There are a number of skills that you will need to develop in life if you wish to be successful with anything, and the bad news is that most of these skills are not taught in college. One skill that is extremely valuable is public speaking.

If you have the ability to speak in a persuasive manner, and convey your ideas to an audience, then you have the potential to achieve an enormous amount of success.

Those who are good with public speaking tend to be those that have confidence in themselves, and they tend to be people who are a delight to be around.

If you are good at speaking, this means that you are a skilled salesperson, and are capable of selling practically anything, whether it be products or ideas.

Public speaking is also a powerful way to market yourself because you never know who is sitting in your audience.

If you are giving a speech about an investment idea you have which needs capital in order to take off, for all you know, the wealthy investor may be sitting in the audience, and if you speak well, you may meet them after you’re done speaking.

Another skill, one which is closely related to public speaking, is the ability to write. When you are a good writer, you can easily sell products and ideas, and you will convey your thoughts much more effectively than someone who writes poorly. However, being a good writer requires you to do more than just learn grammar.

Being a truly good writer requires you to be masterful at controlling your thoughts. When you’re able to organize your thoughts in a manner which will allow you to communicate ideas to your audience in an effective way, then this is a sign that you’re an effective writer.

The ability to write and communicate with the written word is a timeless skill that is just as valid today as it always has been, and if you are able to write persuasive books, papers, and articles, you will find yourself developing a following within a short period of time.

In addition to public speaking and writing, the ability to manage yourself is absolutely critical.

The ability to manage yourself

Many people are failures in life simply because of an inability to manage themselves. The hallmark of self management is to have lots of self discipline.

If you have a problem waking up on time, or doing what you know you need to be doing when you should be doing it, then your success in life is doubtful.

Another life skill which is indispensable is an ability to work with and recognize authority. No matter how high you rise in life, there will always be someone you answer to. If you’re the type of person who has a problem with authority, you’re not going to go very far.

As I always like to say: someone is going to tell you what to do, one way or another. It could be your boss or client, or it could be a prison guard, but someone is going to tell you what to do.

Individuals who are argumentative, or who always think their way is the right way, are people who won’t go far, because they will make so many enemies and burn so many bridges that no one will want to deal with them.

Even when your client or boss is wrong, and you know they are, it is better to let them find out for themselves as opposed to arguing with them about it. Arguing with others is never a sign of power, and is in fact a sign of weakness.

As the old saying does, "the truth is seen, rarely heard." Talk is cheap, people talk about doing things all the time. To become successful in life, you have to be a man or woman or action, not words. In the long run, actions are the only things that really count.

The Power of Networking

Networking is one of the most powerful tools that you can have at your disposal. No matter how smart or talented you are, if you’re incapable of networking with others, you will not go very far.

The most successful people in the world are those who know how to build a network. The purpose of building a network is to use the energy and resources of others as opposed to using your own.

Your energy and resources are very finite, it is easy to exhaust and wipe yourself out. However, by working together with a team, you suddenly partition your work load and can complete various tasks within a short period of time.