The Top 10 Principles To Live By For Success

By Marti Eicholz

People are not born successful. They work hard and are extremely focused and persistent. Successful people take hedged risks and solve their problems creatively. Some of the characteristics that most successful people have in common are:

-- Intelligence. Most great people are intelligent--but not in every subject. They simply have well-develop intelligence in the areas or fields they have chosen to pursue.

-- Practice. Almost all-great people have spent many years practicing their particular talents. Mistakes must be made, new solutions discovered, and difficult situations endured.

-- Leadership. Many successful people have a tremendous amount of hands-on experience dealing with people or structuring an organization.

-- Energy. They're very active and involved in their particular work. Their high activity levels spring partly from tremendous enthusiasm and excitement for the things they are doing.

-- Emotional Stability. Some theories have asserted that a person's "emotional quotient" is a greater factor in the person's success than his or her intelligence quotient is.

-- Concentration. Their work really excites them--so much so that they become unaware of everything else.

-- Determination. They develop senses of destiny. They believe that they have major purposes. They can't imagine themselves failing. When they suffer setbacks, they view them as part of the learning process on the road to greatness.

-- Survival Skills. Many have suffered traumatic experiences early in life such as sickness, loneliness, or poverty. Such experiences helped them develop their robustness and persistence. People who can't cope with failure are not likely to succeed.

-- Willingness to take risks. They don't care what people think, or whether their work or ideas may embarrass them in front of others.

-- Letting experience teach them. They learn from life's experiences by making a conscious effort to do so. Many people get caught up in what or who is right or wrong instead of looking at the lesson that can be learned from the experience. And life is full of lessons. From the time we come out of the womb to the day we die, we are learning what life has to offer us, lesson after lesson. The key is to take the experiences-those everyday occurrences in life-and use them to change and grow. That's what life is all really-change. The only real constant in this life is that things and people change. Inspired by experience, change is all around.

We can all benefit by watching successful people. But the knowledge that each of us has the potential to be successful should be foremost in our minds as we proceed in life. Each of us has a unique ability or talent that can be developed. Believe in yourself and know yourself. These two qualities serve as a foundation for the other characteristics great people exhibit.

About the Author:
Marti Eicholz, Ph.D. is founder of the Institute for Transformation in Kirkland, Washington. She is also a national speaker, radio personality and the author of five books, including "Personal Relationships: The Art of Living Together."