The Internal Life of Successful People

An assumption about the internal life of successful people is that all successful people have the same internal life. This is simply not true. The level of the diversity of thought between successful people is the same as the level of diversity of thought between successful and unsuccessful people. The primary difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is how much time they devote to things that do not serve them. It is not so much about the difference in internal lives as it is about how they respond to stimuli. Using anxiety as an example, most successful people who struggle with anxiety take responsibility for de-escalating their anxiety and changing the circumstances that trigger their anxiety. Anxiety does not shut them down for long if at all before they activate and work on a plan to solve or resolve the issue that is triggering their anxiety.

Successful people tend to take responsibility for the outcomes they experience and focus on their own behavior rather than the behavior of others. If they face an obstacle, they do not spend a large amount of time looking at the behavior of others. They instead focus on what they can control when it comes to overcoming any barriers to success. This mindset is one of responsibility; they do not blame others for their behavior or choices. This is why successful people can function while dealing with emotional upheaval. Highly successful people struggle with depression, anger management  issues, and anxiety, but they do so without allowing these issues to stop them from working towards their goals.

Another difference between successful people and those struggling to succeed is determination. When a person decides that they will work the problem of how to succeed, any excuse or reasoning that keeps them in a place of not achieving their goals falls by the wayside. Every obstacle becomes temporary as they find a way to overcome or deconstruct anything in their way. Successful people focus on the destination, not the journey, and don’t let setbacks keep them from pursing their goals. Anyone can be self-determined and develop a culture of success by deciding to do so. What stops most people is a fear of failure. With a success mindset, we realize that the only way we will fail is if we do not try. Make a plan and execute and you will succeed.