21 Principles of Success

1 - Desire It.

Desire is the first rule of success. Continuous, unquenchable, single purpose,

self sacrificing DESIRE. In Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill outlines six
very simple but practical steps through which desire can be translated into its
financial equivalent and I summarize the steps as follows: (1) Be definite as to
the amount of money you want to make. (2) What will it cost you to make that
exact amount of money? What price are you willing to pay? What are you
willing to give today in other to get that value in naira sum tomorrow? (3)
Establish a definite date when you intend to acquire this sum (4) Create a
definite plan for carrying out your desire and begin at once to put the plan into
action. (5) Write down all of the above and place it where you’ll continuously
see it. (6) Finally, read aloud to yourself twice daily (morning & evening) every
thing you wrote down…remember, faith comes by hearing! Desire it and stake
your life on its ability to come true, and then go for it. Christopher Columbus
dreamed of an unknown world, staked his life on the existence of such a world
and discovered it! Marconi dreamed of a system for harnessing the intangible
forces of the ether. Evidence that he did not dream in vain could be seen in
every wireless and radio gadget. Thomas Edison dreamed of a lamp that could
be operated with electricity. The Wright brothers dreamed of a machine that
would fly in the air. What’s the lesson here? Every great achievement begins
with a seed of thought and a desire to see it come to pass. What’s your dream?
What’s your desire? It is never too late to start. Why not challenge yourself to
an honest dream that seems larger than you and see what you’re truly capable
of.

There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why? I dream
of things that never were, and ask why not.
Robert F. Kennedy

2 Adopt a definite Purpose

If ever there is only one lesson to be deeply grasped and entrenched in the
subconscious by anyone who seeks to succeed, it'll be knowing that the answer
you may be seeking to the questions that has astounded you and made you
rise up early and go to bed late may just be found in your own mind, through a
thought, an idea, a plan or a purpose. In Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill
wrote “What different story men would have to tell if only they would adopt a
definite purpose, and stand by that purpose until it had time to become an all
consuming obsession”. One of the tricks of opportunity is that it has a sly habit
of slipping in by the back door, and often it comes disguised in the form
of misfortune, temporary defeat or even something nobody wants. Edward C
Barnes picked up a dictating machine that was invented by Thomas Edison
(but rejected by every single salesman on the grounds that it can never sell)
and sold it so much that Edison gave him a contract to market and
distribute it all over the world. Keep at your purpose against all odds. Be
directed by your conscience to drive yourself towards excellence in everything
you do. Decide to create a remarkable place for yourself no matter how many
difficulties you'll have to surmount. Realize it is selfish to be docile or give up
on your success. Be willing to stake every other thing on the rules that will
make you succeed. How much actual cash Edward Barnes made selling a tool
everyone else rejected I cannot tell but the amount, whatever it is becomes
insignificant when compared to the lesson he learned, that an intangible
impulse of thought can be transmuted into a physical asset by the application
of certain principles. Over the next few days, I’ll walk you through these
principles as I’ve gleaned them from the same book, think and grow rich. Grab
a copy for yourself.

Whatever happens, keep at it if you believe in it – George obi

3 – Have Faith

According to the New Living Translation of the bible, "Faith is the confidence
that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things
we cannot see. Mr. Hill noted that " Faith is a state of mind which may be
induced, or created, by affirmation or repeated instructions to the
subconscious mind". Incredible. Faith therefore comes through as that
confident assurance which you reveal when you consistently inform your
senses that you will achieve what you seek no matter the obstacle. Faith can be
seen (when you passionately follow after your chief aim), it can disappear
where there is fear, prolonged fatigue or laziness, it's the opposite of doubt,
and above all, it's a gift. Yes, FAITH IS A GIFT! from God to us to enable us
archieve every purpose he put in our hearts. The bible says each man has
received from God a measure of faith... but guess what, it could be dormant
or nurtured to grow and then applied. As Napoleon Hill suggested, faith can
be developed through the principle of auto-suggestion, in other words, by
voluntarily and consciously repeating positive, affirmative instructions to your
mind, the instructions converge in your subconsciousness to form a magnetic
force which your mind releases into the ether to go and attract what you need.

