Maturity
Dedication
Perseverance
Resiliency
Grit
And this is how I define those characteristics, based on my years of observing successful people:
MATURITY: having the mental capabilities to know correct from incorrect behavior; understanding consequences of actions and inactions; taking personal responsibility for decisions, actions, and words.
DEDICATION: Loyalty to a particular person, organization, or project for a particular period of time; unwavering support until the goal is accomplished,
PERSEVERANCE: Working to accomplish a goal regardless of the circumstances or difficulties; to not quit or faulter even in the face of adversity.
RESILIENCY: Returning to the path of success after experiencing adversity or circumstances that result in a temporary set back.
GRIT: Tenacity of purpose; mental toughness; an unwillingness to quit.
Life is too complex to say that this one thing results in success or failure. However in my experiences inside and outside the classroom, successful people demonstrate maturity, dedication, perseverance, resiliency, and grit.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
You not only preach, but you practice by trying to instill these characteristics into your students. I appreciate you laying out the expectations of the class ahead of time. Also, I agree that sometimes in life there are events that trump a college course. We must choose what's most important to us at the time. I bet your class is a real eye opener for some. As a father, property/federal tax payer, and student it's real life.
ReplyDeleteI always used to say I hated football because I thought it was just a bunch of big "macho-men" pushing each other around. I used to think nothing good can come from this sport, with all the injuries that are always reported. I have realized now that it is a very productive sport. The best thing it can do is instill these characteristics into young boys that grow into responsible and successful people. I probably have a distorted point of view because I have never been on a team or played any sport like this. But I do know this post provides me with the perfect arsenal of traits to make sure nothing can ever get in the way of me reaching my goals in life.
ReplyDeleteReading this I was sure that there was another characteristic that should be on the list, but of course you've covered them all Dr Ross-Nazzal. I needed the maturity to understand how important it is to be academically successful in today's society. I needed to be resilient in returning back to school to finish what I started. I needed to have the grit to do whatever it takes to reach my goal no matter the circumstances. Being dedicated to my goals is a requirement in my achievements of those goals. I must not be lead astray as I have seen where that road takes me. The perseverance to achieve my goals burns inside me until I have completed what I came here to do. I am gratefully satisfied that I posses all of these characteristics and will use each of them to be successful in every one of my goals set in life.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading this I am analyzing everybody around me. It amazes me how accurate this blog is. Thinking about all the successful people I personally know, I have come to the realization that all those people have these particular five characteristics. All the successful people I know are goal oriented and know exactly what they want in life. Regardless of obstacles life throws at them they return to the exact same path they were on, on their way to accomplish their goals. I hope one day I adapt these five characteristics and become a successful person as well.I have dedication down, four to go.
ReplyDeleteAs a believer in Christ Jesus, I believe that success in this life is not what ultimately matters. Regardless of how successful or unsuccessful a person is tragic trials (and sometimes failures) will inevitably come their way. Take for example the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The level of success of the people who died didn’t determine their death. Christ is the point of this life, and therefore His characteristics are the ones to strive for. I believe that the characteristics you listed are definitely part of His characteristics. The reality of the matter, however, is that no one on this earth perfectly possesses these qualities. That is why we need the grace and sacrifice of Christ to cover our inadequacies and give us the strength to pursue the righteous qualities. Grace is theme of my life, and I credit any success I have had to Him. Even if people do not believe in God/Christ, people still know what Godly characteristics are. That is because God made man to know deep within their being that there is a God, and He is not like us.
ReplyDeleteIn this young age dedication seems to be the hardest when it comes to success. As young people we seems to get side tracked and uninterested very easily. But being dedicated and sticking with certain things, especially education, will prove to be worth it in the end. We wont be young forever.
ReplyDeleteI have read several books on achieving success, both professional and personal success. The word, “success” means something different to everyone as we each project our own value system to create personal importance and significance. I like to measure success with a few different metrics: accomplishment or completion, forward-movement, and joy. I believe financial or monetary success are a byproduct of successfully completing a task moving you closer your goal, while creating a little (or a lot) of joy to those I come into contact with. I think GRIT is the most important characteristic because it embodies so many other success characteristics.
ReplyDeleteI have read several books on achieving success, both professional and personal success. The word, “success” means something different to everyone as we each project our own value system to create personal importance and significance. I like to measure success with a few different metrics: accomplishment or completion, forward-movement, and joy. I believe financial or monetary success are a byproduct of successfully completing a task moving you closer your goal, while creating a little (or a lot) of joy to those I come into contact with. I think GRIT is the most important characteristic because it embodies so many other success characteristics.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this list. I believe that this things are required to be successful in all aspect of life. When it comes to your job, you need to have the characteristics. When it comes to being a good parent, you need these characteristics because they will test you. I like to think that I excel in two particular area. Resiliency and Grit. I have been trying to graduate college forever. Many people say things like you should just give up but I know I am going to be a college graduate so I refuse to quit. I never knew what being mentally strong meant until I had my daughter and found out about her diagnosis. Every day I get up, take her to her doctor appointment, speak with her many therapist, I wonder how I have the strength to keep going but I do.
