The Top 1% (one percent) is not a measurement and comparison of wealth or ability. The Top 1% is a mindset. The mindset that you can and will achieve the goals you set for yourself. This mindset includes a bias for action. Action taken to follow a clear roadmap. Clear goals, a bias for action and a Top 1% mindset will result in you experiencing success way beyond what the general population or “the herd” can even imagine.
The idea of the Top 1% is primarily discussed in reference to the development of business revenue and profits. If you pay attention to the Top 1%, you will see a balance in the areas health and relationships. It may seem obvious, but if your health fails monetary success is meaningless. Valuable business coaching and self development programs provide guidance on balance.
Attributes of the Top 1%
There are no common traits. The Top 1% includes men, women, all nationalities, all age groups all professions. The one common attribute is mindset. The Top 1% has a dream and they take action in a rational way that brings the intended results.
I have worked with very large companies and smaller ones. These experiences have given me the opportunity to evaluate the difference between eagles and ducks. Of course eagles soar and ducks waddle and quack. Eagles have a laser beam focus on those elements of their business that make the most difference. They avoid flying into the side of a cliff.
The Top 1% invest in self development. J.T. Foxx, a successful entrepreneur, radio host in 18 markets, and author tells his audiences he invested $60,000 in business coaching and consulting for himself in 2009. He has budgeted $100,000 in 2010 for business coaching and consulting. He is also investing in focused training and development program for his organization.
J.T. openly discusses his vision and goal of creating a $100 million coaching and consulting company. I know he will and that goal is likely to be achieved within the next 12-18 months. Note the mindset. Less than five years ago J.T. was homeless and he just turned 30.
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Steve Pohlit
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About: Steve Pohlit is a CPA,MBA and has been the CFO of several major domestic and international companies. Steve is a business owner and an expert business consultant focused on building profits and net asset value. He is very experienced with Internet marketing and social media marketing. All articles published by Steve unless specifically restricted may be freely published with this resource information.
Love is the healing power of the universe we can and will establish world peace by helping people stay joyous and happy Thanks for everything!
How it would be nice to be in the Top 1% of success. To have that clear mental vision of that top1% of success. We all have read storys of such successful people having that vision of success when they started and they are now living that successful lifestyle they dreamed of.
Then normal people like me and you are insprired so we try it and fail. Thomas Edison failed 10.000 times before he invented the light bulb.
This is Napoleon Hill’s “Think And Grow Rich” 101. If U haven’t read Mr. Hill’s writings, I highly recommend that you do.
Of course I have read it. Until you implement what you read there are no results.
Steve —
I share your view. Without a postive mental attitude of “Can Do,” success is virtually impossible. Over a long career of hiring, a person’s attitude is one of three attributes all my hires must possess before we even begin to consider those attributes and skills necessary to do the particular job.
Nice article. Can you outline some aspects of the top 1% mindset?
True Steve.
Without practicing what it preaches a self-help program provides entertainment value only.
This is very true, the mentality is key to success. Would you be interested in linking our blogs?
Some aspects of the top 1% mindset:
– Action oriented
– Make decisions quickly
– Fail fast – don’t repeat the same mistakes twice
– Focused and results oriented
– Drive projects to completion
– Have a mental “bias” towards optimism and success
– Are not easily distracted by new opportunities.
– Believe they can achieve anything they set their mind to.
What you call 1% mindset, Steve, I also am passionate about exploring. I call it Entrepreneur mindset, because I’ve found such a marked difference between the way that most people think and the way that successful entrepreneurs think.
Most people are used to thinking as an employee does. They look to someone else to tell you what tasks to do. They studiously try to avoid making mistakes. They expect to get paid simply for putting in their assigned hours of work.
Successful entrepreneurs think much differently. They take initiative for figuring out what the most profitable use of their time is and “assign themselves” those tasks. They recognize that it’s OK to experiment even if it means making mistakes, as long as they learn from them and use them to discover more profitable ways of working. They recognize that their paycheck is connected not to the number of hours they work, but to their effectiveness at identifying and meeting their customers’ needs.
Those are just a few basic differences between the 99% and the 1%. But hopefully, they can give you, James, and others like James a better sense of the kinds of shifts in thinking that anyone who wants to succeed at business needs to make.
