7 Values You Must Have To Be Successful In Whatever You Do

How to be successful and make it in life. Source: Elcrema

Becoming successful is everyone’s primary objective in life. The moment you come of age, your focus becomes getting to the peak of whatever you find yourself doing—be it in academics, business, or career; it’s a natural instinct in man. No one wants to be a failure, but not everyone can say they have been successful (enough) in their endeavours either.

Does this mean that success is reserved for a special few or that it’s difficult to achieve? Well, the answer is ‘no’. Success can be achieved by just anyone, depending on their ability to go at it the right way…using the right tools. In going about anything, there are rules/principles that must be followed in order to realize it—the same is applicable to success; unless you go about it the right way, do the right thing(s), you may continually end up in disappointment.

The great men/women we have around us today didn’t just become successful doing things the conventional way, of course, not, they had to go out of their ways and do the needful, make sacrifices, and follow a certain trend. So what are these things/values one must imbibe to record success in his/her endeavours? For the purpose of this study, I have put together 7 of those values for you to digest. Let’s check them all out…

1. READ TO LEARN
There’s a whole lot you can learn from reading. Reading unlocks information to you that you otherwise wouldn’t have access to…it keeps your mind renewed and fresh. A lot of people think that reading ends the day you exit the 4 walls of a university equipped with your first degree, but this is very untrue. Learning never ends, it is an endless process as long as you imbibe the habit. No matter who you are, what you do, you can improve on your knowledge and gain more knowledge by reading up on all relevant material. I know people who have conceived great business ideas just from reading books and materials. How do you think the Bill Gates and Dangotes of this world keep their businesses going? They read, and read to learn and learn more.

2. LOVE WHAT YOU DO
Whether it’s a paid job, career or business, unless you love it, there’s no way you’ll do it passionately, and what you don’t do passionately is almost guaranteed to be a big flop. When you love something, you do it happily, and that’s good because it means you do it well. So ensure you really love whatever you find yourself doing as it’s one of the prerequisites for recording success.

3. BE HARDWORKING
Remember the saying that, ‘hardwork always pays off’?—it is very true. Hardworking people always tend to put in a bit extra in all they do because they know it’s the only way they’ll get what they want. Take a 100m race for example; everyone runs the race because they want to win, but not everyone can come first…only the person who puts in the most energy and work rate in the race emerges the winner. Also, take a look at the Army or typical business organizations; promotion is based on the amount of hardwork and effort you put into your job.

4. BE LOYAL AND HUMBLE
Even the bible says ‘pride cometh before a fall’; its an ordained principle. The moment you let your expertise, knowledge, wealth or office position get into your head, there’s no way you’ll be able to maximize your full potentials because you’ll feel you already know it all, and you’re better than everybody. You’ll burn bridges, lose friends, and people who may be of vital help to you in the future. No one man is an island, you need people to keep you on track, and help you navigate through situations. There’s no way you can do it all alone, so be as far away from pride as possible. Imbibe humility, and that way you get to learn from people. Humility is a priceless virtue.

5. BE DISCIPLINED/PRINCIPLED
If you want to be successful, you must learn to mean what you say, do what you mean, and be a person of integrity. You must create for yourself certain rules that you must live by—it is one of the hallmarks of successful people. Never compromise your values for anything, stick to them no matter what/where you find yourself. Know how much you make, and never spend above your earnings. As a business person, you must learn to treat your business as a different entity from yourself—let all monies meant for it be for it, never remove a dime from it for yourself…that’s how you grow a business. Business and sentiments are enemies, always treat it that way.

6. BE OPEN-MINDED
You must be willing to take in every idea/contribution/criticism from people around you if you want to succeed. You take them all in, sieve away the ones you feel are wrong, and accept the right ones. Accept constructive criticism, they’ll help you improve on yourself, business or career. I’ve never heard of a successful person who didn’t/doesn’t accept criticism, they’ll come, just handle them well. Keep an open mind, you’ll surely succeed.

7. BE PATIENT
No one starts a business or a job today, and becomes a millionaire immediately, it always takes a while. A lot has to be in place before financial success comes—all you need to do is keep doing what you do with as much enthusiasm as is required. All the great men of today didn’t become great overnight, they had to pass through a process…which eventually led to success. Patience is a very rare virtue to find in people, but the few who have it while doing the right thing always reap the rewards it brings.

Do not forget that success isn’t a destination per se, rather it is a reward that’s meant to spur you on, and keep you going in your life’s endeavours. The journey to success can be likened to that unto perfection…it never ends. There are always newer heights to be attained.