Faith comes by hearing...Watch what you say, you also hear what you
say! - George obi

4: Auto-Suggest it

This simply means talking to yourself with passion and with faith. Over half a
century ago, Dr. Emil Coue' (1857-1926) of France taught the principle of auto
suggestion. His favourite phrase was, "Day by day, in every way, I am getting
better and better”. This principle teaches us to communicate the object of our
desire directly to our subconscious mind in the spirit of absolute faith. Having
clearly articulated and written down the statement of your desire, go to a
quiet place (preferably your bed at night and early in the mornings), close
your eyes and repeat the words of your statement aloud to yourself so you can
hear your own words and visualize yourself already achieving the object of
your desire. Your ability to use the principle of auto-suggestion will depend on
your capacity to concentrate exclusively on a given object of desire
consistently for a period of time until that desire becomes a burning
obsession. Listen carefully, this may sound absurd, even outrageous and you
may take it with a pint of scepticism but guess what, it works! You are
voluntarily placing a demand on your subconscious mind to adopt the object
of your desire and transmute them into their physical equivalent. When
the subconscious mind has received the letters of your statement, and mixes it
up with the ingredients of faith and emotion (passion), it comes up with an
"idea" or a "plan" and flashes it into your mind in the form of an
"inspiration". Treat this message or inspiration with respect, act upon it
immediately. Napoleon Hill suggests that plain, unemotional words do not
influence the mind. Even if you repeat the statement of your desire a million
times to yourself, you'll get no appreciable result if it's not mixed with emotion
and faith. To practice this requires childlike obedience and rock solid
persistence. You’ll enter your next level.

"Accept the challenges so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory." --
General George S. Patton

5 – Know one thing.

Your ability to hold tight your own end and then form a network of like
minded but diversely specialized acquaintances is the one single factor that
deeply guarantees your success. “Don’t try to know everything”, a wise man
once counselled his son. Any man will be successful if he follows hard to know
everything about one thing and in addition, knows where to find “who knows
what” anytime he needs to. True knowledge lies not in knowing everything but
in knowing all you can about one thing and then knowing how to reach and
access the knowledge of the man who’s got it in the areas you are not versed.
There is no such thing as “Knowledge is power”; it is the organization and use
of knowledge to achieve a predefined purpose that is power. A lot of people
know so much but the inability to accurately organize what they know and
intelligently direct it towards an end through a practical plan of action is the
bane of many unsuccessful but honest people. Success has got to be
anticipated, planned for and followed through. Practice is the key. Go back
through the 4 rules so far and determine for yourself what you ought to be
doing because the great end of all knowledge is action. Learn all there is to
know about one area of business and then align your self with people who are
also well versed in their areas, and then will you see that our world, even our
dear country Nigeria, is full of magical things. Order your copy of “Think and
Grow Rich” and many other motivational books from us now!

Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks
outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens - Carl Jung

Some people drink deeply from the fountain of knowledge. Others just
gargle- Grant M. Bright

6 – Creative Imagination

Creativity is to think more efficiently. Ralph Waldo Emerson said that most
people would rather die than think because creative thinking is the most
difficult task in the world. The truth remains that great necessities call out
great virtues and this statement clearly underlines the fact that out of every
situation of discontent, there is a value if only we can think. A few years ago, I
was completely fed up with everything. I had a job but I didn’t like it, plus a
manager who consistently reminds me that another mistake will kick me out
the door. I feared loosing the job because it paid my bills but I was unhappy. I
needed to come to that attitude in life which makes me feel most deeply and
vitally alive, along with which comes the inner voice that says to me, "This is
the real me,” I believe that when you’ve come to this point and desire is strong
enough, God will orchestrate circumstances to bring a solution. He sent a
friend who said to me, George, “You are where you are today because you’ve
thrown away too many ideas”. Till today, I’ve not recovered from the effect of
that statement. A lot of times, we throw away brilliant ideas that are capable
of influencing our present situation yet we put up with nasty circumstances.
To write that idea down no matter how small, to research it and not give up on
it, to add creativity and self believe to it may just be what makes a genius of an
ordinary person. If you limit your actions in life to things that nobody can
possibly find fault with or the things that keeps you convenient, you will not
do much. My deepest desire here is to give practical steps to thinking
creatively but I only use a whiteboard (placed on the wall in my room), a
marker and a duster plus 5 or 10 minutes morning and night to write down
ideas, see it always, think, research and blow it up, but on the internet, I’ve
also seen a tool called spider-grams, and I also recently discovered that
Microsoft office Visio has a mind mapping tool. These will help you develop
your ideas.