Hey Steve, yet another brilliant post. Thanks for reminding me of the right mental attitude to take.
All the best,
Tony.
You just got me focussed for the day ahead. Thanks Steve.
This is so true. At the end of the day, what separates first and second place is mind set.
let’s go for 1% mindset, thx for this motivation
Thanks for tweeting this! I am printing out your commentors, Dima, summary of the Top 1% attributes.
I am reading a fantastic book right now, Fierce Conversations. Highly recommended.
Soon I will be flying to LA for an event. Long flights so thanks for the book recommendation. I will check it out.
Dear friend,
Your views are suitable to many young business school students, organizers and those who have more good financial backing and have well versed connections with influential class.
1 Per cent success can not be applied to poor sections of the society.
For example, i am a well reader,writer,good social worker,humanist-these good attributes can be tested and be experienced on any occasion.
But, i am not able to come out successful in my life.
This is 100 per cent truth.
Saying of many good,positive words,quotes etc., are easy on present world.
Getting fruitful result is another side of the coin.
All your words can be practiced in capitalist countries.
Best wishes.,
While I respect your views, I do not agree with your conclusions.
Yup, the safest investment is to invest in one self.
Steve, thanks for your positive outlook and figures to back up your claims. I will agree with mdspatsy that, by the luck of the draw, many of us are born into better circumstances that others unfortunately do not share. However, it has been proven time and again: dream it, believe it, watch it happen. What you dwell on, you will reap. Life is filled with challenges, but your outlook and attitude will make all the difference to whether you view a challenge (some would rather call it a problem) as a failure, or simply a chance to try a different way. Let’s all create our “mental “bias” towards optimism and success” so that the top 1% grows to become the top 10%, and so on…
Great post! Clear goals, a bias for action and a Top 1% mindset are common traits of successful people. I have found that a major part of that mindset is how you few challenges and failures. Successful people view them as opportunities to get better and learn. Unsuccessful people them as an excuse to give up.
I’m thinking there are no failures, just learning opportunities and chances to narrow down the “right” solution. But that view is mindset, too. Just a thought…
That was like really good I am so use to hearing that the top 5% is rich but never looked at it like that the 1%. Pretty cool post I am going to subscribe to this blog.
The power of working from home
Good article, right to the point! I would recommend reading the book Crush it by Gary V. and Unlimited Power by Tony R. Both talk about pursuing your passion and working hard at it. With the right desire and the right work ethic anything can happen!
I believe that anyone can reach the top 1% if they really have the burning desire to achieve the things they want. The problem is that most of us only dream about having the things we want and are not really committed to actually doing what it takes to get there. That’s where personal development comes in. The work you do on yourself will, without a doubt, produce the most results in your life. What ever the mind can conceive & believe it can achieve!
To you rsuccess,
Greg Vining
I concur Steve…regarding the 1% mindset.
Except my breif 50 year consulting career has shown me there are
the Common Traits found in The successful persons I have been privileged to work with.
My Mindset was established in 1960 with the required Reading of Think and Grow Rich, The Master Key and the Miracle of Right Thought..
Your Fans will enjoy the FREEdelivery of
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I think lot of the top successful people have the right mind set and it started at a early age, they actually programed themselves for success and resisted negative thoughts that can be very self destructive.
Also if someone is making a moderate income say $50,000 dollars a year and they want to make say $500,000 a year they’re probably going to have to overcome some obstacles to achieve their monetary goals. however it can be done with the right mindset, and programing.
A book i read that i found very interesting:
Psycho Cybernetics 2000
Written by Maxwell Maltz foundation & Bobbe Somer
Over 30 million copies sold.
Doctor maltz tested some of his students that we’re in the same kind of business that served the same part of town about 20 miles apart to find out why one was much more successful than the other and his findings are educational and well worth the read.
Thank you for the reminder. I think Dan Kennedy acquired that business
Fits well with my fave quote:
“I plan, therefore I achieve”
Mick Say
Your message is loud and clear. Let our mindset lead us to the greatest potential of ourselves. Together with the positive attitude, nothing is impossible.
Am I the only one who thinks this blog post says very little?
Sure, there are no common traits among the top 1 percent, save for a similar mindset. So why not talk about that mindset?
Take action, stay focused, and invest in yourself. Is that what I’m supposed to take away from this?
