Everyone wants to be successful at something. It doesn’t matter if it is a small goal, or an overarching life goal, most of us want to find greater achievement in our lives. That’s just the way we’re wired. As such, we’ve decided to publish the top rules of success that can pretty much help any person who is sincerely looking to achieve more success in their pursuits.
So, without further ado, here are our top 10 rules of success for greater achievement in life and business. Enjoy!
10 RULES OF SUCCESS EVERYONE SHOULD LIVE BY
1. Be Patient, Success Takes Time
One of the most important rules of success is related to patience. Most people who go about striving to reach for the stars realize only after the fact, that success takes a long time to materialize. Too many people think success, much like everything else in society, is microwavable.
But, success and immediate gratification do not go hand in hand. Success requires a crockpot approach.
So, be patient, and understand that success takes time. Embrace the possibility of your pursuits taking twice as long as you planned for.
By doing so, you’ll be less likely to quit when things don’t materialize as quick as you initially anticipated.
2. Get Self-Disciplined, Success is Difficult Without It
Success is the result of consistent actions repeated over time. And the person who disciplines his or her actions daily to do the activities that need to be done to move the needle forward, have an immeasurable advantage over those who lack self-discipline.
Think about it like this, success is essentially the progression of worthwhile goals. And the only thing that keeps a person progressing towards their goals is disciplined action. So, embrace what must be done, and find the discipline to do those things and you will will eventually reach your success.
3. Don’t Follow Your Passion, Follow Your Strengths
Too many people think success is about doing what their passionate about. And while this can be true, it can also be a recipe for disaster. If you are passionate about professional basketball, but you can’t make a basket to save your life, and you are four feet tall, going all in on this passion may be futile.
So, be sure that whatever it is you are pursuing, that it falls within your area of competence. Follow your strengths first, and then aim to discover where those strengths overlap with the things your passionate about.
If you find some overlap then you’ve hit the jackpot, if not, well, at least you have a shot at success by following your strengths.
4. Beware Who You Associate With
A key rule of success that you’ll find just about every successful person agrees on, is to pay close attention to the people you are associating with. For much of success is contingent upon who your circle of influence is.
If you want to find success, you must be careful who you are spending your time with. Hanging out with friends or associates who’s values, dreams, and skills are counter to what yours are, you can and will stifle your progress.
If you allow yourself to be in environments where people belittle your dreams, laugh at your goals, or encourage you to do activities that will keep you from doing what you should be doing to make progress on your goals, your chances of success will be diminished.
There’s wisdom in the saying, “Birds of a feather flock together.” So, beware of the birds you are flocking with. And if you can, flock with eagles, not ducks.
5. Realize That Success Comes at a Price
Success is not easy, and the people who acquire true success make up their minds to pay the price. The people who don’t realize that a price must be paid, soon realize when things get difficult, that they may have signed up for more then they realize.
As such, pay heed to this success rule, and be sure that you are ready to pay whatever price success requires of you before you embark on the journey. By doing so, you will fortify your mind and your prepare yourself mentally for what lies ahead. And as a result, dramatically improve your chances of finding the greater success you seek.
6. Success Requires a Success Mindset
Achieving success requires having the right attitude about success. If you’re always negative, always doubting, and constantly looking at why things can’t be done, you’ll find very little success.
However, if you have a success mindset, you’ll make significantly more progress towards your goals.
What’s a success mindset? In it’s simplest form, it is believing that you can achieve something. It is also understanding that looking at your life and the obstacles in it from a positive point of view, is exponentially more empowering that seeing things from a cynical or negative lens.
Lastly, a person with a success mindset also understands the value of action over inaction. As such, they make thinking about massive action and taking massive action a part of their Modus Operandi for reaching their goals.
7. Success Requires Failure
Out of all of our rules for success, this one is the most underestimated. What every single person who wishes to succeed must come to terms with before succeeding, is that success requires failure.
Success requires that we go through various trials and tribulations. Reaching our pinnacle of success rarely comes easy, and it almost always has us feeling like failures from time to time.
So, the one thing that it is critical to understand about success is that failure is a natural part of it. And as you make your way towards your goal(s), there will always be obstacles and roadblocks. Which it is key that you don’t mistake those hiccups as you failing, but rather as minor setbacks to be overcome.
You’ve only failed if you’ve stopped striving. So, embrace all of your failures, but never stop striving.
8. Not Everyone Will Cheer You One
It is key for you to prepare yourself mentally for the fact that not everyone wants to see you succeed. In fact, even some of those in your closest circles may secretly want you to fail. Why? Because your success could make them look bad. In short, insecurity.
On top of this, you’ll have competitors who want you fail as well. But most critically, is that you may not have people cheering for you as you climb towards your coveted goal. Maybe at first, but if you have a big goal that takes years, you can bet that other people’s enthusiasm for your pursuits will wane.
So, this rule of success is all about preparing yourself mentally for this likelihood and to be equally prepared to be your own cheerleader.
9. Success Begets More Success
One of the most overlooked rules of success is momentum. And one of the ways people reaching for their goals fail to garner enough momentum to achieve those really big goals of theirs, is by failing to celebrate the little wins along the way.
Therefore, it is important to break your big goals down into smaller milestones. If you’re ultimate success goal is to save a million dollars, be sure to celebrate when you get to $100,000, and then again when you get to $200,000, and so on and so forth.
Or, if your main goal is to lose 50 lbs. Make sure you celebrate when you lose 10 lbs. then again at 20 lbs. And before you know it, you’ll reach your primary goal.
Just think of the little goals as as stepping stones to your final destination. Then celebrate every one of them, because without them, you’d never reach the big goal you’re truly after. So, find and celebrate success in the smallest of achievements. Then let that success beget more success.
10. Success Without Fulfillment is Failure
Out of out all of our rules of success, this is the most important, so take note. Succeeding isn’t succeeding if you are ultimately unfilled and unhappy with the result. Tony Robbin’s said it best with his statement, “Success without fulfillment is failure.” It’s a phrase that people resonate with because it rings true.
Think about it, if you spend your whole life striving to reach some specific destination, only to realize that it is not something you truly wanted, then you’ve just wasted your time.
So, before you invest your whole life reaching for something, make sure that what you are chasing is what you truly want. And that the reaching of the goal will bring you more fulfillment in your life, not less.
Success after all, is not really success if the end result is something you don’t truly want. So, get clear on your goals, never chase someone else’s definition of success, and only pursue those ends that help you feel most alive, both in the chasing and the reaching.
Bonus Success Rule
Alright, here is one last bonus rule of success. This last rule is not a rule that everyone necessarily needs to adopt; however, it is a rule that certainly helps accelerate success.
So what is it? Well, our bonus rule for success is this: study the lives of people who have done what you want to do. In short, study successful people.
Studying the lives of people who have achieved what you want to achieve, is like being given a cheat code on a video game. Why? Because if you studying someone long and well enough, you will eventually observe the patterns, actions, and thought processes that helped them find their success.
So, start looking for clues in every biography or success story you read, because success leaves clues.
