Ask yourself a simple question, what would it take for me to be successful? Whether we talking about personal success or professional success, it boils down to three simple words that I think can forever change your outlook about everything.
If you had to pair down from a list of 100 attributes that you could incorporate into your life into three simple words, what would they be? Whether you’re trying to be successful as a student or as a parent or as a professional leader, the simple words will give you perspective and potentially put you ahead of the pack.
These three words are: hunger, humility, and harmony.
1. Hunger is the first word. I’m not talking about an appetite for food or your favorite dessert. I’m simply talking about your drive and desire to be both effective and efficient. It’s about what motivates you in nearly every area of your life. It’s asking yourself the question, what wakes me up in the morning? If you can define that and build your skills to match, you’re unstoppable and that is what employers and members of your team are looking for.
2. Humility is the second word. It’s not the opposite of the first but it is a competing companion that if you collaborate effectively, you can come out on top. What do I mean? Nobody likes a bullish or boastful person. It usually is what makes people pull away from the relationship when somebody is to ego centric. It’s the arrogance that turns you off.
While you may not see it in yourself you can certainly spotted in others. But a person who goes through life with a degree of humility will always come out on top. The Bible says that God humbles the proud but gives grace to the humble. When somebody is confident in what they do yet remains soft-spoken and not needing to take the credit, people are usually drawn to them. They are people who complement the competition. They’re not concerned about the glory.
Humility goes along way in drawing people together. You’ll be an ideal candidate if you can truly show that you are genuinely humble.
3. Harmony is the third word in perhaps on purpose it is in this order. When the first two words complement one another where there is “umf” (the energy it takes to drive forward) as well as grace (a sincerely gracious attitude) you will generally find harmony.
Perhaps I’ve learned this late in life but I don’t always need to be first; to speak or to act. I often find that we are willing to have members of the team who are peaceable and kind. They are not the “do nothing“ people but they are willing to listen first.
Harmony is not uniformity but it is like an orchestra, each one doing what they do best yet sitting in to the collective of an orchestra where the outcome is being directed by a maestro.
Are you motivated enough? Do you express a level of humility that complements others? Are you willing to be a member of the team and that the main player?
Choices, in and of themselves may not be the problem. However, it is the patterns that come from choices that determine our fate.
