Hundreds of entrepreneurs claim to have found the secret to success: the perfect formula that you can adapt to your business to become successful. We hate to break it to you, but there’s no secret magical formula for success. Instead, the entrepreneurs who tend to be successful develop certain traits and qualities that aid them in pursuing success.

On Season 6, Episode 40 of The Making Bank Podcast, Cole Rodgers talks about the link between being vulnerable and being successful. In today’s episode, Cole talks about how vulnerability allows us to unlock our true potential. Cole is the founder of School of Man, an organization that uses raw vulnerability to help men succeed. There’s more to life than just being successful in business. School of Man aims to give men the skills they need as well as develop their mental toughness so that they can succeed with their body, business, and life.

Why Vulnerability?
While we’re all living different lives, we all deal with varying forms of adversity and struggle in our lives. However, for many men, the struggles in their lives don’t get talked about enough. That propelled Cole to start School of Man; it was to give men a sense of brotherhood that so many of them had previously lived without. Cole mentions that the best gift that we can give to ourselves is knowing and loving ourselves, but we can only do that if we are willing to be vulnerable about ourselves.

The absence of vulnerability means a lack of trust in your life. You need to be able to talk about your struggles, failures, and pain in your life. The things that you may find hard to talk about might just be what’s holding you back. People often define themselves by their failures, which creates a mental block for them. That’s why it’s essential to allow yourself to be vulnerable — take accountability for your failures but don’t let them define you. Cole talks about using your pain as your purpose and letting your failure motivate you to be better. If you can be vulnerable and talk about your shortcomings without judging yourself, you will then be able to love yourself for who you truly are. Being vulnerable allows you to find out who you are and what you’re capable of while building up your mental toughness.

But when it comes to success, it’s not only about your mental toughness, it’s also about the skills you develop as a person. With School of Man, Cole has worked with men from all backgrounds, some already successful entrepreneurs and those just starting out. Amongst the most successful entrepreneurs, Cole noticed that they all shared common traits. So here are the three common characteristics that most successful entrepreneurs have.

Be A Go-Giver
If you haven’t already read The Go-Giver: A Little Story About A Powerful Business Idea by Bob Burg and John David Mann, it’s an extremely valuable read that will give deep insight into what it means to be a go-giver. What does it mean to be a go-giver? A go-giver is someone that pays it forward, someone that can add value to others in order to help them. It’s about shifting your focus from getting to giving instead. Focus on adding value to the lives of others; not only will it increase your joy and satisfaction in your personal life, but it’s also profitable for your business.

Don’t Lead with Your Resume
As a successful person, you don’t need your accolades, possessions, or resume that show that you’re successful. You can tell the difference between someone portraying themselves as successful and someone that’s actually successful. Instead of leading with your resume, you want to lead with your actions. Your accolades and resume don’t have as much weight as your actions. To be successful, you want to be great, and greatness doesn’t come from your accolades, it comes from your ability to make an impact. You want to build something that others want to be a part of because the purpose is more significant than themselves.

Chase Immortality
Lastly, you want to be immortal — you want your legacy to live on forever. This builds upon leading with your actions; you want to make an impact that will last long after you’re gone. Chasing immortality is one of the greatest motivations, only the people that realize there’s a purpose that’s much larger than their own benefit know that. Work with the intention of making the world a better place and adding values to the people’s lives that will last forever.

After all, these three traits aren’t the one and only secret to success, but your chances of being successful are bound to increase with these traits. Success won’t come overnight and certainly won’t come easy. We’re bound to face obstacles and adversity, but Cole encourages us not to shy away from the adversity but embrace it and use it as our purpose to be successful.