Have you ever wondered what successful people have that makes them successful?

Ever wonder how those champion recruiters in your company manage, month after month, to get the most new recruits, the biggest bonuses, the largest paychecks?

Well let me tell you a secret. No one starts out as a Champion. Most of them started out like you and me.

So what is it that makes a Champion different from the rest?

Champions have an attitude, a mindset that sets them apart from the rest. But most of these qualities are not exceptional.

Indeed each and every one of us possesses these qualities when we start out in life. But somewhere along the way we tend to lose them and diminish our own potential.

To be a Champion, you must first become a Child! Let me explain:

1. Champions are Willing to Learn.

Children come into this world with an innate desire to learn, to understand the world around them.

They are like sponges observing and absorbing every fact, every reaction. Because they know that their very survival depends on it.

One of the most important, and oft-repeated, qualities we need to succeed in business is a willingness to learn - to be teachable.

To become a champion, you must be willing to educate yourself or be educated, to read about, learn and absorb all the things you need to know, even if they are completely new to you.

If you don't, you are doomed to failure from the start.

2. Champions are Willing to Act

Have you notice how children completely geared towards action? As soon as they learn a new skill, they want to put it into action.

Champions are the same. They put their newly learned skills to use, taking concrete steps to improve their performance, so they can take their business to the next level.

They know that they must act on what they have learned, even if they haven't perfected it. Which brings me to their next quality.

3. Champions are Not Afraid to Fail

Just as a child picks itself up again and again, every time it falls while taking its first steps, champions are not afraid to fall down or fail.

They know that failure is the best teacher. They learn from their mistakes and keep fine-tuning their methods till they succeed.

Champions have the courage to fall down and not be discouraged. They pick themselves up and keep trying.

4. Champions are Willing to Adapt

Darwin got it wrong.

Survival does not happen to the Fittest, but to the Most Adaptable.

As children, we adapt to long-term change relatively easily. We are more willing to accept situations and adapt our behaviour accordingly.

Unfortunately, as we grow older, we become more rigid in our thinking, unwilling to accept that there may be better ways of doing things.

In a changing business scenario, resistance to change makes us obsolete. We end up losing out to players with a better understanding of changing trends.

Champions are those who can adapt themselves and their business to changing trends.

5. Champions are Willing to Innovate

Children are extremely inventive beings. They come into this world with no preconceived notions of doing things. In their minds there are no limits to what they can do or how they can do it.

Champions apply these very principles to take their business to the top.

They not only learn from what has been done before. They find ways of doing it more efficiently, more cheaply, more successfully.

You don't have to be like a child in all respects to succeed. It's probably not even desirable.

But if your pre-conceived notions, fears and hesitation are preventing you from reaching your goals, try looking at the world through a child's eyes.

At best you will improve your chances of success, at worst you'll remain young at heart.

Copyright 2003 Priya Shah