15 Ways in Which You Can Compensate For the Lack of Higher Education Knowledge and Make Yourself Successful
Our culture has evolved in such a way that we feel like failures unless we manage to get a college education. More and more, practical skills have been left in the last place while everyone and their dog is out getting a university education, whether they need it (or even want it) or not.
Sure, higher education is no walk in the park and a lot of the work is difficult and sometimes even requires help from an online writing service. But judging by this current trend, you may be tempted to believe that you require higher education knowledge in order to be successful, but that is entirely false.
There are plenty of incredibly successful individuals who either have foregone the college route completely, or even started working on a degree, only to drop out and do their own thing – with tremendous success, whether that’s starting up an IT company, an online writing service, a bakery, etc. Therefore, here are a few ways in which you can compensate for the lack of higher education knowledge and make yourself successful.
1. Ambition
Some people would argue that the most important trait one must have, in order to succeed, is not academic knowledge, but rather the ambition to move forward and try, try again. All the education in the world can’t help you if you don’t have the drive to help yourself.
2. Intelligence
“Educated” does not equal “smart”, although that is what we are currently being led to believe. While higher education has its merits, not everyone who is educated is intelligent, and not all intelligent people are college educated. Success is achieved by smart people, and there is more than one way to be smart, beyond reciting from books.
3. Intuition
When we talk about a sixth sense, what we talk about is intuition. Whether you believe in it or not is beside the point; it exists, and it has helped businessmen make tremendously good decisions for decades. Some people just have that natural inclination towards making good business. Go with your gut, and you may become one of them!
4. People skills
And speaking of business, a major part of conducting successful business is having the necessary people skills. At the end of the day, few people achieve success completely isolated, without the help of other people. No matter what field you are in, you need to interact with others, make connections, and network. Who needs college, when there’s networking?
5. Imagination
In order to be able to build something of value, you need the imagination to visualize what you want to achieve. You need a vision; something you can follow to completion. That is the secret to the success of many entrepreneurs, most of which don’t actually have a degree.
6. Patience
Success doesn’t come to the college-educated, it comes to those who work hard, and who are willing to put effort into it in the long run. A healthy dose of patience is going to prove to be much more useful than you have ever imagined.
7. Resilience
Things will not always go right; in fact, they usually have to go wrong about a dozen times before you hit the jackpot. That means that you need to be resilient and have the ability to get back on your feet however many times it’s necessary.
8. Leadership
Do you know who gets the management positions and who becomes the boss? It’s not the most educated person in the room, I’ll tell you that. It’s the person who has the vision mentioned earlier, and who exhibits leadership skills. Leadership is extremely valuable, so cultivate it carefully.
9. Teamwork
You won’t get anywhere without the ability to work alongside other people, so teamwork is absolutely essential. The three years you spent on your research thesis won’t help you when you haven’t work with another person in your entire life.
10. Curiosity
A curious nature will always prevail because it exhibits some important and sought-after traits: interest, willingness to go after what they like and try new things, learn something they didn’t know before, etc. Curiosity leads to knowledge and discovery, and it’s something a lot of employers actively seek.
11. Loyalty
Not stabbing in the back the people who’ve helped you is a no-brainer, but loyalty is very appreciated and valued. Not only when it comes to employers, but any other people you work with, from employees to partners to vendors. Loyalty pays off, and it helps build relationships which lead to success.
12. Creativity
When you hear about people becoming fabulously rich, it’s always because of some incredible ideas that those men and women had. In order to become truly successful, you have to come up with some outstanding ideas, so creativity is a must.
13. Initiative
…and after you’ve come up with those bright ideas, you also need to implement them, which means you need to have the initiative. Propose ideas, be a self-starter, or pitch them to someone who can make them happen.
14. Self-education
You may not have been educated in a formal environment, but that doesn’t mean you stopped learning. One of the most valuable traits of a person is the ability and drive to educate themselves. That means keeping up with innovations, new ideas, reading about new things, etc. Expanding your horizons can be an individual activity.
15. Confidence
Finally, last, but not least, you need the confidence to pull off whatever crazy idea you’ve thought of. You won’t get too far unless you believe in yourself and your ideas, and I’m afraid that’s not something they teach you in school. Confidence is innate, and it’s incredibly valuable, so use it wisely.
