Success Principles – Personal Growth is a Result of Action, NOT Reaction

One of the most well known success principles is that you should always begin with the end in mind. Whatever it is that you want to accomplish, you start with that, and then work backwards to determine the steps needed to attain that goal.

However, many people do the exact opposite. Rather than focusing on how wonderful it is going to be once they have attained success, they instead think about how badly they don’t want what they already have. Let’s throw another proven success principle in here and see if that adds up:

What you focus on grows.

If you are going to grow whatever it is that you are focusing on, yet your entire success journey begins by you saying “I am so sick of {BLANK}…” then you are already on the wrong path. You are focusing on what you DON’T want, rather than what you do want.

On the other hand, by keeping a constant focus on creating a better life for yourself, your attitude towards success becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The thoughts, feelings, and actions that make up your success-oriented lifestyle will all be centered around positive, empowering thoughts, rather than serving as constant reminders of the lifestyle that you are wanting to leave behind.

Relationship Success Principles

How many times have you heard someone say that they are so tired of being alone, and they can’t wait to find their Mr. or Mrs. Right? How many times has the incompatibility with one person been the very driving force that causes the search for a “new and improved” mate?

In both of those instances, the true desire is to have a happy or fulfilling relationship, yet the focus is instead on the loneliness, or the present mate who isn’t getting the job done.

If what we focus on grows, then all we will get from that type of attitude is more loneliness, or yet another mate that we are not 100% happy with.

On the other hand, if we start our relationship quest from a position of power, and focus utterly and completely on what we want the new relationship to be like, then that is exactly what will ultimately manifest into our lives.

Career Success Principles

How many times has your desire to get away from your present job been the rocket fuel that blasted you into a feverish search for a new employer? How many times have you dreamed of owning your own business because you were sick of the “rat race” that is an integral part of almost all corporate positions?

Again, the focus in those instances is totally on what is NOT wanted, rather than what is wanted.

The proof that what you focus on grows can be plainly demonstrated by the fact that most people still don’t like their jobs, even after escaping the negative situation with their previous employer. Sure, the circumstances have probably changed, but before you pull out the “I love my job” card, answer this question first:

Would you do it for FREE?

Health and Fitness Success Principles

Have you ever decided to go on a diet because you couldn’t fit into your favorite jeans anymore? Did you ever decide to start exercising because you couldn’t walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded? Has some bad news at the doctor’s office ever been the catalyst for you to clean up your nutrition and/or exercise habits?

All of those instances are focusing on the same thing: what you DON’T want:

• You don’t want to feel fat and uncomfortable in clothes that you used to enjoy wearing.
• You don’t want to feel like you can’t perform basic human movements or activities.
• You don’t want your cholesterol score or your risk for a heart attack to climb even higher than they already are.

Negative. Negative. Negative. Focus on what you DO want, because whatever you focus on is exactly what is going to come about.

• Focus on looking lean and sexy.
• Focus on having plenty of energy and vitality.
• Focus on a healthy lifestyle where better marks at the doctor’s office are just a side effect, rather than the driving force for your activities.

In each of the above examples, and in any other circumstance that you can imagine, focusing on the negative will only bring about more negativity. Yes, you can modify the details by simply changing your scenery, but putting clean sheets on a dirty bed doesn’t make the bed any cleaner than it originally was!

If you want positive changes, then think, feel, and ACT in a positive manner, rather than just reacting to whatever negativity it is that you are wanting to be rid of.

Successful people create success. They don’t sit around waiting for their lives to be miserable first.