Success Seven Laws.Do You Know?

Have you ever wondered what exactly is up with Seven Laws of Success? This informative report can give you an insight into everything you've ever wanted to know about Seven Laws of Success.

How can you put a limit on learning more? The next section may contain that one little bit of wisdom that changes everything.

Success can be elusive even for the most dedicated and well intentioned. Now you can see what those who have made it to the top say you want to know now. Here's the straight forward plain truth for those who want the real principles of success.
1. Honesty

Of all the "laws of success," honesty probably doesn't come up very often. Face it, who wants to talk about those things that make people feel uncomfortable.

I do.

Lying for personal gain always ends up being counter-productive in the long run. Why? Because truth is the foundation upon which our successful relationships with others are built.

Being a person of your word is a vital element to success. In the words of William Shakespeare: "The good I stand on is my truth and honesty".

Success is not achieved entirely by yourself. On your way to success you will undoubtedly be aided by other people. If you are not honest with them you will only create feelings of bitterness. If you are not honest with yourself you will wonder why you are where you are. Any success you achieve using dishonesty will be artificial.

What is really surprising is that sometimes the truth is just as easy to tell. For whatever reason, people still choose to lie. The first step to shifting to a more honesty centered self is recognizing the lie and correcting it right away.

Ask yourself, "How does this impact my life?" If you are being honest with yourself, you will see that you probably have a lot of work to do. I feel it is easier to be objective than it is to be honest.

The concept of being truthful with others is promoted from a very young age; sometimes successfully, sometimes less so. What about white lies? What about lies of omission? What about truth that is delivered without tact? What about truth that is intended to harm? These questions are all valid and point to the apparent difficulty of what real truth is. The answer can be summed up with this intentionally thought provoking and vague statement: "It is always best to tell the truth, sometimes."

What then is the hardest truth? It is any truth one does not want to face - the avoidance of which can lead to destructive results. Truth of this nature is often covered with layers of justification, excuses, misinformation, avoidance, and denial.

When your experience is in conflict with this type of elusive truth it results in irritability, stress, anger, or any number of negative reactions. You may not even know why you are feeling this way. To further complicate things, when you do feel negative, it may not even be due to a experience/truth conflict.

It is important to find these truths. Please keep in mind that it can take a while. So, how do you start finding these truths? By examining, identifying, and then removing the layers of deception which cover them. And that has to be a personal exercise, no one can do it for you.

The time spent discovering the hard truth will be rewarded. You will find things getting better in other areas of your life as well. Truth has a way of breaking down previously impenetrable walls. In the words of Stiv Bators: "Truth is the sword of us all".

2. Seek Advice You Want to ACT ON from the Right People

Most people feel advice is worth what it costs - nothing. This is probably true in most cases. Do you want to know the ultimate secret about seeking advice? It is very simple, but often overlooked. Here it is.

Ask the right person for the right advice.

Don't let the sheer simplicity of this statement trick you. It is very powerful, but also easy to overlook. This technique works in any field - health, spiritual matters, business, finances, relationships, and so on.

Let's say you are having some small problem with your spouse. Would it make sense to complain to a divorced friend and then ask for their advice? Or, would it make more sense to seek the advice of a couple who has been happily married for 30 years? Obviously, if you want to have a successful marriage, the latter choice makes a lot more sense, yet people tend to be carefree in asking for and giving advice.

Here is some advice that may actually be worth something. Starting now, try to ask yourself this question before seeking advice.

"What makes this person qualified to give me advice".

To be fair, when someone asks you for advice that you are less than qualified to give, let them know and try to steer them in the right direction.

The one caveat here is that if you are asking someone who is qualified, then you have to be willing to follow their advice. I find it is easier to be carefree in seeking advice, but it has always been more productive when I seek it properly.

3. Enthusiasm

What is enthusiasm? For the most part it is one of those things you know when you see it, and other people know when you have it. In other words, it is what people see, and react to about yourself. Enthusiasm is contagious. Here is a working definition to get you started.

enthusiasm (n.) - a vibrant outward expression of your internal attitude.

The contagious effect of enthusiasm is long lasting.

Enthusiasm works. It comes through in the way you talk, your facial expressions, the way you dress, your posture, and any other number of ways. Think about this. Would you feel confident in purchasing a new car from a salesperson who talked in hushed tones, wouldn’t look you in the eye, had a weak handshake, didn’t smile, slouched, and dressed like a slob? I wouldn’t.

I’m not suggesting being phony, or being nauseatingly over-the-top. Just a real enthusiasm that comes from within. If you are not enthusiastic, here is a simple three step process to help you start improving right away.

First, you have to "believe" in what you want to be enthusiastic about. If you don’t believe in something, and you try to be enthused, you will come across to others as being phony. If you believe, your enthusiasm will be genuine.

Second, listen to your voice. Increasing volume, pitch, and speed when you talk improves your enthusiasm on the inside. Try it. Think of something you are enthusiastic about. Now talk about it quietly, in a lower pitch, and speak a little slower. Do you feel less enthused? So do I. Now do the opposite. Think of something you are not enthused about. Now talk about a little louder (you don’t have to shout), in a higher pitch, and a bit faster. Now how much more enthusiastic do you feel about it?

Last, stand up straight, smile, give a firm handshake, and look people in the eye. I group all of these together because these are the ones you can practice anytime, whether you are enthused or not. I firmly believe that these things are good habits all of the time. They are also crucial for conveying enthusiasm.

