After looking at the Nurturer and the Reformer, it’s probably good to look at another type of talent, known as the Achiever.

Nurturers thrive in relationship building and Reformers have their strengths in following and achieving their life goals. The Achievers, on the other hand, have their eyes on achievements. To the Achievers, achievements are their life. Every moment in their lives are dedicated to achieving something. These can be in the form of academic qualifications, sports achievements (it is interesting to note that trophies are especially important to them since it’s a physical symbol of their effort and achievements), positive job appraisals and compliments from friends or any form of contributions that they consider valuable.

While it’s true that some Achievers do well in life in terms of financial stability and/or wealth acquisition, most Achievers do not measure their worth in life in terms of monetary terms but rather, in their achievements. It can be a closing of a sales deal. It can be a contribution of an article to a magazine and seeing it in print. It can also be the completion of a 3.5km run. As can be observed, monetary acquisition is not a prerequisite in the lives of  the Achievers. But making positive contributions through their own effort is.

Achievers can be found in all walks of life and their entire lives are often purposeful. Once they have directed their focus on their life goals to contribute their abilities to make the world a better place, they will almost always achieve them with excellent results. Their existence is hence beneficial to society and their contributions immense.  

It is important to note that the Achievers are often independent workers. If they are invited to work in a team, it is important that the objectives of the team work be aligned with the objectives of the Achievers and that efforts be made to ensure that the achievers be placed within a specific job domain where they have full autonomy. For example, should Achievers be tasked to work with a team in an advertising company for a publicity campaign, it will be advisable for Achievers to be given full autonomy over a certain product line. Giving Achievers a sense of control over their work is vital to them doing their best.

It can be observed that Achievers often have a tendency to do their best and excel in what they do. This tendency of theirs actually reveals their primary weakness, which is their competitive nature. While competitive nature is good for solitary activities (such as writing and editing) and solitary sports (such as jogging and cycling), being competitive is detrimental to their effectiveness as team players. This is because they have a tendency to stand out from the rest. In another words, Achievers are more of an individualist than a conformist.  

But all is not lost. Achievements are often sought after by employers who need people to spearhead projects. This is because the Achievers’ passions for achievements are crucial to the success of any tasks. Hence, Achievers are often regarded as an asset to an organisation.  Nevertheless, care has to be taken to ensure that Achievers are given the flexibility and freedom in their work.

Achievers are at their best as independent workers and when empowered, they are almost unmatched in terms of work efficiency.

Some possible career options for Achievers will be:

• All professions where the Achievers have the expertise, flexibility and freedom to maximise their abilities to the fullest.

Being happy has always been an enigma in our lives.

We just have to plow through the tons of articles on this subject matter as well as the numerous conferences and seminars that are being organised worldwide to realise this. What is interesting is that despite these efforts by humans to define the essence of “happiness”, most humans are not happy.

In the papers today, there’s an article which highlights that our happiness lies in our memories, and not in materialistic possession. This brings to mind what one of my friends have mentioned to me previously about the increase in the number of choices leading to our unhappiness. This observation is reinforced by what I have read in a book on happiness that as we are given more choices, we become unhappier (and ironically, not happier). If we were to look at the primary causes of the increase in our choices in life, much can be attributed to financial wealth and more specifically technology. In fact, both factors work in tandem with each other to create discomfort and unhappiness among us.  Our financial expanses enable us to purchase more things but along the way, our expectations of things that we can acquire increased. Couple our financial freedom with technology such as the internet (which opens up almost limitless purchasing options for us),   it’s no wonder that most of us have began to live life in a competitive manner, with material acquisition as our primary objectives.

Having said all this, some of you might be wondering if I am advocating the return to the  ”good old days”? My answer to this question will be “no”.  It’s important to note that despite its flaws, technology has aided us well in most aspects of our lives, such as easier access to information.

What we need to know is simply to understand the concept of simplicity. Because happiness lies in this very word. In our rush to keep up with the rest of the world, we have almost lose sight of where happiness lies. We begin to pick up habits like “multi-tasking”, “multiple-platform communications” (such as using MSN, SMSes and telephone to communication all at the same time) etc, all of which serves to undermine our peace of mind that is required for us to be happy.

To be happy, we just need to indulge in the simple things in life, such as taking a walk in the garden, having a meal with our close friends and loved ones as well as sipping from a cup of tea at our own time.

At the end of the day, we will realise that happiness is something that lies within ourselves, not without.

It’s such an irony that humans are trying so hard to search for happiness when the solution can be as simple as giving someone else a smile, or a call.