What Is The Key To Success?

Why is personal development the key to success?

Everyone wants a successful career, financial stability, happy family life, and all their dreams come true. The problem with this definition of success is that for many people, it’s not reality. For some people, when adversity strikes, it kills their motivation and keeps them stuck. For others, adversity is just the motivation they need to gear up for change, build momentum, and power on into the future. You could say these people are successful because of their ability to embrace adversity. They understand personal development is the key to success.

As the world changes, we must keep the pace of innovation, technology, changing values, and global events, all of which affect us in the most profound ways, as we found out in 2020 with the coronavirus pandemic.

What is success to you? Success means something different to all of us, and it’s your definition of success that matters.

What is a Good Definition of Success?

How do you define success for yourself? Is success, wealth, happiness, health, fame, climbing to the pinnacle of your career, inventing something new or something different again? Before you judge yourself according to others’ definition of success, let’s look at the dictionary meaning of the word. 

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary describes success as the degree or measure of succeeding. According to Dictionary.com, their definition of success is the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors; the accomplishment of one’s goals. The Cambridge English Dictionary describes success as the achievement of the results wanted or hoped for or something that achieves positive results.

None of these definitions of success means you should compare yourself to others or value other people’s meaning of success. It’s fair to say a reasonable definition of success is setting meaningful goals, becoming better at (whatever) you were yesterday, and to become better at (whatever) again tomorrow. 

Success is deeply personal. For a toddler, it might be learning to run. For a child, it might be hitting their first home run.  For a high school, graduate success may be landing their first job, and for a career professional, it might be being appointed the CEO of a multinational company. Therefore success cannot be defined in a single sentence as the definition depends on you as an individual, for one size does not fit all.

“What is success to you?”

Regardless of what your definition of success is, there is one thing all successful people have in common, and that is personal and professional development. The ability to always do your best, improve upon previous results and grow as an individual.

How do You Define Success in Life

Don’t confuse moments of happiness with success. Happiness could be watching a movie in your PJs with your best friend or spouse while eating popcorn. That’s not success! Success in life is about defining your future vision, setting goals, and achieving them. The key to success in your personal life depends on creating a clear picture of what a successful future looks like to you.

A successful future may mean many things as it’s not always about money. It could be getting good grades in school and college, landing your dream job, developing a successful relationship, or even learning new skills. A life coach or business coach would define success in life as setting goals, achieving goals, along with other deliberate accomplishments, and getting positive results.

How do You Define Success in the Workplace

Your strategies for success in life are quite different than success in the workplace. Some people might spend their career climbing the corporate ladder only to find that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall once they reach the top. They find out almost too late this is not what they wanted after all.

Success in the workplace, like many definitions of success, comes down to your personal and professional goals. Professional development is the process of developing your skillset and knowledge base in areas that will directly improve your potential in the workforce. You might strive to take on additional responsibilities, go back to school, study for a new qualification, complete a series of training courses, or widen your knowledge in areas related to your role.

The skills you develop from professional development will help build your reputation in the workplace, giving you a platform to launch your ideas and progress your career if this is how you define success. 

Although success in the workplace is hard to define and quantify, you can enjoy the level of success you aspire to by focusing on core aspects of yourself. For some, success in the workplace may simply becoming so skilled at their role where they become the best version of themselves without ever aspiring to grow their career beyond what they are doing now.

What is essential, regardless of your career aspirations, personal development, and training will help you thrive and not just survive.

What are Good Personal Development Goals for Work

Developing your knowledge and skillsets in areas such as organizing and prioritizing your work will definitely reduce stress levels. It allows you to focus your energies on the task at hand. It also allows you to become a great finisher. 

Being a good listener and communicator is fundamental to success in the workplace. Many conflicts arise because people feel misunderstood because a message sent is not the message received.

All of us have blind spots that hold us back from navigating our way in what is sometimes a very complex work environment. Acknowledging your strengths and weaknesses allows you to be aware of your limitations and grow professionally. When you uncover your blind spots, it puts you in a far better position to improve performance and interpersonal relationships at work. 

