What does it take to succeed? A positive attitude? Well, sure, but that's hardly enough. The Law of Attraction? The Secret? These ideas might act as spurs to action, but without the action itself, they don't do much.

Success, however it's defined, takes action, and taking good and appropriate action takes skills. Some of these skills (not enough, though) are taught in school (not well enough, either), others are taught on the job, and still others we learn from general life experience.

Below is a list of general skills that will help anyone get ahead in practically any field, from running a company to running a gardening club. Of course, there are skills specific to each field as well - but my concern here is with the skills that translate across disciplines, the ones that can be learned by anyone in any position.

1. Public Speaking

The ability to speak clearly, persuasively, and forcefully in front of an audience - whether an audience of 1 or of thousands - is one of the most important skills anyone can develop. People who are effective speakers come across as more comfortable with themselves, more confident, and more attractive to be around. Being able to speak effectively means you can sell anything - products, of course, but also ideas, ideologies, worldviews. And yourself - which means more opportunities for career advancement, bigger clients, or Business funding.

2. writing

writing well offers many of the same advantages that speaking well offers: good writers are better at selling products, ideas, and themselves than poor writers. Learning to write well involves not just mastery of grammar but the development of the ability to organize one's thoughts into a coherent form and target it to an audience in the most effective way possible. Given the huge amount of text generated by almost every transaction - from court briefs and legislation running into the thousands of pages to those foot-long receipts you get when you buy gum these days - a person who is a master of the written word can expect doors to open in just about every field.

3. Self-management

If success depends of effective action, effective action depends on the ability to focus your attention where it is needed most, when it is needed most. Strong organizational skills, effective productivity habits, and a strong sense of discipline are needed to keep yourself on track.

4. networking

Networking is not only for finding jobs or clients. In an economy dominated by ideas and innovation, networking creates the channel through which ideas flow and in which new ideas are created. A large network, carefully cultivated, ties one into not just a body of people but a body of relationships, and those relationships are more than just the sum of their parts. The interactions those relationships make possible give rise to innovation and creativity - and provide the support to nurture new ideas until they can be realized.

5. Critical Thinking

We are exposed to hundreds, if not thousands, of times more information on a daily basis than our great-grandparents were. Being able to evaluate that information, sort the potentially valuable from the trivial, analyze its relevance and meaning, and relate it to other information is crucial - and woefully under-taught. Good critical thinking skills immediately distinguish you from the mass of people these days.

6. Decision-Making

The bridge that leads from analysis to action is effective decision-making - knowing what to do based on the information available. While not being critical can be dangerous, so too can over-analyzing, or waiting for more information before making a decision. Being able to take in the scene and respond quickly and effectively is what separates the doers from the wannabes.

7. Math

You don't have to be able to integrate polynomials to be successful. However, the ability to quickly work with figures in your head, to make rough but fairly accurate estimates, and to understand things like compound interest and basic statistics gives you a big lead on most people. All of these skills will help you to analyze data more effectively - and more quickly - and to make better decisions based on it.

8. Research

Nobody can be expected to know everything, or even a tiny fraction of everything. Even within your field, chances are there's far more that you don't know than you do know. You don't have to know everything - but you should be able to quickly and painlessly find out what you need to know. That means learning to use the Internet effectively, learning to use a library, learning to read productively, and learning how to leverage your network of contacts - and what kinds of research are going to work best in any given situation.

9. Relaxation

Stress will not only kill you, it leads to poor decision-making, poor thinking, and poor socialization. So be failing to relax, you knock out at least three of the skills in this list - and really more. Plus, working yourself to death in order to keep up, and not having any time to enjoy the fruits of your work, isn't really "success". It's obsession. Being able to face even the most pressing crises with your wits about you and in the most productive way is possibly the most important thing on this list.

10. Basic Accounting

It is a simple fact in our society that money is necessary. Even the simple pleasures in life, like hugging your child, ultimately need money - or you're not going to survive to hug for very long. Knowing how to track and record your expenses and income is important just to survive, let alone to thrive. But more than that, the principles of accounting apply more widely to things like tracking the time you spend on a project or determining whether the value of an action outweighs the costs in money, time, and effort. It's a shame that basic accounting isn't a required part of the core K-12 curriculum.
What Else?

Surely there are more important skills I'm not thinking of (which is probably why I'm not telling Bill Gates what to do!) - what are they? What have I missed? What lessons have you learned that were key to your successes - and what have you ignored to your peril?

