success in life

© Deus Taremwa 2013 Series

UNDERSTANDING SUCCESS IN LIFE

WINFRED JONES(+2567749972985)NOVEMBER, 2013


Success in Life

What Is Success?• Success is about getting all that you

wanted to have. It's finding that you have achieved your goals or fulfilled your plans and it's waking up in the morning feeling victorious rather than feeling defeated.

• The feelings success brings will make you walk proudly in the streets with your head up high while being happy and satisfied.

http://www.2knowmyself.com/Happiness_definition/how_to_be_happy_in_life


How to Be Successful in Life

• Contrary to common beliefs, there are no successful or unsuccessful people but instead there are people who have the potential to succeed and who do things that help them realize this potential and there are people with the same potential who don’t do those things.

• The only thing you need to do to succeed is to do exactly what successful people did. When we go through all the slides below, you will acquire the mentality of a successful person and this will help you reach success.

http://www.2knowmyself.com/subconscious_mind/Subconscious_mind_belief_system


What Makes Me Unsuccessful?

If you really want to be successful then you should have a solid understanding of certain concepts that can limit your potential and that can make you unsuccessful. Successful people avoid these harmful concepts and so should you:• False Beliefs: False beliefs are incorrect ideas you hold

about something or about yourself. An example of a false belief could be “I can never find a job in such a country” . False beliefs act as limiters to your true potential and so to your success. Getting rid of false beliefs and knowing more about them is the most important task that you should do if you are serious about success. False beliefs can not only limit your success potential but they can even ruin your life. Some people stay broken for years after a breakup just because they have some false beliefs about love that they acquired from the media. This happens because the mind refuses to recover if it believed that it will never find a replacement for the person you broke up with.

http://www.2knowmyself.com/motivation/Unleash_your_true_potential/how_to_unleash_your_potential


What Makes Me Unsuccessful? Cont’d

• External Locus of Control: This is the way of thinking that makes a person assume that everything that happens to him is the result of external factors. For example: saying that an exam was too hard when you don't do well or claiming that high unemployment rate is the reason you can't find a job are examples of external locus of control. The flip side to that way of thinking is Internal Locus of Control which is the way of thinking that makes you believe that you are in charge and in control of everything that happens to you. None of the successful people have an external locus of control so if you are serious about success you should learn how to change your way of thinking from being based on external locus of control to being based on internal locus of control.



• Lack of Persistence: What is good about having many qualities and skills if you lost hope in succeeding after failing once or twice? The only people who succeed in life are the persistent ones. Those who continue working right to the end until they get what they want even if everything was against them and even if they failed many times. If you want to be successful then, learn how to stand up again even if you failed hundreds of times.

• Lack of Flexibility: Flexibility is the ability to adapt to external conditions. It's the ability to try something else or another method when your current method fails. The more flexible you are, the more you will adapt to changes and the higher your chances of success will be. Learn how to be flexible and how to change your methods when they don't work.



• Lack of Planning: If you don’t have goals or plans then you are going to be part of other people's plans. If you don’t plan to be the team leader at your work then someone else in your team will do so and if you don't plan to get that high paying job then someone else who planned and worked for it will take it from you. If you don’t plan you will get swept away by the people who do. They will fill the positions, make the money and get the fame while you'll just be a spectator.

• Lack of Self-confidence: If you don't have a high self-confidence then most probably you will be too shy of presenting your ideas and you may give up your dreams as soon as someone tells you that they are not possible. You may fear taking any risks and so ignore many opportunities that could have made you successful. If you want to increase your chances of being a successful person, then you must build your self-confidence.

http://www.2knowmyself.com/shyness/overcoming_shyness

http://www.2knowmyself.com/fear/dealing_with_fear

http://www.2knowmyself.com/Psychology_of_risk_taking/risk_takers/adolescent_Risk_taking_behavior/taking_calculated_risks



• Thinking that you lack resources: In his book ’How i did it’, Farouk Radwan explains how he managed to make a website that generates thousands of dollars/month in less than 2 years with an initial investment that is less than 50 dollars!! Don't fool yourself by thinking that you lack resources because if you are serious about success you will do it without having any resources. This website is one of the examples of successful businesses that required no resources at the start up.

• Success related Fears: The types of fears that can affect your ability to succeed are the fear of failure and the fear of success. While they both seem to be complete opposites still they can have the same effect on you which is preventing you from trying and so leading you to failure.

http://www.2knowmyself.com/making_money_from_the_internet






The Road to Success

• After going through the previous slides then it's time to know how the road to success looks like, so that you don't find unexpected surprises.

• The road to success will probably be full of rejection, pain, hard work, disappointment as well as many other discouraging things but when you reach its end you will feel really happy and victorious.

• You will feel proud of yourself for overcoming all of these obstacles and for reaching your goals in spite of the many things that stood in your way. You will be tremendously happy and satisfied. In short, you will receive the reward of being successful.

