“Concentration of effort and the habit of working with a definite chief aim are two of the essential factors in success which are always found together. One leads to the other” ~ Napoleon Hill
Most people believe that if you are good at your job, you are guaranteed to have a successful career. But, in reality, good performance is only one piece of the success puzzle. So, what are the other elements that lead to a prosperous career?
David Riklan of SelfGrowth.com spoke with Bud Bilanich, the SelfGrowth.com Official Guide to Career Development, and shares Bud’s Four C’s of Success.
Today, David and Bud are going to bust a myth that has held back a lot of people from achieving the career and life success that they want and deserve. This myth is pervasive. And it is really harmful to your success. It is the widely held belief that good performance alone will guarantee success in your life and career.
While you have be an outstanding performer to succeed, good performance alone will not guarantee your success. Good performance in high school got you into the college of your choice. Good performance in college got you your first job. But, by the time you get into the workplace everybody is a good, if not great, performer. Outstanding performance is a given, just the price of admission to the success sweepstakes.
You’re probably wondering “if good performance isn’t enough, what do I need to do to succeed in my life and career?
To answer this question, David turned to Bud Bilanich, the Official Guide to Career Development. Bud recommends becoming proficient in four areas that he calls the Four C’s of Success.
Watch the video below where Bud talks about the three keys to becoming self confident..
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFeSYR0yF-A[/youtube]
These Four C’s are Clarity, Commitment, Confidence and Competence.
Let me tell you a little about each of them.
Clarity of purpose and direction is the first key to creating a successful life and career.
There are three keys to developing your clarity of purpose and direction. You have to…
- Define what success means to you personally. This is important. You get to choose. So choose wisely. Figure out exactly what you want out of your life and career.
- Create a vivid mental picture of yourself as a success. This image will guide you along your journey.
- Clarify your personal values. Your values are your foundation. They provide you with guidance in ambiguous situations. If you have a well developed sense of your personal values, you won’t find yourself struggling with what to do in most situations.
There are three keys to committing to your success. You have to…
- Take personal responsibility for your success. Only you can make you a success. Once you make the decision to take personal responsibility you’ll be well on your way.
- Set high goals – and do whatever it takes to achieve them.
- Choose to respond positively to people and events. As you go through life stuff will happen. Choose to respond positively. Treat every setback and failure as an opportunity to learn and grow and move you one step closer to the successful life and career you want and deserve.
There are three keys to becoming self confident. You have to …
- Choose optimism. Believe in your heart of hearts that today will be better than yesterday and that tomorrow will be better than today. Self confident people choose optimism.
- Face your fears and act. Don’t let your fears paralyze you into inaction. Fear is the great demotivator. It stops you from achieving all that you can.
- Surround yourself with positive people and positive thoughts. If you can’t move away from negative people, do what you can to hold them at arm’s length.
Finally, there are four key success competencies you must develop.
- You have to create positive personal impact by developing and constantly promote your unique personal brand, by being impeccable in your presentation of self – in person and on line, and by knowing and practice the basic rules of etiquette.
- You have to become an outstanding performer by getting technically competent and remaining so throughout your career. You also have to get organized and manage your time and life well.
- You have to get healthy. Manage your stress and lifestyle. Eat healthy, exercise.
- The final competency is building relationships. To do this successfully, you have be self aware. Understand yourself and your impact on others. Pay it forward to others; give with no expectation of return.
These four C’s – clarity, commitment, confidence and competence will help you create the successful life and career you want and deserve. Learn them. Use them. And you’ll succeed.
Do you agree that these four C’s are crucial to success?
Which C do you think is most important?
What other elements do you think are vital to success?
Thanks again to Bud for his great insights. To learn more about Bud and his Common Sense Success System, go to Bud’s Website.
I want to close with a question: Of the four C’s to success, which, if any do you feel are the most important? Are there more that we are missing? Take a minute, and post your answer in the comments below.
I hope you got some great value out of this post today! Please leave me a comment down below and let me know what you liked the most.
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To your success,
Marc@gamechangingsuccess.com
Network Marketing Coach
Continuous Learning Advocate
Skype: healthysuccess
(973) 879-1627
About Marc Korn
Marc Korn is an advocate of continuous learning. Success online and in the offline world is all about training and learning from the experts.... throughout history the common denominator among successful people has been continuing education.Marc is passionate about Network Marketing and helping others.He has learned that Network Marketing is not about recruit, recruit, recruit or sell, sell, sell...but about people.The most gratifying way to achieve success is to help others become successful first.Marc enjoys introducing people to systems and opportunities that will help them to earn additional income working from home.There is no reason why you need to learn it all by yourself. Join Marc and his Tribe mates to see how they can help you.
