Success in life has rules just like everything else in life. If there is hot there is cold if there is sadness then there is joy. If there is poverty then there is rosperity. Recognizing that everything in the universe has a set of criteria that defines it makes everything understandable and achievable. Success is no different. I have compiled six guideliness for prosperity that can be utilized by anyone with the desire to achieve.
Rule #1
Potential
The First rule required for success is to recognize that you have the potential to achieve more in life in any area you choose have picked to focus your attention. Too many human beings sell themselves short. Most of us have not even begun to tap our true potential in life. Only when we recognize that we are capable of more, will we then move forward and achieve more.
Make a list of all your strengths and your faults/weaknesses. STOP HERE and do not read on till you have made your list!
Which list was easier for you to create? If you said your weaknesses, then you are like most individuals who do not focus on what they CAN do, they focus on what they cannot. If your lists were equal, then you have reached the stage where at least you can see what you have and what you have yet to perfect. If you say your strengths, then you have learned to recognize your potential OR you have a tendency to next accept that you have faults. Careful of the second, we all have areas that we need to improve upon. Being able to recognize them is also strength. By the way, for the first group, was that strength on your list?? I bet it was not.
Rule #2
Selflessness
One of the things that the universe also teaches is that in order to receive, you have to give. You cannot have fire without first creating a form of heat. You cannot have money without effort of some sort. Many criminals will tell you that money gained without any effort rarely has value. Easy come… so it is easy go and go it will! So what does this have to do with selflessness? Our universe fills voids. For example, to get rid of an old habit, I must replace it with a healthy one. I just can’t eliminate the bad habit. The bad habit met some need of mine and if it is not replaced, then once again, the need is not being met. If the need is not being met, the habit will either reappear or another habit (good or bad) will replace it.
If you apply this to success, then to receive you must give. What you give may vary; it might be your time, money or creativity. Many business people will tell you that you cannot make money without spending money. The basic precept is true, but you can make money without money if you have something to give in exchange. But Zig Ziglar had the precept down to a science, “I find success by helping others to find success.” I have found this precept to be true time after time. My biggest successes whether they were monetary or just personal joy have been when someone else achieved. MLM’s are built on this precept. The upline is only successful if the downline is successful. This is a forced version of a basic law of the universe. What you want in life, you must give away. Monetary compensation will follow if you learn to truly apply the law of selflessness.
Rule #3
Allowance
Allowance, what does that have to do with success? Ever ‘try’ to do something? Let us do an experiment. Drop an item of the floor and ‘try’ to pick it up. Okay, is it in your hand? Yes? Well then, you failed. I did not tell you to pick it up. I told you to try. Yoda from Star wars told Luke, do or do not. That precept is as basic as it gets. You cannot force success or life. We do not make the sun rise, it just does. The same applies to success. You cannot ‘try’ to get it, and you cannot force it. You must allow it to come to you through your daily efforts. The path of least resistance is always followed by nature for a reason. When energy is expended in a direction contrary to its nature, then there is no energy left for accomplishment. In the human experience, it is not uncommon to see businessmen frantically going about their day with high stress and no joy. They are so busy ‘trying’ for success that they cannot enjoy their own prosperity. Their family might enjoy the prosperity but often this forced effort is not enjoyed and often leads to medical consequences such as high blood pressure and heart attacks. Live life to the fullest every day. Live it to your potential. Success will follow. It has to follow because it is a basic law.
One note here: Define what success to you is. Is it a dollar amount? Freedom? Time? What is it and how will you know if you have achieved it? Once you have achieved it, then what?
Rule #4
Goals
The last note leads to the next rule. You must have goals. You do not get in a car normally and drive aimlessly. You have a destination in mind. You may need maps to get there. Depending on how far you are going, you might even have to plan stops, expenses and meals. Life is no different. A life without any goals is a life wandered and lived aimlessly. Your goals do not have to be mine. Your goal might be as simple as a small boat on the lake on warm sunny weekends and mine might be to fly into space before I leave this life. It does not matter how small or how extravagant, a life must have goals.
Make a dream board or book. This is a pictorial reference with notes of everything you want in life. Everything you want to do, see, have or be. Look at it often! Keep your goals in mind. Have at least one you are working towards at any given moment and mark it on your board or in your book. Then break that goal down into achievable and measurable steps. Let’s say my goal is to get promoted. I go and sit down with my boss and flat out ask. What do you need to see in me or what do I need to improve to get a promotion down the road. I take the list from my boss. It might be education, experience or even just showing that I have invested myself into the company. Next, break the goal down into achievable, measurable and time focused steps. For example, let’s say one thing I needed was better communication skills. I might set a date to join toastmasters, or a date to start a class at the local college to improve those skills.
Whatever you dream of should be in your book. Whatever you plan to actually work on should be your goals. Each goal should have ladder like steps to measure progress. If you miss a date, do not give up the goal. Go back and ask yourself was my timeline realistic? If it was, did I procrastinate anywhere? Identify what delayed your progress and rectify it. Once that is done, set a new achievement date and keep on going. We only fail in life when we give up!
Rule #5
Let Go!
Once you set your goal, – let it go. Do not spend every day measuring your progress. Even in dieting they tell you to only weigh in once a week. It is the same with your goals. Pick a day of the week to figure out if you achieved your weekly goals and set new ones. Once that session of self-evaluation is done, then let it go! Live each day to the fullest. Remember the law of selflessness. Give of your time and your energy but trust that the outcome will occur as long as you are not trying to force it. Each time you force your goals, they no longer bring any satisfaction in the bigger picture because often basic building blocks of the foundation are not strong. It may look like you are making progress only to have it crumble near the top. Just trust in whatever higher power you have and move forward.
Rule #6
Purpose
I have a solid belief that everyone has purpose. If your chosen goals do not bring you happiness, you are contrary to your purpose. If your job is something you dread going to, it is not in line with your purpose. Now in this economy, I am not suggesting that you throw in the towel and quit your job. But what I am suggesting is that while you have that job, you start looking elsewhere. Do not think that winning the lottery will solve the problem if you are still not living to your potential (rule 1) and your purpose. More than one affluent person has committed suicide, been throw multiple marriages and so on. They are not happy, because they are not at purpose. Everything in this universe has a purpose. What is yours? You will know it when you find it. You could be out under the sun and sweating profusely and there will be a smile on your face if you are aligned with your purpose.
Living these six rules in life is difficult. I am not going to hint that they are not. Sometimes, I forget to look at my dream board and lose focus. How about you? Sometimes, I do not let go and try to force results only to spend money I should not have or energy that is wasted. How about you? Sometimes, I try to rush to the end of a goal and do not lay out a path that will actually get me there. How about you? Sometimes, I am my own worst enemy and cite to myself every possible fault I have and reason why I will not achieve a goal and forget I have strengths. How about you?
What I can tell you is when these six rules are in line in my life. I am happy. I do not worry about money. I do not dread getting up in the morning. My alarm clock, like Zig Ziglar often says, becomes my “opportunity clock.” Someday, and it IS in my dream book, I will live all six daily because with that day, comes not only success, but happiness!
