CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin asks this question to be more successful

Andrew Ross Sorkin wears many hats — though he’s perhaps most recognizable for his role as co-anchor on CNBC’S “Squawk Box,” Sorkin is also an editor, columnist, producer, author and entrepreneur.

The 46-year-old journalist and New York native got his start as an intern at Inside Edition before interning at The New York Times in 1995 — all while still in high school. Sorkin went on to graduate from Cornell University, contributing stories to the Times throughout his college career. And in 2001, he started DealBook, an online daily financial report published by the Times that he still edits over 20 years later.

His book, “Too Big to Fail: How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System — and Themselves,” was published in 2009, and two years later, was adapted into an 11-time Emmy nominated TV movie, which he co-produced.

These roles all differ substantially, but there are three key attributes that help Sorkin excel in them: persistence, listening and understanding.

“Persistence matters more than talent, hands down,” he tells CNBC. “Listening is a skill that needs to be practiced with intent. And if you want to understand somebody, or persuade them of your view, you need to meet them where they are and understand their view first.”

Sorkin adds that another of the things that “helped him along the way” was always “being curious.”

Sorkin also says he learned the “most important” lesson from the 2015 film “Bridge of Spies,” quoting Mark Rylance’s character, Rudolf Abel. When asked,  “aren’t you worried?,”  by Tom Hanks’ character, James Donovan, Abel responds, “would it help?”

“In a world where you have to prioritize and figure out how to spend your time thinking about stuff, or working on stuff, I literally say to myself every day, 100 times a day, ‘Would it help?'” Sorkin says. “Sometimes it would help. Oftentimes it will help. Sometimes even just sort of walking through the permutations of stuff will help. But a lot of the time, it won’t help at all.”

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