Every now and then, the world is gifted with a handful of people that change everything about it, for the better. These individuals leave their mark for generations to come and in a way, immortalise themselves in the pages of history.

It is due to these great people of history that we have been able to come this far, enjoying the fruits of their labour every single day of our lives.

Take Einstein for example and the immense contributions to science or Tesla for his insane amount of inventions that advanced the world many times over in a single generation.

But what makes them so great? Is it their inborn abilities or is it their characteristics that they developed early on? Could every human being aspire to rise to those standards?

What Makes Them Great?

Although inborn talents play a huge role in defining what you are capable of, I think there are many qualities that all great people share and play a critical role to derive some form of achievement using those abilities.

These are qualities we can all hope to hone with time and effort and so, we can aspire to reach those levels of greatness and be a force of change in the world and play our part to make things better.

The qualities I am talking about are not something of a secret too. Take for example people like Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Bill Gates and others. These were all normal people and went on to achieve great things.

Qualities like being able to focus, take risks, continuously strive and persevere, adapt to change, be patient, have integrity, and many others all go into making someone great, but perhaps one of the most important that I want to talk about is being able to have a vision.

A Vision

Think for a second. To be able to move forward, you need two things. Something to move to and a direction to that something. That is where the ability to create a vision comes in.

Take a look back at history and the great people that achieved great things. All of them had a vision in their minds and used their abilities and qualities to achieve that vision.

It’s not easy at all to have a vision as it takes a lot to realise it. And there are always the naysayers who would rather mock you for having one and would rather see you fail than to support you on your journey.

This is what has been missing too from most people. They are at the mercy of things and events happening around them and have no clue where they are going or are supposed to do. I think that’s the differentiator. Being able to create a vision and move towards it. I think that’s what makes great people great.