By E. Corinne Byrd
What is the secret to a successful life? Aren’t we suckers for
the word
”
secret
”
? We’re all overwhelmingly curious to know the secret
– to happiness, wealth, weight loss, landing a great job,
whatever. My experience with secrets and quick fixes is this: there
is no secret!
By E. Corinne Byrd
What is the secret to a successful life? Aren’t we suckers for the word “secret”? We’re all overwhelmingly curious to know the secret – to happiness, wealth, weight loss, landing a great job, whatever. My experience with secrets and quick fixes is this: there is no secret!
There may be no magic formula for success, yet there are a few common traits and principles which keep popping up on that winning-person radar screen. Let’s examine a few of those.
Vision. What is your chief reason for being on the planet? What are your main goals? Success is not an accidental occurrence on the road to nowhere. You have to envision success and know where you’re headed – say it, think it, feel it, believe it. Winners plan, implement, then live out their vision. Earl Nightingale said, “We become what we think about. If we don’t think, we become nothing.”
Integrity. We all have a moral compass that guides our thinking and day-to-day decisions. What do you stand for? Do your attitudes, beliefs and values point true north? Stephen Covey said, “Ideas of integrity and family and service tie in with every culture and every system of belief. These are ‘true north’ values and principles.” As you look at your life, are you fair, honest, sincere? Winners stand up for what is right, true and honorable. They know nothing of value is gained without integrity, nothing of value lasts without integrity.
Resolve. Even though we’re a diverse mixture of ambition, personality and experience, one thing we all have in common is hardship. The world doesn’t offer us carefree living on rose-strewn pathways. Businesses go bankrupt; planes crash; people are laid off. It’s just the way life is. Winners get up tomorrow and start all over again. They show courage, determination and grit. They also look for the best in even the worst of times. They look for the “silver lining.”
Some people live what Warren Bennis, Founding Chairman of the Leadership Institute at USC, calls “death on the installment plan.” They’re losers, grumblers and gripers – people who have been unsuccessful in their careers and lives. Conversely, he believes successful people become winners because of their sense of purpose, passion and desire to do something important in the world. He believes successful people go about the business of reinventing their lives along the way, adjusting to life’s situations and transitions.
Who in their right mind would choose “death on the installment plan”? I don’t want my tombstone to read, “Born 1950, Died 2000, Buried 2040.” Don’t we all know someone like that, though? They’re just marking days on the calendar. I want to wake up every morning and recognize life as a new experience. It’s not yesterday, and it’s not tomorrow. In the here and now, I want to know and do whatever it takes to be a winner, to live with meaning.
