The following are short principles for success from personal development thinkers and teachers. This is meant as a guide to refer back to when we need a little guidance. These principles are grouped based on some of the key ideas from my favorite teachers. You'll notice a lot of overlap since there are only so many themes in timeless wisdom.
Zig Ziglar
You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.
What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.
Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.
The first step in solving a problem is to recognize that it does exist.
Do more than you are being paid to do, and you'll eventually be paid more for what you do.
When you are tough on yourself, life is going to be infinitely easier on you.
You are who you are and what you are because of what has gone into your mind. You can change who you are and what you are by changing what goes into your mind.
You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.
You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.
Napoleon Hill
The man who does more than he is paid for will soon be paid for more than he does.
Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.
Don't wait. The time will never be just right.
Jim Rohn
Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.
If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.
Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.
We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret or disappointment.
Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.
You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of.
Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day.
Time is more value than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.
If you don't like how things are, change it! You're not a tree.
Success is not to be pursued; it is to be attracted by the person you become.
Don't wish it were easier, wish you were better.
Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals.
Failure is not a single, cataclysmic event. You don't fail overnight. Instead, failure is a few errors in judgment, repeated every day.
Make measurable progress in reasonable time.
To solve any problem, here are three questions to ask yourself: First, what could I do? Second, what could I read? And third, who could I ask?
Work harder on yourself than you do on your job.
You don't get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour.
We get paid for bringing value to the marketplace.
Brian Tracy
You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.
Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.
Your greatest asset is your earning ability. Your greatest resource is your time.
Those people who develop the ability to continuously acquire new and better forms of knowledge that they can apply to their work and to their lives will be the movers and shakers in our society for the indefinite future.
Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'
Successful people are simply those with successful habits.
People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine.
Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor.
The more credit you give away, the more will come back to you. The more you help others, the more they will want to help you.
No one lives long enough to learn everything they need to learn starting from scratch. To be successful, we absolutely, positively have to find people who have already paid the price to learn the things that we need to learn to achieve our goals.
The person we believe ourselves to be will always act in a manner consistent with our self-image.
T. Harv Eker
You must acquire the habits and skills of managing a small amount of money before you can have a large amount. Remember, we are creatures of habit and, therefore, the habit of managing your money is more important than the amount.
For the rich, it's not about getting more stuff. It's about having the freedom to make almost any decision you want.
You will be paid in direct proportion to the value you deliver to the marketplace.
Dale Carnegie
Happiness doesn't depend on any external conditions, it is governed by our mental attitude.
First ask yourself: What is the worst that can happen? Then prepare to accept it. Then proceed to improve on the worst.
When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion.
The successful man will profit from his mistakes and try again in a different way.
There is only one way... to get anybody to do anything. And that is by making the other person want to do it.
You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.
Stephen Covey
(From "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People")
Habit 1: Take Initiative
Habit 2: Envision the Life You Want
Habit 3: Prioritize Important Over Urgent
Habit 4: Seek Mutual Benefits
Habit 5: Listen and Understand the Other First
Habit 6: Collaborate to Create Possibilities
Habit 7: Practice Self-Renewal
If you would, please comment below with the principle that resonates most with you.
First, "Don't wish it were easier, wish you were better." Then, "If you don't like it, change it. You're not a tree."
Here is one quote that I try to live by daily; "The man who does more than he is paid for will soon be paid for more than he does."
Tanner I really enjoy your sharing and these quotes are the very same ones that have been encouraging me for years! Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work!
- Willis Ponds