Success principles
September

Success principles September

 
 

‘Define success on your own terms,
achieve it by your own rules,
and build a life you’re proud to live.’

Anne Sweeney

 
 
 
 

#244

Take time to relax
You may enjoy the work you do. But even if most of your working day is filled with things you enjoy doing, it’s still necessary to take some time off to relax. To tune out. Turn off. Shut down. And do something different. Running a business can be a roller-coaster ride. Exciting highs. Heart-breaking lows. And as we juggle responsibilities we fit all into an overloaded work day. Relaxing helps you to de-stress, get creative, to evaluate and assess, to celebrate an to rejuvenate!

 

#245

Think like successful people
It’s easy to say someone is successful because of connections, fate or luck. If success is your goal, it’s time to start thinking like those who are. The world’s most successful people have one thing in common: they think differently from everyone else. Change your thinking, change your life. Regardless of industry or profession, they all share the same perspectives and beliefs. Some of those are: smart thinkers expose themselves to different ideas and types of people. Smart people collaborate with other smart people. Reject popular thinking [which often means not thinking at all] and get over negative self talk. Winners think in terms of ‘I will’ and ‘I can’.

 

#246

Do the time and reap the benefits
Don’t take shortcuts. You can always be better, work more [even if only a little more]. You can’t be successful without the effort. You have to put in more time than the average individual if you want to be more than average. Most successful people not only want to put in more time, the do put in more time.

 

#247

Focus is everything
When you are too busy looking behind and around you, people are passing you. If you never focus clearly on something, you will never be 100% efficient at anything. Multitasking might seem to make you efficient at getting multiple tasks done at once, but it usually reduces your efficiency up to 40% in dealing with each individual task. Stop it!

 

#248

Don’t scale back your ambitions
…because you want to be a mom! Too many women turn down opportunities because they plan to have kids.. some day.. not even imminently. You can combine a career with motherhood. Your childcare options become easier the more you earn [as an mompreneur or in a senior position]. If you’re working in a company, your company is more likely to make accommodations for your needs as a mom if you are in a senior position. Having a career you love, has so many positives for you and your children, including financial independence – that it’s worth it to juggle both.

 

#249

Dont’ create a back-up plan
Back-up plans create an easy way out. When it comes to your goals, having a backup plan means you’re going to fail. Or as Will Smith once said, ‘Your Plan B interferes with Plan A.’ If you have no choice but to succeed, you will work harder …and succeed. Is it irresponsible? Perhaps. Irrational? Most times. Crazy? Pretty much. But does it work? In his book Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill studied some of the world’s most successful men. What they had in common? The ‘burned all the bridges’ and were fully committed to their dreams.

 

#250

Go big or go home
The expression means to go all the way to do something or go home and not bother. Do whatever needs to be done to be successful. Doing things to the fullest or not at all. Set your goals high. Don’t set small goals. You will work harder when you are working towards your ultimate goal.

 

#251

Carpe diem!
Don’t be scared to grab opportunities when they present themselves. Take advantage of as many opportunities as possible. Sometimes just one opportunity can mean the difference between an extraordinary life and a mediocre one. Taking advantage of opportunities in life starts with simply saying yes to them when they come around. Say yes to life, say yes to opportunities and say yes to yourself. Great opportunities often come from your own great ideas so don’t say no to them. Seize the day, seize every opportunity!

 

#252

Turn your wishes into reality
Everything begins a thought entering your head. A wish. Then the wish evolves into a desire. The stronger the desire, the more likely you are to achieve it. Once you have a burning desire, you set a clear intention, an anticipated outcome. Be firm in your belief. So firm that you carry forward despite what others may say. Wayne Dyer said, ‘Motivation is when you grab hold of an idea and carry it through to the end. But inspiration is when an idea grabs hold of you and carries YOU through to the end.’ Be fully inspired to make your wishes a reality.