So very true!
“by being impeccable in your presentation of self – in person and on line”
Beyond the initial reference to how we should appear, a deeper understanding is how one presents information on a blog for example, illustrates examples in an article, all traits that convey a sense of competence, clarity, commitment and confidence, traits wildly recognized on your blog!
Keep The Smiles,
Stevie
Hey Stevie,
Thanks so much for dropping by and leaving your comment…it is greatly appreciated.
Thanks for the great feedback…I think it is important to incorporate these traits into your everyday activities, both online and offline.
You definitely have to have a clear plan that is in alignment with your values and beliefs, become accountable and committed to achieving your goals, have the self esteem and confidence in your ability to achieve and the desire to be a continuous learner in order to master the skills you need to succeed, starting with one’s own personal development.
Hi Marc,
Thanks for sharing these 4 C’s for Career Success: Clarity, Commitment, Confidence and Competence. All are crucial to success and so important as they synergistically work together to create and maintain a successful business.
We do need the traits of “concentration of effort and the habit of working with a definite, chief aim” in order to achieve success. Choice is so powerful if we choose wisely; so, it’s a must to choose the 4 C’s to make our way to success in life and business: clarity of purpose and values on which we build our business foundation; commitment to being successful by taking the action to achieve it; choosing to be optimistic and confident and not letting anything get in the way of our success.
It takes a special focus to stay committed through all the trials that come with building a successful business and continually elevating our levels of competency in all aspects of our business. Not like in school where good performance guarantees us good grades, it does not guarantee success in our career or life, however, it does set the groundwork for concentration and focus as well as good habit of working with an aim in mind.
Hi Loren,
Thanks so much for dropping by and leaving your comment…it is greatly appreciated.
It definitely does take focus and commitment and consistency on a daily basis to succeed in business. Although good performance doesn’t guarantee your success, you are correct that it does help to build your foundation and hopefully helps you to start to develop good habits.
In your question “Of the four C’s to success, which, if any do you feel are the most important?”, from my own point of view, I believe that none of them is more important than the other. All the 4 C’s are of equal importance as each of them are crucial to the success of an individual.
Hi Vince,
Thanks so much for dropping by and leaving your comment…it is greatly appreciated.
Yes, all 4 of these areas is critical to your overall success and we should become proficient in each area.
I hope you will be back to visit again. I hope you will subscribe to have my articles delivered directly to your inbox.
Nice post!For me i just be open minded and be creative of all things in life,i do a research which i can be productive in some ideas.and knowing the basic rules and etiquette.thanks for sharing!!
Hi Patricia Anne,
Thanks so much for dropping by and leaving your comment…it is greatly appreciated.
I hope you will be back to visit again. I hope you will subscribe to have my articles delivered directly to your inbox.
Hi Marc,
Great article and video! One thing that has always been a BIG deal for me has been associating with positive people. We all face challenges, and occasionally get blind sided by unwelcome surprises, but some people just hang on to problems and complaints like their lives depend on it. Personally I believe in cycles – if I’m down now, as long as I keep pumping sooner or later I’m going to be UP again, and the harder I work at moving forward, the sooner that will be 🙂
Hi Marty,
Thanks so much for dropping by and leaving your comment…it is greatly appreciated.
You are so right, we all face our ups and downs, but if you keep persisting day in and day out, it is only temporary.
Some people are simply hardwired to dish out negativity and we are better served to limit our exposure to these people for the sake of our self esteem.
Hi Mark. It’s an interesting article you’ve shared here, mate. This is a very detailed information you’ve shared. I really love it! Thanks a lot for sharing this!
Wow!i love this post giving me inspiration in doing my work.$ C’s it’s a big help’s a newbie .thanks for sharing with us it’s my pleasure to come back and follow your post!
Clarity… I think that’s the most important piece in the process to become successful. Without Clarity we are unable to start any focused action and so incorporate the other three C’s. Clarity brings forth the opportunity to lay out a plan/way we want to describe/go… without Clarity that humans shall land on the moon we would still wonder what’s gpoing on over there… Thx, Marc, for picking this topic and make it an enjoyable watch and read! Great work.
All the best,
Alex
Hi Marc,
Somehow I heard of this 4Cs somewhere but it is always enriching to hear it from you again. Perfectly true. A “must read” for all professional levels! I guess I have to improve on my consistence and confidence level.
Thanks for sharing your wisdom with realistic action keys to support one’s professional development.
Jeff
Hi Marc,
It is a very nice and informative post.I like all the keys that you have shared here especially for becoming self confident.The video is very informative thanks for sharing it.
