3 Signs You Are Becoming Successful

by KEN DUNN, CEO and Founder Readerslegacy.com
In December of 2000, I found out that I was going to
become a father. Fourteen years later, I have realized
that this one piece of information would alter the
course of my life forever. Yes, I realize that you are
automatically thinking -- "Duh! Of course it
does," but I’m talking about changes in every part of
my life.
At the time, I was a police detective with the Ottawa
Police Service in Canada. Like any newly expecting
dad, I started to take account of where I had gotten in
life and what our first child would mean to our
family. I inevitably realized that I didn’t want to be a
police officer any longer. I wanted to chart my own
course -- to become an entrepreneur.
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I sought out the advice of a friend on becoming a
business owner. His advice was to read Og Mandino’s
Classic, The Greatest Salesman In The World. I
devoured the book in three days. Now ,14 years later,
I have read over 1,000 non-fiction business,
leadership and personal development books, which
include over 200 biographies and auto-biographies.
These books, and the advice contained in them, are
the reasons for my success in business and
life. Books written by or about the world’s greatest
leaders and business owners are easily my preferred
reading genres. I’ve come to realize that these books
contained the wisdom and experiences of the
subjects. It’s virtual mentorship!
Recently, I read Behind The Cloud by Salesforce.com
founder Marc Bienoff. As I was finishing this read, I
realized that there were three things that all of the
people that I have read about had in common, and
that these points were actually signs that they were
becoming successful. I’m sure you will enjoy
discovering that you likely already have one or more
of these signs in your life.
1. Haters
Success breeds contempt. It is the most fascinating
part of being successful. The disdain that some
develop for the successful is actually envy and a lack
of self-control that the hater has. As we get closer to
the goals we set for ourselves, our confidence grows,
our belief grows, and we tend to separate ourselves
from the flock. New York Times best-selling author
Chris Brady calls it becoming a Rascal.
"Rascals separate themselves from the sheeple," he
says, and in doing so, they stand out. Average people
struggle with anyone who stands out. It is inevitable
that you will attract haters the closer you get to your
goals.
Related: Why the Most Successful People Have
the Most Haters
2. Offers
The closer we get to our goals, the more offers we
will have presented to us. People will notice as our
success grows, and we will start to be seen as wise
and as an authority. We will notice the amount of
people who come to us with offers of investments,
advisory board positions and opportunities to try
new things increase with our success. We are all
looking for someone to help us rise to the next level,
and the easiest place to look is those who are already
having success.
3. Partners
Have you noticed lately that people are approaching
you on a regular basis about new partnerships in
business, philanthropy and giving? This is another
clear sign that you are hitting your goals. The old
saying is, “You are the sum of the five people you
spend the most time with." If you are getting
approached about new partnerships --
 congratulations, you have likely developed into the
type of person who other people want to be around.
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The collective wisdom that I have learned from my
books and in the art of dealing with haters, offers and
partners is to stay even-keeled. It is very easy to have
your head swell when you start to be solicited with
offers or partners. When the offers and partners
come, remember where you started. Remember how
hard it was in the beginning.
Obviously, the most important thing to remember is
to stay focused, and don’t over-commit to anyone. It
feels nice when others seek you out for advice and
opportunity, but It can be easy to say yes. The best
route is to ask for time to consider before
responding.
As far as the haters go, congratulations! It is the
clearest sign that you are getting there. The bigger
the success, the greater the pests.