Success!

Success—we all want it.  Right?  If you want to experience great success in life, you need to create a pattern of success thinking and success being.  When you can create an inner pattern, a way of being and reacting, your body will naturally respond in that way in all situations.  A success response is what will create success in all parts of your life.

How do you create a success response?

You develop within yourself inner qualities (virtues, attitudes, and personality characteristics) that serve you in a positive way.  For example, here are a few qualities that successful people share:

Adaptable—When you’re adaptable, you accept what has come your way, and you learn to deal with it.  You don’t fight it or resent it, you just take it on and make the best of it.

Creative—Being creative means bringing flair and uniqueness to what you do.  When you’re creative, you’ll see solutions instead of problems.

Determined—When you’re determined, you keep going no matter what.  You focus on the end result, meeting a challenge, for example, and you do not falter until you’ve achieved your goal.

Intuitive—Being intuitive means following your instincts, being in touch with your inner guidance.  Be willing to hear that wise voice within and follow it.  It will take you past the challenges in life.

Open-Minded—When you’re open-minded, you’re focused on possibility instead of impossibility.  You believe the answers are there, and when you believe the answers are there, you’ll more easily find them.

Optimistic—Being optimistic means expecting the best.  It’s knowing you can get what you want.  You must expect to meet the challenges you face.  Know the good stuff is coming even when it seems like you’re stuck in bad stuff.

Strong—Being strong means knowing you can take on whatever comes your way.  You can do it yourself if you have to.  You can also ask for help if you need to.  You have the inner force to do whatever you must do.

Joyful—Being joyful is not something that happens after you fix all the problems in life.  You must be joyful even in the midst of challenges.  You do this by appreciating what’s going right even when much is going right.

Once you know what qualities you need to develop, what can you do to develop them? 

Here are seven ways you can take action to develop any inner quality you desire to have:

1.  Put in a request to whatever higher power you believe in for the quality.  Your request will result in situations that will allow you to practice developing the quality.  For example, if you ask for patience, expect that you will find yourself in a lot of traffic jams and long lines.  Being aware that you have requested the quality, you will have a chance to practice it when you’re in these situations.

2.  State aloud your intention to have the quality you desire.  Say, “I am (the quality you’re working on)” several times throughout the day.  You need to begin thinking of yourself as being that quality.  Name it, and claim it.  Talk about yourself as having the quality you want to have.

3.  Act as if you have the quality you want.  Play “Let’s pretend”—“Let’s pretend I’m (the quality you’re working on).”  As you go through the day, be like an actor playing a role.  Play the role of a person who has the quality.  For example, what would a kind person do?  They would take actions like saying “Please” and “Thank you.”  Take those actions.  If the quality isn’t one you now have, taking the actions may feel unnatural, but the more you do it, the more natural it will become.  

 

4.  Observe others who have the quality you want to have.  Is your neighbor especially compassionate?  Watch her to see what she does.  How does she act?  What words does she use?  Learn from the people around you.

5.  Talk to others who have the quality you want to have.  If someone you know is wise and you want to be wise too, ask them what they have done to develop that quality.  They may not know, but they may be able to tell you a story about some life experience they had that helped them develop the quality.

6.  Make a list of what it means to you to have the quality you want.  Do you do any of the things on the list?  You may surprise yourself and realize you already have qualities you thought you didn’t have.  For example, you may not think you’re adventurous, but if you take risks and try new things, even if they aren’t grand things like jumping out of planes, you are adventurous.  

7.  If you feel you act in exact opposition to a quality you have, make a list of the things you do that you no longer want to do.  For instance, if you want to be accepting, but you tend to be judgmental, make a list of the ways that you are judgmental.  The list will help you be more aware of the actions you take that are contrary to the quality you want to develop.  That awareness is a good starting point for change. 

When you develop powerful inner qualities, you’re training your brain to be powerful.  In other words, you’re training your brain for success.