作者: webmaster 来源: 转载
What does it take to succeed? A positive attitude? Well, sure, but that' s hardly enough. The Law of Attraction? The Secret? These ideas might act as spurs to action, but without the action itself, they don't do much.
Success, however it's defined, takes action, and taking good and appropriate action takes skills. Some of these skills (not enough, though) are taught in school (not well enough, either), others are taught on the job, and still others we learn from general life experience.
Below is a list of general skills that will help anyone get ahead in practically any field, from running a company to running a gardening club. Of course, there are skills specific to each field as well – but my concern here is with the skills that translate across disciplines, the ones that can be learned by anyone in any position.
1. Public Speaking
The ability to speak clearly, persuasively, and forcefully in front of an audience – whether an audience of 1 or of thousands – is one of the most important skills anyone can develop. People who are effective speakers come across as more comfortable with themselves, more confident, and more attractive to be around. Being able to speak effectively means you can sell anything – products, of course, but also ideas, ideologies, worldviews. And yourself – which means more opportunities for career advancement, bigger clients, or business funding.
2. Writing
Writing well offers many of the same advantages that speaking well offers: good writers are better at selling products, ideas, and themselves than poor writers. Learning to write well involves not just mastery of grammar but the development of the ability to organize one's thoughts into a coherent form and target it to an audience in the most effective way possible. Given the huge amount of text generated by almost every transaction – from court briefs and legislation running into the thousands of pages to those foot-long receipts you get when you buy gum these days – a person who is a master of the written word can expect doors to open in just about every field.
3. Self-Management
If success depends of effective action, effective action depends on the ability to focus your attention where it is needed most, when it is needed most. Strong organizational skills, effective productivity habits, and a strong sense of discipline are needed to keep yourself on track.
4. Networking
Networking is not only for finding jobs or clients. In an economy dominated by ideas and innovation, networking creates the channel through which ideas flow and in which new ideas are created. A large network, carefully cultivated, ties one into not just a body of people but a body of relationships, and those relationships are more than just the sum of their parts. The interactions those relationships make possible give rise to innovation and creativity – and provide the support to nurture new ideas until they can be realized.
5. Critical Thinking
We are exposed to hundreds, if not thousands, of times more information on a daily basis than our great-grandparents were. Being able to evaluate that information, sort the potentially valuable from the trivial, analyze its relevance and meaning, and relate it to other information is crucial – and woefully under-taught. Good critical thinking skills immediately distinguish you from the mass of people these days.
6. Decision-Making
The bridge that leads from analysis to action is effective decision-making – knowing what to do based on the information available. While not being critical can be dangerous, so too can over-analyzing, or waiting for more information before making a decision. Being able to take in the scene and respond quickly and effectively is what separates the doers from the wannabes.
7. Math
You don't have to be able to integrate polynomials to be successful. However, the ability to quickly work with figures in your head, to make rough but fairly accurate estimates, and to understand things like compound interest and basic statistics gives you a big lead on most people. All of these skills will help you to analyze data more effectively – and more quickly – and to make better decisions based on it.
8. Research
Nobody can be expected to know everything, or even a tiny fraction of everything. Even within your field, chances are there's far more that you don't know than you do know. You don't have to know everything – but you should be able to quickly and painlessly find out what you need to know. That means learning to use the Internet effectively, learning to use a library, learning to read productively, and learning how to leverage your network of contacts – and what kinds of research are going to work best in any given situation.
9. Relaxation
Stress will not only kill you, it leads to poor decision-making, poor thinking, and poor socialization. So be failing to relax, you knock out at least three of the skills in this list – and really more. Plus, working yourself to death in order to keep up, and not having any time to enjoy the fruits of your work, isn't really "success". It's obsession. Being able to face even the most pressing crises with your wits about you and in the most productive way is possibly the most important thing on this list.
10. Basic Accounting
It is a simple fact in our society that money is necessary. Even the simple pleasures in life, like hugging your child, ultimately need money – or you're not going to survive to hug for very long. Knowing how to track and record your expenses and income is important just to survive, let alone to thrive. But more than that, the principles of accounting apply more widely to things like tracking the time you spend on a project or determining whether the value of an action outweighs the costs in money, time, and effort. It's a shame that basic accounting isn't a required part of the core K-12 curriculum.
