Management Growth Strategies The Critical Factors of Success Introduction The past is over, forget it. The future holds out hope, reach for it. (Charles R. Swindoll) Why are some people more successful than others? This subject has been studied exhaustively, going back to the earliest philosophers several hundred years before Christ. The good news is that today we have the answers. Today, we know why some people accomplish a lot in life and some people accomplish very little. The bad news is that the good news is very hard to apply, which is why so few people ever fulfill their potential in life. Accurate diagnosis is half the cure. By learning the primary reasons for success and failure, you can learn how to avoid the side roads that lead to under-achievement and keep yourself on the high road that leads to success and accomplishment. In this lesson you will learn: Why some people are more successful than others Constructive versus destructive thinking The key quality of success The E Factor and the causes of success and failure How to build self-discipline How to resist the E Factor 1
What Do You Already Know? Test your knowledge by attempting to answer the questions below. 1. Why do you think some people are more successful than others? 2. What is most effective for living a good life positive or negative thinking? Why? 3. What is it that everyone wants in life? 4. When you talk about human nature, what qualities come to mind? 2
5. What is the primary quality of character that accounts for most of success? 6. Why is the development of willpower so difficult for most people? 3
The Critical Factors of Success 1. Why are some people more successful than others? a) What is the difference, given the same background and opportunities? b) What is the difference, given the same talents and abilities? c) What is the difference, given the same environment and education? 21 The answer? How you think! a) Positive versus negative? Problems versus solutions? b) Constructive versus destructive thinking? Optimist versus pessimist? c) Goal achieving versus tension relieving? d) Focus on pleasing results versus pleasing methods. 3. Everyone wants the same things in life. a) SECurITY life, health, financial, emotional; b) Comfort ability to sit down, lay down, relax; c) LEISure relaxation, fun, vacations, pleasure; d) Love emotional need to love, be loved; e) respect of others, as a condition of self-respect; f) FuLFILLment to feel completely involved, engaged with life; g) PoWEr influence, control, making a difference. 4
4. Everyone has the same basic nature. a) Lazy seeks the easiest way to achieve any goal; b) GrEEDY prefers more to less; c) AmbITIous wants to improve oneself; d) SELFISH sees things from own perspective; e) vain has ego needs, wants to be liked, admired by others; f) Ignorant does not know everything; g) ImpATIEnt wants things earlier rather than later. 5. The great law is the Expediency Factor. a) People always take the fastest, easiest way; b) The key consideration in behavior? The likely consequences! 6. The key success quality? Self-discipline! a) The battle is always: E-Factor versus self-discipline; b) The competition is between what is easy versus what is hard; c) Makes the difference between failure and success; d) Self-discipline leads to self-esteem, self-respect, happiness. 5
7. 8. 9. E-Factor giving in lowers self-esteem, self-respect. The best definition of self-discipline? Self-discipline is the ability to make yourself do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not. (Elbert Hubbard) To build self-discipline, continually visualize the rewards of self-discipline and success. 10. Consciously resist the attraction, the pull of the E-Factor. 11. The great aim of life is character development. a) Character development requires self-mastery, self-control, self-discipline; b) Character is The ability to follow through on a resolution after the emotion with which the resolution was passed is gone. The major determinant of your success or failure in life is measured by which is stronger in you: the E-Factor or your strength of self-discipline. Character strength is like a muscle. You develop it through repetition. Every time you resist the temptation to take the fast, easy way, you build your character stronger and stronger until you develop indomitable willpower and an irresistible personality. 6
Action Exercises 1. What three qualities are most responsible for your success in life, to date? 2. In what three does your thinking positively and constructively improve your performance? 3. What qualities or personal attributes would you like most to develop in yourself? 7
4. What are your three most important goals in life, right now? 5. In what areas does the E-Factor interfere with your success? 6. In what three areas of activity do you need to develop more self-discipline and willpower? 7. What three rewards would you enjoy if you disciplined yourself to do the things you need to do to achieve your major goals? 8
8. What do you feel are your three primary character weaknesses as a person? 9. What are your three greatest strengths as a person? (What could they be? What could they be?) What one thing are you going to do immediately as the result of what you have learned in this lesson? 9