Shine With Grace

On top of drive, determination, knowledge and talent, your psychological quality is most crucial determining factor of your success - and this applies no matter you are a businessman, a race car driver, a golf champion,  a stock investor, a governor or an astronaut…

What is psychological quality?  To put it very simply, it is your EQ (Emotional Intelligence) plus your AQ (Adversity Quotient). 

Your psychological quality determines whether you would lose your calm during adversity or overwhelmed by success; whether you would keep your cool facing changes and challenges; whether you could make sound and sane decisions encountering difficulties and unexpected situations.

Imagine:

• 5 minutes before your sales pitch you found that the presentation file was corrupted.  Would you freak out, smash your computer, ask “Why me??” or make use of the remaining time to prepare for your presentation without the visual aids?
• You are racing cars and have just been taken over.  Would you waste time cursing your competitor or continue to focus on your driving so as to gain back your position at the next turn?
• You are the golf champion and have won the tournament for 5 straight years.  Would you skip your practices believing that nobody on earth is going to beat you or keep training like you first started?

Indeed, people who are successful may not be the most talented.  Nevertheless, their psychological quality are always exceptional good and therefore they can persist during hard times and keep a sane mind despite flattery.

For instance, Richard Branson was a born dyslexic.  Instead of giving himself up, he tasked himself to publish a magazine (The Student Magazine) when he was 16, just dropped out of school.  In both his business and adventures, he has faced many challenges - his company almost went bankrupt several times during the early years, he almost lost his life when record-breaking air-balloons lost control, BA almost put Virgin Atlantic out of business…  If you read his auto-biography Losing My Virginity: How I’ve Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way, , you will see that he never gives up - “as long as I’m alive, I can do something” and this philosophy has not failed him so far.  And how about Warrant Buffet, was has the knowledge to discover under-valued stocks, and the calm mind to buy and hold when people were uncertain about the future?  And also Rudy Giuliani who demonstrated extraordinary leadership, quick decision-making and a calm mind during the critical 911.  

How to develop our psychological quality? 

• Build up your self-esteem/confidence.  You have to trust yourself to stay calm.
• Know yourself - strengths and weaknesses - so you can differentiate flattery and compliment; mean comments and constructive advices.
• Have a better understanding of the world - read more books and quality magazines, keep an eye on things happening around you, observe - and you will find that you’re making sound decisions.
• Trust your gut feelings - believe it or not, they work better than analysis.
• Have a quiet mind and think independently - and that’s why you stand out from the crowd.
• Put things in proper perspectives - and you won’t over-react.
• Have vision and think long-term - don’t get lost in the nitty-gritty.

Cartoon by Andrew Matthews, author of Being Happy! 

 Related posts:

• 4 Practical Ways To Improve Your Self-esteem
• Questions Are The Answers
• Love At First Sight With “Snap Shots”
• I Didn’t Know How To Get There When Started
•  A Strategy For Happiness And Efficiency
•  “What Is It You Were Unwilling To Do” Vs The Next Level - Inspired By The Interview Of Tony Leung of Lust, Caution

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