Seven Choices For SUCCESS and SIGNIFICANCE

Seven Choices For SUCCESS and SIGNIFICANCE
How to live life from the inside out



What is Success? Success is a journey to achieve what one has set goal at. Success doesn’t come to anyone but with strategic thinking, clear vision of what to accomplish, practical systems to achieve set goals and consistent execution, Success emerges.

When we decide what we want to achieve and we determine the first step to getting what we want, we simply plunge into action and do the first thing that will move us towards our goal.

Success is neither a matter of luck nor an accident of birth. It is also not a reward of virtue. With the seven choices for success, we are only responsible for our success and the joy therein. It is not just to succeed, but to use our success to impact people’s lives, to impact the world, to allow life flow from our inside and reflect out.

The choices we make determine the person we will become. The power to affect our future lies in our own hands. Every one of us has the freedom to choose how we will respond to the circumstances surrounding us. The will to win, the desire to succeed and the urge to reach one’s full potentials are keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.

Regardless of where we were born, what our financial positions are in life, when we love what we do and show passion towards our possibilities, we will experience joy and fulfillment from our inner selves.

The 7 key choices that determine our success include:

1.    Choose Transformational Patterns: Life is change, while growth is optional. For us to become successful in life, we must choose to transform our lives. The transformational choices are wise decisions that can change the direction of our lives.  Shaping our lives on path to success can be achieved by making a “To-be” list and adhering to it, for example, I want to be more generous, more patient, more learned, more passionate.

 

2.    Choose Energy Management over Time Management: There is need to focus on activities that contribute to the greatest value in our lives, while activities that contribute little or no value to our lives can be eliminated.

 

3.    Choose to Give: A natural Phenomena goes thus ”The more you give, the more you get…there is no happiness in having or in getting, but only in giving”

 

It is all about giving versus giving back; loving versus loving back. It is unconditional. Those who sow abundantly reap abundantly. This is the way a successful life thrives: invest one third in earning, one third in learning and one third in serving.

 

4.    Choose to be authentic: Authenticity trumps charisma any day. People want to do business with people they like and people they trust. Trust is a big thing. To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved. If people say they need you in their lives, then you have a great life. A successful man is someone who people trust.

 

5.    Choose to live a life in Balance: We come into the world head first and go out feet first; in between, it is all a matter of balance.  Every successful man needs to strike a balance with five kinds of capital: FINANCIAL, EDUCATIONAL, REPUTATIONAL, RELATIONAL and PHYSICAL.  It is Key to note that “A man’s reputation is what other people think he is; while his character is what God knows him to be”.

 

6.    Choose to be Positive: “A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug”. The first rule of developing a positive mental attitude is to act positively. A positive heart is thankful while whining is the opposite of thanksgiving. A positive heart will not complain about what it does not like. A man on his way to success will rather change his attitude towards a matter he cannot change than wear the cloth of complaint. A positive attitude at the dawn of the day will lead you to success all through the day. A great attitude is not the result of success; Success is the result of a great attitude. One’s beliefs lead to his behaviors and behaviors lead to results. If you don’t like the results, don’t fuss about your behaviors, examine and realign your beliefs.

 

7.    Choose to be a Risk Taker: The greatest risk in life is NEVER taking one. It is not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It is because we dare not venture that they are difficult. The process of growing and learning always involves risk and everything, from the smallest entrepreneurial business, to our country’s space program, was built on risk.

 

A man on his journey to success chooses to be a risk taker. If you take risk out of life, you take opportunity out of life. Risk management solves every problem. Successful people don’t avoid risks, they learn to manage them. They don’t dive off cliffs into unexplored waters. They learn how deep the water is, and make sure there are no hidden obstacles. Then they plunge into the water!

The risk management tools that can guide every inherent risk include: What’s the best thing that can happen as a result of taking this risk? What’s the most likely thing to happen as a result of taking this risk? What’s the worst thing that can happen as a result of taking this risk? These tools are applicable to anything in life - from buying real estate, entering into a partnership, evaluating a new job or travelling into a new city. If these tools are put in place, you’ll make some good decisions.

Conclusion: 

“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start”.

 

Using the seven keys above, one can choose success and significance. A solid fact remains; success is not a matter of luck, not an accident of birth, not a reward for virtue. The most successful people are the ones who have something to do, somewhere to be and someone to love. No one is responsible for your success or joy. It all starts with the choices we make…they determine the person we will become.

 

Culled from:  Seven Choices for Success and Significance - how to live life from the inside out, by Nido R. Qubein