• Farouk is not only holding several degrees in psychology but he is also an MBA holder, a stock market investor and an entrepreneur. The information we are sharing now can dramatically increase your chance of increasing your wealth and becoming rich.

http://www.2knowmyself.com/Success/the_road_to_success

http://www.2knowmyself.com/disappointment/dealing_with_disappointment


5 Fundamentals for Success in Life


1. Be Proactive• Viktor Frankl said that between stimulus and response

there is a gap, and within this gap lies all our freedom. Even as he was suffering immense privations in a Nazi concentration camp, he realized that he was responsible for his thoughts and actions and was not simply a bundle of conditioned responses.

• Like Frankl, we should strive to be the creators of our own destiny, orchestrating our experience of life. Everything starts in the mind and ripples out, so what happens around us is a reflection of our own inner world. Whether we allow our inner world to grow wild, whether we let weeds spring up and take hold or whether we cultivate a green and pleasant garden – it is all our choice: this is what it means to be proactive.


2. Take Responsibility• Since we have the power to choose our experience, we

also need to accept responsibility for this. Perhaps not that everything that comes our way is a direct result of our own thinking (though some might say it is) but what we attract into our life, is largely, a reflection of our thinking. Much of this occurs on a subconscious level, but the subconscious takes its lead from the thinking mind, so changing our thoughts will change our world, and we are responsible for this.

• Our behavior is a natural outcome of our mental images, and so we are responsible for our behavior too, and also for the behavior we tolerate in others. If we allow others to ride roughshod over us, then we have ourselves to blame.


3. Be a Good Leader• We cannot be effective in any area of life unless we have

good leadership skills. Leadership is an art and each of us needs to find our own approach to it. Primarily, we need to understand how to lead ourselves, and this means having a compass, a direction which guides all our actions. This compass often takes the form of a personal mission statement, a document spelling out the values we live by.

• As we lead others, whether as parents, bosses, in families or organizations of which we are a part, we need first and foremost to lead by example, making it clear what our values are and that we live by them. Any inconsistency in our professed values and our behavior will be spotted, seen through and will ruin our effectiveness. Personal complicity and double standards are the nails in the coffin of our ability to lead.

• A good leader will lead quietly and subtly, from the rear, without fuss, without fanfare. In the words of the Tao Te Ching, as described below;


3. Be a Good Leader Cont’d

• ‘A good soldier does not inspire fear;A good fighter does not display aggression;A good conqueror does not engage in battle;A good leader does not exercise authority.

• This is the value of unimportance;This is how to win the cooperation of others;This to how to build the same harmony that is in nature.’


4. Don’t Let Fear Stop You• The film “The Village” by M Night Shyamalan is about facing

the fears that haunt us and realizing that, when we do so, they disappear – nothing is as it seems. The most commonly given assurance in the Bible is ‘do not be afraid for am with you.’

• Whenever we grow, there is fear. Whenever we do something new, there is fear. Whenever we push ourselves to new heights or expand our comfort zone, there is fear. This is the nature of life. Life is always moving – either we are moving forward, growing, or we are moving back, dying. We have a choice – we can either grow or we can die. Growth and fear go hand in hand. It’s part of a package, and if we fail to embrace the whole package, we will die.

• Don’t fear failure – failure is inevitable and necessary. Look at the life of any successful person and you will see a litany of failure. This failure is the foundation of success, so long as we learn from it.

• Don’t fear other people. They are as vulnerable and as beautiful as you are – only sometimes they lash out in various ways to protect themselves. Everyone is doing their best, so be gentle on other people and don’t be scared of them.

• When you face your fears, they will vanish like smoke.


5. Never Stop Learning• I have come to the conclusion that learning is the

fundamental activity in a successful and purposeful life. If we fail to learn, we fail to grow, and this means that we die. Life gives us endless opportunities to learn, and the more difficult the situation, the more we are likely to learn.

• We can learn from other people, especially difficult ones – they are like angels sent from heaven to teach us about ourselves. We can learn from the things happening around us. And most of all, we can learn by watching ourselves, seeing how we react and reflecting deeply on what moves us.

These five activities, if they can become habits, will lead to success in all areas of life. They are not a quick fix, but are the foundation of a life lived well.


10 Commandments for Success in LifeHere are ten points gleaned from the writings of Sri Swami Sivananda, which can lead any individual towards success in their chosen path in life. These guidelines have the power to benefit you - physically, mentally and spiritually.1. Have a simple and unassuming manner of life.2. Live not to eat, but eat to live.3. Bear no envy. Commit no slander. Speak no falsehood. Practice no deceit. Harbor no malice. You will be ever joyful, happy and peaceful.4. Righteousness is the rule of life. Lead a virtuous life. Human life is not human without virtues. Study the lives of saints and draw inspiration from them.5. Cultivate a melting heart, the giving hand, the kindly speech, the life of service, equal vision, and impartial attitude. Your life will, indeed, be blessed.6. Lead a regulated life. Take hold of each day as if it were the last day, and utilize every second in prayer, meditation and service. Let your life become a continuous sacrifice to God.7. Live in the present. Forget the past. Give up hopes of the future.8. Understand well the meaning of life, and then start the quest.9. Life is thy greatest gift. Utilize every second profitably.10. Success often comes to those who dare and act. It seldom comes to the timid.


