Have you ever wondered what it takes to be a Successful Woman?

What success means to me might be totally different from what it means to you.

By definition, Success means the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.

Success can be divided into two areas of life:

-personal (which consist of such elements as social life, family, mental and physical health, relationship and parenting), and

-professional (education, career, financial status).

Some people might be successful in all areas and some might be successful in one and totally slack at the other.

I believe to be successful, one has to find a balance and achieve similar level of success in all areas of life.

My personal success so far includes:

-being a mum to 3 beautiful, healthy (#smarty-pants, #chatter-boxes, #crazy) children

-having a loving and respectful relationship with my husband

-having a small but loyal circle of friends

-being able to eat well and enjoy regular exercises

-being able to express myself on my blog (at the moment just a hobby since it’s still in the personal aspect)

It also includes the below professional aspects:

– achieving a first-class degree in Accounts and Finance in the UK (a foreign country)

– becoming a member of ACCA (professional accounting qualification)

– being able to financially support my family from my full-time employment

I still think my personal life is leading in my success story; however, I am very happy with how my career is progressing and am confident that my professional life will catch up as I develop in this area further.

So here I would like to share with you my ideas on what it takes to be a Successful Woman that I have established, gained or developed over the years. Those tips will relate to all of the aspects of life and are strongly correlated.

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1. Being well organised

This involves some level of planning. Whether it’s a meal plan or shopping list or To-Do list- if you plan things ahead it helps you stay organised (it also saves time and money).

This also means eliminating clutter and keeping things tidy –

“Tidy desk= Tidy mind”

Keep on top of your house chores so that your house stays tidy too.

And least but not last- if your memory sometimes fails you just like mine (there’s just too much on my head) I like to write things down. I have a calendar where I list everyone’s appointments, visits, meetings etc. I also have a separate table where I trace my exercise with all measurements taken once a month or so to keep track of my physical health.

I have written a post about the morning routine that helps in a better organised day.

2. Being polite and kind.

You are never too important to be kind to others

The days of Horrible Bosses are over!

I mean you still hear stories of nasty managers that abuse their powers and bring people to tears and depression. However, such bosses don’t get far anymore as they lose their staff eventually. They are not Successful People.

No one holds on to the job where they get unhappy anymore.

The UK market is filled with jobs and it’s easy to find something new and walk away from the stressful workplace.

It’s been proven that people don’t leave their jobs, but leave their bosses.

The money doesn’t matter so much anymore.

It’s the flexibility, good atmosphere, progress opportunity, additional benefits and respectful boss that counts.

You might be wondering now- how does this matter anyway?

The thing is, if you want to be a successful person you have to have the leadership skills.

A good leader is the one that treats their employees as an asset, not an obligation.

If you are interested in leadership I highly recommend reading this book about Situational Leader. It really did make me look at things differently.

3. Being compassionate.

This one is obviously not a habit and not everyone is compassioned by nature. I am very sensitive to human or animals suffering and try and do things to stop them (if I can).

I think this is strongly linked to what’s called emotional intelligence which means being aware of people’s feelings and ensuring you adapt your behaviour to someone else’s emotions. This is what Those Horrible Bosses talked about above were completely stripped off.

4. Responding to calls/ messages.

If someone took time to call/ text/ email me I will make sure I respond as soon as I can, or at least respond with “call you later” kind of message, just to let the person know I am not ignoring them.

I know too many people on a personal and professional level who take ages to respond (like literally days). Or worse don’t respond at all which I frankly find rude.

This obviously does not mean you respond to every junk mail or cold callers but those that have some value in your eyes.

5.Taking care of yourself.

I have recently published my 8 Self-care tips for working woman so please check it out. I have covered topics like mental & physical health and ensuring you look after yourself.

6. Never stopping to learn.

Invest in yourself. Come out of your comfort zone.

The personal development is so important and I always want to try and learn new things. My recent one was (and still is) the website design and blogging.

Less than half a year ago I had no clue how to design a website, write a post or create a Pin. Now I can teach others as it’s something I do on a daily basis.