Hey Marc
I enjoyed the read.
Some people have no idea what success means to them. And for some reason they just do not want to think about it.
To create the desire to succeed one needs to know what they want.
Anyways, excellent post.
Peter
You always have such good articles. The 4 Cs you mentioned are really important. We all have our ups and downs but if we keep committed with clarity and work on personal development we gain confidence and competence. 😉
Hi Marc:
I definitely agree with these 4 C’s for success! I think clarity is very important. Without a clear focus, no matter how good you are, you are not going to be truly successful. You need to have laser focus.
Another C that I would to this list is character. I believe integrity is key to success as well.
Blessings,
Kevin
Marc, what a value packed article! I’m going to bookmark and save this article for future reference. More and more, I’m becoming aware of how importance it is to concentrate effort on the few critical success factors for each project I’m working on. This means learning to say no to the easier, less significant things that I enjoy doing, but that don’t necessarily help me move closer to my goals.
Also, being self aware of how we come across to others (emotional intelligence) is so vital to our overall success. Thanks for a great article!
Hi Marc,
I’d have to say my most important C is confidence. I like how Bud put it, you have to be sefl confident and an optimist.
I recently started listening to Kevin Trudeau’s “Your Wish is Your command” Cd’s. I am on cd 3. He talks about some secret society’s and the ultra rich and how they believe differently than the average person.
It seems, as he tell it, there are some keys that lead to success and confidence, optimism and having mentors plays a part in it. He also mentions having a cheif aim and definate purpose. Much the same as Napoleon Hill does in his famous book.
Marc,
You know what… this post is right on! I was just reading a book by my favorite internet marketer, Frank Kern.
As I was reading the first chapter again (must be like the 10th time) it was all about the cost involved in not winning.
But in there (as well as other timeless and classic books like Think & grow Rich) it pretty much says the same thing. It’s funny how there’s many different ways to say the same thing in more or less subtule ways, but it all comes down to the 4 things.
If you were to ask me, I would say that Clarity would be the most important thing.
Thanks for the posting!
-Dereck
Hi Marc,
I enjoyed reading your post about four C’s; Clarity, Commitment, Confidence and Competence.
I guess the four C’s are equally important to our success.
Good point here: “Face your fears and act. Don’t let your fears paralyze you into inaction. Fear is the great demotivator. It stops you from achieving all that you can.”
I totally agree with you. To go beyond your limit, it is conquering your fear first!
Thank you for this great post! More power on your blog.
Hello Marc
The four C’s are all essential key to success. Of the four commitment is the glue that keeps the other together on the journey. You can have clarity, confidence, and competence but without commitment challenges could stop the journey.
Thanks
Perry A Davis Jr
Music City
Hi Marc,
great article and advice about career success.
The 4 C’s you mention and your great elaboration about them make a lot of sense.
One thing I like to add for myself is to go at my own pace and where I am at. I have tried to put all the good advice into practice in the past without taking into consideration, that -as well meaning as the advice was – I needed to spend some time tuning in and creating a taylor made ‘course’ of action for myself.
Thank you for your article.
Cheers,
Yorinda
Hi Marc,
Thank you for sharing this article and video on “The 4 C’s For Career Success” and breaking the myth of “good performance alone will guarantee success in your life and career.” You are so right about reaching the level of outstanding. The work world has become extremely competitive and if you are not outstanding, there is a slim chance of success. There is too much mediocrity in this word nowadays; in fact this is probably true for all of history There is always a percentage of people that excel and rise above everyone else. They stand out not because of “good performance” but of “outstanding performance.”
The four C’s are Clarity, Commitment, Confidence, and Competence.
I really like the video by Bud Bilanch. He talked about the 3 keys to Self Confidence:
1. Be an Optimist
2. Face your Fears and Take Action
3. Surround Yourself With Positive (Find a Mentor)-Opportunities to make a difference in other people’s lives.
And finally, four competencies are:
1. You have to create positive personal impact.
2. Getting technically competent.
3. You have to get healthy.
4. The final competency is building relationships.
Thanks Marc,
Raena Lynn
you have to have the vision if you want to become successful…do everything to get it done. This vision will control you…means persistence is what makes this vision come to reality.
Great insights and advice I found here ever, you are actually right all of this things that you write. I totally agree all this about four C’s, clarity,commitment, confidence and competence and I learn a lot all of this from you and I’m grateful for that.
So true and I so much agree all of your points. I want to add something about career success, because for me career success begins with ourselves and it requires perseverance, motivation and determination to pursue things in life you want to become. All 4C’s are excellent and I learn a lot of things straight from you.