There are five key traits or habits that all successful people share. What separates average people from those who achieve great success can be attributed to these five fundamental characteristics that I call "success secrets". This is the second in a series of five articles, each dealing with one of these five success secrets.

Success Secrets #2: "You Can't Read Other Peoples' Minds"

Your thoughts control your results. It's true of everybody. But, many people are held back or unsuccessful in certain aspects of their lives because they make assumptions or believe things to be true without actual proof. This often happens subconsciously.

These assumptions can limit a person's recognition of tremendous opportunities that surround them every day. This affects the choices they make, the actions they take, and can severely limit the success that they could attain.

Example: A gentleman is interested in a lady friend and would like to ask her out on a date. However, he repeatedly passes up opportunities to do so, because he feels that she will decline. Perhaps he has experienced rejection in his past. But now, he is assuming that this friend and perhaps 'all' ladies will react the same way to his invitation. He's afraid of risking embarrassment and what others might think about him. So, he does nothing, without ever knowing the true end result.

One of the success secrets of successful people is they realize that just because one situational outcome occurred in the past, doesn't mean that same outcome will continue forever into the future in similar circumstances.

It is a fact that people do say "no" on occasion to various proposals. But they also do say "yes" sometimes too! Successful people recognize that they can't read other people's minds or predict their responses, so they proceed toward their goals without prejudging the outcome. Because they program their minds to focus on their goals and desired outcomes as top priorities, their concern for embarrassment and rejection is overridden and they forge ahead. Obviously, this greatly increases their chances of success. Because, if they focused instead on their fears, they would avoid the situation altogether - making their chances of success "zero".

To learn more about dealing with rejection, please read my article titled "Success Secrets #1: How To Deal With Rejection" (available on my Expert Page) or visit my website at: http://www.johnhanlin.com/Success_Secrets.html

Author's Bio: 

John Hanlin is an author and an independent investment consultant. He provides FREE independent financial information and advice on his website at www.johnhanlin.com.