3 crucial qualities that will help you achieve career success

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino youth, or those aged 18 to 35 years old, now associate success with experience and flexibility, according to a recent local survey conducted by BBDO Guerrero and Hall & Partners.

An overwhelming majority of survey respondents, who hailed from Manila, Cebu, and Davao, equated success with rich life experiences (91%), freedom to work on one’s own terms (90%), and having the capacity to give back (93%).

For most of the Filipino youth respondents, success is something personal. It’s more about doing something you love, rather than acquiring external factors such as fame or money.

So what will it take to achieve success – especially in your career?

We’ve all heard those cliché career advice. “Follow your passion.” “Good things come to those who wait.” “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

Though there’s truth to these aphorisms, what’s more telling is the similarities of people who have achieved greatness in their careers. Many of them are known for their leadership, some excel in being team players, while others have the innate ability to work under pressure.

Skills as such are highly valued, but what are the unique personal qualities that people embody in order to achieve success in their careers?

Here are the 3 of the most crucial qualities: 

 

Fearlessness

Among the respondents of the survey mentioned above, 74% believe that their own standards of success are more important than what others think it should be. Yes, it takes bravery to be able to forge your own career path – even if it means stumbling along the way.

Arianna Huffington, co-founder and the editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, is known to be fearless in changing rules, even if they’re controversial. A research published by the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology states that fearless dominance is a characteristic linked to success in presidency.

Wharton professor Adam Grant once said, “Great entrepreneurs have a different response to the fear of failure.” Yes, they’re afraid of failing, but they’re even more afraid of failing to try.

Practice fearlessness through these actions:

• Live by your own code
• Expose yourself to challenges
• Ignore the haters
• Share your skills with enthusiasm
• Show your work to the world 

In your journey towards achieving your career goals, be courageous in your thoughts and actions – this will propel you closer to achieving your own definition of success.

Resilience

You need to realize that you are in the driver’s seat of your life and you are in full control.

A positive outlook and the ability to bounce back over failures, otherwise known as resilience, are necessary to achieve professional excellence.

89% of survey respondents saw themselves working harder in 2016. Moreover, they believe that they must strive, hustle, and be persistent in obtaining their personal goals.

“A person’s level of resilience will determine who succeeds and who fails. That’s true in the cancer ward, it’s true in the Olympics, and it’s true in the boardroom,” Dean Becker, CEO of Adaptiv Learning Systems, once stated.

Tips to hone resilience:

• View failures as stepping stones
• Don’t get attached to emotions
• Plan different scenarios and the ways in which you’ll solve them
• Keep yourself busy, busy, busy

The most successful people all have their own fair share of failures, so don’t see your own missteps as reasons to give up. Elon Musk had to face near bankruptcy and almost had to choose between his two companies before becoming the billonaire innovator he is known as today. You, too, can get through your own career hurdles and rise from them victoriously.

61% of the survey respondents are choosing to be more resilient in pursuing personal projects this year compared to last year. Will you be one of them?

Embracing continuous learning

Today, it’s not enough to just be good in one thing in your career. The ability to learn and re-learn is given more importance than specialization.

65% of survey respondents believe that one of the top drivers of success is being able to learn on the fly. Moreover, 90% see themselves acquiring new skills in 2016 while 75% stated that they are spending more time improving their work and career skills compared to the previous year.

Meanwhile, a much smaller percentage – or 24% – believe that sticking to one career path is crucial in achieving success.

Certain jobs are becoming obsolete, technology is rapidly rising and innovation is demanded constantly. Change has never been more fast-paced and being able to adapt by continuously learning is how you will be successful.

Keep educating yourself by:

• Always challenging your own views
• Staying updated with current trends
• Exposing yourself to new situations
• Never thinking you’re as smart as you can be
• Following this mantra: “Stay hungry, stay foolish.”

Reinvent and adapt to the new times to stay relevant. In this day and age, conformity, though it has its advantages, may not be enough to guarantee you career success in the long run.

Honing these 3 qualities will get you far ahead of the game, but remember that there is no sure-fire formula for success. At the end of the day, you must set the standard for yourself – whether it’s experience and flexibility, or financial independence, or making a significant impact to society, it’s all up to you. 

How would you #DefineSuccess? Share it with us. – Rappler.com