It might sound like basic common sense but it is not. Each one of us is capable of becoming much better human beings, performing at our peak potential, and also developing into far better individuals, in terms of talents.
Yes, we tend to forget that we have at least one good talent, be that singing, or dancing or writing or acting, or whatever. It is just that we need to become conscious of this fact. Once this is done, the rest is far more easy to accomplish. But for becoming aware, we need to understand that we alone will not be able to do it.
Feedback is required. For example, from parents, or friends or very close relatives. Such feedback should be centered around what is really natural in us, what comes to us as a matter of routine, and what career can make sense, given our natural inclination for something that is already within us.
For instance, we often hear about some extrovert or the other making it very big in mass media, as director of television serials,or event managers or very creative advertising professionals. The key is the reality that they had some natural inclination to become what they are capable of becoming. They pursue a bachelor's degree course in Visual Communication, and become real experts in their chosen field.
The next big agenda is to relentlessly go about gathering key skills specific to that particular career. Once this is in place, the rest becomes far more easy than ever before. However, it is essential to note that value-addition is the name of the game. Without value addition, nothing will happen.
In the first ten years of one's career, it is essential that the individual becomes very much alive to the fact that he or she needs to go after jobs that offer a good deal of really good experience in the chosen field. A basket of skills will help him or her to become more versatile.
Becoming very conscious of the direction in which one is going, is also very important. Once again feedback from good friends can be the key to success.
In ways more than one, self-awareness is the key. Hard work comes next. Without hard work, we will go nowhere. We all need to understand that this is the back ground rule even in entrepreneurship, though the set of self-awareness skills would vastly differ.
For entrepreneurship, the individual needs to understand the emerging nature of the market more than anything else. Is the market an expanding one, capable of serving many players? If yes, half the battle is won. For example, the food industry can cater to different tastes, and hence different customers. It is one that will simply multiply, because of the huge population. It can also expand, because it is human nature to eat different types of food.
Hence, self-awareness and hard work, are the first two steps. The third is planning for both short-term and long-term goals. If we do not plan properly, we cannot reach anywhere. The fourth step is not only execution, but also self-evaluation.
This might sound very simple, but it is not. This requires a huge amount of skills centered around listening to others, observing others, having a check on whatever has happened in one week, and so on. This process will help us focus on our strengths and eliminate weaknesses, as applicable.
Becoming more better human beings also requires that we become very humble, as success dawns upon us. It is required to constantly tell us that we need not only have miles to go, but also have to forget our egos at every stage.
Humility is a big virtue of all great people. In recent times, volumes have been written about the humility of Shri Narayanamurthy, the founder of Infosys Technologies, and Mr Azim Premji of Wipro. We can always learn from them too.
The fifth step is to have in place an accurate estimate of all that we can put to commercial use, at any point in time. Those who are trained in classical music or dance, for instance, are experts in this. They travel all over the globe, simply selling their talent, and become very famous, mainly because they have done their homework very well.
It is always possible to learn from such people, or from similar people, who are known to us.
Unleashing the power of self, does not mean that we need to read each and every book on self development, available in the market.
Having good friends, hard work, constant feedback, and good evaluation skills, as described above, come with experience. It is quite possible that experience teaches us far better things than books and what is written therein.
There are reasons for this step of action. The world is far more complex, far become interdependent on several variables, and hence a bigger awareness of the reality is more important at any stage of life. For instance, it is realistic to assume huge amounts of time, spent on travel, in big metros, and cities. This has to be factored in, when we plan to achieve anything.
Becoming more alive to emerging opportunities, to anything that is commercially viable and so on, are other qualities that we need to develop, to unleashing our power in full.