Don’t Allow Uncertainty and Doubt to Stop You -
Achieve Your Full Potential

Coach: I’m assuming in my answers that you want an averagely successful and satisfying career, to secure your future, optimise your earnings, enjoy a comfortable lifestyle and a happy and rewarding relationship. In other words you want to achieve your full potential – is that correct?

Client: Yes, that sounds about right.

Coach: Good, then I will give you a list of the key activities that, in my experience, drive the people who manage their lives successfully and I’ll also tell you why they are effective. These are not in any particular order of importance.

1. Find a job you love to do, it will then be much easier to always work diligently and to the best of your ability. Your superiors will appreciate your good work and your enthusiasm will mark you out as someone ripe for promotion. Never moan or grizzle.
2. Become an expert, keep learning all the time – read, attend courses and study people who achieve good results. The world around you is constantly changing, you have to keep up. Yesterday’s good techniques can look outdated today.

When you are recognised as an up-to-date expert others will seek you out and ask for your advice. Give your advice generously, this will make you well liked, respected and valued.
3. Be a “team player” – treat everyone with respect, from the lowest to the highest levels. People will respect you and probably like you if you respect them; as a result they will most likely help you when you need help.
4. Master the art of communicating well in all media. Write well, speak well, present well, converse well and run your meetings well. This means that you have to communicate with both clarity and inspiration, so that your instructions are clearly understood, and people carry out their tasks in an energetic manner.
5. Build a strong network of contacts and keep refreshing it. You need allies to support you, council you and highlight opportunities when they arise. You will always feel stronger when you know you have friends. Lunch with different people every day so that you constantly expand your network.
6. Develop good relationships with the people above you. Make yourself useful to your superiors. Don’t wait to be asked, if you see an opportunity volunteer to help. Give them information they may not have come across themselves. Introduce them to people who may be of use to them. Don’t “toady up” or “brown-nose” but make it your business to be known as someone who can be called upon when something is needed.
7. Seize opportunities when they present themselves. Update your CV or resume at regular intervals. Make sure it features achievements that have benefited employers. It can be difficult to remember everything you have done if you only update every few years. Remember people will hire you on the basis of what you can do for them.
8. Always take responsibility for your thoughts and actions. This will make you more thoughtful and it will make you take a little more care before you act. Never blame or criticise others. It is easy to make mistakes into another person’s fault and to bully others, but you lose far more than you ever gain in terms of respect.
9. Know what you want and work out how to get it. You can only reach goals when you know what you are aiming for. You should have a clearly defined outcome objective for everything you do, and a clear strategy for reaching all your goals.
10. Know your values and behave ethically and honestly at all times. This is the key to self-respect and confidence as well as to gaining the respect of others.

11. Be patient in everything you do. It takes time to master all the life and management skills you need to achieve your full potential.

12. All top achievers in all of life’s endeavors have a coach or mentor to develop them, to provide ideas and as a sounding board for their ideas. Choose your coach or mentor wisely.

Do all of this, all of the time, and you will become the confident, happy and reliable leader who will naturally attract other people to you to help you achieve your full potential.

Best wishes,

“What is the recipe for successful achievement? To my mind there are just four essential ingredients: Choose a career you love, give it the best there is in you, seize your opportunities, and be a member of the team.”
Benjamin F. Fairless