The Natural Flow of Success

A note from: peter@thewealthyattitude.com

Getting into April brings thoughts of warmer days, no wind chill, and the lawn greening up. What a fun month it becomes.

As I mentioned yesterday, it is this week where we get a chance to evaluate our progress for 2008. Many people just resign themselves to the same old, same old, and repeat the disappointments of previous years.

But not you, this is the week you get to celebrate being on track, and on purpose. As our good friend Philip says, “You Are in The Natural Flow of Success”.

The Natural Flow of Success
By Philip Humbert

Every human being wants to live a great life. We have dreams and aspirations. We have a picture of how we want things to work out, and one of the essential tasks of adult life is to find a way to make our lives work out well.

We all try a variety of strategies. We work for someone else, or start our own business. Perhaps we choose a life partner, or find a community to put down roots. Some of us climb the "corporate ladder" while others choose life on a farm or in a small town. Whatever our strategy, the task is the same: To create the life we truly want and perhaps leave a legacy for our children.

The question is, whether success starts with achievement in the outer world, or whether it starts on the "inside" with personal development.

While most people SAY they believe success begins with personal development, what I notice is that we ACT as if success is primarily a matter of outward achievement and recognition. I find that most people start by focusing on financial or other external success in the hope that inner peace and personal fulfillment will come with it.

The question is whether this strategy actually works.

For hundreds of years, wise writers have said the natural flow of success is from the inside out. Benjamin Franklin had a list of 13 personal virtues that he worked on throughout his life. About a hundred years ago, James Allen wrote the classic, "As A Man Thinketh" and said that success always begins with our THOUGHTS.

In the 1930''s, Napoleon Hill wrote his famous, "Think and Grow Rich." He argued that our actions are pre-determined by our thoughts and noted that personal development is the spring from which all success flows.

Few people seriously question that success is an "inside job." It begins with our thoughts, with our values and our personal integrity, and FLOWS TOWARD or RESULTS in external success at every level.

I suspect most long-time readers of TIPS agree with this.
And yet we still fall into the trap of thinking that success is mostly or primarily based on external skills or circumstances. We up-grade our computers, change jobs, or in some cases we move to a new city or even change spouses, hoping that if we change the right "things" our personal lives will be transformed. It doesn't work that way.

First, be a person of integrity. First, "know thyself."
First, clarify your values and your priorities. First, know your ultimate purpose, your long-term destination and your most important values, then build on these things.
Success is only partly about marketing or money or getting a promotion, and it has almost nothing to do with the size of your house or the price of a new car. And the ultimate irony is that those nice things (and there's no denying they are nice and they are fun!) often come quickest and easiest to those who start with personal development.

For every hour you spend working on your sales skills, spend an hour getting to know yourself. For every dollar spent on training and professional development, spend a dollar on yourself or your family. For every new tool you buy, read a book on relationships, spirituality or personal growth.

Success is an inside job and the best success comes from a balanced, total approach.