Be Passionate

What is the deepest desire of your heart? Is it a great rewarding job? Or maybe it is to have freedom from financial constraints? Or maybe for some it is to be able to give back to the community or the environment? What is it that you desire the most out of life?

PASSION. The 7^th and final key to success. Deep within your heart, there is a desire, the pursuit of something, and object or a career, which would bring you all the happiness, success and fulfilment that you really want. To find your passion, all you have to do is to identify your own unique purpose in life. Sounds easy doesn’t it? It is.

You can achieve whatever you want in life, be the person who you always wanted to be and do the things you’ve always wanted to do. It sounds a bit too much, too bold, but all this is achievable. The question is why aren’t we all living this dream life?

Well apart from the obvious, which is we’ve been told since we were kids that it is impossible for us to live our dream life, the other reason would be, as Abraham Maslow called it, looking after our physiological and social needs. It’s probably what our parents and grandparents went through. They went through life with very little opportunities. Their lives were consumed with the whole business of “making a living”. For most of them, they were never concerned about their own “higher needs”.

Some people today are already in pursuit of their higher needs. They have already started to achieve the basic human need of respect, recognition and responsibility. For them, it means pursuing an interesting career rather than just a job. But for most of us, there is still an inner emptiness. Quite often, they realize this when they have reached the peak of their careers. They get to the top, and realize that they are still unsatisfied, there is still a feeling of emptiness within themselves, they are not HAPPY. As Steven Covey put it, they climbed the ladder of success and when they got to the top, they realized they were climbing the wrong wall.

To achieve success, you must be bold enough to go even higher, achieve what Maslow calls “self actualization”. Becoming the person you were meant to be and living the life you were meant to live. For this, you need PASSION.

So,

COMMITMENT, AN OPEN MIND, PERSISTENCE, FLEXIBILITY, FAITH, THANKFULNESS AND PASSION

These are the KEYS TO SUCCESS.

Be Thankful

I love writing. I’m not really a good writer. Although I have written a book, a coffee table book and it has been published, I’m not really that great. I think that was more a case of either the publisher published the book, or miss a deadline and get condemned by their client. So, I’m not really that good. I guess in Malay, we call it “syok sendiri”. I love writing about anything. Doesn’t really matter what the subject is. Thus, the reason for this blog. This blog isn’t just an avenue to promote myself (Once again, the “syok sendiri” part). It’s also therapeutic. I get to say whatever I want. Anyway, all this isn't really relevant.

Back to the topic at hand. Not to worry, we’re almost done with the e-book “7 Keys to Success”. After this, there’s only just one more piece to the puzzle and then you can go on your way to achieving your dreams (that is if you decide to take my advice and give the 7 keys a try).

The sixth key to success is probably the most under rated one of all 7. But I believe it is the most important one. A lot of us go through life thinking that we deserve everything that we have. We worked hard to get to where we are now and that everything we have now or anything we get in the future is all the result of our hard work. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But, in most cases, we forget to be thankful. We forget that somewhere along the way, we’ve had help from time to time, people, events and circumstances have come to our aid to help us get on our way.

So, this is the 6^th key to success, THANKFULNESS. I remember a time when I used to look at my life, my past and where I was at that moment in time and think, I deserved better. I’d spend a whole lot of time just complaining about the way my life was and never be THANKFUL about what I had. I never really saw the fact that even though I wasn’t financially successful, nor was I successful in my career, there were a lot of other things that I should have been thankful for.

I guess like me, a lot of other people don’t see the relevance of being THANKFUL as a key towards success. Those of you who follow the “Laws of Attraction” would say that this is one of the most important aspects of the “Laws of Attraction”. It is the key to unlocking your ability to attract the people, events and circumstances that will put you on the path towards success.

But a lot of people will be very sceptical. How does being THANKFUL affect your ability to be successful? 2 Psychologists, Mccullogh and Emmons, decided to put this theory to a test. In their study, 3 groups of people were asked to keep a journal. The first group kept a journal of their daily lives, everything that happened to them during the day. The second group was asked to record anything that was unpleasant that had happened to them throughout the day. While the third group, was asked to keep records of all the things they were thankful for throughout the day, a GRATITUDE JOURNAL.

