Someone emailed me last week to ask:

“What single thing has improved your life at work? What makes you successful at your work?”

It is not one thing that has made me good at my job. (I will give you two tips that have helped me)

It’s not my Degree. It’s not my Master’s Degree. It’s not my passion for the work that I do (that helps of course, but that alone is not enough). It’s not my experience. It’s not my gender.

The two things that are essential to becoming successful at work are your character and your skills.

These two things triumph over all other things that you might have and be good at.

If you are educated but have no character, your education will get you nowhere.

If you have an outstanding character but your skills are questionable, you will not be able to climb the ladder in your job.

You have the skills to do the job, but your character is barely tolerable, then no one would want to work for you or with you.

Last week, I read a book entitled ‘The Virgin Way’, written by Richard Branson, the famous founder of Virgin (that employs approximately 71,000 people). He says in his book that he hires for character and skills. He prefers to actually get to know applicants instead of asking them boring questions.

If Richard Branson is looking for character and skills, why don’t you and I develop these things in us as well?

Character builds your reputation

If you think your character is something to think of once in a while, you’re wrong. Your character is built on the way you communicate with others on a daily basis. The way you handle conflicts forms it. How you relate to others makes you either one with a strong character or a weak one.

In other words:

 Your character is displayed to others through your personality.

Are you easy to be with or work with? Or are you the opposite?

How do you treat others?

How do you treat yourself?

Are you hiding your true colors behind your external approach to others?

Do you have a nasty behavior?

Here’s a meaningful quote about character:

“When you recognize someone who doesn’t have principles, shows nasty behavior, and has multiple personalities – step away.” Darius Foroux

How to develop your character

· Cultivate the habit of having a positive mindset.

· Learn effective communication.

· Manage your anger.

· Learn to not take things personally.

· Learn to disagree agreeably.

· Say goodbye to your ego.

· Say goodbye to your fear.

· Be a learner. Un-learn some of your previous learnings.

· Stop carrying ill thoughts towards others.

· Stop worrying so much about things that you have no control of.

· Become self-aware.

Your skills will make you outstanding

It’s through continuous practice that I have become a great public speaker. It’s through repeated trainings that I’ve become a sought out personal development trainer.

Don’t slack. Don’t cut the corners. Don’t be easy on yourself.

Life consists of small things. When you do small things extremely well, and consistently, you will be rewarded with big things.

Skills develop from repetition.

The biggest mistake we can make is to ignore this basic formula.

You become good at anything through repetition.

This is true no matter what you do, where you live, or who you are.

When you ignore this fact of what makes you a skillful person at whatever you do, you waste your potential.

That’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned in life. You become good at something, anything through consistency.

My public speaking skill now is not the same as it was four years ago.

My writing skill today is not the same as when I started years ago or even a year ago when I launched my first blog post.

You’ll never achieve your full potential without repetition. Without taking consistent action, you’ll be responsible for the squandering of your own skills.

Never think that you know everything and you have done your best. Always be a beginner. That way, you’ll keep on developing and improving your skills. If you want to be the best at what you do, you must never underestimate the power of repetition.

I regularly grab my favorite public speaking skill by Dale Carnegie to repeat the basics of public speaking.

I repeat the basic of many things in my life: healthy living, effective communication, being present when I am having conversations, reading, writing, forgiving, teaching what I know to my colleagues, learning from others, choosing to be positive, preparing great presentations, public speaking.

If I don’t repeat these things, I simply forget how to be a great speaker or how to prepare a PowerPoint Slide or how to be an avid reader or how to write great articles or how to take care of my body or how to be a good friend. That’s how our brain works.

Without repetition, we forget things easily.

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To your inspirations,

Banchi