It may surprise you to learn that one of the very first steps to achieving your own success is something unusual. It is the exact opposite of what most people, including you, would do. And that is precisely why it is out of the ordinary; it’s something that most people wouldn’t dream of doing!

Listen carefully and hear me out before you dismiss this as a ridiculous notion. If you want to achieve a meaningful measure of success, then the very first step toward this goal is to… do something different.

Take a few moments first to re-read that statement, and then allow it to sink in. Think about what it says. It did not tell you to try something different. No, the intended action is to do something different. Stay with me and you’ll see what I mean.

Look, if you’re current efforts aren’t bringing you any closer to achieving your success goals, then you have two choices. Keep doing what you’re doing and get the same disappointing results. Or, choose to do something else to make your goals happen. You must realize that it will require a conscious effort on your part to purposely do something different. There is nothing else that can help you move more quickly toward the achievement of your desired level of success than this one thing.

The problem is that most of us conduct our lives through a series of habitual responses that have been learned over time. Much of our daily activity is done on “automatic pilot.” Because of this fact you need to realize that it will take a great effort to begin to climb out of your “automated” comfort zone. We are prone to follow the past of least resistance. Thus, anything that is truly worthwhile is only accomplished as a result of a deliberate, concentrated effort.

Here is the heart of the matter. If you want to implement this first step effectively, you must make a consistent and concentrated effort to enable yourself to break free of old habits and thought patterns. You cannot replace something without removing it first. You need to replace the thoughts and behavior that control your life with new ones that focus on your new and purposely chosen direction.

If this seems a bit confusing still, then allow me to help you get started on the right foot. Take a moment right now and ask yourself: ”Which is more important?”

A.) Achieving your goals for personal freedom and financial success Or…
B.) Maintaining the “status quo” in your comfort zone.

If you answered letter A, then it would seem that you’re fairly serious about fulfilling your personal success goals. What you need to do now is to begin taking specific steps that will allow you to make a consistent, concentrated effort to focus on your goals and discover the means to fulfill them.

Qualities that foster happiness
We’ve all known people who had everything but weren’t happy in spite of it all. If money won’t buy happiness, what will? Psychologist Dan Baker, Ph.D., says the connection between money and happiness is nothing but a trap. In his book, What Happy People Know: How the New Science of Happiness Can Change Your Life for the Better (Rodale), he and co-author Cameron Strauth have some worthy answers.

The 12 most important qualities of happiness are love, optimism, courage, a sense of freedom, proactivity, security, health, spirituality, altruism, perspective, humor, and purpose. These are the things you should make up your mind to achieve.

* Appreciation will make you happy. It is the purest form of love. It is physiologically impossible to be in a state of fear and appreciation at the same time. Appreciation is an antidote to fear.

* The ability to make a choice can govern your perception. Having no choices or options can lead to feelings of helplessness. Anyone can choose the course of their life, but only happy people do it.

* Personal power is the proactive force that gives you control over your feelings and your fate. It involves taking responsibility, taking action, and realizing that your life belongs to you alone, then doing something about it.

* Using your intellect and spirit will help you begin to focus on your strengths and solutions to problems. If you begin to fear, you are focusing on your weaknesses.

* The power of words and stories makes you see the world as you describe it. What you tell yourself about your life eventually comes true. We can tell ourselves healthy stories or horror stories. It’s a matter of choice.

Have a Profitably Day,

Goals for Successful People

The one attribute that every successful person has is a single-minded devotion to attaining a goal. “There in the sunshine are my highest aspirations,” wrote Louisa May Alcott, “I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.”

What are your desires? How can you form them into definite goals that you can attain? Lawrence Peter wrote, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll probably end up somewhere else.”

Have a Profitably Day,