Measuring success• As discussed earlier, everybody has their own definition of

success. For some, success is earning a 7-digit salary, whereas for others, success is having a fulfilling marriage with a beautiful wife and 4 children; 2 boys and 2 girls. Traditionally, success for a man is synonymous with having a multitude of wives, dozens of children, large pieces of land, several herds of cattle and a generously sized stomach.

• In the contemporary society, success is benchmarked against material wealth. If you have a conglomerate of businesses, a spectacular mansion for a home, a fleet of the world’s latest models of cars and a whooping income that can guarantee you overseas holidays every once in a while, you are successful by world standards.

• For others, success is measured by one’s level of academic achievement. Excelling with straight A’s, attaining a First Class Degree, a Masters Degree and ultimately a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) is the epitome of success in today’s elite world.


Measuring success cont’d

• Irrespective of the various definitions and attributes of success, the constant factor in all the definitions is achievement. Whether it is wealth, marriage or knowledge, it is your level of achievement that ultimately determines your degree of success.

• The following parameters can therefore be used to measure success;


a) Goal Setting

• In order for us to attain success, we need to set goals. You can not achieve what you don’t envision.

• Goals help us to streamline our efforts and channel them towards a particular aim. Once you have a goal, you can then develop a strategy on how to achieve your goal.

• In order to set workable strategies, you need to workout a Strength-Weaknesses-Opportunities-and-Threats (SWOT) analysis of yourself, so that you can customize your strategy to suite your character and personality.


b) Mindset• Your mindset is vital in as far as determining

success is concerned. If you are wealthy, highly educated and have the perfect family but you are not contented because you have set the bar sky-high, you will not be successful by your standards regardless of how other people perceive your accomplishments.

• Success is a personal choice. Nature has gifted us with ample resources for us to achieve success. Not all of us will have the same opportunity to utilize these resources. The most successful people are those who acknowledge their circumstances and make the most of what they have however little it is.


c) Value of Time• Successful people appreciate the value of time.

They are conversant with the fact that time is an indispensable and scarce resource. They constantly work around the clock to reach their targets. It is therefore our task to ensure that we make the most of the resources and opportunities that God has put before us.

• It is also important for us to recognize and reward ourselves for even the paltry achievements. It is only when we learn to appreciate our every effort that we can advance our energies and direct them towards even greater achievement.


d) Overcoming Failure• Success, however, does not go without deterrents.

Among the most profound deterrents of success is failure. Although failure is a huge setback, it should not derail us from the path of accomplishment. Everybody encounters failure at some point in their life.

• Faced with failure, students will, many a time, blame their lecturer for availing them inadequate learning material. Others might occasionally blame a friend for consuming their precious reading time or for leading them astray. Employees will sometimes blame their employers or colleagues, for not adequately supporting them. Although sometimes other people are indeed to blame for our mishaps, we can not afford to lay blame entirely on a third party. We need to take responsibility for our actions at all times and in all circumstances.


Overcoming Failure Cont’d• Successful people are not those who excel at whatever

they do. Successful people are ambitious people who encounter failure but do not let failure hold them back. They do not ‘sweat the small stuff’. They perceive failure as a chance for them to discover their faults, learn from them and improve. They acknowledge that failure is part of the game and therefore perceive failure as a wakeup call to harness their potential and streamline their efforts to their goals.

• We therefore need to change the way we approach failure instead of wallowing in self pity and regret. One of the best ways to approach failure is to acknowledge that you have fallen short of the mark. The mistake that most of us make is to play the blame game. Most of us are so quick to look for the nearest victim on whom to apportion blame for our faults that we lose focus on the most pertinent issue.


e) Creativity• Being successful involves being creative.

Successful people always find solutions to their challenges. If your lecturer gives you insufficient material, take the initiative to find supplementary material.

• If your upkeep is not enough to finance your requirements, find ways to make ends meet. Our minds are pregnant with ideas on how to generate income but we are so complacent that we do not realize how much potential we have.

Bottom line, we need to develop proactive minds that seek solutions rather than apportion blame.


Conclusion • Scholars have written countless books on success.

Preachers and teachers have preached the success gospel the world over. Why then can we not reach our goals? Are we dwelling on our weaknesses instead of capitalizing on our strengths? Are we drowning in pools of self pity over our inequities? Are we waylaid by failure? Are we setting the bar too high that we can not even lift a foot to reach the threshold?

• Whatever is holding you back, you need to get rid of it. You will then discover that the secret of success is not wealth, education, or a huge chunk of land, but yourself. You are the greatest asset you have! Take time to discover yourself . You will be amazed at the wealth of potential that you have.


May you all attain success in life!

Thank You

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