“8 To Be Great” contains the key to succeeding in business. Check the article to find out why.

8 To Be Great

Quite recently I stumbled across a TED talk of Richard St. John, who in 3 minutes explained the 8 traits that most successful people share.

He summed them up based on 500 face-to-face interviews with successful corporate leaders, entrepreneurs, scientists, athletes etc., so the backgrounds are really diverse. I found the talk inspiring although you probably wouldn’t hear much new.  The bottom-line that if you work hard enough and follow your passion persistently, you will make it still holds true.

I wanted to learn more about other examples and answers of successful people, so I ordered his book “8 to be great: the 8 traits successful people have in common”. After getting acquainted with it, I can tell this is one of the most concise and no-BS books on success I’ve read so far.

It is straight to the point with exact reasoning what works and what does not, backed up by extracts from John’s interviews with people who have already become successful.

Briefly summarized, the list of successful traits looks like this:

1. Passion. You need to love what to do, simply because you will need to go through lots of pitfalls and setbacks.
   2. Work. Whoever to work very hard to get what you want. But it will not feel painful if you work on your passion.
   3. Focus. It is all about becoming an expert in the field of your choice, and then working on it maniacally. However, don’t limit your options too early, the author suggests.
   4. Push. It’s important to push yourself through shyness, self-doubt and out of your comfort zone. You can do it on your own, or ask a drill sergeant to push you. Or ask your mom, this strategy work, too.
   5. Ideas. You need to come up with good ideas. The only way how to get them is by coming up with plenty of them, testing them out, seeing what sticks, and then moving to the next one.
   6. Improve. Successful people are always looking for the ways how to improve themselves and what they are doing. Work on your weaknesses: either by developing or outsourcing them.
   7. Serve. To become rich, provide value to others. It can be expertise, usefulness, entertainment, understanding, information, experience, humor, or health.
   8. Persist. Overcoming mistakes, failures and setbacks is vital. The road to success is a bumpy one, so you need to be persistent and determined to reach the goal you desire.

Besides just providing the list, the book also suggests helpful tips and strategies that successful people used to develop any of these qualities.

To sum up, this book was written by Napoleon Hill of the 21st century. This book would definitely make a great addition to your collection of motivating books. It would serve as a great reference if you need some push while reaching the way to success.

Enjoy reading, and if you get a chance to read it, share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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