The Six Rules of Personal Success

MARKETS

 

|

 

2/11/2012 @ 12:52下午 |22,598 views

+ Comment now

99

53

48

2

46

Image via Wikipedia

Of all human abilities, one stands out, the ability to see the Big Picture, the things that are important in life, and not to be distracted by small, trivial, and irrelevant things; the intelligence to separate the message from the background noise.

‘The Big Picture’ is about the grand goals; the big dreams and aspirations people treasure in every stage and aspect of life. But how can you grasp and hold on to the Big Picture? What does it take?

Six rules that have been successfully tested in business and everyday life:

1. Get your Priorities Right

Setting priorities right is about making intelligent choices, deciding what goals to pursue in which order, which takes vision and foresight. Intelligent people rise over the hills and valleys of the present to gaze over the hills and the valleys of the future and see the invisible and the challenges it holds. Renowned entrepreneurs like Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) founder Bill Gates, Apple’s founder (NASDAQ:AAPL) Steve Jobs, and Facebook’s founderMark Zuckerberg had such vision and foresight; they could see how technology could change the lives of everyday people; and came up with products and services that will turn their vision into reality.

Getting your priorities right is about choosing whether to go to school, start your own business or working for somebody else; whether to get married or stay singled; whether to have children or not; whether to stay married or get divorced; whether to remarry if widowed or divorced; and you have to choose how to spend your money.

2. Use Resources Wisely

Using resources wisely is also about making intelligent choices. It is about deriving the most value out of limited resources; shopping around for the right merchandise by asking three simple questions: Do I need this piece of merchandise? Is the price right? Is this merchandise the best use of my money?

In some cases, using resources wisely means more than shopping around for bargains for the right merchandise. It also means paying the least interest and finance charges for the things you buy on credit. Shop around for the lowest interest rates on a home mortgage; refinance when interest rates fall sufficiently; and stay away from consumer debt and finance charges that add to the price of the merchandise you buy

3. Stay Focused

Staying focused means sticking with your priorities and goals;



focusing on the message, not on the background noise; and



executing. Take the right steps to reach your goals. That’s all t






hat matters in the end.

It takes patience, persistence, and discipline to stay focused.




Patience to overcome the hurdles that stand between you and




your goal; persistence to overcome the failures, setbacks, and




temptations that may take you off course; and discipline to play







the game right, to comply with all the rules: know what you are




doing, be punctual, and work out all the details.

4. Develop the Right Relations

Reaching a certain goal requires moral and psychological stamina.



It takes skills and resources no single individual possesses. This



means that in pursuing personal success, people need friends and





partners to overcome the many obstacles that stand between





them and their personal goals. At school, friends can provide the



moral and psychological support to endure and overcome the



pressure that comes with class lectures, homework, exams, and




term paper deadlines. Partners provide the information and




expertise to go over complex concepts and to complete coursework




projects, sharing of class notes, participating in discussion groups.

At work, friends provide the moral and psychological support to






endure and overcome workplace-related stress, meeting project



 deadlines, handling customer complains, and dealing with internal




politics. Partners provide skills and expertise to complete complex







projects that require cooperation among several parties.

Friendships and partnerships is a trait shared by many successful




company founders, including HP (NYSE:HPQ) founders Bill Hewlett



and Dave Packard, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) founders Sergey Brin



and Larry Page, and Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen.

5. Don’t be Greedy

Greed is the idolization and relentless pursuit of something that




lets people distinguish and set themselves apart from others—




money, power, status, and so on; the feeling that they never have






enough of it, and nothing can stop them from amassing and



accumulating it.

Greed is an obsession that—like alcohol—numbs people’s senses,



blurs their vision, and makes them lose sight of the Big Picture.



Greed leads people to live a life of imbalance and disproportion, a





life of reckless and dangerous behavior. 



People who want everything in life fail to negotiate with others



and compromise, and end up losing everything. People, who want





from personal friendships and partnerships and become selfish and




arrogant, end up destroying them.

6. Don’t be Complacent

Complacency is the opposite of greed. It’s the idolization of 






things people have accomplished, the feeling that they 






have reached thetelos (ultimate destination).

This may sound contradictory to what was argued earlier 

about staying focused, but success isn’t an entitlement. It 

cannot be taken for granted. Successful people cannot 

afford to be complacent because good times do not last 

forever, especially in a rapidly changing world. That’s why 

complacency is dangerous. People who are complacent 

with their accomplishments fail to catch up with the rest 

of the world and are left behind.  At school, students who 

are complacent about their performance at the beginning 

the semester eventually lag behind their peers and end up 

failing the course. At work, workers who become 

complacent and take their jobs for granted fail to keep up 

with the demands of the marketplace by upgrading their 

skills and are the first in line to be laid off in an economic 

downturn. In marriage, people who become complacent 

about what they have accomplished and take each other 

for granted, end with apathy and indifference for each 

other.

Also read The Ten Golden Rules on Living the Good Life