Personal Effectiveness

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to accomplish so much while others struggle along barely able to attend to their daily needs? Highly effective people usually fulfill their achievements with less work and effort than those who accomplish little. The difference lies in their individual effectiveness. How you manage yourself at work defines your personal effectiveness, and is a prerequisite to outstanding performance – whatever your level of seniority. Building self-awareness, identifying areas where you can maximize your contribution, gaining access to key skills and techniques – all are critical to improving your personal performance.

Achieving peak performance through personal effectiveness begins with mastery and self-awareness of oneself. Mastery does not happen by accident. It is a process that occurs as we interact effectively with the events and circumstances of our lives. Masters are the victors of life, those who step up to the challenges and opportunities of life with the courage, determination, and wisdom to win in all spheres of life. You see, each moment of our lives provides an opportunity to practice mastery by expanding our visions, awakening the faculties of our minds and our hearts, and assuming full responsibility for living, growing, and contributing to life.

Personal effectiveness means making the most at all personal resources at our disposal – our personal talents, energy and time relative to what’s most important to us. It is like money management or investment – we want to get the best return on our resources. As with managing money, we can either drift through life making ad hoc decisions or we can set time aside periodically to review our investments. As a great philosopher once said, “Personal effectiveness is not about sacrificing spontaneity or opportunism to be super organized if this is not your style. It’s more a matter of taking whatever steps that fit your style to give you the feeling that you are making best use of your talents, energy and time”.

As the saying goes, “being successful is in the eyes of the beholder” – for some it means having a satisfying personal life, for others it is some form of career success that drives them. The only right answer is the one that makes you happy. The big question is: How happy are you with your life right now? Are you personally fulfilled in what you are doing presently? How much enthusiastic are you about what you do? You see, enthusiasm is a positive emotion that sparks like fire in achieving your goals. You cannot be fulfilled in doing what you hate. No matter how much you are being paid, the totality of the satisfaction you derive in doing what you are not passionate about is a life without fulfillment.

Your personal effectiveness has a lot to do with your personal leadership. In my previous articles, we made it clear that you are the leader of your own life. You are the custodian and steward of your life given to you by your creator. The ability to take full responsibility of your own life is an evidence of your self-leadership on display and this makes you highly effective as a person.

See you at the Top.

Dr. Elvis UKPAKA

About the Author

Dr. Elvis Ukpaka is a Leadership and Peak Performance Expert. As a renowned management Consultant, Trainer, Speaker, and Coach, Elvis has helped transform the leadership direction for most corporate organizations, businesses, governmental bodies, religious bodies, schools, and individuals through his leadership empowerment programs. Elvis holds a B.Com (Hons.) Marketing from Wits University, Johannesburg, South Africa; Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Regent University, Virginia Beach, USA; and Doctorate degree in Strategic Leadership, from Regent University in Virginia Beach, USA. Elvis is the Lead Consultant at Visiondrivers Management Consulting – a leadership consulting firm based in Lagos. To reach Dr. Elvis for speaking engagements, trainings, one-on-one coaching, and consultancy, simply call: +234 810 654 5127, +234 817 123 5284 or visit www.elvisukpaka.com, Email: info@elvisukpaka.com