The results of this study were pretty amazing. Those that kept the GRATITUDE JOURNAL were found to have experienced high levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, optimism and energy. They experienced less depression and stress and were more likely to help other people. They also exercised more regularly and were making amazing progress towards achieving their goals. So let this sink in for a while:

• A Grateful Heart Cannot Be Cynical
• Gratitude Is Fundamental In Maintaining An Optimistic Outlook
• The Exercise Of Thankfulness Activates The Law Of Attraction

So, I guess I should start here. I’d like to thank God for the life I’ve had. Although it has been a challenging life, I have learned a lot from it and I look forward to the challenges in store for me in the future. I’d like to thank my parents and my family. If It wasn’t for my parents, I wouldn’t be here right now. And to the members of my family, thank you for being there for me when I needed it. I’d also like to thank my friends. They know who they are. Thanks for sticking around. There are a whole lot of other things that I should be thankful for, but that would be for my GRATITUDE JOURNAL.

COMMITMENT, AN OPEN MIND, PERSISTENCE, FLEXIBILITY, FAITH, THANKFULNESS

The Power of Faith

As a kid growing up, you are constantly pestered with the question “what do you want to be when you grow up?” I got this question from almost everyone. Teachers, parents, relatives, parents’ friend, basically everyone I came into contact with between the ages of 6 till I was 15. Almost every kid is faced with this question. How did you answer this question?

I know a lot of my friends answered with the most obvious and most prestigious occupations. There were those who dreamed of being pilots, doctors, actors, singers, football stars and a whole lot of other dreams. But let me tell you this, 80% of those kids would grow up and settle for something less than their dreams. Their experiences in life ground them down and those dreams were eventually put away. They still have those dreams somewhere deep down in their hearts, but they now believe those dreams are not achievable.

From childhood, we will be conditioned by a lot of people about what is supposedly good for us. First our parents will work on us telling us that our dreams are just that, dreams. Then, come our teachers who will tell us that in life, we need a job, a trade or a career and that life had very few opportunities to achieve your dream. Then, our friends will finish it off by asking us what’s wrong with being a sales person, or a secretary, or a brick layer. Gradually, our beliefs about the world would change. We would no longer believe that our dreams could come true.

But, let’s look at the story of Masaru Emoto, a scientist who freezes water and takes photographs. After conducting many experiments, he found that water which was frozen when offered a prayer, would form better, more perfect crystals than water that was cursed before freezing. Now this is a sign of how the power of FAITH can impact our physical reality.

It does sound a bit bizarre. There really shouldn’t be any significant difference, but the difference is there for you to see. If FAITH can do this to water, imagine what it could do to us. We are after all 75% water.

That’s why you need FAITH, a deep down belief that regardless of the evidence, of whatever other people may say about your dreams, all the negative conditioning, you need to believe that your dreams are achievable.

HAVE FAITH IN YOUR DREAMS AND HAVE FAITH IN YOURSELF

Have

COMMITMENT, AN OPEN MIND, PERSISTENCE, FLEXIBILTY AND FAITH

And you will be on your way to fulfilling your dreams.

Be Flexible....

I have no idea what happened, but somehow my blog posts don’t tally. Before I post anything new, I will usually type it out in Microsoft Word first before I copy over to blogger. Then I’d save the word document using the same number as the blog post number in blogger. I’ve probably missed a number because now, this post is post number 47 while in the list of Word documents I’ve saved, it’s only number 46.

Anyway, that’s not the point of this post. The point of this post, as in the last few posts is the “7 Keys to Success”. I’ve started to receive some positive comments about the previous posts. And this is quite encouraging. It shows that there are a lot of people out there who have some great dreams about their lives, some are already on their way to achieving their dreams, while others are still searching for the right path.

