It is possible to achieve personal and professional success when the right principles are followed. However, not everyone knows these essential principles that contribute to personal and professional success.
Success is something everyone wants but does everyone achieve eventually that? What then makes the difference?
Personal and professional success comes in many forms and is generally challenging to attain, but when you have reached the top, you realize that it is all worth it. Success is not a singular destination but an infinite series of milestones marked by struggles, discomfort, and perseverance.
Based on my experience in personal development, business, and life in general, I will take you through the fundamental principles leading to your professional and personal success. I will also share some ideas from a conversation my respondent, Danny Convery, had with Paul Pester, the former CEO of TSB, one of the UK’s biggest banks.
I hope this will be an interesting read and also help you lead a happy and fulfilling personal and professional life. What are the principles contributing to personal and professional success?
Principles Contributing To Personal and Professional Success
We all have what we define successful to be. These are the personal and professional goals we aim to achieve.
That being said, the definition of success is not the same for everybody. To a baby who wants to walk, being able to walk is counted as being successful. That means achieving personal and professional success is a function of being able to achieve your personal and professional goals.
The following principles will help achieve that.
Principle #1: Have a Goal
The first way to be successful is by setting a goal for yourself. It is this goal you will measure your achievement against to see how successful you have been.
Setting a goal sounds simple but there is a right and wrong way to do so. When setting goals, they need to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Bound). Your goal should be manageable, and having an end date by which you hope to have achieved it is fundamental.
Being too excited and setting unrealistic goals is one common mistake people make when setting goals. For example, how do you set a goal to swim to the moon? It’s not to say you can’t have big goals but you need to start with simple and more realistic goals and walk your way up from there.
I will leave you with another important thought on the front of goal-setting: always write your goals down. You are 42 per cent more likely to achieve your goal and achieve personal and professional success when you write down your goals.
Lastly, you don’t have to stack up your goals against those of someone else. Don’t feel like your goals are meaningless and you want to take on Steve Jobs’ goals instead of your personal goals. It is essential to remember that however small your goals may be, achieving them is what being successful is.
Principle #2: Mindset Matters
In all walks, approaching a situation with the correct mindset will always lead to a better outcome. Having a good mindset matters a lot in achieving personal and professional success.
A good mindset and attitude towards life and work may sound very easy and has become increasingly popular sayings across the internet but not many people know how to get that mindset. But suffice me to say that one with a positive mindset is always open to challenges and looking forward to improvement.
Almost every successful person I have spoken with has affirmed the role of sustaining a good mindset in achieving personal and professional success. Even the 1500m world champion, Josh Kerr, affirmed that he trains his mind daily.
Irrespective of what you have been through struggling to be successful, keep your mindset positive and do what you do consistently. One day, you will hit the target. This might be challenging, especially in the midst of discouragement and disappointment but you can do it if you put your mind to it.
Principle #3: Work Ethic
Another principle for personal and professional success is having a work ethic. You have to put in the required work to achieve your goals of any magnitude.
Working hard is tough but it is something every successful person must do, and there are no exceptions to this principle. If you fold your hands doing nothing but expecting things to happen by themselves, you will not see any results.
To achieve your goals and potential, you must knuckle down and sustain a good work ethic. You will only reach your goals if you put in the right work, not only working hard but working smart as well.
Principle #4: Leadership Skills
Successful people need help to achieve success. You need a team or group of people who are motivated to support and help you achieve your goals as much as you are willing to help them.
A team of people won’t lead themselves; you must be present to demonstrate effective leadership. To achieve personal and professional success, you need to be able to lead people who are aligned with you to achieve results and set goals.
You can become an exceptional leader by consciously developing good ‘people skills’ and organisational skills. After analysing some of the world’s most successful people, I have come to the conclusion that leadership is one of the important principles needed to achieve personal and professional success.
Principle #5: Resilience and Adaptability
On your route to success, you will encounter challenges over and over again. The path is not a very smooth one, and it’s quite stormy. Challenges are guaranteed but how you bounce back from these challenges is what separates you from the rest.
Bouncing back from a challenge isn’t so easy but when you consistently stay resilient and adaptable against your challenges, you can achieve great personal and/or professional success eventually.
For example, David Goggins, a world-famous ultra runner and best-selling author, has had to overcome challenges beyond what most people can imagine. This set him apart from the billions of unsuccessful people who do not know how to return after being hit by a challenge.
Principle #6: Effective Time Management
After speaking with Paul Pester, former CEO of TSB, Danny Convery shared with me how important it is to get the most out of the 24 hours each day has to offer. The number of hours in a day is not something that will change but what you do with that limited time is a critical factor to your personal and professional success.
The average US citizen spends an average of 2 hours and 14 minutes on social media daily. Not to mention the time spent on other unproductive tasks, or the number of night hours that will be spent sleeping. Would you follow the steps of the average US citizen or you are ready to join the rest who are committed to effectively managing their time?
Effective time management requires you to focus on what matters at a time and be able to organise your daily schedule accurately. One way to achieve that is to make yourself a timetable or a to-do list. Knowing exactly what to do next is paramount to achieving personal and professional success.
Principle #7: People Skills
I have talked about this a little when I was discussing “leadership skills” but when I say people skills, I mean the ability to interact with new people in a way that leaves a positive impression on them. You can be the most intelligent and hardworking person ever born but if you cannot appropriately interact with people, you won’t be able to tap into your true potential.
To some, people skills come easily and naturally, but like everything else, it is something you can work to develop. If you want to improve your people skills, the key is to practice it by putting yourself in that uncomfortable situation of interacting with new people.
With trials and some failures, you will develop the skills needed to interact with people and achieve your goals to achieve personal and professional success. Remember the key is to be as courteous as possible while freely expressing yourself.
Conclusion
In conclusion, success is an infinitely broad spectrum with different people achieving different set goals. To be successful, you first need to define and set your goals clearly. Success, by definition, is a retrospective remark after you have achieved these goals.
Much of these principles of achieving personal and/or professional success are borne out of one’s decision and willingness to use what is available, and having the right mindset to navigate through very difficult challenges that may stand on one’s way to success.
While the list is not exhaustive, with these, I think you can make it on the side of success in all you put your hands on. Good luck on your journey to the top.
