Maximise Potential

High achievers across all fields have a few traits that make them special. It is important for us to understand what these are so that we can internalize those qualities in ourselves. The role models we choose to have will have an enormous influence on the person we become. Training yourself based on the best is a good starting point towards your journey to excellence.  Here are the 6 traits shared by all achievers Expertise – In an interconnected world where we are constantly coming up against the best, expertise is the entry requirement to get into the game of business. Choose your area of endeavor and become an expert at it. This is the only way to shine now. Keep developing yourself on a constant basis and with the access to information that we have now it is not difficult to develop a great level of expertise. Get in touch with the experts in your field, read their blogs, listen to their podcasts, document what you have learnt and share it with oth...

How would you like to wake up every day with a fire in your belly? How do we get that attitude to always be energetic and then have that ability to energize others? There is one book which helps in this area and that is The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon. It is a simple book with a neat story. Here are the 10 Rules to Fuel your Life, Work and Team with positive energy with my take on each. You are the driver – When you realize that you are 100% responsible for your life then you understand you are in total control. There is no one else responsible for your results except yourself. You are in front of the steering wheel of your life and you can drive wherever you want provided you know where you want to go. Desire, Vision, and Focus – Desire is the fuel that ignites the flames of your potential; you need to have a vision for your life that is exciting and keep you energized throughout. Finally you need focus without which nothing can be achieved. There is a formula E+P = O which is ther...

What do you really want out of your life? What do you want to be remembered for? Are you living the life you planned or are you reacting to life. These are some of the questions that are answered in the book “Living Forward” by Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy. It is a really simple step by step approach to creating the life you want without drifting. Here are the lessons I gleaned. Acknowledge the drift – All of us drift from time to time. We are not sure where we want to go or do with our lives but this doesn’t help. So first step is to be aware of your current location, then decide where you want to go, and finally start working towards your destination. Simple stuff but it works.   Understand the mission – Here there is a mention of creating a life plan. This plan consists of eight to fifteen pages. It describes how you want to be remembered, your personal priorities, and has specific actions on how you move from where you are to where you want to be. A personal mission s...

Success is a wonderful term that we all want to be associated with. There are so many books on success and when you boil it down it comes to a few items that are needed to succeed. The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone is a wonderful motivational book and if you are hesitating to take action this is the book to read. There is a chapter where he mentions about 30 traits of success. I have selected 16 traits which I found useful. Here they are with my take on each. Have a Can-Do Attitude – You can only succeed if you believe you can. All successful people believe they can succeed and it is inevitable they do most of the time. Believe that you will figure it out – There are multiple problems that need to be solved. In fact the more successful you are the more problems you will have to solve. However for every problem there is a solution and successful people always find the solution. Focus on opportunity – Where normal people look at the problem the successful person look at the oppo...

What are the elements of success? What does it take for anyone to succeed? I have come up with 11 elements which if taken care can bring you all the success you want. Here they are Believe in yourself – The first quality you need to develop to succeed in life is to have a strong belief in yourself. It doesn’t matter if others don’t believe in you as you can still succeed. However if you don’t believe in yourself there is no way you can succeed. Believe there is something special within you and you can succeed in whatever you choose to do. Set goals for every area of your life – This topic has been beaten to death. However goals do help in giving direction to your life. Every success book talks about it and there is some truth to it. Set some goals in all areas of your life like personal, career, financial, social and contribution. This will give you a complete balanced approach to life. Throw your whole heart into your work – If you don’t do what you love then love what you ...

Biographies can really inspire us. Imagine reading around 15 mini biographies at the same time. This is what Robert Greene has done with Mastery. This is one of the best books I have ever read and goes deep into what it takes to reach mastery in your field. I have read this book multiple times and it is a worthy addition to your library. This summary is only an appetizer and you really need to read this book in its entirety to get the full satisfaction. Yes it is not an easy read but well worth your effort. Here is a very high level review on what the book contains. Don’t separate your work from your personal life it is a sad separation since most of our time is spent at work so we can’t be miserable there. He also says masters felt a sense of destiny. For example Albert Einstein was immediately moved when his father gave him a compass when he was just 5 years old. Discover your calling. Each of us has a purpose to fulfill so discovering that is the first step towards mastery....

As it is often said time is an equal opportunity employer. There are so many time management books and with the advent of technology we thought we will get more control which may not be the case. Here is my A - Z of time management which can help you towards getting the most out of the 24 hours we get every day. Attention  – You get in life what you pay attention to. It is important to pay attention only to the important things to you and ignore everything else. The more attention you pay to the things that matter to you the better control you have over your time. Be focused  – We all have 100 things pending. We have books we want to read, articles we want to write and multiple hobbies that we want to pursue. However with limited time we need to be focused only on the things that matter. Clarity  – All successful time managers absolutely know what they want out of their lives. They are also clear on their personal and organizational mission. Without crystal cle...