We grow up listening to stories of the great men who made a difference and dream of becoming like them someday. That dream begins to fade when we are faced with the actual hardships of life. The bottom line is, there is no easy road to success. Even the heroes we grew up reading about did not receive it on a platter.
You could be wondering then why not anyone who works hard become successful? There is not one but many reasons to why only a few out of millions get to know what success is. It appears that qualities of successful people have some characteristic traits in common, like they are all hard working, focused, competent, determined and try to achieve a workable goal. There could be more qualities that they have in common and it is probably the combination of these qualities that set them apart from the rest.
Although there are no set rules or definite patterns of behaviors for achieving success, there are a few simple practices that may help you get farther in life.
Here are 11 ways to achieve success:
1. Build courage within
You can be a highly competent person, but what is the use if you do not realize it yourself? You need courage to take action and only actions can increase your confidence level. It is necessary to test your limits, to see what you are capable of and unless you muster the courage to take the first step you will not be moving forward.
2. Develop social skills
In today’s world you need to have both the intellect and the social skills in order to grow. A study showed that social skills and cognitive abilities had no correlation with success in 1980, but today they do. You need to be smart and also popular at the same time to be successful in the 21st century.
3. Promote positive thinking
Successful people never doubt their intentions or their ability. Train yourself to think positive, to always expect the positive outcome. Positive thinking encourages action and only actions in the right direction can get you close to success.
4. Learn from failures
Successful people learn from failures, be it someone else’s or their own. Failure is not the end but only a part of your journey towards success. You can learn to improve yourself only through failures. Failures are lessons and not disappointments and it has been seen that successful people see failure as an opportunity for growth.
“Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of a greater or equal benefit.†– Napoleon Hill
5. Streamline your thoughts
Always know what you want. You may want a lot of things at the same time but find out what is it that you want the most. Achieving it would mean success. It is important to first decide what your goal is and then work towards it so that you do not feel lost after you have already invested a great deal in it.
6. Maintain your relationships
Let’s face it, you can get their alone. You need people to support you, to be there for you when you need and also to rejoice when you finally get there. So appreciate the help you are getting from the people around you and maintain your relationships with them. Having others around will make you happy and it is difficult to achieve success if you are not happy.
7. Seek as much knowledge as possible
Knowledge and wisdom are the keys to success. Therefore, gather knowledge from wherever you can and wisdom through experience. You can also derive knowledge from conversations with other people. They may know things which you do not. You can also benefit from their experiences. Therefore, keep you mind open and learn as much as you can.
8. Try to channelize your emotions
It is not that people who are successful have no emotion. But, they know how to compartmentalize. There will be a lot of ups and downs in life but you cannot let them affect your purpose. Learn to channelize negative emotions and stay focused, so that you can move on no matter what life throws at you.
9. Always keep stretching your limits
In order to grow, you need to keep improving yourself. You cannot afford to have a fixed limit to what you do if you have a goal in mind. Try and extend your limits and you will be surprised by what you can actually do.
“Whatever I engage in, I must push inordinately.†– Andrew Carnegie
10. Do it yourself
While it is true that you will need the support and cooperation of other people in order to succeed, try not to be too dependent on them for things you can do yourself. If there is something that needs to be done and it is within your capacity to do it, don’t wait for others.
11. Have a plan but be flexible
If you know what your goal in life is it is easier to find a way to get there. But you need to chalk out a solid plan before you begin the journey. In case you have not prepared a well-grounded plan beforehand, there is a high possibility of stagnation after a certain point. However, it would also be unwise to remain too rigid on your plan. If you come across a better idea mid-way, changing your course will be the right thing to do.
It is only you who can decide whether you are truly successful or not. Success may mean something to you and something else to the person next to you. Success ultimately goes on to prove whether you are happy with yourself or not. If a simple, peaceful life makes you happy then you do not need to build empires to be successful. So, in order to be successful, find out first what success exactly means to you.
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