know your competencies for a successful life
BHASKAR JYOTI BORAH
Thousands of books have been
written on the secrets of success till date. Today virtually there remained no secrets
to achieve success. Even though, all the people are not equally successful in
their lives. The reason is people have to find out their secrets of success by
themselves, which is not easy. To find out their own secrets they need
assistance and direction. Without direction and guidance the talents will be
wasted. This writing will help you not only to understand yourself but also
others whomever you want to assess. You will be learning to know how competent
you are and what are the areas you need to develop your competencies for
achieving super success.
Developing
your Competencies:
Why most of the people fail in their lives? Why they
fail to achieve the success they desire even though they possess all
qualifications, merit and talents? It is because they do not know themselves.
They do not know their traits, skills, capacities and competencies. Once a
person will understand his competencies and the areas where he is lacking his
competencies, he can truly recognize himself. He will understand where he
should focus his energy for his growth and development. Therefore understanding
and analysing the competencies of oneself is the only gateway to super success.
Here in this writing I am going to share with you all the secrets that can make
you successful in your life.
1. Find out your competencies:
Determining goals is a prerequisite
to success. Before determining your goals you have to know that whether you
possess the qualities to achieve the goals that want to set. Are you competent
enough to achieve your goals? The competencies only will boost your confidence
to achieve your goals. Therefore before you determine your goals, know your
competencies. After knowing your competencies only you can set proper goals in
your life. Following are some of the types of competencies:
Intellectual
Competencies:
This is the most
important type of competencies that determines your probability of success. It
determines what you can do and not what you want to do. Intellectual
competencies can be best recognised by the various intellectual skills e.g.
investigative skills for fact finding, decision making, rational and analytical
thinking, planning, creativity and innovativeness.
Answer these
questions to find out your intellectual competencies:
Can you take
effective decisions? Yes/No
Can you analyse
a situation properly? Yes/No
Do you study
books regularly? Yes/No
Do you always behave
rationally? Yes/No
Have you
determined your goals? Yes/No
Have you
developed a definite plan to achieve your goals? Yes/No
If your answers
are negative, you have to take steps to develop your intellectual competencies.
Emotional
or Personal Competency:
A person can’t
become wise if there is no connection between the head and the heart. Answer
the following questions:
Are your consistent
in your behaviour? Yes/No
Do you behave to
the same stimulus similarly? Yes/No
Do you
contribute to positive behaviour in family, society or workplace? Yes/No
Can you handle
pressure effectively and independently? Yes/No
Can you react to
negative situations proactively? Yes/No
Can you accept responsibility
of your own faults? Yes/No
Can you control
yourself properly in any situation? Yes/No
Do you blame
others for your faults? Yes/No
Do you criticise
others frequently? Yes/No
Controlling negative
emotions is very essential to achieve greater success in life. Understand the
above questions, answer them genuinely and know where do you stand.
Inter-personal
Competencies:
How
well you can express yourself?
How
well you can make oral presentation?
Do
you maintain modesty in your behaviour?
What
is your capacity of reading and writing?
Can
you leave impact or influence people?
Can
you persuade people?
How
flexible are you?
Leadership
Competencies:
You can become a
leader only when you possess leadership skills. To understand what is your
leadership competencies, answer the following questions:
What
is your organizing capacity?
What
are your negotiating skills?
Can
you motivate others?
Do
you have the capacity to empower others?
Can
you independently work under continuous pressure?
What
are your risk taking abilities?
How
decisive are you?
Can
you work together with a team?
How
well you can coordinate with each other in a team?
Can
you lead a team? How effectively can you manage a team?
Can
you effectively delegate works to your subordinates?
After finding out all your answers,
you will have some ideas about your competencies. You will come to know what
you possess and what you do not. As a result you will be free from some of your
false self beliefs. You will now get a proper idea and image about your self
which will help you to set your goals and to achieve them.
2.
Find
out your goals:
Goal setting is a very important
task in life. If you do not set a goal you can’t achieve it. Therefore the
first and foremost thing in your life is to determine what you want from your life.
Make a list of all your dreams and desires and convert them into your goals.
While setting your goals keep in mind your competencies, personality traits and
values that you admire.
3.
Find
out the areas where you need to develop your competencies in terms of your
goals:
This is a very important area where most of the
people fail. We must understand our strengths and weaknesses as well. We must
know the areas where we need growth. If we do not develop those areas, we will
not be able to achieve our goals.
To develop your
intellectual competencies you have to acquire the required information. You
need to learn to analyse the problems critically to find out a suitable
solution. You have to develop the habit of continuous learning.
To develop your
critical thinking you have to practice reasoning. Solve reasoning problems on a
daily or weekly basis to sharpen your critical and analytical thinking. You
will be able to find out the answer of the problems you face in your life and
workplace. Develop the habit of studying
books that will help you to reach your goal.
Proper planning
skill is very important for life. As author Alan Lakein said, “Planning is
bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it
now.”
To develop our
emotional competencies we need to learn to befriend our emotions. You need to
practice self-discipline and tremendous self-control. Without self-control you
can’t expect your desired success. You should be firm in your resolutions and
principles. You should follow your ideals always at any cost.
Read books on
leadership traits. Study the biographies and autobiographies of the great
leaders of the world.
4.
Find
out your regular activities on a daily basis for rapid growth:
Your most important work is to find
out the activities or practices that will lead you closer to your goals. After
finding out the practices you have to make union with them. You have to
integrate yourself with the practices which will develop your competencies to
such a level that success will come to you spontaneously. You have to work
hard. You have to make ‘working hard to the level of your goals’ a spontaneous
process so that every achievement will become ‘spontaneous’ for you. This is
the simple and the biggest secret of my teaching. Anybody can achieve any goal
provided he can integrate himself in the process and loss himself in them.
Success is bound to follow.
5.
Find
motivations to focus:
You have to focus on your goals if you want to
achieve it. To stay focussed you have to stay motivated. Find enough motivation
for yourself to achieve your goal. Never allow your goals to remain out of your
sight. See your goals everywhere. Think of your goals. Dream of your goals. Most
importantly find a Mentor who can actually help you to realize your goals.
In
the Conclusion:
To develop your competencies you
have to know ‘where to focus’; you have to know ‘what your goals are.’ Moreover
you also have to find out the things that distracts you from your goal. Otherwise
unconsciously you will be distracting yourself from your goals. If you get
distracted you will reach nowhere. Develop your competencies to the level of
your goals. Speed doesn’t matter but direction matters a lot. You have to raise
your level of performance to that extent so that success will become a
spontaneous process for you. I want to conclude with the quote of Friedrich
Hegel, “A man who has work that suits him, and a wife whom he loves, has
squared his accounts with life.”
