Success might mean, but is not limited to: a level of social status, achievement of an objective/goal, the opposite of failure!
1. Confidence: an unshakable belief in oneself based on a realistic understanding of one’s circumstances; a trait that most people admire in others and strive to acquire themselves.
2. Curiosity: being eager to know and learn; always showing interest and giving special attention to the less obvious; always being the person who says, “I want to know more about . . . .”
3. Decisiveness: arriving at a final conclusion or making a choice and taking action; making decisions with determination even when you don’t have all the information you think you need.
4. Empathy: demonstrating caring and understanding of someone else’s situation, feelings and motives; always thinking about what it’s like to walk in someone else’s shoes.
5. Flexibility: being capable of change; responding positively to change; being pliable, adaptable, nonrigid and able to deal with ambiguity.
6. Humor: viewing yourself and the world with enjoyment; not taking life or yourself too seriously; being amusing, amused and, at times, even comical.
7. Intelligence: thinking and working smartly and cleverly; being sharp in your dealings; “not reinventing the wheel”; planning before acting; working efficiently and focusing on quality over quantity. (Important note: This is different from IQ, the common abbreviation for intelligence quotient.)
8. Optimism: expecting the best possible outcome and dwelling on the most hopeful or positive aspects of a situation; believing that the glass is half full rather than half empty.
9. Perseverance: having passion, energy, focus and the desire to get results. Motivation, persistence and hard work are all aspects of perseverance.
10. Respect: remembering that it is just as easy to be nice; protecting another person’s self-esteem; treating others in a considerate and courteous manner.
11. Self-awareness: a sophisticated form of consciousness that enables you to regulate yourself by monitoring yourself, observing yourself and changing your thought processes and behaviors.
Which of these keys are among your strengths? Which of the 11 are among your weaknesses? Self-awareness, the 11th key, is really the foundation for understanding yourself. If you are not sure how self-aware you are, ask several people whom you trust which of these 11 keys they believe are your strengths and which are not. Again, while no one person possesses all of these keys in equal amounts, each of them can be developed and improved.
Daniel Goleman “Emotional Intelligence”
Julie Jansen,”I Don’t Know What I Want, But I Know It’s Not This”