Admittedly there are many rules and clichés in life, however if you think hard about it, a cliché is only a cliché because although it’s been said many times, it is true.
Personally I’ve heard of many and what I’ve done here is distilled them into 15 rules which you might or might not have heard before, of which all of them I try to live by and teach others as well.
1. There is always a choice, no matter how difficult it is
Choice is a matter of mindset. Even when people say they have no choice in something, truth of the matter is there is a choice, but they are unwilling to make the hard choice.
2. Cultivate resourcefulness rather than worry about resources
It’s never a question of resources, only resourcefulness. There are more than enough resources around you, be that finance, food, shelter, water, whatever it is. The only question is how resourceful are you in getting it.
3. Actions speak louder than words
I don’t care what you say, it’s what you do that matters. I often hear about entrepreneurs worrying about telling their ideas to other people for fear of them stealing it. I share all the time, and no one ever steals it because it’s not the words that count, it’s the actions and implementation. If you act on your words, no one will ever beat you because there are more talkers in the world than there are doers.
4. Give a little and you’ll gain a little, give a lot and you’ll gain a lot
There’s no greater act of sharing that to give something to someone else in order to help them. What you’ll find when you do this act of contribution, is that you’ll get two fold back what you give.
5. Excellence is always the goal
No matter what you do, or how you do it, aim for excellence. The best in the world at something is always going to be successful. Think about it, the best rubbish collector in the world probably has a million dollar refuse company, the best pea farmer in the world probably ships his world renown peas globally to the top restaurants. So whatever you do, do it to be the best.
6. There is no substitute for hard work, ever
Just what it says on the tin. There are no shortcuts and there are no get rich quick schemes. Hard work is the route, so if you don’t believe this, you’ve failed already.
7. Eliminate negative people from your life, you don’t need them
Negative people will pull you down, positive people will pull you up. Which kind of person would you rather have more of in your life? It’s simple. Look at all the successful people you know and you’ll soon see that they surround themselves with positive people.
8. Happiness is living life every day, knowing you chose that life
Success and happiness in my definition is not having unlimited wealth (although that would be nice!), it’s know that every day you live doing what you do, it’s by choice and not by someone else’s objectives.
9. Set goals beyond your reach if you want to succeed
Always aim higher than you can reach, because by doing so, you’ll always figure out a way to get there, and you’ll stretch yourself to do it. In that process you stand to learn more, whether you succeed or fail at that goal, than you ever will aiming low.
10. Learning is a lifelong pursuit
Never stop learning. Life is just one big lesson where you need to constantly grow and evolve to keep moving forward. Think of it this way, if Alan Sugar and figure out and know that he needs to be tweeting and he does it, then you get the picture right!
11. Communication is everything
Words are the way we all learn, express ourselves and without them people can’t just assume or guess what you are thinking or wanting, so communication skills are absolutely key.
12. Doing what you must, not just what you want, will get you where you need to go
I learnt this a long time ago and I see a lot of people wanting success but never really willing to do what it takes, including the things you don’t like doing. I don’t particularly like accounting, tax, legals, human resource management etc, but I learnt how to deal with it because knowing is power. Do what you must, not just what you want!
13. Grow as fast as you can, let not others hold you back
People who are not ambitious will always try to hold you back. The more you move forward, the more they hold you back. Don’t let that happen, it’s their problem, not yours.
14. Help other people succeed and you will too
When you help other people to get what they want the most, you’ll also end up getting more of what you are looking for also. After all, every solution is a solution to a problem, so you are helping other people. Every service and every product ever created, is a solution to a problem.
15. Great results are a product of focusing on a mission, a vision and your goals
Always have a plan, and never lose sight of your big picture goals. Define a vision, something you totally believe in, and set yourself up a way to get there, even if it’s only a few steps closer.