Only the WICKED Succeed—do you DARE to be one?

 

“Being a nice person doesn't command respect and regard, but being a wicked person does.” This is a popular statement, and yes, you indeed have to be wicked to succeed in life.

Why?

This is because the traits of being wicked enable you to stand out and thrive in your area of interest. It sets you on the right track, one exclusively designed for you.

Hold up, it's not what you're thinking. What does it mean to be wicked in this context? It means to be:

• W- Wise
• I - Intentional
• C - Creative
• K - Keen
• E - Excellent
• D - Decisive

These are necessary qualities for success, and if you do away with one, you'll make your journey longer and harder.

What Exactly Do These Crucial Values Mean?

1.    Wisdom: Being wise means being able to acquire the necessary knowledge needed for your personal growth, relationship management, spiritual life, mental, emotional, and physical wellness, mindset transformation, and your ability to apply that knowledge to your daily living to produce your desired result.

To be relevant in all seasons, you must constantly incline your ears to wisdom and walk in the ways of the wise. A wise person is also a very intentional person.

2.    Intentionality: Being intentional implies living a life governed by conscious decisions with valid justifications for each activity. I have realized that to live a fulfilled life in all areas of your life, you must be intentional about every aspect of your life. Any part you're not intentional about in turn becomes neglected, and a failure in one part can cause a ripple effect in other areas.                                                                                                                       

 For example, most successful people neglect the relationship they share with their spouse because all energy is focused on the business or invention. And so what happens? Their marriages fail. Most of them are divorced or have married multiple times. The fact that they neglected their relationship was a guarantee for marital failure even if they were thriving in their field. This can distort their emotional stability and in turn affect even the business, at least at the moment of separation. Give attention to every area of your life to live life to its fullest. Watch out for creativity even whilst being intentional if it is the success you want.

3.    Creativity: Creativity is your ability to use your imagination to produce new things, new concepts, new ideas, new products, etc. To stay relevant, you must be creative.

"Creativity in simple words means channeled and intentional imagination."
In all men resides the ability to be imaginative; the only difference between the great and the ordinary is the ability to channel imagination and manage this cognitive process to create.
Here's another truth: nobody goes around saying, “I need to create or invent something.” Most of these mind-blowing innovations come as a result of stillness in the creative realm.

What do I mean?
There's a certain consciousness of creativity and just allowing the frequency of a new idea to pass through. It always comes, but your ability to capture it should be your focus.
Have this mindset: “You have to be creative to create it.” It starts with tweaking the little things you see and having the idea that this can be done differently.
The most important reason why you must embody creativity as a person and not just try to create something is that every idea has to be developed. It can take months or years, but it certainly will need your creative mind to become a reality.

You certainly do not have to go around saying, “I have to create something”; you just have to embody creativity and be keen.

4.    Keenness: No invention or fulfillment of life and purpose has happened without keenness. To be a keen person means to be eager and enthusiastic about something, to be intellectually alert. Sometimes, people might not buy into your vision or see from your lens, but “Are you keen enough? Are you eager enough?”

James Dyson, who was the inventor of the Dyson vacuum cleaner, failed 5,126 times. Dyson believed in bagless vacuum technology, but no company wanted to fund or manufacture it because it threatened their existing business model (selling vacuum bags).
He spent 15 years developing his idea, creating 5,126 prototypes before he got it right. He ended up building his own company since nobody wanted to invest.
Should we look at the famous Thomas Edison, who invented the light bulb? He tried about 1000 times before it worked out. The list can go on and on.

What do you think made these people achieve their dreams? They were keen to see it happen; they were driven by their intensive desire to see it work.

But to be keen isn't also enough; you have to be excellent.

5.    Excellence: If you want to stand out, you cannot afford to be average. Remember, making a difference means making a difference, deviating from the norm to stand out.
I like to say that to be excellent means "to excel to an extent"—an extent that has never existed or is rare.

So many people are doing what you're doing or have similar ideas; why must yours be chosen?
Think about that; that's your passageway to deviating from the norm.
Excellence is what makes people take notice of you, but to be excellent, you must be decisive.

6.    Decisiveness: To be decisive means having the power to make a choice and stand by it. The reason why the world remembers people like James Dyson, Thomas Edison, Elon Musk, and so many others is because they didn't give up when people told them, "You can't do it" or "It's a dumb idea." They were intentional about who and what they listened to, who they walked with, and how they lived.

If you must thrive, you must stay W.I.C.K.E.D. at every point in your life.

Call to Action
Are you ready to be WICKED? Tell me in the comments: which of these qualities do you already embody, and which one do you need to work on?