Birchbox CEO: Highly-successful people see their careers differently in these 2 ways

Research shows that successful people see their lives differently. They believe they can shape their own future, take time to be grateful and maintain certain lifestyle habits, like daily exercise.

When it comes to their professional lives, it's no different, according to Katia Beauchamp, co-founder and CEO of subscription service Birchbox. High-achieving professionals, she says, have certain personality traits that fast-track their success.

Beauchamp herself is a good example of this. After graduating from Harvard Business School, she entered a field in which she had no experience. A few year later, she helped popularize the subscription box model and raised more than $86 million in venture capital.

Here's how the best workers think differently, according to Beauchamp:

"[Successful people] expect to be able to do exceptional things," she tells CNBC. "They expect to be rewarded and promoted in exceptional ways and have really wonderful careers that are not the norm."

"I think it shows a good sign when somebody believes that they can do something," the entrepreneur says. "It shows that they believe they can create their own reality."

The CEO isn't the only executive who sees a place for hope and confidence in the workplace.

Bill and Melinda Gates credit legendary investor Warren Buffett's success to his optimism. Susan Peters, SVP of human resources at GE, says the best advice her mother ever gave her was to remain optimistic. Patrick Brown, founder and CEO of Impossible Foods, says being wildly optimistic is the key to success.

To become a star performer at work, Beauchamp encourages employees to think about how their personal goals align with the company's. The best workers, see says, see the two as co-dependent.

For women, this is especially true. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg highlights research in "Lean In" that found that when asking for a raise, women saw more success when they used phrases such as "our goals" and "we succeeded."

Whether you're in a job interview or an informal meeting with your boss, show that "your ultimate goal is the success of the entire entity, the success of the team," Beauchamp says.

"Show that your career is going to ride on that," she says, "that you're going to ride on the coattails of that success."

Check out Beauchamp's 4 tips for writing a great cold email