The First 3 Success Principles
Let’s 80/20 Success
The secret of success is to do the common thing uncommonly well.
John D. Rockefeller Jr. (1874-1960)
How many piano keys make up all the melodies we hear? Just 12. Seven white keys and five black keys.
And how many principles determine Success? Just 13. According to the teachings of Andrew Carnegie and the great successful people of his era, like Henry Ford, who democratized automobiles, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, and many others. Carnegie challenged Napoleon Hill to find the principles of Success and introduced him to all the successful people he knew.
Hill defined the principles of Success to just 13 in his book, 'Think and Grow Rich'.
Think is the keyword here. Think deeply and connect many deep thoughts together. Hill created much more wealth through his book than Carnegie did through his business empire, and he was one of the wealthiest people of his time ($310 billion in today's dollars and the fourth richest of all time).
Do you know and employ these 13 principles of Success?
Can you name them?
I'd like to delve into them each week, starting with the first three keystone principles of Success.
1. Desire
Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
Success begins with a strong desire for a definite goal. It's not just wishing but a deep, burning desire that propels one to take laser-like focused action toward achieving something significant or meaningful. It's a force so strong that it pushes you to continue striving, even when challenges arise.
When I decided to become a medical doctor at age 14, it was my number one desire. When I was 24 in 1994, I desired to be part of the fabric of the Internet. I envisioned owning four key domains: God.com, Heaven.com, Religion.com, and Jesus.com. There is just one left. When the time is right, it will be granted to me.
These were two of my strongest desires in life. They pervaded my heart and mind incessantly. I knew nothing would stop me in my quest to fulfill this deep-seated desire.
What is your desire?
Perhaps it's a mission, a thing or, more importantly, a person.
2. Faith
Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
You learned about 80/20. Only a few things have a high impact. One thing gives you half your results.
"What is that one thing that will make everything else easier or unnecessary?"
Faith is the unwavering belief in the attainability of a goal or desire. Faith is the act of seeing the invisible and trusting in oneself or a greater power in the seemingly impossible. It is the belief that, despite lacking evidence, something greater is guiding you toward your purpose. Faith has the transformative power to make the invisible visible.
Even though I did not get into medical school immediately after I finished my Honours Biochemistry degree, I was not only more determined but still fully believed that I would eventually get in. I also believed it was providential, as it was my 'one wish' to a greater power that I had not yet known when I was hospitalized at age 14. I thanked God when I was accepted into UBC and the University of Calgary's medical schools.
And for the four domain names, I believed it would take 20 years or more to get all four:
God.com took 4 years
Religion.com took 5 years
Heaven.com took 7 years
I believe Jesus.com is coming within the next decade.
I also have a desire to help cure cancer and educate people on what is causing a lot of the world's epidemic of chronic illness. I believe I know some of the major root causes.
What do you believe in?
Sorrow looks back. Worry looks around. Faith looks up.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
3. Autosuggestion
Be not the slave of your own past- plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so you shall come back with new self-respect, with new power, and with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
"Keep the Faith." The world around you has a way of making you doubt your desires and their attainment. As we age, we become 'unlike' the child who believed everything was possible and asked, "Why not?" and "Why?" We start to limit our beliefs as we stumble and fall, fearing to fail and look bad before others.
The person who regards his heart more than the opinions of others will have the courage to live his dreams.
Autosuggestion is the practice of repeating affirmations or mental images to affirm and visualize your goals by internalizing them and profoundly embedding them in your subconscious mind to keep your faith strong.
Autosuggestion is a bridge that gets you close to your desire, but you must still take that leap of faith where faith is 100%, not 1% less. Pure faith.
Society and our conscious and logical mind tend to negate anything it cannot 'see.' It asks for proof, logic, and reason. The visionary and intuitive mind sees things before they manifest. Visionaries, we call such people.
What do you envision? Over and over again until you see it in your mind's eye, strong and sure? With not even 1% doubt?
I asked myself why I pray so much. O you of little faith.
"The horse is prepared for the day of battle,
But victory comes from the Lord." (King Solomon)
I have prepared my mind, heart, and body, but prayer is the hope that a greater power beyond myself, my Lord and Creator, will bless and bring about my desires.
I define prayer as the request in full faith to God that the hope I desire be blessed and accomplished by His mighty hand through me.
This hope is not seen physically through my eyes or logically by my mind but through my heart. This is the gift and secret power I have learned.
My Life Question:
Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
What do you really desire?
What is your one true desire?
Remove all the shadows of this deep-seated desire. Mine away all the dirt that buries this true desire and let it shine. Have the courage to dig deep into your heart.
Or, a better question is, for whom do you live? Are you willing to sacrifice everything for that one person?
Life Advice
All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
Know the principles that govern Success. They are like laws following cause and effect, input leading to output.
Most people are defined by one thing. Most people are complete by one person.
Seek your one thing and your one person. If you are blessed, you may have two things and two people. And if really blessed, then more things and more people. This is the love of your life. What do you love to do, and who do you love to do it for?
When you were born you were crying and everyone else was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you’re the one who is smiling and everyone else is crying.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
Next week:
The Next 3 Principles of Success
The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
See you next Thursday!
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