The 7 Keys to Career Success

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The 7 Keys to Career Success
WORKPLACE July 14, 2012 Bud Bilanich
The 7 Keys to Career Success
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Success Tweet: Vision without action is a daydream. No matter how big your plans and dreams, they’ll never become reality until you act on them.

As a career success coach, I’m always looking for new and different ways to get across my common sense ideas on life and career success.

I found some great ideas great career advice in a Denver elementary school a couple of months ago. I was invited to see the Go For It! Institute’s program in action at a school in Denver. If you don’t know about the Go For It! Institute, you should. The Institute teaches kids the value of things like positive attitude, believing in themselves, positive habits, goal setting, and persistence.

Their work is based on ideas created by Judy Zerafa. Judy has created seven keys to success for young students. Check them out…

KEY 1: I Have a Positive Attitude! Learn what attitude is, what aspects of your life are controlled or directed by your attitude, how to determine your attitude at any given moment, and what specific strategies make a positive attitude a permanent habit in your life. I wrote about the importance of attitude in yesterday’s post.

KEY 2: I Believe in Myself! Understand the nature of human potential through a simple process of identifying your personal talents and abilities; developing academic strengths and personal interests to create personal fulfillment and economic opportunities for your future.

KEY 3: I Build Positive Habits! Understand the process of how habits are created. Learn to identify and remove self-defeating habits and create habits that will make all aspects of your life easier and more successful. I wrote about the power of positive habits in a recent post.

KEY 4: I Make Wise Choices! Learn the dramatic relationship between any current circumstances in your life and the choices that created these circumstances. Develop a personal proactive plan for desired outcomes through conscious, wise choices.

KEY 5: I Set and Achieve Goals! Recognize the difference between a wish and a goal. Make a commitment, plan and take action, and recognize completion.

KEY 6: I Use My Creative Imagination! Extend your physical ability to accelerate problem solving and goal achievement in all areas of your life.

KEY 7: I Am Persistent! Track progress, develop the focus and determination required to succeed, create an attitude of gratitude as the access to fulfilling your dreams, and link the Seven Keys to Success together in everyday life.

The Go For It! Institute is in business to bring these keys to young people and their parents. But as a career success coach, I think they are important ideas for anyone interested in creating life and career success. The Go For It! Institute’s Seven Keys to Success bare a remarkable similarity to the ideas behind one of my four keys for career success; commitment to taking personal responsibility for your life and career success.

Since we’re at Tweet 40 (of my book, Success Tweets), it makes sense to do a quick overview of my four keys to life and career success, the “4Cs:” Clarity, Commitment, Confidence and Competence.”

Here they are in a little more detail…

Clarity of purpose and direction
A sincere commitment to taking personal responsibility for your life and career
Unshakeable self-confidence
Competence in four key areas:
Creating positive personal impact
Outstanding performance
Dynamic communication
Relationship building
When I visited the school, I watched a class of fourth graders work with the Seven Keys to Success. It was great to see these little guys and gals put their own spin on things like having a positive attitude, setting and achieving goals, and being persistent. I wish I had someone work with me on these principles when I was that young.

Judy Zerafa developed the Seven Keys to Success on which the Go For It! Institute’s program is based after interviewing 35 Horatio Alger Award winners. I think they are a brilliantly simple success formula. She is taking her positive message to kids and parents in an attempt at starting the success cycle early in life.

The common sense career success coach point here is simple. Successful people are self-confident and are committed to taking personal responsibility for their lives and careers. They follow the career advice in Tweet 40 in Success Tweets, “Vision without action is a daydream. No matter how big your plans and dreams, they’ll never become reality until you act on them.”

The Go For It! Institute’s Seven Keys to Success are all about taking personal responsibility for acting on your plans and dreams. You will succeed if you have a positive attitude, believe in yourself, build positive habits, make wise choices, set and achieve goals, use your imagination and persist.

The last of these seven keys is the important one here. Persist. Keep working toward your goals and dreams, and you will become a career success. It’s only common sense.

I’m glad I was introduced to the Go For It! Institute and the great work they are doing with kids. I think their message applies to all of us. If you incorporate their seven keys into your life, you’ll be well on your way to creating the life and career success you want and deserve.