According to my new blogging schedule, ^[2] today is Personal Development Day. So I thought I’d throw a curve ball and show you how successful people are FAT, really, really FAT! Yeah, you read that right FAT, but it all depends on your definition of FAT. I’m thinking in terms of an acronym and here’s what FAT stands for:

The 3 F’s
Friendly - Successful people are usually very friendly and have the ability to generate friends ^[3] easily. In fact, in my experience, people would rather work with someone who is likable yet incompetent than with someone who is a highly skilled jerk. Read How to Win Friends & Influence People ^[4] by Dale Carnegie. It’s an old classic that will always be in style. People who use its principles will always have a large group of friends.

Financially Minded - Successful people don’t always think about money, but by being financially minded, I mean they seek to get a high return on all their investments whether that’s time, money, or emotions. They don’t invest ^[5] time in activities that produce small returns on that investment such as television. ^[6] They don’t invest ^[5] money in get rich quick schemes and they don’t invest ^[5] their emotions in ridiculous arguments for the sake of just being right. Life’s too short.

Forgiving – Successful people have learned the art of forgiveness. They forgive their parents for not being perfect. They forgive their spouses, their children, their co-workers, their bosses, and any other people who have wronged them. They don’t hold on to bitterness because it eats away at their soul. One company I have always been impressed with is Sashco Sealants because one of the four pillars of their company is forgiveness. ^[7] Wow. What a concept!

The 3 A’s
Accessible – Successful people don’t isolate themselves and hide behind gatekeepers. They make themselves reasonably available to their co-workers, employees, friends ^[3], family, and even customers. I watched the CEO of my company approach a customer in a store recently in order to get his input on how the store was laid out, how we were priced in the market, what products we offered, and his general impressions. If you call the front desk and ask for him, he will answer his phone if he’s in the office. For the record, we have 140 locations, 1,250 employees, and a very busy CEO!

Achievement oriented - Successful people are oriented toward achievement. They set goals ^[9] and work diligently to achieve them. Successful people know where they’re going and how they’re going to get there.

Attractive – No, not in the physical sense, but in the personality sense. They are magnetic in their personality and they attract other people to them. Successful people draw others to them because they are constantly encouraging others to strive for their best.

The 3 T’s
Teachable – They don’t jump to all sorts of conclusions and they have learned the art of listening. ^[10] They are not only teachable, but they’re also curious and inquisitive. They are constant learners, seeking out opportunities to acquire additional knowledge ^[11] and grow. Failing to grow is a recipe for stagnation and stagnation is not a pretty site.

Tenacious – Successful people can be like bulldogs when the situation calls for it. Usually they have this attitude when it comes to reaching for their goals. ^[12] Never stand between a successful person and their goal!

Trustworthy – Trustworthiness is a true virtue. You can trust a successful person. Keeping in mind that trust is a matter of degrees, not a black and white issue, the successful person strives to build your trust with the little things ^[13] first, then move on to larger and larger things.

So there you have it. Successful people are usually FFFAAATTT. Of course, there are exceptions, there always are, but I think you’d agree that the descriptions listed above could be easily tagged onto those who experience success across ALL endeavors (not just the financial ones).

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What others are saying:
Why Some People Are Almost Always Successful ^[14] @ The Positivity BlogDo you have another article that should be included? Send me an email at ron (dot) haynes (at) thewisdomjournal (dot) com and I’ll check it out.

[tags]FAT, successful people, friends ^[3], invest ^[5], money, person[/tags]

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