Success is Everything

People often say that money isn't everything, and I think I know what they really meant. When we put this in the perspective of success, it is quite intriguing to affirm such belief. This is because money can either be numerator or denominator for success.

First, you need to succeed to survive. We must take the seasons and learn how to use them with the seed, the soil and the rain of opportunity to learn how to sustain ourselves and our family.

But then second is to then succeed to flourish in every part of your life. A good question to ask mature people is, “If you could do better, should you?” I think almost everybody would answer the question in the positive.

It is like Zig said: “Improving in every area of your life to see if you can't, with satisfaction, at the end of the day, week, month and year say, ‘I have made excellent progress this year for myself, for my family, for my business, my career and my health.’” I think that kind of success is something everybody recognizes as legitimate and something we should all strive for.

As we progress into the second phase of 2014, the onus is on us to wake up to the task ahead and redirect our strength towards success and success only.

Life Choices

Each of us has two distinct choices to make about what we will do with our lives.

The first choice we can make is to be less than we have the capacity to be. To earn less. To have less. To read less and think less. To try less and discipline ourselves less. These are the choices that lead to an empty life. These are the choices that, once made, lead to a life of constant apprehension instead of a life of wondrous anticipation.

And the second choice? To do it all! To become all that we can possibly be. To read every book that we possibly can. To earn as much as we possibly can. To give and share as much as we possibly can. To strive and produce and accomplish as much as we possibly can. All of us have the choice.
To do or not to do. To be or not to be. To be all or to be less or to be nothing at all.

Our ultimate life objective should be to create as much as our talent and ability and desire will permit. To settle for doing less than we could do is to fail in this worthiest of undertakings. The greatest rewards are always reserved for those who bring great value to themselves and the world around them as a result of whom and what they have become.

Impact on Others

Early in our careers, we tend to be concerned with success, personal development and self-advancement. We think about what others can do for us. We spend the bulk of our time trying to get other people interested in our ideas and abilities. To this end, we trumpet our accomplishments and show off our knowledge. In short, they try to win others over by being impressive...(all because they were (are) leaders in the making).

As I mature into the art of leadership, I have began to understand that we will only go farther by focusing first on the advancement of others. Instead of trying to impress others, we should search for ways to show how we are impressed by others.

One of the best ways to demonstrate that you are looking out for the interests of your colleagues, teammates and subordinates is to do something for them that they cannot do for themselves.