So keep developing yourself, learn new skill, study a new language. Knowledge is power and a key to what it takes to be a successful woman.

 

7. Reading books, news, documentaries, whatever interest you and not!

I don’t mean 50 Shades of Gray or baby stories (although I read it all too!).

I love reading and I think this is such a great window to a database of knowledge. It also can be very educating so it links with my previous point 6.

8. Having a “Can do” attitude.

No-one was ever born knowing everything and no one is expecting of you to know everything. But there is a difference between:

“I don’t know” and

“I don’t know but I am willing to learn”

Or

“I have never done it before so I am not going to try” and

“I have never done it before, but I will give it a try”.

This is very important not only at personal but also at a professional level.

I have gained so many new skills over the years, just because I was always keen to learn things and trying no matter what.

 

9. Quality over quantity.

In everything I do, I try to do my best.

I rather cook one great dish, than few not so good ones.

I rather spend more time formulating and proofreading my email before hitting send button, than respond to every email in half-hour only later to realise I have sent wrong attachments or not fully answered queries.

I rather write one good blog post a week, than 3 short and not very good ones.

I rather… anyway, you get the picture I’m sure.

10. Being financially wise.

It’s easy spending money and buying things we like, or treating people to nice gifts. It’s not so easy to save money, especially when your income is not very high or you’re the only breadwinner in the family. Be frugal. Spend your money wisely. You might want to read my recent post: How we saved over £5k last years (as a family of 5).

11. Dressing well.

Have you ever heard: “Don’t judge the book by its cover?”

I did too… Ignore it!

Your appearance means a lot and if you want to be perceived as a Successful Woman, you need to Look like a Successful Woman.

People do judge and it’s important to look smart. Have few nice pieces in your wardrobe that you can wear to important meetings and mix them up.

Have your clothes ironed and your hair nicely done. If you think you will benefit from it- put some delicate makeup on.

Obviously, when you go shopping, you can skip the makeup and smart clothes, but always look clean and tidy.

12. Learning to say NO.

Learn the art of assertiveness.

Say NO when you can’t do something. You cannot do everything all by yourself and when you need help, delegate to those that can help you.

Ask your husband to help you with the house chores.

Ask a friend or relative to help out with the kids.

Ask a colleague to carry out the certain task you know they would be able to help with.

Delegating things will help you focus on the most important tasks that you can do best yourself.

It will give you this little extra time to do it best rather than rushing it through. Look at point 9 above Quality over Quantity…

13. Not being afraid of failure.

It’s not failing that matters but how you pick yourself up and keep going.

Failing is a part of success. Hundreds of high profile successful people failed many times before becoming successful and they are not embarrassed to admit to their failures. So treat them as a stepping stone on your journey to success.

14. Being complimentary and appreciative.

Appreciate those that help you.

Don’t you like when your husband tells you- “What a lovely dish you cooked”?

Or your boss to say- “Great job on that presentation”!

Likewise, it’s very important to compliment others.

Tell your husband he’s done a great job fixing the leaking tap.

Compliment your children on their achievements at school or great behaviour at the shopping centre.

And when the colleague had done a good job on the task you have asked them to do- let them know you appreciate their help.

Gratitude is something you can learn by practising. Give it a try! It feels good, trust me!

15. Having a positive mindset.

You can do anything you want if you work hard enough for it!

Nothing comes easy. But it wouldn’t be fun to just get what you wish for without needing to graft for it, don’t you think?

It all starts with your mindset and how you think about things!

Don’t look at obstacles as something stopping you but turn them into opportunities.
Surround yourself with positive people.

Negativity is contagious– and so is positivity so try keeping away from negative people.

In a nutshell

Whatever the success means to you, you have to strive for achieving your best and always pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. We only get one shot at life and it’s worth giving your best and making it successful.

I hope you have enjoyed my ideas on what it takes to be a Successful Woman. Please comment with what it means to you to be successful and what are your greatest achievements so far?

Before you go

There are few books I would recommend you to read that are real game-changers on the way you think, the successful woman matters and overall matter of Life filled with success.

Enjoy!