By surviving, I mean survival in this modern society where expectations are too much, the world too cunning and people too competitive. In this cut-throat world, a few personality traits could be incorporated to make yourself better and shut the other cocky assholes up because as much as the world is shiny and filled with joy, it’s also filled with people who might just end up having the key to your happiness.
10 traits of a survivor-
1. Compassion.
In the words of Linkin Park, “You think compassion’s a flaw and you’ll never let it show.”. This trait could be taken advantage of if used unwisely. But with the right amount of and the right use of your compassion, you will be able to win the hearts of a million people, my friend.
2. Wit.
This is a given; Smart people survive. That’s how it is here in this world. Not being naive and thinking on your own feet is the exact way to get ahead of people. This is a world where everyone’s competing, and when everyone’s competing, our wit can be used extensively to make new relationships, build a network of like-minded people. This is only going to take you high up.
3. People Skills.
I once met a guy who could talk his way into letting almost everyone do anything he asks, and he didn’t just make them do it; he made them think it was their own idea. That way, motivation is much higher. I’m talking about leveraging the very tiniest detail of your life OR the victim’s life to negotiate a win-win scenario. People skills aren’t all about negotiating. It’s about striking an intimate conversation with a stranger, it’s about connecting with anyone on a personal level. And believe me, this can come in handy. Kevin Mitnick, a well known hacker calls this “Social Engineering”. Read his autobiography titled – Ghost In The Wires )
4. Excellent Communication skills.
How do you become a great speaker? I’ve actually written an entire post about this, so do check it out. Here’s the link – Becoming A Great Speaker. To put it in other words, you don’t have to be excellent at it; you just have to know something so you can build on what you’ve learned and apply it. And this is one trait most survivors have in common.
5. Anger Management.
This is the most crucial trait. Everyone gets angry and everyone wants to swear at the people they’re mad at. But once you lose control over your temper, you lose credibility and you’ll be branded as a person with childish behavior. It also severs your relationship with the ones you yell at or say things you don’t mean. All this because you couldn’t control your temper? Not worth it!
6. Hang out with people better than you.
You might feel inferior if the person better than you is all cocky about his success, but in the end, you’ll only learn the path he chose to bring success in his life. Plus not every successful person is cocky. I’m not saying you should hang out with him all the time. He should be given a part of your time. Think of it as research for your own betterment. When you surround yourself with such people, their ambitions will fuel your drive to be successful as well. So, choose to hang out with the better ones.
7. Networking.
It’s one thing to hang out with smart people, it’s another to keep in touch with people and to make new relationships with people who can bring a lot into your life, in terms of job prospects, business opportunities, investors, etc., More important than all that is the potential to know more and more people of the field you’re interested and also the field you’re totally unaware about. All in all, contacts are an important aspect.
8. Love.
I don’t mean romantic love, although that would be a nice thing to have. I mean love for your family and friends, and I mean genuine love. Your family will be behind you no matter what you go through. You can always count on them to get you back on track. Once things are good at home, you’ll feel this surge of energy in you to do whatever you wanted to do. It all begins at home. Your friends on the other hand will be your critics and the ones who pull you down to the earth, and that’s a good thing. Something even better is that your friends might have serious insight about whatever you want to do, or achieve.
9. Financial awareness.
A survivor knows his income and he knows where to invest and what to invest in with the amount that he receives as income. Investing doesn’t have to mean business only. You could buy one bottle of beer instead of getting drunk after buying many bottles. Be aware of your financial status. Once that is stable, you’ll have the freedom to buy as many bottles of beer as you want. xD
10. Finish What you Started.
You might be a dreamer and you might have big ideas, but all that will go to waste if you don’t have the will to execute them. More importantly, you will lose credibility, and trust me, credibility is a very essential thing among people. Just like how we assign value to our currency, we assign value to every human we know. Once we know someone is just a talker, we automatically reduce the value we assigned to that person. So, however crappy the final result will look like, finish it. You’ll gain credibility, if not anything else.
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