I’ve had the opportunity to be around some very successful business people in my life and learned many valuable things in the process. The observations are fairly simple — massive differences in where they come from and their backgrounds and upbringings. No one being exactly from the same environment that would lead you to tell if they were going to be successful or not. What is glaringly obvious, however, is the stunning similarities in regards to the character traits and where those actually originated from.

Knowing the above, I’m amazed at how similar the traits of successful business people are to young children. Personally, I’ve observed my son do many incredible things (yes, biased!) and it’s apparent that his personality is well established even at such a young age. I’m sure if you are a parent or have been around kids a lot you can certainly relate. Lately, I’ve uncovered a few key characteristics from my son that closely resemble the same traits I’ve seen in those successful individuals.

#1 Curiosity

Whether it is figuring out how a toy works or his recent fascination with the earth, moon, and stars, he never stops wanting to know everything about everything. Once he picks up something new that he likes, there seems to be an endless flow of questions around that topic and a need to figure it all out. It’s fascinating to see his mind churning. Most successful individuals have this trait and they tend to not just snorkel at the surface but dive deep with the submarine and really explore to find the knowledge to a particular topic.

#2 Fearlessness

My son never appears to be afraid to make mistakes or clearly put his body in physical danger. He is determined to complete whatever his mind is set on without worrying about failing. If he does fail, he brushes off and is back at it again. Additionally, his ability to interact with other children and adults without being afraid resembles many successful people that have to interact with others daily or present to large groups of individuals often. It is extremely valuable to be comfortable in your own skin and have that “gift of gab”, at least I think it is.

#3 “Do it Yourself” Mentality

I miss the days when I would have to do everything for him. Those are fading fast. Now, he wants to try and do it all. Whether it is putting his jacket on, blowing his nose by himself, or the new fascination of standing up and going potty, he has confidence that he can get things done and enjoys the opportunity to complete that task. I think for most successful individuals it is that ability to go after everything you want and do whatever it takes to accomplish the task that propels people into the stratosphere of success.

#4 Delegation

Apart from wanting to do everything he can, cited in #3, my son is great at delegating. He knows when he doesn’t have the skills or knowledge to do something and isn’t afraid to ask. I don’t know how he knows but he knows. It might be asking us to read a book, finishing building his Lego blocks, or letting us put a band-aid on. I think this might be one of the most important traits of all that I have learned from other successful individuals. Focusing on your strengths and believing in others that have better skills where you are weaker is one of the key factors to scaling your success and building it for the long-term.

The moral of the story is this — too often we forget that the things that make us “Rock stars” in the world have been innate in all of us for a long time.

They’re simple. They’re pure.

It’s the fear of failure, lack of confidence, or maybe just being around negative people that seem to keep us down from reaching our goals.

Now, dig deep and find your “inner child” and go kick some ass out in the world!

You owe it to yourself, literally!

Thanks for reading! Feel free to follow me on twitter @ondrakogolf and I look forward to continued conversations!

Brian