Some ideas may not suit your passion and long term goals, sell them to
someone – George Obi

7: Build a Practical Plan of Action.

When you’ve discovered your passion and are inspired by an idea that will
lead you to realize your dreams, you will feel its demand. It will fill you with
enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it and as Thomas Edison
puts it, “Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is
production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be
forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as
perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing”. The prospect of putting your idea
into a practical plan of action forces you to take an objective but critical and
unemotional look at your ideas. Assuming you are to put your idea into a
business plan, you must understand the idea completely; hence the key here is
research and planning. Investigate your idea from end to end. Planning is
serious work. To evaluate the need you intend to fill, analyze your target
audience/customers, develop clear objectives, as well as identify most efficient
strategies and tackle the big issue of funding requires stupendous industry.
But my advice is this, don’t give up. Even if you don’t have a job right now,
have a plan! I’ve always believed that if only we could tilt our perspective a
little from “quick and easy money” to a more enterprising and creative
individual or collaborative effort at entrepreneurship, a lot of struggle will be
alleviated on the long run, but this is “not desirable” because patience and
persistence has eluded us. The basic truth is this; you cannot achieve for
yourself all the plans that are necessary to make you a success but you’ve got
to do your part with a lot of diligence. God will unfailingly orchestrate
invincible circumstances to assist you. Your effort is a prayer, you’ve got to try.
Order your copy of “Think and Grow Rich” and many other motivational
books from us now.

Apathy can be overcome by enthusiasm, and enthusiasm can only be aroused

by two things: first, an ideal, which takes the imagination by storm, and
second, a definite intelligible plan for carrying that ideal into practice -
Arnold Toynbee

8 Be Decisive

The most significant part of our journey to success is the capacity to make the
right decision and on time too. Your status in life today is the sum of several
decisions you’ve made in the past. Think about that for a moment and see the
power of decision making. Before real change can take place, a hard decision
must be made with the underlying determination and strength of character
that seems to suggest “if I perish I perish”. Listen to this; IT DOES NOT
REQUIRE EFFORT TO MAKE OR CONTINUE IN A RETARD DECISION.
And we make such decisions daily albeit consciously or unconsciously. In fact,
once a setback decision is made, the untrained mind and body follows
naturally and its subtlety is so deeply shrouded in short term pleasures that
we hardly realize what harm we are doing to ourselves. Life changing
decisions require a lot of discipline and painful sacrifices usually over a long
period of time. But the good news is that we need not continue living in the
conditions that our past (unfavorable) decisions or indecisions have created. It
takes courage and a keen sense of awareness to recognize unproductive
patterns and effect a change. We can achieve this by developing our intuition.
Intuition, far from being an innate "sixth sense," is a learnable and an
essential skill. The power to nip wrong decisions in the bud, spot potential
opportunities, and recognize other cues that enables us to explore possibilities
is not just an extension of experience, it is gained through a well developed
intuitive sense. A lot of great books will help you achieve this. A good example
is Shakti Gawain’s Practical Guide to Daily Life.