 

#253

You don’t have to be 100% ready
Too often, we are afraid to take on new challenges. Maybe you’ve been putting things off for way too long, with the excuse that you don’t feel ready. And guess what? You’ll probably never feel 100% ready. And if you ever get to the point where you do feel 100% ready, it will probably be too late. So get started yesterday. Or today, if yesterday doesn’t work for you. Go for it! Just do it!

 

#254

Don’t drive yourself crazy
This one is especially for all the working mom[preneur]s. Don’t drive yourself crazy with ‘perfection guilt’. Guilt seems to be the evil twin we take on with motherhood. Stop beating yourself up! Guilt management is just as important as time management for mothers. You’ve got to stop making yourself nuts trying to be perfect! Relax. Studies show that kids of working moms are just as well-adjusted and successful as moms who stay at home, plus you’ll be a great role model for them — especially your daughters.

 

#255

Get rid of pride
Mistakes are inevitable and can be extremely beneficial if you choose to learn from them. Recognizing and admitting mistakes, apologizing when needed and giving credit where credit is due is a must!

 

#256

Help other women
If you rise to the top, you’ll help other women. Only when women are half the CEO’s and half the government leaders will opportunities at the top fully open up for women, according to Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook in her book ‘LeanIn – Women, Work and the Will to Lead’. So if you become a leader, you’ll be helping your female colleagues, friends and daughters to be recognized and promoted, too! When women are accepted in a far bigger way as leaders, it changes our society’s attitudes and actions toward women permanently.

 

#257

Take that last hurdle
Surprisingly many people fall, fail or even give up at the last hurdle. This can happen for a number of reasons. Lack of strategy for getting over the winning line. Not realizing how close they were to the finish. Becoming complacent, thinking success arrives automatically. Maybe even becoming bored with it! Or not realizing that this was their ‘golden chance’! So no matter what: take your last hurdle!

 

#258

Have courage
Courage is very rare in our world. Because above everything else, most people value security and tolerate just about anything — a bad marriage, a horrible boss, a job that they hate — if only that makes them feel more secure. Sad, really. It takes courage to take the risk of failure. It takes courage to make your dreams into reality and it takes courage to make choices that bring harmony and balance. But beware! Courage is not always about action. It also takes courage to do nothing, rather than do something that you do not believe in or understand.

 

#259

Live life in harmony
Harmony is when there is complete agreement between what you think, say and do. This is all about being congruent. Some people will say what they believe is expected, not what is actually going through their mind. Others will do what they think is expected, even though it’s not what they think or believe to be correct. These internal conflicts rob you of your happiness. If you do what you say, and say what you think [and truly believe], then all is in alignment. Then you have the opportunity for happiness and success.

 

#260

Find inner balance
Inner balance is the reward of living life in harmony. It is when you are most calm and content because there is no disconnect between your thoughts, words and actions. You gain inner strength that protects you from being adversely affected by what people say or do. You have the ability to function and be in control in difficult situations. The presence of inner peace and balance in your life means that you possess common sense and good judgment, and that the outside world cannot shake your inner world.

 

#261

Take your business seriously
Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s once said: ‘I didn’t invent the hamburger, I just took it more seriously than anyone else.’ Stop treating your business like a hobby. Have a detailed plan, know what you need to do and how much you need to make to be profitable. You must also reinvest as much as you possibly can, especially in the beginning. Take your business and yourself seriously and other people will too. You’ve got to mean business!

 

#262

Make happiness a necessity
Have you ever met people who wear suffering as a badge of honor…the ones who insist on being somber and serious even on a glorious day? The ones who think that there is such a thing as ‘too much happiness’? Yes, there will be rough times during which we choose to either drown or rise above. But all this ‘suffering’ really isn’t necessary. It is our birthright to be happy…every single day. Happiness is not a luxury. It is a necessity. When we are happy we are in the best possible place to be good to ourselves and those those around us. When you’re happy you’re more loving, more giving, more optimistic, more curious, more open to learning, and more open to being more happy and having an abundant life…

 

#263

Sleep
Get a good night’s sleep. There’s practically no aspect of life that’s not improved by sleep and, accordingly, diminished by lack of sleep. Sleep deprivation negatively impacts your mood, your ability to focus, and your ability to access higher-level cognitive functions. Not only will eight hours keep you mentally sharp, but a full night’s rest can keep your appetite in check too. Watch this great, short TEDTalk by Arianna Huffington: ‘How to succeed? Get more sleep!’

