How does attitude determine success? Two blogs back, I started a series about the determinants of success–as defined by the latest scientific studies and surveys. I identified three determinants of success:

1. Hard work, not talent or IQ

2. Work longer hours

Here is the last determinant, and the one you’ll want to interview to.

3. Your Attitude about YOU is Much More Important than Your Talent or your IQ

Malcolm Gladwell actually said this in the chapter in Outliers about proverbs. Study after study shows that, if you have the big a�?Ta�? (tenacity), and you believe you can do something, YOU CAN!

Ia��m a graduate of the University of Oregon, and I always read the alumni magazine. In the latest edition, therea��s a fascinating study by a couple of physicists (sounds like those physicists just cana��t stop themselves from studying this, that, and the other). They found that students with lower American College Test (ACT) or SAT scores could compensate through hard work. So, dona��t let anyone tell you that you cana��t achieve what you want to achieve. Unless youa��re trying to become an NBA center, and youa��re 5a�� 10a�? tall, you CAN achieve great things in real estate.

Herea��s my favorite quote by one of my favorite leaders, Winston Churchill:

Give In?A� Never!

Never give in!

Never give in!

Never, never, never, never

– in nothing great or small,

large or petty a��

Never give in except to

convictions of honour

and good sense.

— Sir Winston Churchill

Speech at the Harrow School

October 29, 1941

Achievement Can be Yours

Work the hours it takes. Be honest with yourself about your work ethic. Managers: Use my analysis, Time and Activities, to check that your agents’ hard work is really the work that counts. Take the attitude that YOU CAN. You dona��t need great height or great musical talent to do well in real estate. You need the values that you already have: Caring for people, wanting to do right by them, and putting the client above your best interests. Now, go and have a great rest of 2010!

Managers: You have my permission to provide this to your agents. Use the Time and Activities tool to help your agents analyze their business to datea��and prepare for a better 2011.