s book
To build a successful business in 2024, you need to be a combination of Red, Green, Yellow, and Blue
But instead of being like, “O well, I wasn’t born with these traits, so I’ll just give up”, you can teach yourself how to become like highly successful people (by replicating the brain functioning that made them successful)
This is the way you can outperform anyone doing the same thing as you (because you will be better)
Ambition
Your perception of reality is determined by your surroundings as you age
Your parents, the teacher in your classroom who you later realized had a political agenda, the first girl you date who’s incredibly serious about Christ, the old lady you help to walk across the street every Saturday afternoon
Your surroundings shape your experiences, and your experiences program your perception
So naturally, if you can control your surrounding experiences you can change your perception of reality at will
Most human beings do this without realizing it
TikTok is a good example
People watch TikToks all day, then start believing the stuff they watch on it, and that changes their perception of reality
Their new perception of reality then causes their behavior to change
This exactly how you indoctrinate someone
Feed them enough information based on your own agenda, and provided its stimulating enough, and they have the type of susceptibility you’re looking for, you can brainwash them
Ambition is replicating this process
Its why pop star fans can be so fanatical
They’ve consumed so much information about this person they are so fond of, that their behavior has started changing according to that information
This is what you need to do, but on purpose
Ambition happens as a result of a powerful desire you developed after consuming endless amounts of information about different topics
But not all information clicks..
But something WILL click
In 2021 I was selling websites to people, now I sell digital education programs
I’m in my alignment now
Being in alignment means pursuing your ultimate goal
Its means understanding that while there may be endless amounts of business models on the internet, there’s only a few that will really speak to you
And you can only find this business model by consuming information related to what you’re attempting to achieve
No matter how you look at it, your life’s purpose will have to be business related
Sure, you can spend years building a business, then use that money to pursue your passion, but its much smarter to turn your business into your life’s goal
Because you’ll never have to worry about enjoying the work you’re doing, you’ll never have to worry about where the money will come from, and you’ll be granted the freedom you require in order to achieve your life’s purpose
Finding your ambition is a matter of sheer experimentation
When Mr Beast discovered YouTube, something inside his brain just clicked
The ambition and obsession button was clicked, and now he’s built a digital empire
He knew from that from that moment onward, he was onto something big
Later that something big would turn into goals, those goals would turn into larger goals, and those larger goals would turn into an ultimate purpose: Help 100,000,000 people, and create the best YouTube videos on Earth
This is something you will only realize, if you spend years of your life experimenting
And it all starts with a passion
The thing you’re passionate about, will always be related to your ultimate purpose
And once you realize what your ultimate purpose is, ambition becomes the new normal
You’ll never wake up uncertain of what you need to achieve, because you have it all mapped out in your mind
As time goes by your short term and long term goals will take shape
The more you think about this idea, the more it will grow
It will become a part of you
You’ll think about it every single day, because its who you are
The truth? That thing you’re looking for might actually already be something you’re aware of
Its usually something that really excites or frustrates you
From that a powerful desire for change comes about
And that forms your ultimate purpose (to create that change or answer)
Problem Solver
Solving problems is not a new skill (most people have it)
You’ve most likely been solving problems since you were a baby
How to crawl, how to walk, how to talk etc.
But problem solving in entrepreneurship is on a whole different level
Its identifying problems, and coming up with unique solutions to those problems
Once again your education will play a vital role here
You can’t solve problems without laying the groundwork first
If I get a client who’s in a specific niche, because I’ve already lain out the groundwork for marketing, I will be able to teach them how to market their services (even if I’ve never sold this service before)
To lay the ground work, you need to build up your knowledge base
This means consuming podcast episodes, books, courses, and articles
Then after consuming you need to practice
Experimentation is how you turn knowledge into fundamental understanding
The more you follow this process, the better you get at problem solving
The better you get at problem solving, the better you get at solving future problems
Learning how to problem solve is a slowball effect that builds up over time
Why do highly successful people have this trait?
Because to sell anything, you need to identify a problem people have that you can solve
Once you see the problem, you can create a solution
And that solution can then turned into a monetizable product
This is how literally anything is sold
Mops, cars, electricity, birth control pills, baseball bats etc. They all do ONE thing → Solve a specific problem
And the better you get at problem solving, the bigger the problems you can solve
The bigger problems you can solve, the more money you can make
Innovator
Innovation is a trait very few people possess.
In society, these are the people who created the systems you currently use
Electricity, houses, cars, baseball etc.
Not only were these problems that someone solved, they were also unique solutions
But unless you’re something like a scientist, being an innovator is completely unnecessary in today’s economy
Yes, you can come up with a million dollar idea and then sell it or build a company around it..
