Kaye Megan - Success: the psychology of achievement

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1
A LIFE IN PROGRESS

What does success look like?
The diversity of fulfillment

A success pinboard
Star traits of a thriving person

More or less successful
Setting your scale of achievement

Know your own mind
The success that works for you

A lifelong journey
Success as a continuous process

Navigation skills
Finding your success path

Clarifying your aims
Determining your objectives

Work-life balance
How to sort out your priorities

A working life
Managing career ups and downs

Peer pressure
Does the support of others matter?

Achieving equilibrium
A broader spectrum

The challenges of gender
Different role expectations at home and work

Small steps
Staying focused on progress

Sustaining clarity
Keeping your focus

Maintaining your routine
Pay attention to what you need

Learning from mistakes
Keeping things in perspective

CHAPTER 2
STARTING WITH YOU

Fulfillment in the round
The whole-life picture

Positive habits
Ways of thinking and being

True and actual selves
The importance of looking within

Emotional intelligence
Thinking with your feelings

The sideways mirror
Seeing yourself as others see you

Delve deep
Understanding the inner you

The power of grit
Developing resilience

At ease with your mind
Mindfulness, meditation, clarity, and confidence

Finding your passion
Engagement, purpose, and meaning

When disagreements arise
The harmony of conflict

Taking stock of your strengths
Understanding your unique advantages

Nature versus nurture
Are people born to succeed?

CHAPTER 3
HONE YOUR ATTITUDE

Beating negative thinking
The power of optimism

Learning to trust yourself
Confidence-building techniques

The value of leisure
Staying refreshed and invigorated

At ease with yourself
The importance of a healthy body image

Wild horses
Dealing with your emotions

The art of self-control
Holding out against temptation

The warp factor
How stress can undermine success

Managing stress
Responding productively to pressure

In the zone
Making stress work for you

The enemy within
Combating self-defeating attitudes

Imposter syndrome
Accepting your own skills

Want to win or scared to lose?
When fear of failure is holding you back

Coping with failure
Changing your outlook

The terrified winner
Dealing with the fear of success

CHAPTER 4
BASIC SKILLS FOR SUCCESS

A reed in the wind
The art of flexibility

Make your own luck
The art of opportunity

Taking it in stride
The art of acceptance

When times get tough
Coping skills

Time management
Priming yourself for success

Dealing with deadlines
How to focus on the challenge

Standing your ground
Learning to say no

Decision time
Balancing your choices

Active planning
Developing and refining your strategies

Taking the stage
Public speaking skills

Making a pitch
The art of selling

Safeguarding your team
How to protect your project

Taking charge
Management and leadership

Making memories
Maximizing your mental resources

Critical thinking
The power of skepticism

Knowing your blind spots
How to keep a rational perspective

CHAPTER 5
IN YOUR SIGHTS

Master of your fate
Keeping yourself motivated

Thinking like a winner
Ten beliefs to motivate you

Beating procrastination
Using your time and resources well

The perils of perfectionism
When its wrong to be right

Seeing your way
Visualization techniques

Catching a mood
The power of emotional contagion

Finding flow
A state of engaged focus

Personal cost control
When to hold on, when to let go

Your evolving network
Maintaining a variety of relationships

Building your social capital
Give yourself an edge

Creative responses
Finding inventive alternatives

Learning from failures
How to keep an open mind

Avoiding burnout
Sustaining your progress over time

Free time
Optimizing your leisure time to nurture success

CHAPTER 6
SUCCESS

Building Resilience
Fortifying your inner reserves

Lifelong learning
The path of development

Feedback
Sharing ideas and hearing opinions

Listening skills
How to tune into what you hear

Mentors and guides
The value of mutual support

Credibility
Talking the talk and walking the walk

Respect
Get others to recognize your worth

The psychology of wealth
How do you relate to money?

Good friends
The value of supportive relationships

Successful in love?
Making romance work for you

Creating a balance
Work, home, and a whole self

Success for life
How well-being helps us

foreword

C larity is essential to create success and achieve goals that are important to us. For over 30 years, I have worked with managers, executives, and students to assist them in applying research-based practices to help them achieve their goalsboth personal and professional. During this time, I have noticed a specific pattern: most of us can clearly describe what we dont like about our lives, work, and relationships, with the belief that if only we could do this or change that , we would be successful. However, when asked to describe what we do want for ourselves, the picture we conjure up tends to be blurry, for example: make more money, travel, be promoted at work, have a loving relationship, or start our own business.

In a digital age, the pervasiveness of social media and the frequency with which we see others succeed can make it more challenging to find clarity on what success means to each of us. With a continuous stream of images that show how other people seem to be succeeding, our lives, activities, vacations, relationships, and physical appearance can appear to be less than in comparison. If we are not yet clear about what we want to achieve, the images we see around us will only obscure our vision.