怎樣才能成功呢？積極的態度？確實是這樣，但是這還不夠。吸引的原理？秘密？這些觀念都對行為有驅動作用，但是沒有行動它們也起不了作用。

然而成功的定義就是馬上開始行動，怎么采取好的合適的行動需要技巧。學校已經傳授給我們這些技巧當中（然而不是全部）的一些技巧（雖然不太好），有些技巧是在工作中傳授給我們的，然而還有其它的技巧是我們從普通生活經驗中學到的。下面是一個羅列了普通技巧的列表，它能幫助任何人在幾乎任何領域獲得成功，包括開公司和經營園藝俱樂部。當然，同時也有針對特殊領域的技巧，但是這兒我關心的是由條約轉換而來的技巧，任何職位的任何人都能學習這些技巧。

1.演講

在聽眾－不管是一個或是數千個聽眾面前清晰地談論，有說服力和有激情的，這種技巧是任何人都能提高的最重要的技巧。有感染力的演講者都很放松并很自信，對于周圍的人更加有吸引力。有影響力的演講意味著你能推銷包括產品在內的任何東西，當然也包括理念，意識和世界觀。也就意味著對于你的事業的提升，爭取大客戶或籌募商業基金的把握更大。

2.寫作

寫作好和口才好有同樣的優勢，文筆好的人在賣商品，推銷理念和他們自己時比文筆差的人做的更好。學習提高寫作不僅包括掌握語法，還包括發展把個人的想法組成整體的能力， 它的目標是更有效的針對讀者。假定幾乎每個機構都刊登大量的信息，包括法院簡報和法律規定達到數千張紙和這些天當你買槍后得到的長長的收據。所以一個掌控字詞的人能夠期待每個領域的大門是打開的。

3.自我管理

如果成功依賴有效的行動，那么有效的行動依賴于何時何地最需要集中注意力的能力。優秀的組織能力，有效的強大的自律力，以及強烈的紀律感都是使你符合自我預期所必須的。

4.網絡

網絡不僅僅為了找工作或者客戶。在由理念和創新占主導的經濟時代，通過涌現的想法及創造的新思想給網絡創造了渠道。精心連接的網絡，不是把一個人和大量的人聯系起來而是和大量的關系網聯系起來。這些關系網不只是它的每部分的總和。這個關系網的交互作用使得引發革新和創造的幾率更大，直到新理念實現之前給予滋養。

5.批判性思維

如果不是數以千計的，那么在每天的生活中我們得到數以百計的信息，而我們的曾祖父每天的信息卻少的多。為了評估信息，從細微的信息中獲得潛在價值，分析它的中肯度及意義和與其它信息聯系起來是至關重要的并且不講解它們是可悲的。現今，好的批判性思維技巧能迅速使你脫穎而出。

6.決策

由分析架起通往行動的橋梁是有效的決策，即根據信息的價值知道去做什么。然而缺乏批判是危險的，過多的分析及在做決定前等待獲取更多的信息也是危險的。根據現實情況迅速和有效的作出反應是實干家和空想家之間的區別。

7.數學

你不要以為合并多項式就是成功的。盡管，在你腦袋里迅速計算數字的能力可以作出粗略但不是完全準確的估計，可是，了解諸如復利和基礎統計數據能使走在大多數人的前列。所有這些技巧能使你更快更有效的分析數據，并能根據這來作出更好的決定。

8.研究

沒有人指望能了解所有事，甚至是每件事的細微部分。即使在你了解的領域，有可能是你不知道的比你知道的多。你沒必要知道每件事，但是你要能夠迅速不費力的找到你要了解的。那就意味著要學著有效的使用因特網，學會使用圖書館，學會有成果的閱讀，并學會如何平衡網絡接點以及在任意給定的條件下，哪種研究將最有效。

9.放松

壓力不僅會毀掉你，同時也會導致錯誤的決策，貧乏的思考及低級的社會化。因此如果未能放松，你將丟失這個列表里至少3個技能，實際上可能更多。另外，為了不落后而是自己過度的工作，并沒時間享受工作成果也不是實際上的“成功”。這是令人困擾的。這個列表里最重要的事情是能以你的智慧在最有效的方法應對甚至是最緊急的危機。

10.基礎會計學

在我們的社會里，錢是必須的。這是一個簡單的事實。甚至是生活里諸如擁抱你的孩子這類簡單的樂事也最終需要錢，或者你沒打算永遠擁抱。知道如何追蹤并記錄你的開銷和收入對生存是很重要的，而不要追求奢華。比那更重要的是，會計學原理應該用于更廣闊的事物，比如追蹤你花費在一個工程的時間或者決定是否行動的價值超過花費的錢，時間和努力。基礎會計學不是K－12基礎課程必須部分的核心的，這點令人蒙羞。

還有其它的嗎？

當然還有其它更多重要的技巧我沒考慮到的（很有可能是為什么我沒告訴比爾蓋茨該做什么）。它們是哪些？我沒考慮到哪些？哪些教訓是你學到的對于成功的關鍵要素？并且你忽視了哪些危險因素？