We all dream of success regardless of our ethnic, religious, cultural, or economic background. It is really an aspiration common to all human beings. Some of us want to be successful in school, others in their jobs, and yet others in their relationships with others. While some may succeed in their endeavors, others fail. Why does this happen? Why do some people fail even though others who are less educated may become successful? In my opinion, and as I have argued in my latest book The Shortest Way to Success: The Art of Self-Management (2009), this may be related to the failure of these people to correctly manage themselves. The most important element of rightly managing oneself is to have the right attitude. Many, if not most, have the wrong belief that they just can't achieve great success because they don't have what it takes. Just as simple as that. Some others always blame luck for not achieving success, but they never blame themselves. Hence, they always complain that they weren't born to be successful. Such an attitude can really destroy lives. Yet some others always blame their life circumstances which prevent them from getting a higher degree, and they strongly believe that success cannot be achieved without such a degree. But, does success need all these things – luck, money, and degree? The answer simply is: No. Success mainly needs faith in your own ability to achieve it. In other words, in order to have success you need to believe in your self. Just tell yourself, “I can do, I can do.” This is the first step toward success. You must be loaded with confidence in your possibilities and chances of being successful in all the aspects of your life. One method which we use in NLP (Nero Language Programming) to get such confidence is “to act as if.” What does this mean? Suppose you want to be a great writer. What you need to do is to act as a great writer. Doing so, will give you the feeling that you are a great writer which indeed will increase your confidence in being so. The second step toward success after believing in your ability to be whatever you want to be is to find a purpose in life. In other words you must be internally-driven rather than externally-driven. You must do what you want to do instead of conforming to what others think you should do. Thirdly, after finding your true purpose in life, you must make an effort to achieve that goal. That is to say successful people don't just think, they act. This effort must be a consistent one. Otherwise, you'll just simply never get what you expect. Sometimes you might get knocked down. Do not worry, just get up again. Do not listen those who tell you to stop. Just keep fighting for your dream. The determination is very important here. The fourth step, however, is to learn from other people, especially the successful ones. There is no doubt that successful people might be intelligent or naturally energetic and some of them may have a socially well-connected background. However, the most important trait in them is that they are open to learning from any available source. Hence, much can be improved in our life by learning from the people who have gone before us. Such hunger for knowledge is a key point in being successful. Francis Bacon said in Aphorism III: “Knowledge and human power are synonymous, since the ignorance of the cause frustrates the effect.” The fifth point is to have a positive attitude towards life and other people. It is only by having such attitude that you can open new doors for yourself every day. You can receive new ideas and input and create or sustain great relationships. However, a negative attitude can be very damaging and limiting to one's life. – SG The writer can be reached at [email protected] __