@Ryan That is so true.
What has not been mentioned is why JT’s investment in coaching has been beneficial. It is another tool to help keep you “in the zone”. I think that is where most people fail at achieving their desired result. It is easy to see the benefits in keeping this mindset. As the saying goes “Easier to say then do!” For most people it is easy to get “de railed” by all the outside influences and not keep yourself “in the zone” Always looking for the solutions and believing in your end results!
-Steve-
I am definitely much improved in my mindset. I now have a can do will do mindset. My goals are clear and I’m pursuing them with the strength and direction of the Lord.
I agree whole heartily, the universe picks up on our wavelengths and projects us to the next valuable piece of information needed to achieve our gaols. i have just started my business and i am using these principles as one of the tools to keep driven towards the results i have set as goals. 1st goal is to make SMOKIN’HOT into a multi million dollar internationally recognized clothing brand, with a personal worth of over 10 million by 20/2/2020. and to retire at 60 with a net worth of over 100million. then i think i will build some office blocks.
Like I always like to say, the best strategy, plan or blueprint will fail you in business, unless you’ve got the right mindset. Having the right mindset is the key to success in all areas of life, be it relationships or business or family issues.
Great post Steve. Will be coming back for more.
Maddi Murtaza
Seth Godin in his book The Dip states, “Being average is for losers.”
Godin goes on to say, “Being better than 98 percent of the competition used to be fine. In the world of Google, though it’s useless.”
This is certainly true and that is why I have learned how to get my Retirement Quotes Cafe website in the Number 1 or Number 2 spot on Google for “retirement quotes”.
I also like what Tim Ferriss says in The 4-Hour Workweek about unreasonable goals being easier to achieve than reasonable goals because there is a lot more competition for the reasonable goals.
That is why I have had many unreasonable goals, including wanting to have a best-selling book, which to me is one that has sold over 100,000 copies. I now have three that have sold over 100,000 copies.
Even so, whether it’s making a speech or writing a book, my own motto always has been “DO IT BADLY — BUT AT LEAST DO IT.”
Last Friday night I made a keynote speech to a 3-day Toastmasters District Convention on opening night. I have never been in Toastmasters and I have never taken speaker training. I know that I broke all the rules of Toastmasters and that I will never be in the top 1 percent of speakers. The reason I accepted this gig is to get out of my comfort zone.
In my opinion, the reason most people don’t accomplish much in life is that they opt for comfort and being average, instead of discomfort and winding up great or extraordinary.
There is also one quote that above all others comes to mind about why most people don’t accomplish extraordinary things in this world:
Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that.
— Norman Vincent Peale
Ernie J. Zelinski
Author of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free
(Over 120,000 copies sold and published in 9 languages)
and The Joy of Not Working
(Over 240,000 copies sold and published in 17 languages)
I was drive here from the twitter, its working good!
It is all about mindset indeed. You think you can, you can (and vice versa).
Very true and informative. Many of us give up whenever we fall but those who get up and keep on going eventually prosper and become successful. Remember that love conquers all, and with a passion for something you love, you cannot fail. Thank you for the info 🙂
The top 1% never call it failure every time they stumble whereas the 99% will call it so. Failure does not exist in the vocabulary of the 1%.
@Dima
Great comment, right to the point. Thanks.
There is no question that with both life and business mindset is everything. I was just talking with Jack Canfield at my house and we were reliving his experience of getting Chicken Soup for the Soul published. They were turned down 144 times, good thing they kept strong, had the right mindset, and made it to try 145. thought I would share http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6n3gQSsduQ where I posted a video about this story on youtube.
Thanks for the great post!
Moringa max is the right aid for the right mind set. I lived thru horrible time when my wife and fight for little things. Later we realized the mind brings everything. we changed our life around and we are in billions now.
Thank you
Mindset and the Law of Attraction to people that are at the top are the ways to keep moving forward and be in the top 1% (soon if not there already 🙂 Great positive energy here!
