Why is it important to take the initiative for success? Without initiative it is not possible to be successful. The initiative is the result of the expectations we have of ourselves. If we look at Michael Jordan, for example, he worked very hard to perfect his game. Talent alone is not enough, it takes effort and perseverance to maintain a goal.
Everything we want to achieve takes initiative. Without effort, it is difficult to be successful. My seven-year-old granddaughter recently had her first piano recital. The three little pieces he performed required a lot of effort to master. We listened to another girl who had been playing for five years and it was evident that she had the initiative to learn to play the piano well.
Initiative is our willingness to commit ourselves to a goal that matters to us. I met a successful businessman who told me that he had to admit that he was unsuccessful in his personal life. It worried him and felt that now he also wanted to learn how to be successful in his relationships. He had been married three times and each marriage ended in divorce. Now that he was in his fifties, his goal was to learn how to be a successful partner in a lasting and meaningful relationship. He took the initiative to learn effective relationship skills, which eventually allowed him to connect with and appreciate a loving partner. Without your initiative to learn what you did not know, you would not have been successful in achieving your goal.
Without initiative we cannot achieve what we want for ourselves. We must first be clear about what the goal is, then commit to putting effort into achieving it, and then assess the small incremental improvements that lead to the chosen goal. We succeed by taking the initiative to achieve what is important to us.