Just to recap what I’ve said so far. To be successful, start with a dream, then commit yourself to achieving that dream, then, the universe will help you to achieve those dreams. Be open to whatever the universe gives you. Next, be persistent as persistency will be your friend in your journey towards achieving your dreams. Persistency will help you pick yourself up when times are bad and keep you going towards your destiny.

Someone once said “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” What this means is that if you keep doing the same thing over and over again, then you keep getting the same result over and over again. So if you want to achieve your dreams, then be flexible. Choose a path on your journey towards your dream, but if that doesn’t work, look for another path. If you stick to the same path and it doesn’t work, you will always end up with the same result, disappointment.

So, FLEXIBILITY is the next key to achieving your dreams. You need to notice what is working and what isn’t working. If something isn’t working, then you need to have the FLEXIBILITY to adopt another strategy or change the way you are doing things. Brainstorm different approaches and continually monitor the outcome of your strategies. By doing this on a continuous basis, you will eventually find something that works and then, you will be unstoppable.

One of the best stories which illustrates this point is that of Kevin Keegan. Kevin wanted to be a professional footballer. But everyone told him he wouldn’t make it. He was too small, he wasn’t strong enough and neither was he very talented. But he didn’t give up. He couldn’t do anything about his height so instead, he worked on his physique until he built a strong and powerful frame, and also his ball skills.

He eventually signed up with Scunthorpe United in 1967 and turned pro a year later. In 1971 he moved to Liverpool and his professional footballing career took off. With Liverpool, he won the 1974 FA Cup, the UEFA Cup in 1973 and 1976, the European Cup in 1977, and the English League in 1973 and 1976 – 77. He was capped 63 times for England between 1972 till 1982. He was twice awarded the European Footballer of the Year n 1978 and 1979. He achieved all this by being flexible in his approach.

So, if you want to be successful in whatever chosen field, you must work for it, and you have to be flexible in your approach. You’ll find that different approaches will bring different results. Use the approach that works best for you in achieving your dreams

COMMITMENT, OPEN-MINDED, PERSISTENT, FLEXIBLE

Try and try again...

I’ve been staring at this blank page for a while now. The last few days it feels as if my mind has gone blank. I’ve continued writing post to my blog here, but it’s mainly come from the e-book “7 Keys to Success”. I haven’t really come up with anything original. I’ll probably find something to write about soon. As for now, I’m just going to continue writing about this book.

As I said before, if you want to be successful, you must have a dream. Don’t limit your dream. “Dream the impossible dream”. Then commit yourself to achieving that dream. Open your mind to the universe. The universe will assist you in achieving your dreams. You will attract people, events and circumstances that will help you to achieve that dream.

Next, you have to be PERSISTENT. Persistence is what drives you towards your success. It is the element which prevents you from being discouraged by the events of the past in fulfilling your dreams. Imagine that your dream and committing to it is like a journey, a journey towards the fulfilment of your dream. The PERSISTENCE is the engine that will take you on your journey.

A story in the book illustrates this point.

A man walked up to a Guru asking the Guru “Which way is success?” The Guru didn’t say anything but just pointed in one direction. The man, dreaming of quick and easy success headed out in the direction the Guru was pointing at. Soon there was a loud splat and the man came back, bloodied and tattered. Thinking he might have misinterpreted the message, the man asked the Guru again, “Which way is success?” The Guru silently pointed in the same direction.

The man walked off again in that direction, and this time, the splat was deafening. Once again the man came back all bloodied and broken, his impatience showing on his face.

He yelled at the Guru, “I asked you which way is success and you pointed in that direction. All I got was splatted. No more of this pointing, tell me, which way is success?” Only then did the Guru answer, “Success is that way, just a little further on than splat.”

No matter how big your goals are, you can get there is you keep your destination in mind, and continually take actions that will drive you towards your goal. When you encounter an obstacle, which you inevitable will, persistence determines what you will do, whether you give up or you continue on your journey. Persistence is what will get you back on your feet, dust yourself down and ready to continue your journey towards success. PERSISTENCE will get you past SPLAT.