 

#264

Love learning
A famous quote by Henry Ford is “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.” Develop a love for learning. In an growth mindset brains and talent are just the starting point. A love for learning is essential for great accomplishment. Read books. Participate in webinars or live seminars to get new ideas and skills and to network with the others present. All great people love to learn.

 

#265

Get on and do it!
As a rule, thinking is a good thing and while some people don’t do it enough, some over-think everything. Some people think themselves into stagnation, frustration, exhaustion, anxiety and even illness. You’ve got to get on and do it! Don’t over-think things.

 

#266

Keep setting goals
When you’ve achieved a goal, take the time to enjoy the satisfaction of having done so. If the goal was a significant one, reward yourself appropriately! And then make sure that your achieved goal becomes the launching pad for another, bigger goal. If you achieved the goal too easily, make your next goal harder. If in the process of achieving this goal you learned something that would lead you to set other goals, do so. Or maybe you learned something that leads you to make changes in existing goals you’ve set? Do so too! Remember that your goals will change as time goes on. Adjust them regularly to reflect the growth in your knowledge and experience.

 

#267

Commit to quality
To make or do something better is to increase quality. Making and doing things better is a mark of success. A simple conclusion follows: to increase quality is to achieve success. The best part of this is that everyone can do it. Quality is an attitude. The believe that making something better is a good direction to travel. Apply this to your work. Apply this to relationships.Apply this to anything and everything you do. You will find, almost immediately, that your life will begin to be better, and your future will look brighter.

 

#268

Get out there
Don’t be afraid to get out there and network. Building solid relationships in business is crucial. Successful businesses are built on strong relationships. The relationships you’re building today are worth attention and care. So get out into the real world and meet your contacts, your customers, your suppliers and strangers!

 

#269

Use your wisdom
Call it inner wisdom, intuition, insight or guidance. This is the little voice inside you that represents the real you. It’s the you after stripping away society’s standards and expectations. And everyone else’s. Wisdom is the ability to make the right decisions at the right time. Wisdom alerts you when you are out of balance. It is your inner voice guiding you through and past the noise.

 

#270

Cleanliness
A messy workspace increases stress. When your desk looks like a bomb went off, that impacts your mental state. When there is clarity and organization in your physical space and your thoughts, you can more easily access the inner wisdom and courage that makes harmony and balance achievable.

 

#271

Have a firm handshake
Whether you realize it or not, your hands reveal many things about you. A good firm handshake is a universal sign of strength and assuredness which is why everyone [yes, you too ladies] should have one. A firm (but not crushing) handshake is a sign of mutual respect from both parties. It immediately sets the tone for any meeting.

 

#272

Sing in the shower
And not only in the shower. Also while driving your car, cleaning your house or with a group of people. Singing is a beneficial and invigorating activity. Belting out your favorite song releases endorphins to make you feel happy and uplifted. It also increases the anti-stress hormone hydrocortisone and immunoglobin A-proteins, antibodies in the immune system. The antibodies will keep you healthy by fighting off infections. Singing also requires deep breathing, which gets more oxygen to the blood increasing circulation and improving your mood. Singing will help you maintain a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Sing to get a better nights rest and stay energized throughout the day. So let yourself go and start working those vocal cords!

 

#273

Be an excellent receiver
Strangely, most of us are better givers than we are receivers. But receiving, that is another matter. We often feel uncomfortable when receiving. Even compliments get deflected when they come our way. Someone pays us a compliment and we say ‘Ah, it was nothing.’ Be a good receiver and let life’s many blessing nourish you deeply. Notice how much there is to receive and receive it generously and abundantly, showing your appreciation every opportunity you can.

 
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