I make an appearance in this article. Cool.

Create good luck

Luck isn't magical — there's a science to it.

Richard Wiseman studied lucky people for his book Luck Factor, and broke down what they do right. Certain personality types are luckier because they behave in a way that maximizes the chance for good opportunities. By being more outgoing, open to new ideas, following hunches, and being optimistic, lucky people create possibilities.

Does applying these principles to your life actually work? Wiseman created a "luck school" to test the ideas — and it was a success.

In total, 80 percent of people who attended Luck School said that their luck had increased. On average, these people estimated that their luck had increased by more than 40 percent. [Luck Factor]

More about creating luck here.

Intelligence and creativity are great but you can't quit when the going gets tough if you really want to accomplish anything big.

That's grit. Perseverance. And it's one of the best predictors of success there is.

Here's Angela Duckworth giving a TED talk on grit:

More on how to be "grittier" here.

Just say no

Warren Buffett once said:

The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say "no" to almost everything.

And that's what gives them the time to accomplish so much.

In Creativity, Csikszentmihalyi makes note of the number of high achievers who declined his request to be in the book. Why did they say no? They were too busy with their own projects to help him with his.

Achievement requires focus. And focus means saying "no" to a lot of distractions.

Read more: 

http://theweek.com/article/index/260730/8-things-the-worlds-most-successful-people-all-have-in-common