You’re probably not aware.

But it’s important to break the news to you:

You're on a flight.

And there are only two destinations: success and failure. You will either land in one. There are no in-between.

Nobody starts for failure.

I have never seen a pilot who wakes up one morning and kissed his wife and kids, goes to his helicopter, launches into space with a decision to crash against Mount Everest.

Similarly, you're on a flight with a purpose to land at success.

But you cannot always tell.

People, even with good intentions, fail. They didn't realize early they were heading to failure.

You don't want to fail, do you? That's why you must recognize these three signs someone will be successful. There are many more but these few are a good start to knowing which destination you're heading with your life.

From my experience, observations, and research, I have gathered these 3 signs that can help predict if someone will be successful.

1. They are self-driven.

In every field, this is probably the first sign someone is going to be successful.

You know why?

Nobody really gives a damn until you have something going on in your life or business.

It is attractive to see someone trying their best before asking for help.

On the other hand, if all you do is cry for help when you haven't done even the basics, nobody will care to hear you. Because it is obvious to them you're lazy, unserious, and a liability.

Be a self-starter.

You have to make some attempts before you attract a coach or a superior.

If you didn't know, nobody wants to associate with the person who wants others to do their crawling and walk for them. Even babies strive to walk by crawling, holding on to a table to stand, and attempting to make few steps.

Self driven is a cardinal sign of potential success.

If you're self-driven, congratulations. But if you're not self-driven, you have to.

Start today.

Do the crawling, holding on tables to stand, and making a few steps. That's the only way to attract a superior, coach, or mentor that will reach out to you, lend a hand, and lead you to the next level.

It is a law of the Universe.

When the student is ready, the teacher will show up.

NB: Until your teacher shows up, keep working.

2. They focus on their game.

The market is saturated.

You have to choose to become a brand or die as a commodity.

There are top performers in every field already. You can't just afford to be average if you want to succeed. You need to stand out to strive.

Be so exceptional, they can't ignore you.

It gives you an edge in this highly competitive market of the digital age. Having an edge is an enormous advantage to your success. An edge is a factor of success.

Nothing is value is free.

Being exceptional or standing out doesn't fall on people. It is earned. Why?

Every value comes at a cost.

Successful people owe their exceptional performance through a deep focus on their game. They are committed to working their ass off day in and day out towards at to meet the high standard goals they set for themselves.

You can only focus on either of two things:

• On what’s important.
• On what’s not important.

In this article,

Megan Holstein gave instructive advice for start-ups, and you need to hear it too:

“My experience seems to be par for the course. The people in my community who started million-dollar businesses weren’t the people I saw at these networking events.
They were the people who weren’t there.

People would ask “Where’s Luke?” and someone else would say “Oh, he’s probably at the office working on another prototype.” A few years later, Luke ended up on Shark Tank. None of the people I regularly saw at networking events ended up on Shark Tank. While the rest of us were goofing off, the winners were hard at work.

If running a business is like keeping a campfire going, networking events are like lighter fuel. Pouring fuel on a fire can make it blaze for a moment, but if you don’t have kindling, logs, and coals for the fuel to set ablaze, your fire will be gone before it even got started.”

Make focus a priority.

Do you want to be exceptional or blend in?

Then make a habit of asking yourself this question before you commit to a task:

“Is this pouring fuel on fire or gathering kindle, logs and coal?”

Whichever is the answer, I trust you know what to do.

3. They don't neglect other aspects of their life.

One is too small a number to be great.

A lot of things have to be right for success to happen. To focus on one area to the neglect of others is counterproductive.

If for instance, your health becomes an issue, career success will definitely take the back seat.

What if your partner asks for a divorce? It may cost you psychological stability, social reputation, and mental health.

Caring for your other areas while pursuing personal or career success is a must to ensure success in life.

To record success in just your career is not success. Like the human body, every aspect of your life affects the rest.

Therefore, as you strive for career success, don’t allow the other areas of your life to suffer.

No man is sufficient to do it all alone. You need more than your effort to succeed.

Take holistic care of your life.

This means two things:

• Your personal life. This includes your physical and mental health. Eat well, take sufficient rest, exercise regularly.

Also, be smart enough to manage your finances. Your financial health is a very important subset of your mental health.

• Your relationships. Be physically and emotionally available to your partner. Keep being in touch a priority. Communication is the life wire of every relationship. Make sure you don’t neglect it.

Your relationship with friends, colleagues, and extended family is also important. Make out time for those as well.

No man is an island. Each of us needs all of us. And all of us need each of us.

Relationships are a cardinal aspect of our emotional and social wellbeing. They offer the support we can’t get anywhere else. Take care of the relationships in your life.