In order to discover new lands, one must be willing to lose sight of the shore
for a very long time - Anonymous

9 Persistence

Nature often pummels aspiring men and women with adversity in order to
find who amongst us will get up and make another go for it. Nothing takes the
place of persistence. I love to write. It is my place of inner sovereignty. But
believe me, most of the time when I arrive at my writing table, I feel bare,
unmotivated and the discipline of writing alone makes me want to
procrastinate. But there’s always this silent whisper in my heart, “Persist”.
Then I sit down and keep at it. I’m often guided by the wise words that said “It
is by often falling that the rain makes a hole in the stone”. Never give up. In
pursuit of that which releases your inner greatness, stand right up and keep
going at it until it submits to you. Listen to Paul Wichansky “As far as my own
dream goes, my many attempts to walk normally were met by numerous falls.
But even if I bruised my knee each time, I did not let that stop me from
learning to walk normally. Even today, in my quest to reach this goal, I
sometimes fall to the ground. But I never let this stop me! I just get right up
and keep on aiming towards my dream which is to walk like normal people”.
Stick with it if you believe in it, bearing in mind, as Edmund Burke puts it that
“He that wrestles with us strengthens us”. Persistence will wear your obstacles
out and reveal your faith in God and in the gifts inside of you.

Lots of people limit their possibilities by giving up easily. Never tell yourself
this is too much for me. It's no use. I can't go on. If you do you're licked, and
by your own thinking too. Keep believing and keep on keeping on - Norman
Vincent Peale

10 Have a Positive Self Image

There was once a Prince who was born a hunch back. Just before his twelfth
birthday, his father, the king, asked him what he would like as a birthday gift.

Bent over and looking up, the boy replied, “I would like a statue of myself”.
The father was so disappointed and for several days was very depressed. The
Prince went into his father’s chamber to speak with him, “I want a statue of
myself, but don’t misunderstand me, father. I do not want a statue of myself as
I appear now, rather I would like a statue of how I would look if I stood
straight and I’d like the figure placed outside my window in the garden, where
I could see it everyday”. Reluctantly, his father finally agreed to his son’s
wishes, and a beautiful statue of his son was erected. Everyday, the boy would
stand before the beautiful statue and tell himself that one day, he’ll be this
beautiful. Day in day out he would stretch and reach and extend and strain to
mimic the six-foot replica. He did this without fail several times a day, each
day, for eight years! Before his twenty-first birthday something happened! The
prince stood with his shoulders erect, head straight, with a great physique,
eyeball to eyeball, starring at his statue. What was the young man’s secret?
Well, as a poet said “what thou seest, that thou beest!” Our self image is our
perception of the kind of person we truly are. The most common weakness of
all human beings is to leave their minds open to the negative influence of
others. Most of our images about ourselves have unconsciously been formed
from past experiences, our successes and failures, our humiliations and
triumphs, and the way others have treated or reacted to us, especially during
our childhood. The truth is that we must question the validity and reject these
self limiting beliefs about ourselves. Try writing down fifteen most powerful
and positive things you know about yourself and you’ll be shocked to discover
how little you truly know who you really are. Watch your thought processes
and nip in the bud those words, thoughts and influences that steal your
confidence and enslave your capabilities.

11 On Complex

People are very tender and sensitive inside. Age and experience does not make
much difference. Even within the most calloused and toughened exterior are
the tender feelings and emotions of the heart and sometimes when these
emotions are not in appropriate balance, we tend to feel inferior or superior as
the case may be towards others or in our personal lives. People develop these
feelings on the basis of some realities. Often, it springs up from
childhood misinterpretations about their body, or from their social or
physical status. Whatever the causes, there was always a strenuous striving to
overcome the deficit, the inferiority, although I doubt if enough people see
superiority complex as a deficiency. Many people have these difficulties, and
you get them in your office, at home, in church, etc. and you cannot help these
people further than they can go for themselves. For me personally, to deal
with this thing, I gained a fairly adequate knowledge of the intrinsic value God
has put in me which more than anything compensates for any social,
physical or childhood setback I may have gone through. Again, I desist from
associations that make me feel inadequate and inferior and tend to force me to
live beyond my means. Again, I made efforts at gaining "small small"
victories in life. You too can deal with it.

12 Don't forget to play

If you work around the clock, and feel that no one but you can do your
work, your mental and physical health is in great danger. You probably know
very well what the prescription is: balance work with play. Do things
that'll make you happy. Take a vacation, go out and watch games, go to the
cinema, it doesn't have to be on weekends, it could be on a seriously stressful
day. Enjoy good jokes and learn to dish out some too. Laughter can inspire a
fresh perspective in you, a new way of looking at almost any issue in
life, and most importantly the revelation of previously unimagined
possibilities. It is a good antidote to the over-seriousness that swells during
times of stress and anxiety. Over-seriousness blows up problems; laughter
blows them away! Since time immemorial, sages and physicians alike have
advocated a "merry heart" as a perfect remedy for life’s lessons. For instance,
the Greek poet, Pindar, wrote, "The best of healers is good cheer"; and, the
poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote, "Joy, temperance and repose, will
slam the door on the doctor’s nose."