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ReplyDeleteI think I pretty much agree with this list of characteristics. I can honestly say that I didn't have all of these things when I first stated college. I didn't have the right motivation either. It took a couple obstacles to build me up into the person I am today. I wasn't happy with my situation my first year of college. Since I wasn't happy, I became uninterested, and eventually stopped trying. Maybe I wasn't ready. Or maybe it was because I wasn't doing it for me. However, now that I've grown, and found a major that I love and want to succeed in for myself, not succeeding doesn't seem like an option. I'm currently less than a year from my first degree. That, and the cost of retaking a class, are great motivation to work my behind off. Succeeding is a great feeling. Especially when you're doing it for yourself. Now, I still have my moments when it seems as though I don't possess every characteristic on this list, but practice makes perfect.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of my high school days, when they were trying to teach us all what successful people did. I remember walking into my 8am class and seeing the word "GRIT" displayed in big letters across the projection screen. I had no idea what that word meant, I was a junior in high school, studying for my SAT's and I remember thinking "is this SAT vocab?" It wasn't, our school was just trying to drill perseverance into our head. It was the middle of the school year, everyone was worn out and failing some AP classes. For the rest of the school year this became our motto. I found the word "GRIT" on flyers slapped inside of restroom stalls. I saw it in banners proudly displayed in hallways and the cafeteria. I didn't know that grit would play a huge role in me passing my dual credit and AP classes. I had no idea grit was going to leak into my college years and even, my job. I find myself super thankful that my high school stressed grit so much, I would have probably flunked out of my AP courses and given up had it not been because I was encouraged to stay "mentally tough."
ReplyDeleteLately, I have been more into reading books on success and really find myself enjoying reading them. Right now I'm reading Think and grow rich i even find myself reading this in class which isn't a good success trait I know. Growing up in a household with a single parent how really didnt know how to be successful made it challenging because even when i did something good i didnt have someone there to say good job so it became easy to not have grit im still working on that aspect of myself.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that all of those characteristic helps a person to be successful. However, Perseverance is the most important characteristic that helps successful people to accomplish their work. Upon hard times, when for example, a class is hard because it is difficult to understand, perseverance is what makes a person overcome those difficulties by approaching tutors or seeking the help of the professor in order to pass the class. We can see this through history, as DR Ross-Nazzal taught in his class that England’s first colony, Roanoke, was a failure. However, England did not give up and, later on, establishes Virginia and Massachusetts bay colonies, which eventually became successful. The key is in not giving up and trying your best upon any adversity.
ReplyDeleteI can say that my biggest character is by far my stubbornness. It can actually may be my grit because it’s one of my driving forces that keeps me from quitting and settling for less. I can also say I need to work on my maturity because I can still do ignorant things knowing it’s not a good idea but still do it regardless. I also need to work on my resilience because sometimes it’s really hard being able to stay on this track after events but in a way that where grit kicks in and we have to move forward. In the end result this characters helps each other in their weaknesses out.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with Dr.Ross-Nazzal about these five characteristics of successful people, which are maturity, dedication, perseverance, resiliency and grit. When I think about all the successful people I’ve known in my life, all of them have most of these characteristics. In fact, life is not an easy task for us. It is meant to challenge us and make us do our best to reach our goals. It is like an exam, where every part of it has a problem that we need to solve in order to continue to the end and succeed. Without a strong commitment and willingness to succeed, no one can achieve his goal, and for us to succeed in the exam of life, we need to prepare for it but by having these characteristics. Success is about how strong we are to win the challenge. From my personal experience, these five characteristics are a must for success in life. I’m still young but I’ve been through many difficult experiences in life that made me the person who I am today and made me come up with this conclusion. As it was mentioned in Dr.Ross-Nazzal’s lectures, the leaders who built America and the world did not succeed easily. They struggled a lot but they never gave up. As for the example of England who failed in establishing the first colony in America, but didn’t give up and succeeded later on by establishing the other colonies (Virginia…). That’s an example from the history that shows how much we need these characteristics to stay strong and succeed in life.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your definition of these characteristics. While reading this i realized i need to work on many on some of these characteristics to be more successful in everything i do. I especially need to work on my perseverance skills as i usually do find myself giving up easily on many tasks. I'll make sure to apply these characteristics to my friends and family and to myself as well. As i want to be successful and everyone around me to be as well. I hope i improve on these characteristics as i age. At my age right now i would say i am naive and lose track of things that are important .
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