Learn to manage interruptions. It’s surprising how often we get interrupted in the workplace by co-workers, bosses, friends, and family. These interruptions take your focus away from priorities and set you up for a less than stellar performance. When a co-worker or direct report constantly interrupts you, try using the four-step problem-solving formula. Ask them to go away and answer these three questions.

1. What is the problem?
2. What are the causes of the problem?
3. What are the possible solutions?
4. What is the best solution?

This approach empowers them to think for themselves instead of always coming to you for the answer.

Why Personal Development is Important to Success

Whether you are focused on success in the workplace or success in life, personal development is a huge contributor to achieving the level of success you are looking for. If you don’t include plans for personal development on your journey, you are likely to wake one day and find your life and the opportunities you wanted have quietly slipped away out of your consciousness. You wake to discover that you aren’t living the life of your dreams, and it’s too late to change.

You could describe personal development as a continuous process of self-improvement where the end result is you become the best version of you can be. 

What are The Keys to Success?

There are multiple answers to the question, “What are the keys to success?”

1. Clear Cut Goals

First and foremost, success needs to be related to goals. Your vision and goals define exactly what you want when you want it and how to go about achieving what you want. When you know exactly what you want, you know what decisions and actions you need to take to get you closer to your goals.

2. Taking Care of Yourself

Secondly, success is also about taking care of yourself. You are no use to anyone else, whether it’s at home, in the workplace, or in the greater community at large if you aren’t in great shape emotionally, physically, or psychologically. This means looking after your emotional, mental, and physical health. Self-care is essential if you aspire to make a meaningful difference in your life and the lives of those you love.

3. Overcoming Fear

Success means moving outside your comfort zone and overcoming fear that is not life-threatening. Fear has its place when it comes to life and death, but fear of failure, fear of success, fear of public speaking, and stepping outside your comfort zone is usually not life-threatening. As you work to overcome fear, this will lead to greater successes in life.

4. Never Giving Up

Success is to never give up. You will make mistakes along the way, and you will experience obstacles and failures, but this need not define you. You don’t drown by falling in the water; you drown by staying in the water, which is why learning new skills are critical to your future success.

5. Patience and Perseverance

Success doesn’t happen overnight; it takes time, nor does success go from A to B in a straight line. You will hit road bumps and detours along the way. Being patient, and allowing time for your decisions and actions to gain momentum is as crucial as perseverance.

6. Learning to Say No

Success is also learning to say no, especially when doing something for others takes away from your own priorities. Saying no doesn’t mean you are selfish; it just means that you have other matters that take priority at that point and time.

7. Having Faith

Relating faith to success is not about religion; it’s about believing in yourself. Closely aligned to never giving up, patience, and perseverance, you must have faith in your own abilities to overcome challenges and keep moving towards your goals.

7. Personal Development

With a little commitment to personal development and setting a few goals, success in multiple areas of your life is there for the taking.

If you feel trapped living a mundane life or feel stuck in a rut, there’s nothing better than striving for the life you dreamed of. Regrettably, for many, their hopes and dreams have been dampened without the right guidance and advice. This is what a Life Coach or Success Coach does; they revitalize your dreams and prevent burnout and complacency. You don’t need to settle for a mediocre life for the investment you make in life coaching or business coaching will pay dividends tenfold. 

Regardless of what state you are in life, it is possible to see yourself with a future beyond your dreams simply by believing in yourself and having a professional coach to guide you through the actions and decisions that will change your life for the better.

On a final note

You do not have to struggle alone. Hiring a Life Coach can help you eliminate fear and chase your dreams where you learn how to thrive, not just survive!

Learn how the Strategez for Success Coaching Model helps you master a life of Success. Contact us now or set up your FREE consultation here to find out if Success Coaching, Life Coaching, or Business Coaching is right for you.

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