Over the years, I’ve come to realize a simple principle: nothing happens to a person. No. When things happen, they happen through a person. After all, you’re the captain of your ship. As I mentioned in my ebook, when someone accepts this fact, their new mantra becomes: “if it’s got to be, it’s got to be me.”
Adopting this mentality and the self-confidence that goes with it, is a necessary first step towards achievement. You see, you can’t use your strengths until you first believe you have the power to reach your destination and achieve what you demand of yourself.
The next step is to adopt the very rules you’ll live by. I know everyone hates the word “rules”, but hear me out…
Have you ever seen what bowling alleys do for child bowlers? They put up guardrails in the gutters. When a child tosses the bowling ball into the gutter, the guard rails kick the ball back on course, so it can hit the pins. Rules due the same thing. They “echo” our beliefs back to ourselves so that we stay on course.
As we’ve talked about before, it’s important to know who you are and what you demand of yourself, but it’s easy to lose hold of that vision as we go about our busy lives. Our purpose and values are like a rope that runs through our life. We must keep ahold of that rope day in and day out. Rules help us keep a tight grip on that rope. Lastly, think of rules as paddles, helping push you towards your destination.
Here are 5 rules that I believe a person should have in them, to ensure success in the coming year. These rules might seem a little old-fashioned, but when combined with a resolve to create your own destiny, they can give you an incredible boost! Let’s look at each one.
Rule #1: You must value excellence. Excellence is more than a word. It separates those who accept mediocre lives from those who demand more from themselves. Continually think in terms of what you can do to improve the quality of your life. Place it high on your list of values and it will lead you to an understanding that excellence is the only condition you will accept. Commit yourself to staying on top. You demonstrate your commitment to excellence by creating goals that stretch you past your comfort zone and by setting aggressive milestones for achieving those goals. Have you set these types of goals for 2016 yet?
Rule #2: You must value wisdom. Wisdom begins with being curious. It’s the reward you get from the experiences that come from being ambitiously curious and willing to work hard to achieve your demands. Wisdom also teaches you to be flexible and open to new ideas, ideas that help you increase your success. What’s your plan for gaining more wisdom in 2016?
Rule #3: You must value self-improvement. Be willing to do whatever it takes to grow. Without continual improvement, values such as excellence and wisdom have no meaning. When you value self-growth, you have confidence. And confidence moves things. Let me assure you, that no matter where you are currently on the path to financial freedom, you can become the person you want to be thru self-improvement. What plans have you made (books to read, classes to attend, etc…) to improve in 2016?
Rule #4. You must have an inner scorecard. Warren Buffett said, “The big question about how people behave is whether they’ve got an Inner Scorecard or an Outer Scorecard. It helps if you can be satisfied with an Inner Scorecard… If all the emphasis is on what the world’s going to think about you, forgetting about how you really behave, you’ll wind up with an Outer Scorecard.” If you create an inner scorecard of how to measure yourself, you’re only left to act faithfully upon those convictions. How your doing on someone else’s scorecard becomes meaningless. If its important to you, it should be on your inner scorecard, one of your convictions. If it’s not on your own scorecard, then it isn’t important. A person who’s worried about keeping up with the Jones will have a tough time becoming financially free. Many people wouldn’t say they live this way but their actions speak otherwise. Create that internal force that ensures success. Create a strong set of convictions to live by. Let them help keep you on track. They are the cornerstone of financial freedom. What convictions will you have in 2016?
Albert Einstein said “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts”.
What counts in your life, when you think of what you value? Prioritizing and concentrating your time and energy on what really matters to you will shift your life dramatically. Is being debt-free in 2016 important to you? Do you want to be financially free in 2016? Do you want to live life at your fullest potential?
Remember, the only thing that separates the victor from everyone else is that is that the victor knows what it takes to win and then acts on that knowledge.
Be free. Nothing else is worth it.
Want even more information to help you succeed in 2016? Check-out these other articles from the blog archives:
If You Want Financial Freedom, You’ll Regret Not Doing These Things Now
How To Get Virtually Anyone To Mentor You, Including Famous People