成功需要什么？积极的态度？当然，但远远不够。《吸引力法则》？《秘密》？这些方法只能激励你去行动，但对行动的效果可能没有多少影响。
成功需要你去行动，而高效合适的行动需要一些能力。而这些能力一部分在学校中习得，一部分在工作中习得，还有一部分在生活经历中得到。
下面列出的各项能力会帮助你在各个领域中，不管是开公司还是创办园艺俱乐部，取得进步。当然也有些针对特定领域的能力存在，这篇文章我关心的是任何人都可以经过训练获得的能力。
1.演讲能力
在众人面前发表易懂并具有说服力的演讲这一重要的能力是可以习得的。一个好的演讲者在演讲时一般非常从容并十分自信而且他在自己的圈子中往往富有魅力。拥有好口才意味着你可以推销任何东西，如产品，点子，理念还有世界观。对你来说也意味着拥有更多的事业提升，争取大客户和商业赞助的机会。
2.写作能力
好文笔有着跟好口才一样的优势，文笔好的人跟比文笔差的人比起来更容易推销出自己的产品，自己的想法还有他们自己。写作能力好不是指精通语法而是能把自己的想法有条理地组织在一块而且能向对读者有效地表达出来。
3.自主能力
如果成功依赖行动的结果，那么有效的行动依赖随时随地都能集中注意力的能力。优秀的组织能力，高效的习惯还有高度的自律性都是成功所需要的素质。
4.人脉
建立人脉不单是谋求份工作或者争取到更多的客户。在倡导理念和创新的经济社会，好的人脉给新理念的出现提供了又一渠道。精心打造的人脉不是把一个人和大量的人联系起来而是和大量的关系网联系起来。这些关系网不只是它的各部分的总和。关系网的相互作用有助于新事物的出现和培养自己的创造力，并且给新理念的出现提供土壤。
5.独立思考（Critical Thinking）
我们面对的信息要比先辈们多得多。正确评价信息，筛选有价值信息以及分析各种信息间的联系和意义的能力非常重要。然而这种能力是无法教授的，必须自己习得。当今社会拥有独立思考能力的人更易生存。
6.决策能力
做出决策是在分析可行性与采取行动之间的一步。而做出决策就是根据现有的信息知道该做什么。然而缺乏决策能力是危险的，而过多的去分析信息以及在做决定前等待获取更多的信息也同样危险。根据当前情况迅速有效的作出回应是实干家和空想家之间的区别。
7.数学
你不要以为合并多项式就说明你会数学了。能在大脑中对数字进行粗略的但不乏精度的估计以及理解一些复利和统计的知识会让你胜人一筹。上面的这些能力会让你更快更有效地进行数据分析以便于做出更佳的决策。
8.调研能力
一个人不可能知道所有的事物或者某个事物的各个细小的部分。即使在你自己的领域，你不知道的很有可能的比你知道的还要多。你不必知道所有事，但是你要具备能不费力地找到你想要知道的东西的能力。那么你要学着有效的使用因特网，学会使用图书馆，学会富有成效的阅读的方式，并学会如何利用你的人脉并且要学会因地制宜。
9.放松
压力不仅会毁掉你，还会带来错误决策，欠考虑的想法以及低效的社会交流。如果你不会放松，那么你将丧失这个列表里至少3个能力，实际上可能会更多。另外， 过度的工作使得自己没时间享受工作成果并不是真正意义上的“成功”。运用你的智慧直面危机并采用最有效的办法去化解它们的能力是这10个能力中最重要的一 项。
10.基本的会计知识
现如今的社会里，钱是必须的。这也是一简单的事实。甚至你想拥抱自己的孩子这类简单的乐事最终也需要钱，除非你没打算要个孩子。别说是想发财，就是对于基本的生存来说，跟踪记录你的收支都是一件非常重要的事情。比那更重要的是，会计知识也可以用在记录一个项目的花费时间或者决定某个行动的价值是否值得你花费的相应的钱，时间和精力去做。基础会计学没有设置成必修课程真令人遗憾。
