Principles of Success
Taken together and practised every day, these ten principles of success will change your life beyond your wildest dreams.
1. Take 100% responsibility for your life/business
One person is 100% responsible for my success, and that is me. This is the first principle of success. To be successful in life, you must first take full responsibility for your own actions. All our success and failures, as well as our relationships, finances, health, and feelings, are ours.
It was me who created the life that I live now, so I must accept full responsibility. If I refuse to take full responsibility for my actions, I will not be able to achieve the things that are most important to me. I also won’t have the ability of remaking my life. We must take full responsibility for our lives and stop blaming other people for our failures and problems. Our thoughts and actions have made our lives difficult. There is no reason for us to blame anyone. While we can only blame ourselves, that’s not the point. The past is past and cannot be changed. We can now create our own future. Although we’ve always had the ability to make it happen, for various reasons we haven’t. We can now do things differently to get the results that we desire. The rule E+R=O (Event + Response=Outcome) is the reason. This rule states that any outcome in life, whether it is good or bad, is a result of how we react to previous events.
It is clear that people respond differently to the same situation. Some people are successful while others are unsuccessful. It is easy to see that we can achieve different results by reacting in a different manner. Blaming the events for our failures is futile. Change your responses to events in order to get the results you want. Although we don’t have control of many events in our lives, we do have control over how they are handled. You can alter your thinking, behavior, and communication. You can also transform your old habits into better ones.
Jack Canfield states that “Everything you experience in life – both internally and externally – is the result of how you have responded to a previous event”. All that I see today is the result my past choices. Three things are within my control: my thoughts and visualizations, as well as my actions. To change my life, I must change my thoughts, visualizations and actions. If I continue to hold onto my past negative reactions, I will continue to get the same negative results. It is time to stop complaining about others and take responsibility for my own life.
This principle is the foundation of a successful life. This principle is the foundation of my success.
2. Believe It’s Possible
This principle states that we can achieve anything our minds can imagine and believe. We must replace our negative expectations with positive thoughts, so that our minds can work towards the desired outcome.
Many people don’t reach their goals not because they lack the skills required, but because they don’t believe they can.
3. Believe in Yourself
This principle is related to the previous one. I can achieve anything my mind can imagine and believe. I must believe in me. To create the life I want, I have to believe I can. Believe in myself and believe I have the skills, abilities and resources to achieve my goals. It is up to me to believe that I can accomplish whatever it is I set my mind to. I won’t do all the work necessary to make it possible if I believe that something is impossible. I believe it is possible to accomplish something if I believe it can be done. To succeed, I must stop saying “I can’t”. I know my brain can solve any problem I present it with and achieve any goals I set for myself, but I find that my negative thoughts and thoughts have a negative influence on my mind. I must stop allowing my negative thoughts to control my thoughts.
Jack Canfield provides some examples that prove belief in yourself is more important than training, schooling or knowledge. Many highly successful people have dropped out of college.
4. Release the Brakes
This principle of success states that most people drive their lives with their psychological brakes engaged. These brakes include negative thoughts about themselves, false beliefs about reality, guilt, and self-doubt. These brakes can cancel out good intentions and will stop people from trying.
The brakes are released by successful people. Our unfounded beliefs can be likened to prison. They prevent us from achieving our goals. We must first get out of our own prisons. Three methods are suggested by the author to accomplish this. They are: a) affirmations and positive self-talk b) creating powerful and compelling new internal images of having, doing and creating what we want c) changing our behaviour.
5. See What You Want, Get What You See
This principle is all about visualization. Visualization is the art of creating vivid and compelling images in your mind. Important for me is this: Visualization simply helps the brain achieve more. My subconscious mind will turn my dreams into reality if I visualize my goals as being achieved. It is very simple. You just need to close your eyes and visualize the goals I have already achieved. You can add sounds, emotions and feelings to your pictures to make it more powerful. Visualization is only possible if you have emotions. It is important to enjoy visualization. It shouldn’t be boring. When we do visualizations correctly, we feel fulfilled and create a happy future.
6. Take Action
People spend a lot of time planning, organizing and analysing but fail to act. These things are also done by successful people, but they never take action. They are eager to act. Things happen when I take action. It has been my experience that I learn faster when I’m active. The details become apparent. These are the next steps. It is important to remember that success requires you to follow the example of successful people. Successful people are action-oriented. It is not a good idea to be too cautious. Even if I make mistakes, I can still learn from them and reach my goals. If I’m too cautious or afraid to take action, I won’t be able to achieve my goals. It is also a way to find satisfaction.
7. Be constantly improving
This principle states that I must constantly strive to improve my skills if I want success. It is important to always strive to improve. I need a clear look at my goals and identify what I can do to make them more achievable.
Canfield suggests taking small, manageable steps that we can improve upon. This will help us not get discouraged or overwhelmed by the seemingly impossible tasks. To improve takes time. Although it takes time to improve, if you keep learning and improving every day, your skills and knowledge will one day be very valuable in your life.
8. Practise Persistence
One of the most important characteristics of successful people is persistence. It is difficult to overcome all obstacles in life.
Because they lack perseverance, people often give up before they reach their goals. You will eventually achieve your goal if you persevere.
9. Learn More to Make More
This principle is all about learning. The more knowledge and skills I have, the more successful I will be.
Canfield suggests that I reduce the amount of time I spend watching TV and instead use this time to read. He recommends reading books about psychology, finance and health, as well as books that are inspirational. He recommends biographies about great people.
Attending success rallies, conferences, and retreats is another way to learn. You must be able to learn from others. This means that I must be able to learn from others when I am given the chance to listen to them or learn something from them. You must be humble.
10. Get started now! Do it!
This principle states that “There is no perfect moment to start”. Let me get started. Canfield states, “Once your start moving and producing results all manner of things will begin to happen that take you farther and faster than you ever thought.”