But the smarter thing to do, would be to create a unique online solution to a problem
The market might be more saturated, but you’ll be capable of creating infinite copies of the product, for absolutely free
And if you’re selling a software service like canva or Notion, you can take some initial start up capital, then market the product online without ads
Innovation in the online world isn’t coming up with a super unique idea and pitching it on sharktank..
It’s determining a problem you have already solved, then offering the solution to the problem in your own unique way, by using the internet
This can be a book, a course, a program, a software, a paid community, consultations, or coaching
These are all validated industries, and all you need to do is solve the problem using one of these as a vehicle, in a unique way
Then you use social media to promote it, instead of spending a fortune on startup costs and inventory like you would for a real life product
To be an innovator in the modern age, is to identify a problem people have online, then solving it the way you solved it for yourself
“Sell to yourself, write to yourself, talk to yourself “- Dan Koe
Results Orientated
Results are the most important part of any business (online or not)
So naturally, as an entrepreneur, you need to keep an eye on the results at all times
When someone pitches me a program, I don’t immediately invest
I find out what the ROI is
What is the Return On Investment?
Because if its just a bunch of followers and compliments from people giving me the followers, then I’m wasting my time and money
I want a quantifiable results that aligns with the outcome I desire
If I want followers, the program needs to give me followers
If I want sales, and the program gives me followers, then it’s obviously not the ROI I’m looking for
That is what it means to be result orientated
Developing this mindset isn’t difficult
The hard part is understanding why its so important
As discussed further down below, speed in business is everything
And speed and results go together like peanut butter & jam
The more efficient you are, the better your results are in the short term
But if you don’t focus on speed, your results will be less in the short term (or none at all)
To become results orientated, you need to have a strong desire for efficiency
You need to have a clear goal in mind, and not achieving it needs to frustrate you
Only then will realize how important results are, and why achieving them sooner rather than later is so important
But that doesn’t mean to rush things, it means you need to determine the time it will take to get to your desired goal, and you need to shorten that time as much as possible
If I reach out to a potential client, and it takes me 20 messages before I turn them into a paid client (or they reject me), then the next thing I need to do is shorten those 20 messages to 13 messages
And then those 13 to hopefully 10
Why? Because being results orientated means converting clients and collecting cash as fast as possible, but still being dedicated to genuinely help people
The speed between your ideas, and your execution of those ideas, need to be a short as humanly possible
That’s how you outperform your peers (with speed)
This understanding and habit will make you more money, and help you achieve the level of success you desire
But its not going to naturally happen, it can only happen through the consistent consumption of methods that have been proven to work
The more you see time of execution popup in someone’s successes, the more you will naturally be inclined to focus on results, rather than what makes you feel good (they are not always the same)
Like how you eat a hamburger for the taste, and not the nutrition
And how you drink a power aid after an intense sports match to stop feeling so winded
One is just about dopamine hits (feeling good), and the other is about an actual result that will reset your brain functioning to the way it was before you drove yourself that hard
Your brain has been derived of the energy it requires to function at an optimal level, and the power aid fixes that
When it comes to the burger, its just delicious, and does not fulfil any other function besides making you feel less hungry
To become results orientated is to understand this principle → Results are more important than short term satisfaction
Adaptable
To build a business online (of any kind), you need to adapt to circumstances. When you’re met with an obstacle, you need to know as fast as possible, how to overcome it
When you lose a client, when a personal problem occurs, when a business model stops working, anything where things turn out differently than the way you intended, you need to adapt
How and when you develop this ability, is dependent on your personality and upbringing..
But also your learning process
The first time you’re met with an obstacle, you will most likely panic
Because its the first time you encounter something you can’t solve, and the outcome you were hoping for is money, not pleasure
Since there’s money to be lost, your drive to make this work, and your expectations for when it does work, is much higher
When I built a website for a big client for the first time, and it made no sales, I freaked out
I spent months after that trying to figure out what went wrong, because before that I was so sure everything would turn out fine once he used the website
Once again you’re led back to education.
