By CHRIS AGBOLA, Staff Columnist

How far you would go in life as an individual is not dependent on knowledge. Knowledge is vital; one would rather be informed than remain ignorant. The extent of your apex and success in life is incumbent on your attitude. Talents unearthed, dreams incompletely realized, companies collapse, dismissal of folks from their professions has been the effect of bad attitudes over the centuries. Right attitude involves discipline, integrity and appreciating others.

Katharine Hepburn said, “Without discipline there is no life at all.” Discipline is what you do without inspiration. Rising to the top can take a blink of the eye. The ability to stay on top and make an impact is what would make a successful person. Many folks have fallen prey to temptations of achieving greatness. The opportunities, finances and freedom to please one’s self, having subordinates and other factors, many could not handle as a result of indiscipline. An individual does not become disciplined overnight. It’s a conscious training over a period of time that develops this trait. A disciplined person would go far in life because he or she is resilient. No matter how time changes, the rules bend, freedoms exist–he or she will remain unaffected due to training.

“Integrity has no need of rules,” said Albert Camus. Integrity is the quality of being honest, and having strong moral principle. A global canker is corruption which has caused a lot of harm to humanity. It takes integrity to withstand corruption. Why is integrity relevant? It gets one to always do the right things with or without supervision. This will always yield success, productivity, progress, development and prevent complications. The status quo is bedeviled with corruption and that has caused a lot of retrogression. To defy this, integrity has to be a way of life.

The value for other people is also a factor for altitude. Networking is a necessary factor for productivity. Voltaire said, ‘’By appreciation, we make excellence in others our own property.” Recommendations from others propel an individual to heights. The sense of security felt when one values others cannot be overemphasized. A true successful person influences his or her environment to think as he or she does. This can only happen when everyone’s effort is acknowledged. A leader with unsupportive subordinates is analogous to a coalition of lions led by a sheep.

The guiding principles of life cannot be done away with!