I agree to ‘a certain level of positiveness’. To a certain level because the fact of the matter is; You learn from our mishaps, mistakes, negative experiences a.s.f.a.s.n. Whatever you call them. Personally I don’t think that positive nor negative experiences exist but only situations. Those we, in our minds, (de)grade as positive or negative, but a situation is merely just a situation. Successful people know this. There is little to be learnt out of only positive experiences. Of course; celebrate and fully enjoy your successes! What might surprise you is these negative experiences or experiences that hold you back… They are to be taken seriously and to enjoyed as well. They’re here for a reason, otherwise they would simply not occur. It’s a momentarily full-STOP. Look, accept, learn and live.. that to gives loads of joy. Why? Because you found out something about yourself. How and why did you respond to that situation and degraded it to a negative situation? Ignoring them will make you unhappy and sooner or later it’s going to catch up with you… you will have to comply.
What I’m saying is this: Being positive (all the time) is the exact same thing as being negative (all the time). It is the same sort of energy. Those people who are really successful ‘seem’ to have a positive mindset. I prefer to call it a realistic view/mindset.
How did they got to be realistic? By Reasoning and Experiencing (which, by the way is the true sum that ads up to Knowledge) on the one hand and being in the NOW on the other hand.
Truly accepting your conditions, letting go of your over convinced beliefs and fully accepting the person you are, makes it possible to make contact with reality, the now. The only thing there is. For you who do not believe me I warmheartedly recommend Eckhart Tolle’s ‘The Power of Now’ and, in 2011, my own book with the preliminary worktitle; Learn (how) to Live.
All the best,
Alexander
If you want to see a miracle worker in changing mindset, check out Richard Bandler and his work. (One of the inventors of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) among many other mind shifting, performance improving technologies).
I work with women entrepreneurs healing “marketing phobia” – a mindset problem that keeps them from taking real action to grow their business. I love the work because simple techniques that shift how you think can have a massive impact on how you perform. I wish this stuff was taught in schools.
Thank you Marena, I appreciate the recommendation on Richard. As for what is taught in schools, we have a lot of foundation tools being ignored by our educational system. You just gave me an idea about that. 🙂
I totally agree on your article. The biggest part in being successful is defined by your mindset.
Set your goals and then go for them. The mor you focus on your goals the more successful you will become. So don’t get distracted by all the other fuzz! Very Nice Article, Steve. I Like …
I agree with Ryan’s comment, “Without practicing what it preaches a self-help program provides entertainment value only.” And Jeff made me smile with, “They expect to get paid simply for putting in their assigned hours of work.” I have a quote at my desk which says “You are paid for your outcomes and results, not for your hours spent!” 🙂 I believe that’s the 1% for which you’re looking – think more in terms of outcomes and results.
For mindset shifts, here are some terrific books presented by my friend Christopher http://freemindpowerbooks.com to get you started. Personally, I really got a lot of value from the Eight Pillars of Success. Thanks for the terrific post, Steve.
Cheers, Thea
Thank you Thea for your time in sharing these comments
Yes it is so vital to invest and reinvest in your own self development: I always have books on personality and selfhelp topics beside me to dip into at any time of day. Audio programs are excellent too. Mindset is a fragile concept we have to work on daily.
When it comes to Business Consulting, there are few things more important than going to the source of the best information. I’d like to compliment the author of this post on providing great information to the reader.
Many thanks !! Very helpful post! I’ll come back often
Yes. It is so important to invest back in yourself. Thank you for this inspirational post.
If you can truely help please call me at 239-246-3001
Action brings results. Good results brings success. The last steps may be the hardest and that is why only 1% reach the top of the curve. Debby
@Debby Bruck
Yes this is very true. When it starts getting really complicated people quit, but they don’t realize that they are so close to finishing their goal.
I like positive people!!!. what a great post…. thanks friend for a great reminder.. even what status of life are u now. if u have that 1%, Im sure theirs no impossible..
Most people in the top 1% had parents in the top 1%.
I imagine the top 1% would agree with you. Why wouldn’t they. After all, they are the elite, the positive thinkers, etcetc.
A lot of assumptions were made in this article…the first being that the top 1% is a mindset. Please….and money has nothing to do with with being the top 1 %. Where are you getting all of these insights. Show me empirical evidence that the top 1% is just a mindset.
Your article is inspirational but lacks substance and hard facts for anyone that can spot assumptions a mile away.
Show you empirical evidence…waste of time. Whatever you believe is true…is true…for you!!
This says it all… mindset is the difference. Thoughts become things so you might as well take back control of the mind and use it constructively. Great post!