You need to build up a resource hub of information you gather from all parts of the internet, that’s related to the problems you solve
In this situation getting an unofficial mentor is a good idea
An unofficial mentor is someone who’s teachings you follow consistently, but you change what they teach in such a way, that it fits your personality (but still works)
This person has to be leagues ahead of you, so that when they teach something, you know there’s a very big chance it will work
But in the event what they taught doesn’t work, you need to use your resource hub and network to find the problem, and fix it as fast as possible (because speed of execution is vital)
Let’s look at some examples of concepts I’ve learned from unofficial mentors
“Being The Niche” - Dan Koe
Its the marketing principle that instead of finding something to sell, you just write and sell to yourself (It works, since this is how I build all my courses)
Value vs Insight content - JK Molina
This is the marketing principle that if you give away all the answers, your target market won’t pay you to solve their problems. Instead what you do is scratch the surface, solve the entry level problem, then make them aware of a much bigger problem, and then you offer to solve that problem in exchange for a fee
This method is technically a hybrid between Dan’s and JK’s marketing methods, since Dan believes in building authority with value, and JK believes in attracting buyers with insight
Systematic
Being systematic means being able to turn a process that delivers the right results, into a system
Think a string of social media posts you make over a 7 day period that ensures you always have clients
This is an inbound lead generation content creation system
Adopting this trait has nothing to do with having it from birth (some do), but adapting to how things work in business
To make something take as little mental energy as possible, you need to systemize it
Take what you know works, then make the process of it as effortless as possible
This is a skill, and will take time, just like any skill
The best way to develop this skill is through repetition. You won’t get this skill by sitting in front of a book (although that’s a great way to learn many skills), the best way to develop this skill is by building up actual experience in the field
For instance, say you want to create a system for retaining clients long term, then you’d come up with a system to incentivize working with you long term by upselling them something even better after they worked with you for a set amount of months
3 months → 12 months
Then what you do is follow this process with every client you have
At first it will suck, and you won’t be able to pull it off whatsoever
You’ll try and try and try, and you will keep failing..
Until one day something clicks, and you realize that you’ve found a wining formula..
A system that works 80% of the time
If you reach that point, you’ve developed a client retention system
That’s what systemizing is, that’s how you adopt the “systematic” trait
Some are born with it, yes, but it can be self programmed, just like all other traits
Communicative
Communication. Something we all have to do to find out way in life.
No, that doesn’t mean you need to be an extrovert
It means you need to be interested in communicating with the right people, for the right reasons
When I’m not building my business, I play videogames, and occasionally go out with friends
I’m not an “extrovert”, but when I’m running my business I communicate with plenty of people
And believe it or not, I enjoy it A LOT
To develop this trait you need to fall in love with the communication process (even if you only talk to certain people)
It means communicating because you want to communicate
This is just another reason you need to find your ambition and true purpose
If you can find that strong reason to keep showing up, then communication just becomes part of the natural process
And the more natural the process feels, the easier it is to communicate with people in general
Your way of looking at communication is also important
If you look at communication as just another method of making money, and you have no strong purpose driven reason to send messages to people, you’re not going to have the “communicative” personality trait
But if every message you send is based on principle, philosophy, and purpose, you’re not going to have any issues
Objective
“To become emotionally invested is to lose the battle”
In marketing, sales, and content creation, this remains true
If you post something and nobody cares or likes it, and you are emotionally affected, then you lost the battle
Its your job to disconnect yourself from the outcome, and just follow the process without emotion
When you post content, you need to enjoy the process, and forget about the outcome
In the long term you need to calculate things of course, but in the short term a post that tanked shouldn’t even make you flinch
A potential client that rejects you shouldn’t even bother you
A network member giving up and going offline shouldn’t even make you worried
Make plans, execute those plans, and in the long term make calculations
In the moment, don’t even care
Disconnect yourself from the outcome
This is exactly why I prefer coaching over freelancing
Freelancing requires you to be emotionally invested in the process, because its going to affect you
If you built a website for a client, and the website fails, you are directly affected
But in coaching you are telling people what to do, so you are not emotionally invested on a personal level
You can be invested in their progress, but not to such an extent that you’ll lose any sleep over it
I’m sure this can differ from person to person, but at the end of the day, you are not remotely as emotionally involved with the process or the outcome
This makes not getting emotionally invested much easier
But coaching is not for everyone, and freelancing is not for everyone
Determine your true purpose, then disconnect
Good listener
Being good at listening is an art. Its not something everyone can pull off, but it is something everyone can learn to do
I am lucky to have been born with this trait, so listening and making people feel heard isn’t difficult for me
I can record information, and make the person feel like I genuinely care about everything they’re saying
But if you’re building a business on the internet, this is your job
You need to get used to listening during conversations
Record them, copy and paste them into a document, do everything you can to gain a deep understanding of what a person is saying
People notice when you can recall something you told them a few weeks ago (even if you scrolled back)
I discussed this in my previous article, but online and in real life, this is a skill you can develop
Yes, I might have been given this trait through genetics, but that doesn’t mean you can’t self program it
To pull this off you need to put yourself out there (you should already be doing that)
Send messages, start conversations, go on podcasts, attend meetings etc.
Anything to develop the ability of listening well
If you can develop the ability, you can adopt the trait
Strong Willed
Business is not for the faint of heart
Its not a walk in the park, and you will struggle way more than the average person
Having to create your own paycheck from thin air, instead of depending on a corporation to pay your rent, is not the easy way out (its the opposite)
You will be frustrated, angry, depressed, and negative
This is part of the game called business
Being strong willed is a trait, yes..
