You cannot achieve ultimate success if you cannot manage yourself

Last week I had a two-hour coaching session with a business owner, lets call her Ann, to help her to increase her clients through business networking. Ann was referred to me by another client whose business experienced exceptional growth since her first coaching session. I learned from Ann that it was not the first time that she was exposed to my business networking philosophy and teaching. The first time she experienced the true power of business networking was during a business breakfast presentation hosted by one of my clients. The same client invited me to conduct a more pragmatic workshop for her audience. Ann told me that she attended the workshop. I was amazed that she was still not reaping the rewards! You see, it is one thing in life to know something and it is another thing in life to act on it. I realised that Ann did not make time after the presentation and the workshop to ask herself questions such as “Who is my target market?”, “Where will I find them?” and “What will I do after I have introduced myself?”. You see, once you get the knowledge in any area in life, you have to manage yourself effectively to create the outcome you desire.

All of us have what Steven Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People calls an “independent will” that makes self-management possible. It is the ability to make decisions and choices and to act in accordance with them. Our personal integrity, ie our ability to make and keep commitments to ourselves, to “walk our talk”, gives as an indication of how far we have developed our “independent will”. Effective self-management is the discipline we acquire to equip ourselves with the knowledge, skills and emotional resources to be self-driven, self-motivated and self- disciplined. In other words, your drive, your discipline and your motivation will come from within. You can proactively manage your own emotions and desires. It requires you to understand your values, know what you want and to act in accordance with it. You cannot manage others effectively, if you cannot manage yourself. You cannot achieve ultimate success if you cannot manage yourself. The greatest gift I can give Ann is to help her to manage herself, so that she can have the discipline to act on the knowledge she has required.