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The Psychology of an Achiever
Who exactly
is an achiever?
The hallmark of an achiever is the
success he or she finds upon reaching the goal. Though everyone technically is an
achiever, very few are called so because of the degree of achievement the
person has accomplished.
We usually associate success or
achievement with something great or spectacular. However, the achiever should
have passed on from one level of achievement to another. For instance, an
Olympic medal winner wouldn’t have achieved it without succeeding in grassroots-level
games or sports. Similarly, a businessperson would not have become so rich in
only one transaction!
So, irrespective of the extent of
success, the qualities of an achiever are discussed here.
Who is not
an achiever?
Three groups of achievers are not
considered here. Though these people are a handful in number, they bring
disrepute to the actual achievers.
Corrupt: The first group belongs
to those who achieve things in a dishonest, immoral, and illegal way. What they
have achieved may be desirable to society but the process involved is not
permissible.
Anti-social: The second group
consists of those who achieve things that are against the norms of society.
Though technically they too are achievers, they cannot be considered here as
role models.
Manufactured: The third group contains
individuals who have been portrayed as achievers by tweaking history or through
mass media or propaganda though they would have done nothing worthwhile in
their lives. History is replete with butchers, megalomaniacs, and plunderers
who are hailed as heroes or conquerors, or saviors.
The following are the characteristics of an
achiever.
READY TO FAIL
Achievers are not afraid of failure.
They are ready to take several steps toward a great achievement, and they don’t
expect to succeed all the time. Though we do not count or have a track of their
failures, almost all achievers would have passed through a process where
success may not have come their way.
CONSIDER FAILURE AS A CHALLENGE
They take failures with a positive
frame of mind and try to see what they can change to succeed. History is
replete with achievers who have failed throughout their lives only to excel
once and become famous. Unlike others, achievers are motivated by failures and
they come back much stronger in subsequent attempts.
LEARNING FROM FAILURE
An achiever welcomes failure so that
s/he can find out what went wrong and what s/he has to change to succeed. Not
that s/he attempts to fail but if in case a failure happens, s/he takes it as a
challenge rather than as a defeat. They are curious to know why they failed,
and how else can they change their approach to succeed.
STEP-BY-STEP
WINNER
Though unfortunately, recognition
comes only after a great achievement, the achiever knows that s/he would have
taken several steps to reach there. S/he would continue with the next step with
or without encouragement from others. A person who has climbed up to the first
floor should have taken every step of the staircase to reach there. We may
recognize them only after they reach the top, but to reach there they would
have meticulously planned and performed.
NO FEAR OF SUCCESS
In addition to lacking fear of
failure, achievers are not afraid of success. Most normal people are afraid of
success because they feel they can’t maintain success in the future. However,
an achiever would like to explore new possibilities and s/he can take earlier
successes in her/his stride.
SEEKING IDEAS
Achievers are always open to ideas,
irrespective of where they are coming from. Their willingness to learn is
always at its peak and they go to any lengths to know something more that is
related to their area of interest.
OPTIMIST
They find something positive, even in
their defeat. When others try to discourage them from carrying on their endeavor,
they continue to ignore such negative comments. They, in turn, try to convince others
about the advantages of their success.
MEASURES PERFORMANCE
Achievers do not depend on others’
approval. They simply go by more objective feedback on their performance. They
do not take the next step until they confirm their past performance.
REALISTIC ASPIRATIONS
As aspirations are necessary for
Achievement, keeping realistic aspirations can help the achievers in reaching
their goals.
CLARITY IN GOALS
What goals they have to achieve is
clear to them and they can’t be sidelined from their clarity of goals. They
keep their goals simple and straight.
Some of them may think that they will
be happy once they achieve something. But the nature of an achiever is that
s/he will never stop trying. One achievement leads to another. Achievers
somehow get a lot of inspiration in trying to excel themselves.
They are ready to forgo necessities
like food, water, and sleep while pursuing their goal. They love to control
situations and set out plans to do so. They rarely take rest. They are always
on the go.
The Psychology of an Achiever can be
summarized under the following heads.
READY TO FAIL
CONSIDER FAILURE AS A CHALLENGE
LEARNING FROM FAILURE
STEP-BY-STEP
WINNER
NO FEAR OF SUCCESS
SEEKING IDEAS
OPTIMIST
MEASURES PERFORMANCE
REALISTIC ASPIRATIONS
CLARITY IN GOALS
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