The Recipes for Chaos & Achievement

A note from peter@thewealthyattitude.com for Thursday June 12 2008

Welcome to this Thursday.

Firstly, my thanks to all who shared notes related to yesterday’s “reader”. It warms me always to acknowledge that we have amazingly thoughtful subscribers.

We’ve been focusing a lot recently on wealth, health, happiness and personal responsibility. Today is no different. We call on a good friend and contributor to share yet another great perspective on the issues.

The Recipes for Chaos & Achievement

by Philip Humbert

We all want lives of achievement, health, happiness and some measure of wealth. We want the "good life!" And yet, the vast majority end up leading relatively average, middle-class lives. How can this be? How can so many of the world's most educated people end up working paycheck to paycheck?

I think the answers are pretty simple.

Most of us were never taught HOW to create and live a great life! We don't study this in school. We admire people who have done great things, but no one coaches us, no one shows us the way. And so we stumble. We struggle. We ARE educated, ambitious, educated people and we do the best we can, but without the basic recipe, too often we get only average results.

So, I want to share with you two of the most important "recipes" I know I teach these formulas to my coaching clients and I want to share them with you. My price? Only this: If you find them helpful, I ask that you pass them on to at least two other people. Forward this reader, or print it out and mail it to two friends. I hope you're willing to do that.

Ok, here we go.

The first recipe is what I call the recipe for chaos. It goes like this:
Impulse + Opportunity = Chaos

Every day, we all have impulses to study or to spend, to do our work or to watch television. Impulses are merely ideas that pop into our brains and momentarily catch our attention. The problem is that they are relatively random and too many are based on casual appetites or unhealthy temptations. There's nothing inherently bad or wrong with our impulses, but there is nothing inherently good or trustworthy about them, either.

And, too often our impulses get matched with opportunity for instant gratification. Here's how it works.

Consider the impulse to spend, combined with a credit card in your wallet. Too often, the result is casual debt, and that can be a problem Or how about the impulse to watch television (just one show), combined with a beautiful new TV in the family room? Too often, the result is wasted time. You see the pattern?

Impulses happen. When we surround ourselves with opportunities for instant gratification, the result can be a life lurching out of control .

Now, consider another recipe, the one for achievement. Here it is:
Desire + Discipline = Achievement

"Desire" comes from Latin words that mean "of the father." Our deepest desires represent our true longings, our mission or purpose or values in life. When we are clear about our real DESIRES and combine them with a disciplined life, the results can be astonishing!

Jonas Salk had the DESIRE to prevent polio and the DISCIPLINE to do the research, study his notes and make the discoveries. The results changed the world. Mary Kay Ash (of Mary Kay Cosmetics) had the DESIRE to help single moms like herself, and the DISCIPLINE to find a way. She had no money (she started with $500) and no business experience, but she pressed forward. She changed an industry and helped millions of women in the process.

Random impulses in a world of undisciplined opportunity can lead to chaos, debt, and disaster. Knowing your deepest DESIRES and matching them with even minimal DISCIPLINE, however, is the recipe for achievement. When Stephen Covey talks about "starting with the end in mind," he's talking about being clear about your desires. When we talk about written goals, we're talking about strong desires. When you know what you truly want, and go after it with discipline and determination, the results are astounding.

That's the recipe for achievement!

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.