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Do Something Today, That Your Future Self Will Thank You For…

This column puts you on the track to jumpstarting your journey towards your personal and professional success.. Stay tuned in to our ‘Ripple Effects Series’ dedicated to ensuring that you come out on top in all you do!

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To Succeed, You Need Skill Sets And Brakes In Your Life!

I am often amazed at how most individuals define success… “As making/having a lot of money”. Even so, most individuals who say this, are usually stressed or unhappy! Everyone’s definition of success is categorized by the amount of money one has, versus the amount of happiness in one’s life. My opinion is that there is no point in being rich if you’re not enjoying your life, and you are more likely to get rich if you are happy doing what you do. Being unhappy should spur people to action, however that action must focus on trying to become happier, rather than richer. Unless, of course your very survival is at bay and you need money to simply sustain a living.

Ideally, being rich and happy is the envious state that we strive for. Those who succeed in this strife, are usually equipped with a combination of soft and hard skills. The terms soft skills and hard skills are often misunderstood and confused. Soft skills are an amalgamation of your characteristics, your attitude, your social conduct, your emotional intelligence, your knowledge base and most importantly, your common sense. Hard skills are your vocational/trade knowledge, your experience and expertise in your area of specialization.

In order to achieve success in all spheres – personal and professional – we need to imbibe a multi-discipline of soft and hard skills, to enable us to adapt to changing environments and circumstances, and to be willing/intelligent enough to learn from this experience. Creativity and imagination, coupled with critical thinking and problem solving skills will propel you to every success in your life.

This reminds me of an interesting and amusing take about having brakes in our lives… Read this and reflect on it, and I bet it will leave you smiling!

A professor once asked his graduating class, “Why do we have ‘brakes’ in our car?”

He got a lot of different answers:
“To stop”,
“To slow down and reduce speed”,
“To avoid accidents” etc.

But the winning answer was, “To help drive faster!”

It’s true, but rarely does one have such out of the box thoughts. Think about it… for a moment, assume you have ‘no brakes’ in your car. If so, how fast will you drive the car? It is only because you do have ‘brakes’, that you dare to speed to reach the destination you want to reach.

Similarly, at various points in our lives, we find our parents, teachers, mentors, friends and family all cautioning, advising and slowing down sometimes, our progress, direction or decision. We usually consider them as irritants or consider such caution as ‘brakes’ in our life. But remember, it is only because of such brakes, that you have managed to attain your status today! Without ‘brakes’, you could have had some very unfortunate accidents.

Remember, the words of Charles Darwin, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives and succeeds…It is the one that is most adaptable to change”.

So…learn to adapt, appreciate, and be thankful for the ‘brakes’ in your life! I know I am happy to be blessed with lots of brakes!

Happy speeding!