To some people, its achieving a certain level of accomplishment and respect in their careers; for others, its reaching extraordinary levels of camaraderie in their personal relationships. Of course there are those who gauge success by the size of their bank account(s).

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Either way you swing, there is a general theme when it comes to certain behaviors and characteristics all successful people have. Traits that are common to such people. Better yet, there are things that the most successful people, by any matric, avoid at almost all costs. Check some of them out below:

Successful people do not fit in a box.

One of the most famous business cliché writ large is the "Thinking outside the box" saying. But truly successful people don't just think outside the proverbial box, they live outside it.

Opinions of other people do not define them, whether they are well-intentioned or demeaning. They do not hedge their dream and ambitions on the thoughts of their primary school teacher or the university lecturer. Successful people do not just develop their strengths, they define them.

Successful people don't bear grudges.

Winning a battle is never easy and it requires a lot of effort, but when you are holding a grudge, it's like fighting a war only you know about. Which is just ridiculous and a waste of time. There is no doubt that almost every person can find sometime in their life when they were wronged or offended almost unforgivably. But just thinking about it alone means you have handed the offender yet another victory. Isn't it just better to focus on something else - something that you care about? Something that will matter and benefit you?

Successful people do not argue over "nothings".

Following the narrative from the previous point: wasted energy.

You're not going to convince that die-hard [Buhari/GEJ] fan on Twitter or Facebook to change his or her mind. People who are truly successful, spend their time on things that they can genuinely affect. Things that they can change.

Successful people never quit.

Most times, successful people are successful simply because they work harder than other people. This is partly because most times, they work harder because what they do doesn't feel like work - at least not a lot of it. They usually do the kind of things that they would do even if they weren't paid, and sometimes, they aren't.

The point is that, rewarding or not, they understand what is important and what needs to be done - and they get it done, no matter what it takes.

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Successful people never betray their values.

When all is said and done, what else do you have besides the deepest values which you hold most dear?

Maybe you believe in the power and purpose of the hijab. Maybe you think it's wrong to smoke weed. Maybe you will never support Arsenal because you think Giroud is an absolute pipe. But those are your values, not mine - and I am very sure they are tested all the bloody time. But remember, truly successful people do not have a lot of non-negotiable, core values; but the ones they do have are absolutely sacrosanct (i.e unshakeable).