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine; but a broken spirit drieth the
bones"- Proverbs 17:22

"The most wasted day of all is a day in which we have not laughed". –
Author Unknown

13 Live to your Greatest Potential

You know, our environment has really made us so desperate that in a bid to
just survive we end up thwarting the real us. At the end of our journey here, no
one is going to ask you why you are not Nelson Mandela, or Martin Luther
King Jnr., they are going to ask why you didn’t rise up to be YOU. Have you
ever thought deeply what your greatest potential could possibly be? A lot of us
have signed up with jobs that pay less than our true potentials and are stock
with it because we lack the faith, courage and creativity to move on. Whatever
you are doing right now with your life, ask yourself these questions. Is it
serving my body, mind, heart and spirit and does it benefit others? In other
words, does it allow you to make a good living? Do you find it truly
stimulating, engaging and challenging? Do you love it, are you passionate
about it? Do you believe it is the right thing for you to be doing with your life?
If you can answer those four questions with a resounding 'yes', then, you are
just starting. Move to the next level where you benefit the greatest majority,
then, you can truly say that you are fulfilling your greatest potentials. To do
this, you need to examine your natural talent - you are good at something!
Listen to the confirming inner voice of your conscience, find out what it is
you’d love to do and do it.

You have a unique talent; or 'a unique expression of a talent’, you must find
out what that is – Deepak Chopra

Isn't it interesting that you may actually be carrying a talent that is

presently unknown to you! - Will Edwards

14 Fail Forward

There are two things to know about failure, one, no failure is terminal and
two; failure is a necessary step to success. It seems that whenever we
experience failure, the mindset our subconscious adopts is that we failed
because we are not smart enough, we are weak. This is not true. It’s a big lie.
You are not weak; you simply need to understand that in the endeavor that
creates winners, there is a role that failure plays. What’s the role? Let’s go back
to the basics. Our teachers in elementary school insisted that we do our
correction on failed exercises before we go home for the day. Was that not the
single most important element of primary success in those days? Where have
we kept those basics today? We fail, we throw away both the exercise and the
correction activity, forsaking the lesson and thereby digging the hole deeper.
The first principle of holes I read is “When you are already in one, stop
digging”. Self condemnation digs the hole deeper and so is blame and pity,
even more so is throwing away the exercise, the correction and the lessons to
be gained. Your attitude towards failure, your passion for excellence, your
energy and your vision are the greatest factors that will distinguish you. Don’t
let the fear of failure stop you, change your perception of failure and move
forward.

The beauty of the dream is shattered by the reality of the pit. But please for
Christ sake don’t stay in the pit - George

Champions are never chosen from the ranks of the Fearful. Never be afraid
of anything, even failure - Unknown

15 Beat this Frog

A group of frogs were travelling through the woods and two of them fell into a
deep pit. All the other frogs gathered around the pit. When they saw how
deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The
two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all of
their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good
as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were
saying and gave up. The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could.
Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He
jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs
said, "Did you not hear us?" The frog then explained to them that he was deaf
and that all the time he thought they were encouraging him to jump
higher. This story teaches two lessons: One, never, ever, give up, use the
stones others throw at you to a build a bridge to your success. Remember that
life is like a tea bag, it’s not worth much until it’s gone through some hot
water. Secondly, people that truly succeed in are the ones who look for the
circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, create them. Every
situation properly perceived, becomes an opportunity. There are great
opportunities all around you. Open your eyes and find it. Finally, there is
power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is
down can lift them up and help them make it through. A destructive word can
be what it takes to finish them off. It is sometimes hard to understand that an
encouraging word can go such a long way. Special is the individual who will
take the time to encourage another. Be that special one.

