5 factors critical to your success

Success is subjective, it is measured in different ways for different people. As a society we often consider success to be measured by wealth, trophies, awards or recognition. Many of us understand on an intellectual level that success goes far beyond these things and there are many theories about how to achieve different kinds of success. This article explores five things that are critical to success, and should become part of every education program. These five factors relate to Positive Psychology research by Professor Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania.

Self-Awareness

Understanding your strengths, limitations, tendencies, emotions and having a general understanding of yourself will allow you to identify where you can thrive on your own, where you need help from others, how to positively interact with others, how you react to both positive and negative situations.

In addition to these, being able to identify your own strengths, limitations and tendencies will enable you to better identify those within others.

Personality tests can be helpful to better understand yourself. I have completed dozens of personality tests but find the Enneagram to provide the most meaningful insight.

Furthermore, self-awareness also refers to gaining a sense of meaning or purpose. Without meaning or purpose the pursuit of ‘success’ is foolhardy. Why pursue something that has no meaning or relevance?

Growth Mindset

Your mindset can cripple your attempts to achieve success. An easy way to assess your mindset to look at the two statements below and ask which you relates to you.

I am able to grow, develop, change, and adapt (Growth Mindset).

I am fixed, stuck, resistant to change, in other words, if I can’t do it now I probably never will. (Fixed Mindset).

To have a growth mindset is to believe that you have the ability to change and adapt, that your knowledge, skills and abilities are not fixed but rather you have the ability to gain and learn new ones.

A growth mindset suggests that you are not bound by your existing knowledge, skill or circumstance.

Engagement

Engagement, also sometimes referred to as mindfulness or intention, is your ability to narrow your focus to a particular task. Some people also call it ‘being present in the moment’.

In a world that is full of distraction and an overwhelming amount of information, our ability to disconnect and narrow our focus to a particular task or activity has become more important than ever.

For the sake of this explanation, let’s say that success is merely the achievement of goals. In order to achieve goals, regardless of what they are, one must engage in the tasks required to pursue and achieve those goals. Being able to connect with the task, activity, and overall goal in a meaningful way requires engagement.

Resilience

How well do you bounce back after disappointment or perceived failure?

Resilience is the ability to learn, grow and adapt in the face of opposition, challenge or falling short of achieving your goal.

Many prominent athletes and business minds believe that in order to be wildly successful you must fail or fall short over and over and over again. In a famous Michael Jordan quote he lists off all of his biggest failures before continuing to say that they are the very reason for his success.

So in the face of failure or falling short, how do you respond? Resilience is fully acknowledging that experience, taking in the emotion, reflecting on what went well and what ultimately caused the failure, then using all of that information to learn, adapt, grow and try again, only this time more prepared and with a more comprehensive strategy.

Positive Relationships

It always fascinates me when people say they are a self-made millionaire or they achieved success on their own. This is almost always an inaccurate statement.

Positive relationships, or understanding the importance of others is imperative to success. Yes, many people claim to get their all by themselves, but even the solo entrepreneur sitting in a dark room selling items on the internet has developed and leveraged relationships with other people, customers, internet provider, delivery services, etc.

Relationships are so powerful that they have been found to help people live longer, enhance immune system, and help people succeed in almost all endeavors.

The key to relationships is understanding that they are always two-way at a minimum. None more simple than in retail, merchant sell goods, consumer pays money.

So how do you nurture positive relationships within your family, social group, workplace, local community, online community?

In Summary

These five factors (Self-Awareness, Growth Mindset, Engagement, Resilience and Positive Relationships) are universally critical to success. I hope that you find the information interesting, useful or simply as a friendly reminder.

Please feel free to email me at ian.anderson@zoeticwellbeing.com