But its a trait you can develop through sheer repetition
By failing over and over and over, you will get used to dealing with negativity
If when you’re negative, you give up, you’re on the wrong path
They most likely give up chasing the wrong purpose
They don’t find their ambition, and instead they chase numbers
And when nothing works, they have no internal purpose to drive them forward
Like a car salesman who has no internal drive to sell cars
If enough people reject him, he’ll just give up
Not because he lacks the ability to work hard on a difficult to achieve goal, but because he has no greater purpose in achieving the goal
I’ve spoken about this before, but you need to find an alignment
Where something that works meets something that works for you
And again ambition shows up
Without a strong purpose, you are much more likely to give up
So being strong willed is a matter of purpose and dedication
If you don’t believe in your purpose, or its not yours but something you happened to come across but felt no connection with, you won’t be strong willed
But if you have a goal that nobody can stop you from achieving, a goal you discovered after months to years of experimentation, you will naturally develop a stronger will than most
Kind
Being kind is not a matter of being a super good person, its a matter of serving your fellow man
Its understanding that what you put out into the world can change the outcome of someone’s life
So naturally giving, teaching, and doing things out of kindness is better than doing so out of hatred
In fact, its going to be very difficult to do nice things for someone if you don’t like them for an invalid reason
As a business owner, its your job to be kind, because you are solving the problems of your fellow man
You’re not like customer service workers who create nothing innovative and fulfill a function that might be important for society, but can easily be replaced
You’re shaping futures through your actions
You’re a business owner, and creating solutions out of kindness is a necessity
Because creating solutions for personal gain never works in the long term
Sure, in the short term you can solve problems to make money, and nothing else..
But I can tell you right now, the people who had no purpose behind their actions besides material gain never last (ever)
I’ve seen 20 years olds, 30 year olds, 13 years olds, 16 years olds etc.
They all did one thing: Sell something to make money without a greater purpose
They were serving their fellow man not out of kindness, but out of selfishness
Guess where they are now? GONE
Every single one of them went offline because they burned out pursuing a purpose they were never serious about
Finding a greater purpose is how you learn the personality trait of kindness
Because suddenly the problem you solve becomes a part of who you are, so naturally you need to do everything in your power to make sure it works
And if you always make sure it does its job, then you will naturally be kind (since you’re serving yourself, and your fellow man)
Timekeeper
“Time is money”, I’m sure you know the saying
But ironically enough, its not just a cliche’ say thing (its 100% accurate)
The greatest entrepreneurial minds I’ve ever seen all have one thing in common..
They are fast
When JK Molina sold his shares in a software company valued at 1.4 million, it took him literally a months and he was already selling something new (a coaching service/paid community)
So despite “making it”, he got right back to it
That’s the difference between someone who just wants to get rich then off the grid, and someone who finds his true purpose in building businesses
Personally I can tell you right now, even if you gave me all the riches I require tomorrow, I most likely won’t be satisfied
I find purpose in the process not the outcome
Yes, it would be nice to not have to worry about money ever again, but its not the promise of money that makes me get back to work every morning
I’ve seen what happens when I have more than enough money..
My brain doesn’t shut down, it just keeps running, and it’s like I’m agitated by something that I just cant solve
My mind is only calm when I’m writing articles, building/marketing products, and landing/working with clients
It’s how I am wired→ Its who I am
Where am I going with this you ask?
To develop the timekeeper trait, you need to have a powerful desire for the outcome, not because you think you will ever be satisfied, but because you value speed
The faster you can make something work, the better
Because you love the process, because its who you are
Its like a scientist meticulously experimenting with a concoction for hours, when suddenly, a bright blue flame pops up from the concoction..
And the scientist cannot contain his excitement
The faster you can make something “click”, the better
Which is exactly why keeping time is imperative to progress
Time, speed, and purpose defines the timekeeper personality trait
Find your purpose, solve the problem as fast as possible, be excited at the result
But remember, don’t get emotionally involved with the outcome
Disconnect yourself just enough for you to enjoy the end result, but not too much so you avoid negativity when it doesn’t clickl
In conclusion, after going through the initial personality traits, I realized a few of them intersect, so instead of 16 there’s now 13 main ones
The Article In Simplified Terms
To adopt or self program the personality traits that make highly successful people, successful, you need a greater purpose or ultimate goal
You need to experiment with everything under the sun related to that ultimate goal, and create solutions to problems because you care about the solutions themselves
Do these things, and you will naturally fall in love with the process
But don’t become too emotionally involved with the outcome
Experiment until something clicks, and from there you can adopt all the traits in this article, without being born with the trait
That was a really long article, I hope it helped or provided you with valuable insight
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Cheers, Ian