To achieve our aims in life – our goals, or aspirations even, a process has to occur – even though we may not be aware of it. What makes up this process is three key steps – wisdom, skill & virtue; now, you may call them something else, but the impact of them is the same.
Probably the best way I have seen to capture the ‘juice’ of this powerful process is in the words of American educator & peace activist David Starr Jordan, which state:
” Wisdom is knowing what to do next – skill is knowing how to do it – virtue is doing it ” - David Starr Jordan
In essence, once we have the ‘what’ & the ‘how’, all that remains is for us to act with integrity & virtuosity & simply doing what we need to do. Indeed, in the modern works of Positive Psychology, Martin Seligman & Chris Peterson identified six key cross-cultural virtues after a three year study, and a the particular one that caught my attention was courage; dragon-slaying aside, courage in it’s simplest form can just be taking action – especially when the outcome is unsure & comes without guarantee.
Now, as a Success Coach, I am aware that this may seem elementary for you & perhaps too simple to be of consideration, but I will leave you wish a question – When you think back to the times when you achieved great things, can you not recall which virtue ‘happened’ to show up around the same time…? Hmmm….I’d wager that courage is in there somewhere.
After all, success leaves us clues….so why not pay attention for them, & when the time comes again when you have the ‘what’ & the ‘how’, take a deep breath & go do what you need to do, then realise that after all you have an untapped resource within you – virtue.
I totally agree to these 12 tips, except one:
This is in regard to tip #1 where it’s told only to pick one resolution.
Basicly I agree doing one thing after the other.
From my own experience, I look at my personal life and see different areas like health, family, finances, social life, nature etc.
And I think it’s a very good idea to have ONE single resolution for the different areas.
Maybe it makes sense to start with one at the beginning of the year and start with another in March and so forth.
I was amazed how much impact this point of view had on my life! It’s a matter of taking all areas into account, get them in balance and you will rock your life!
And I am happy to share my success secret:
Take action NOW, cause without action there will be no results.
Hi Sven
Thank you for your thoughtful mail; I certainly understand what you mean & you make a good point.
Doing things sequentially maximises & focuses our effort like a magnifying glass, giving a greater
likelihood of achieving our aims. So, when it is written ONE resolution, it really means one at a time,
like you have eloquently stated. Having resolution for different areas is certainly a great approach too.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts & indeed your success secret – I agree!