The Most Important Trait for Becoming Successful is also the Hardest to Acquire
Psychologists like Malcom Gladwell have studied the most successful people in hopes of demystifying what it takes to reach the top. They have even tried to measure how long it takes to reach success, but we know that 10,000 hours of practice to achieve expert level at some skill — as Gladwell wrote about in his book Outliers — doesn’t exactly tell the whole story of success.
Regardless of the exact length of time, we all know that success doesn’t come over night. Instead, becoming successful at anything requires hard work, patience and the ability to overcome failure.
But what separates the truly successful from those who toil away at something endlessly and never actually achieve true success is simple.
The most important trait of successful people is their ability to receive feedback from others and use it to inform their future growth.
The most successful people didn’t just spend 10,000 hours honing in on their craft. They also deliberately sought out advice, counsel and guidance from other experts all along the way.
In essence, these highly successful people mastered the art of seeking out and receiving feedback well.
