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I came across this post on LinkedIn the other day and thought it was something that I’d share with you. The post talks about “10 Things that Require No Talent” and how they are important from a leadership perspective. I think these 10 things also show how becoming rich requires no talent. Those 10 things are:

1. Being on Time
2. Work Ethic
3. Effort
4. Energy
5. Body Language
6. Passion
7. Doing Extra
8. Being Prepared
9. Being Coachable
10. Attitude

There are a lot of similarities and groupings that can be made here (I’ll get to that in a bit). Right now, I see one common theme throughout this list and that is mindset. Each one of these actions is a personal choice that we can choose to make. We have the power!

Our minds are so powerful and there have been many studies about how we can accomplish so much more than we think we are capable of. But we have to be uncomfortable and do things that we haven’t done before to grow. That is the only way to get better.

Like the title of Marshall Goldsmith’s book, What got you here won’t get you there, what we have been doing to get to this point will only keep us where we are right now. We have to change our actions and mindsets before we can change who we are.

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Rich Mentality

While I believe all of these actions center around my mental skillset, some are more psychological changes than physical changes. To me those are: 6) Passion, 8) Being prepared, 9) Being coachable, 10) Attitude.

Passion is what you love most in this world. It is what you get sucked into and can’t pull away from. For example, when I start updating this site, my wife has to work hard to pull me away from my computer. For her, it is editing videos. She could get lost in doing it and wouldn’t know where the last 4 hours went.

Attitude is more about your opinions. These are formed as you have life experiences vs your passion is something that is innately yours since birth. You are only just discovering what it is. My attitude towards going to work could be because I am excited about the products or services I am creating/providing. Or I could just be going to get the paycheck.

Recently, my attitude toward exercise has been more about anticipation rather than dread. I can’t wait for that time of day where I get to workout. My attitude is, “I get to workout” vs “I have to workout”.

I group being prepared and being coachable around not letting my ego get in the way of my success. If I knew everything, why would I need to prepare for this interview or presentation I have with the Chief Growth Officer? I know everything, so why would I need any coaching?

As a prospective engineer entering college, I thought I knew everything there was about engineering. I knew calculus, I knew how to program, and I knew how to problem solve.

What I didn’t realize is that pre-calculus is not the same as multi-variable calculus, knowing how to program in one language is not the same as being a computer programmer, and because I was good at logic and puzzles did not make me good at solving engineering problems.

Needless to say, I came into college thinking I knew everything and left college thinking I knew nothing. So how was I able to succeed in my first years out of school? I continued to learn (aka be coachable) and made it a habit to write speaking notes for every presentation (aka being prepared). I found a mentor who wanted to help me and did everything he said.

All of this only happened because I checked my ego at the door.

Physical

The next group of actions I would make is around physical actions that we choose to make. Those are: 2) Work ethic, 3) Effort, 4) Energy, 5) Body language, and 7) Doing extra.

Work ethic, effort, and energy have compounding impacts on not only myself, but those around me as well. When I’m positive and optimistic it makes those “Debbie Downers” around me a little less negative.

When I say that I will stay until the work gets done, it’s not because I want to stay until midnight working on this report. It’s because I am devoting my energy and efforts toward a work ethic that will produce a quality product on time.

This effort around doing that little bit extra is where I see that exponential return in my results. As the saying goes, “The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.”

But it is true. Doing just a little bit more, sending the report in the day before, adding an extra $10-$100 more to your monthly savings, or doing one more rep in your workout can (over time) greatly improve your chances of success.

Respect

Saving the most important for last: 1) Being on time. A fun fact about me is that I was born on my due date. Yes, I was on time since the day I was born. 🙂

Being on time is all about respect for other people. When someone is late, their actions show a disregard for other people’s time. They are saying that you should wait for me because my time is more important than yours.

The secret is that in almost 99% of situations it is entirely in our control to be on time. If I am going out with a dinner reservation, I know how long it takes me to get ready, dressed, and the travel time to the restaurant. From there, I back out when I should start to get ready. Then all I have to do is follow through with that schedule. Easy right?

Now I am not saying all people that are habitually late are bad people and can never change their poor punctuality. That is 100% not the case. Everyone can take a moment and time themselves while they get ready or how long it takes to drive somewhere. GPS now adds in traffic so that shouldn’t be an excuse anymore.

Conclusion

In all of these cases, I am not saying you had to be a Noble Prize winner. You don’t even need a degree to do any of these things on this list. That’s the best part! We can all do these things to become more successful in our daily lives. And they require no skill at all.

Whether it is showing more respect to your relationships by being on time, changing your actions to push yourself to the next level, or dropping the know-it-all mindset, we can grow and create rich habits without any talent.

What are some things that you do that require no talent?