There is no chance, no destiny, and no fate that can circumvent or hinder or

control the firm resolve of a determined soul.

Success is more a function of consistent common sense than it is of genius."

Ann Wang

16 Don’t let it Die

It was Neil Kendall that once said “Some people follow their dreams; others
hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission”. The greatest
way to hunt your dreams to submission is through the power of nurturing.
Nurturing care is what makes everything grow? Without nurturing care, living
things die. Our dreams and goals are certainly living things, breathed into
being by our thoughts and imagination. It is vital to nurture them and
encourage them to grow and thrive, or else they will surely die. Though this
may sound like common sense advice, it's amazing how many of us don't do
this. Following are three ways to keep your dreams alive and even better -
make them thrive! Provide a Fertile Foundation: - Your mind and heart is the
soil on which your dreams grow. Plant your dreams in a heart and mind that is
void of negativity, not littered with doubts, inner conflicts and pessimism.
Take time to sweep away all unnecessary debris that could stunt the growth of
your dreams and make up your mind to kill of negative thoughts no matter
from what angle they come. Feed Them: - The most important sustenance you
can feed to your dreams is love. Lend as much believe, and passion to your
dreams as you can, because passion is what gives your dreams energy. Passion
is fuelled by knowledge, alone, quietly and with discipline study to get insight
on your dreams and goals. Anticipate the joy and satisfaction of realizing your
dreams. Visualize and embrace them and shed happy tears for their beauty.
Feel your heart lift with awe and thanksgiving, and allow those feelings to
infuse your dreams with the power to become real. And finally, honor your
dreams with action; I realize that when you take action, circumstances are
orchestrated to make it happen for you. Your ability to pursue your dreams is
what keeps you in touch with the true you.
Without dreams, there is no reality! - Luis B. Couto

A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it,
bearing within him the image of a cathedra - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

All our dreams can come true - if we have the courage to pursue them - Walt
Disney

17 Someone Is Always Watching

In the conflict between telling the truth and speaking a lie, people often
choose to tell a lie and deal with it later or live with it. This to say the least is
short sightedness. In every kind of relationship for instance, I realize that lies
mutilate the life of that relationship and cut by half the mutual benefit that
should accrue to both parties. In an old folktale a farmer tells his hired man to
take a chicken and kill it “where no one can see”. The hired man returns a few
hours later with the chicken still alive. “Why didn’t you kill it” asks the farmer.
“Because everywhere I go, at least two sees”, he replied. “Who?” queried the
farmer. “Me and the Chicken” replied the hired servant. In this funny but
thoughtful fable, the lesson is obvious. The truth is that someone is always
watching, even if it’s only the victim of the lie. To deal with this crisis, ask God
to help you, have a long term perspective, develop a set of values upon which
every decision will be based and through discipline and consistently trying,
you’ll overcome the urge to tell a lie. Happy trying. Read more on www.e-
readtime.com

Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live

taking the form of a readiness to die for the truth.

18 The Value of Loneliness

Somebody once said that success without adversity is not only empty, it is not
possible. One of my favourite observations is that the only way to the
mountaintop is through the valley and in most cases; a series of valleys and
one of these valleys is the times of loneliness. For instance, one of the greatest
books ever written, Pilgrim’s Progress, was written by John Bunyan during his
imprisonment in Bedford Jail. Daniel Defoe also wrote Robinson Crusoe in
prison while Sir Walter Raleigh, wrote his History of the World after he fell
out of favour with the queen of England, during a 13-year prison sentence. The
great poet Dante worked and died in exile, but his contributions to humankind
during that time were immeasurable. Beethoven composed his greatest music
after he went deaf and just recently I watched Larry King interview a young
man without hands and legs who is a wrestling champion, a motivational
speaker and an author. Instead of lamenting, blaming or wondering how it all
happened, or engaging in tasks without quantitative results, summon your
creative powers and give your life a gift no matter how small. I’m always
thrilled by that scripture in judges 14:14 that said, “out of the eater came forth
meat…”. Instead of allowing regret to consume you, let that period bring out
the best in you. Never forget this; “if you concentrate just hard enough, you’ll
find that opportunity”.
It is not what happens to you that determines how far you go in life; it is
what you do with what happens to you – Zig Zagler

