What does it take to succeed? A positive attitude? well i hardly think that’s enough. A book on success? it probably would, but without the action itself, it won’t do much.
To this day, I really don’t think there’s an exact answer or rather a one-size-fits-all answer. Success is generally defined as taking action and taking good and appropriate action takes skills. Some of these skills are taught in schools, others are taught on the job, and still others we learn from general life experience. Success is not just about having an idea and then working as hard as you can. You need to be able to adapt to certain things and learn new things that will enable you to excel in the long run.
Below is a list of general skills that will help anyone get ahead in practically any field, from running a company to running a gardening. Of course, there are skills specific to each field as well but the main focus here is skills that translate across disciplines, the ones that can be learned by anyone in any position.
It is easy to be comfortable among peers but speaking among strangers is what most people find difficult. The ability to speak clearly, persuasively, and forcefully in front of an audience regardless of the number of the audience is one of the most important skills anyone can develop. People that are effective speakers come across as more comfortable with themselves, more confident and more attractive to be around. Being able to speak effectively means you can sell anything ranging from products, ideas, and yourself which invariably means more opportunities for career advancement, bigger clients and so many others.
Writing well offers many of the same advantages that speaking well offers: good writers are better at selling products, ideas and themselves than poor writers. Learning to write well involves not just mastery of grammar but the development of the ability to organise one’s thoughts into a coherent form and target it to an audience in the most effective way possible. A person who is a master of the written word can expect doors to open in just about every field.
If success depends on effective action, effective action depends on the ability to focus your attention where it is needed most, when it is needed most. Strong organisational skills, effective productivity habits, and a strong sense of discipline are needed to keep yourself on track.
Networking is not only for finding jobs or clients. In an economy dominated by ideas and innovation, networking creates the channel through which ideas flow and in which ideas new ideas are created. A large network, carefully cultivated, ties one into not just a body of people but a body of relationships, and those relationships are more than just the sum of their parts. The interactions those relationships make possible give rise to innovation and creativity and provides the support to nurture new ideas until they can be realised.
We are exposed to hundreds, if not thousands of more information on a daily basis. Being able to evaluate that information, sort the potentially valuable from the trivial, analyse its relevance and meaning, and relate it to other information is crucial and woefully under-taught. Good critical thinking skills immediately distinguish you from the mass of people these days.
The bridge that leads from analysis to action is effective decision-making. That is knowing what to do based on the information available. Decision Making in various aspects of life including financial decision making. In other to successful, you need to be apt you taking decisions.
Nobody can be expected to know everything, or even a tiny fraction of everything. You should be able to quickly and painlessly find out what you need to know. That means learning to use the internet effectively, learning to use a library, learning to read productively, and learning how to leverage your network of contacts and what kinds of research are going to work best in any given situation.
Communication is crucial, it is particularly important within business that your communication with others is great standard. The majority of mistakes made within companies that have high numbers of employees are caused by lack of communication.
Surely, there are more important skills as success requires a whole load of habits, qualities and skills, but at the end of the day it all helps you pull yourself together to become somebody destined for progression in life. What are they? What lessons have you learned that were key to your successes and what have you ignored to your peril?