7
Success Principles
E ver so often we find ourselves struggling to get ahead.
It is so easy to convince ourselves that something is impossible. We often give up even long before we give it our best effort.
We are very good in formulating a mental surrender that says: “I can’t do this. I’ll never make it. It’s not possible.” If we allow ourselves to think this way we are sure to fail.
Time to address some of the basic success principles. Principles that govern our potential to make progress. Because successful people work differently. What do they do? And why does that work? How do they make things happen? Here are [just] seven success principles.
#1
Take 100% responsibility for your life
You, and only you are totally responsible for your life. This is the first success principle to embrace if you plan for happiness and success. Get out of the ‘it is not my fault’ and ‘I can do nothing about it’-zone. Don’t play that victim any longer! Take responsibility for your life. Stop all the excuses and you will feel joy and in control of circumstances.
#2
Don’t talk. Act!
‘Action is the foundational key to all success’, Pablo Picasso once said. [click to tweet]
Anyone can share opinions. Opinions are cheap and therefore quickly forgotten. What you say isn’t interesting, what you do is! Spend your life doing instead of talking. Cool things will happen!
#3
Get over yourself [click to tweet]
Most of the time in personal and professional life you avoid all possibility of failure. Maximizing the odds of success. You feel compelled to maintain your all-knowing, all-achieving image. Stop trying to be perfect! Make mistakes. Hang yourself out there. Try! Chances are you’ll succeed! And when you fail: fail graciously.
#4
Start each day with expectation
If there’s any big truth about life, it’s that it usually lives up to [or down to] your expectations. Therefore, when you rise from bed, make your first thought: “Something wonderful is going to happen today.” Guess what? You’re probably right.
#5
End each day with gratitude
Just before you go to bed, write down at least one wonderful thing that happened. It might be something as small as a making a child laugh or something as huge as a million dollar deal. Whatever it is, be grateful for that day because it will never come again. Nowadays there is even a digital place where you can show your gratitude: gratitudelog.com | The Happiest Place on the Internet.
#6
Get rid of plan B [click to tweet]
Back-up plans can help you sleep easier at night. Back-up plans can also create an easy out when times get tough. You’ll show a lot more commitment if your primary plan simply has to work because there is no other option. And total commitment, without a safety net, will spur you harder than you ever imagined possible.
#7
Do the work!
You can be quite good with a little effort. You can be really good with some more effort. And you can be great if you put in an incredible amount of focused effort. There are no shortcuts. There are no overnight successes. Everyone has heard about the 10,000 hours principle but no one follows it… except remarkably successful people!
Sharing is caring!
As I said, these are just seven success principles. Do you have any success principles you live by?
Please share them and let us know! Leave yours in the comment box below.
Thank you!
Mirjam Stoffels
Founder of seven2success. Passionate entrepreneur and always interested in personal and business growth. In my mission to make seven2success the biggest platform of knowledge and information for women, by women, I want to inspire you with our content! Also check us on Facebook and Twitter! I’d love to connect! Do you want to inspire other women? Write for us!
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Hi Mirjam,
I really love the idea of this blog site full of empowering articles for women.
Also, I like the steps you’ve laid out in this blog post, and I am proud to say that I come pretty close to following those steps (most days…).
One of my more success principles is to take my promises seriously, particularly those promises I make to myself and my family. I even wrote a blog post about that… http://eenrijkerleven.nl/blog/hoeveel-vind-jij-jouw-beloftes-waard/
I am happy to translate that for you into English, if you’re interested…
I have subscribed to this blog now, and I am looking forward to your future articles for success!
Best wishes,
Saskia Steur
Thanks for your comment, Saskia!
The moment I wrote this blog post, I knew that seven principles where not enough. We could use one every day… So that is why the success principles became a topic on its own, here on seven2success and in our social media. And your success principle of taking your promises seriously, is still missing. So thank you for that! It will be the success principle of the day, one of these days. So stay tuned!