19 It’s in you

If only I could repeat it over and over, so that where ever you go or however
you are challenged, you’ll hear a tiny little voice telling you that you have all it
takes to succeed. Your greatest single focus must be to “Work it out”. Before
you go to the office tomorrow, take time to create around you and in you the
atmosphere of victory. Brian Tracy or John Maxwell’s cds can assist in this
regard. Go out with a positive and vibrant attitude. When you get there,
cultivate the habit of thorough work. If it is mental work, think every problem
through. Pay attention to details. Don’t guess, don’t speculate, don’t assume,
and don’t theorize, get behind your desk and resolutely drive yourself to think
through that problem from every angle. The battle is not for the thoughtless,
heedless guesser or idealistic dreamer; it is for the smart and hard worker. Get
behind your dream board; map out clearly articulated goals, and what it’ll take
to achieve them. Acknowledge your limitations but be incurably optimistic
about your success. Follow through with discipline and self sacrifice. There
will be pain and fatigue ahead but I guarantee that it’s worth it. To do your job
100% is not an outstanding achievement. It is expected. To exceed expectation
is achievement, go for it.

Natural abilities are like natural plants; they need pruning by study -
Francis Bacon

Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new
roads armed with nothing but their own vision - Ayn Rand

20 Close that Book

In his wonderful book “The Power of Concentration”, Theron Dumont said

“many people read good books, but say they do not get much good out of
them. They fail to realize that all any book or any lesson course can do is to
awaken them to their possibilities; to stimulate them to use their will power”.
One of the most beneficial practices I know of is to close a book and
thoughtfully recall its ideas and practical application in my life and situation.
I’ve heard the saying that opportunity comes but once but nothing is farther
from the truth. In fact, highly effective people get up and search for
opportunities. It is often the quickness of our brain to combine different ideas
and lessons into a practical new whole that creates for us a new opportunity. I
know that every man that is willing to pay the price can be a success. The price
is not in money, but in effort. To close a book and think about it expands the
limits of your imagination, and opens your mind to very extensive and
limitless opportunities. If you dare believe the contents, you are in good
trouble because most things are possible. Yours may be a hard task, but the
harder the task, the greater the reward. It is the difficult things that really
develop us, anything that requires only a small effort, utilizes very few of our
faculties, and yields a scanty harvest of achievement. So do not shrink from a
hard task for to accomplish one of these will often bring us more good than a
dozen lesser triumphs. This is what I call closing out on books.
Start by doing what's necessary, then what's possible, and suddenly you are
doing the impossible - Francis of Assisi

Don't limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they
can do. You can go as far as you mind lets you. What you believe, you can
achieve - Mary Kay Ash

Try not to do too many things at once. Know what you want, the number one
thing today and tomorrow. Persevere and get it done.
George Allen

21 Avoid Inward Duplicity

Have you been there before? Wait now, before you say no way, let me explain
– ever referred disapprovingly to someone behind their backs only to sweet
talk them moments later in their presence or have you ever shared a word that
was told you in confidence with someone else which normally start like this,
“this is between me and you o, don’t let anyone hear it, John said……..” Well,
this is what I mean by inward duplicity. Integrity includes but goes beyond
just being honest. It requires that one should possess a wholesome character.
One of the most important ways to manifest integrity is to be loyal to those
who are absent for in doing so, we build trust with those who are present.
Assume you and I were telling tales about our supervisor in the manner that
we dare not do when she is present, what do you think will happen if both of
us fall out. Be guaranteed that your own secrets are not safe with me. Why?
Because you have seem me do it to another person. But if the same scenario
occurs and you say to me, I agree with some of the content of your criticism
but I suggest the two of us go to her and make an effective presentation of the
issue and discuss how we feel about it. You earn not just my respect but I’m
guaranteed I can trust you with anything. I know that no matter what, you’ll
not betray me. I used to have a “friend” that when ever he is approaching, I
gather all my secrets and zip it up in my heart. Like an eastern proverb said,
“It is better to be trusted than to be loved”.