4. Integrity

You are your own brand. Your brand is you.

When people go to Starbucks, they know exactly what they are going to experience everytime. Predictable. Integrity.

How about with you.

Do people know what they are getting with you?

Look, not doing "what's wrong" is a given, most people understand this. If you're not doing this already, it's probably a good idea to start. Integrity is more than that though. It is also doing what is right. This can be hard.

Gossip is a good example. It may be easy to not engage in gossip, that's not doing what is wrong. Doing the right thing would be confronting the gossiper and the person being gossiped about. Not in an underhanded way, but in an open and friendly manner. Tact is key. Yes, doing what's right may be difficult or uncomfortable, but it is a key element of integrity.

Keeping your word. To be a success you will need the help of people. Who would you rather want to help? Someone who is unreliable? Makes excuses? Goes back on their word? Or, someone who reliable and trustworthy? Being known as a person of your word will get you farther than almost anything else on the path to success. Trust me;)

Take responsibility. If you make a mistake the right thing to do is admit it. A person of integrity does even more; they try to fix it. Taking responsibility does not mean making excuses (see above paragraph). Just saying you are wrong may not be enough either. Take charge and do your best to make it right.

5. Discipline

Discipline is the key to how long your success will take. Gary Ryan Blairsums it up nicely:

"Self-discipline is an act of cultivation. It requires you to connect today's actions to tomorrow's results".

There are systems in place to discipline people who do wrong. Arriving late for work, driving to fast, stealing, and many other things often result in this type of discipline. Discipline imposed by authority is not the type being discussed here. Self-discipline would be the more precise term. Here is a working definition: Discipline is doing what you need to do when you would rather do what you want to do.

Discipline takes focus, commitment, motivation, and willpower. It is difficult to be disciplined when you don’t know why you ought to be doing something. Applying discipline to firm and specific goals eventually results in success. If your goal is important enough then motivation will come quite easily. Less important goals, by their nature, call for more willpower to sustain successful discipline

Avoiding what is unpleasant, yet necessary, often creates more problems later. In effect, it compounds unnecessary failure. Setting up a self-imposed reward system is a good way to overcome this type of procrastination. For example, promise yourself you will not play your favorite video game until you have balanced your checkbook. In the long run, the discipline will pay bigger dividends than the initial reward.

Success is determined by your level of discipline. While discipline is not fun, nor is it easy; it is vital to achieving great things.

6. Motivation

Success is next to impossible without some form of motivation to thrust you forward. Without motivation you would have no reason to succeed, less the sheer idea of success itself. There are those who succeed only to succeed, they are driven by nothing except the wild goose chase of a success they will never find.

There are different types of things that motivate people: Recognition, money, the things money can by, self-betterment, social status, and even revenge may contain the seeds of motivation. While these things, among many others, are forms of motivation, we can classify motivation into to main types – internal and external.

External motivation is sometimes a form of avoidance. A potential criminal act may be prevented because the motivation of not being caught is present. Pursuing a path of success as prescribed by one’s parents is another example of external motivation.

It is easy to see why external motivation can be ineffectual, misguided, fleeting, and unrewarding. That is not to say it does not have its place; for it can serve a useful purpose, and in the long run, may turn into its preferred form – internal motivation.

Internal motivation is often derived from personal desire and belief. It leads to all-important success factors like: Persistence, drive, consistency, discipline, ambition, and purpose. Internal motivation also reduces bitterness, thereby leading to happiness. This happiness may manifest itself through charity, sharing, mentoring, volunteering, contentment, and other such things.

Another benefit of internal motivation is the ability to correct your course as you see fit. It allows for true growth. External motivation does not allow you to change, unless the external influence demands it.

The good news is you get to choose the type of motivation you will primarily use to succeed. Choose wisely.

7. Attitude

We all know people with different attitudes. Some are great, some are okay, and others are not even okay. Here a few thoughts on some of the different types of attitudes.

"Why bother? Life just beats you down. And besides when you have a good attitude, fate finds you and slaps you across the face. I have had a miserable life, and things will never change and BLAH BLAH BLAH..."

You know the type. These are the people to which it is best say "Nice to see you instead of "How are you?". It is a way of defending yourself against their poor attitude. Try not to give them a chance to spew their negativity in your direction. Sometimes it cannot be avoided. When this happens try to find the positive angle and reflect back some element of positivity in their direction.

"I have a great attitude, unless things start going bad."

This, probably, is the most common attitude of all. While this attitude may border on the self-delusional, at least it is a step in the right direction. That is to say that if someone thinks they have a great attitude only when things are going their way, then it is really not a great attitude at all. Kind of like being "sort of pregnant".

"I have a great attitude, good or bad, I might as well make the best of any situation."

Yes! The rarest group, and the one any success oriented person would most like to be a member of. Sure, people in this group hurt, fail, and blunder, but it is their choice of reaction to these events that creates a great attitude. In short, they develop character when they hurt, grow after they fail, and learn from their blunders.

Attitude can be a difficult thing to control, but you and anyone else, can choose their desired attitude. It's just that sometimes there is a large stretch of time between negative circumstances and positive responses. Shrinking that gap of time will lead to a better and more consistent attitude.

Three dozen FREE resources about success are in the left hand column at http://www.kevinhogan.com/

Check them out today while they are still available.

Kevin Hogan, Psy.D. is the author of 16 books including The Psychology of Persuasion, and, Selling Yourself to Others

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Take time to consider the points presented above. What you learn may help you overcome your hesitation to take action.