Rules for success in life and business: 12 secrets of successful people

• Think positively
• Find something you like
• Be ready to show yourself
• Set realistic goals
• Exercise
• Keep a success diary
• Give up bad habits
• Play sports
• Learn to say no
• Let go of the past
• Take care of your surroundings
• Have your own opinion
• Golden rules of success

Everyone is attracted to energetic personalities who are blessed with good luck. For some, success and wealth seem unattainable; for others, they easily realize their plans. What is the secret of successful people?

There are people who attract financial success

Think positively

People who have achieved success have something similar in their worldview, lifestyle and behavior. What makes successful people different? The secret of their success is that they are initially focused on achieving the goal. They perceive obstacles along the way as temporary difficulties from which they can gain useful experience.

Successful people have one thing in common: they are positive.

There are many books that promote the development of positive thinking: “Smile before it’s too late!” Alexandra Sviyash, “The Thinking Man” by James Allen, “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie, “I Can Be Happy” by Louise Hay. They tell the reader the main rules for success in life. They not only contain useful tips, but also exercises that will help you develop the habit of thinking positively.

Guy Kawasaki - faith in the product

former Apple marketer Guy Kawasaki believes in God . But he firmly believes in one thing for sure - in the products of his company and in the fact that it makes the world a better place. Such people are called evangelists - they infect others with their faith.

Kawasaki worked with the Apple brand even when they began to market their brainchild - Macintosh computers. It was then that the Apple brand became popular in the United States and then throughout the world. Now Kawasaki is working with another brand - the design company Canva, and also brings light and knowledge about their products to the masses.

Why do they believe him? Before promoting a brand, Kawasaki carefully considers its mission. If the main goal of any startup is banal profit, there will be no sense in it, the evangelist is sure. But if you are driven by a noble idea (for example, to improve people’s lives, to make the online shopping process more comfortable) - then everything is simply bound to work out. It’s hard to believe, but in the world of business there are still such pure souls who think not only about themselves, but about all of humanity.

Further more. You need to believe in the product itself. It is clear that if you sell bad, low-quality goods, believe as much as you like, but they will not buy them. This means that your product must be really cool, hit the buyer’s emotions and mind, at the same time understandable the first time (you don’t need to explain for a long time why a person should buy it and what it is) and close to the people.

Find something you like

First you need to decide on your goal. Most people go with the flow: they have a certain scheme in their minds (institute, work, pension) in accordance with which they live. Change frightens them. In such conditions, success has nowhere to come from.

Many people are ready to do something they don’t like for decent pay, but this path will lead nowhere. One of the main rules for achieving success is love for your work.

Successful people have principles, the main one of which is loyalty to their goal. It is impossible to achieve success in a business you don’t love.

Ray Kroc - taking risks

One of the creators of McDonald's was unknown to anyone until he was 52 years old and earned like everyone else. He tried himself in many areas of business, but without much success. But at 52 years old - the age when ordinary people are preparing for retirement and babysitting grandchildren - he turned his life around: he invested all his savings in buying a McDonald's franchise . Who could give him a guarantee of success? How would he have lived if the adventure had failed? No answer. He bet on everything - and won, hit the jackpot.

In his book “McDonald's: How an Empire was Created,” Ray Kroc reveals other secrets of the popularity of the restaurant chain. These include optimization and automation of business processes, investment in employee training - even the simplest employees standing behind the cash register. Who, if not Kroc, would know that of the smiling boys and girls shouting “Free cash register!” a professional businessman can hatch at any moment! If only there were good mentors nearby.

Be ready to show yourself

If you have a boring job, turn it into an exciting attraction. Dale Carnegie’s book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” tells how one girl had to fill out a huge number of monotonous forms every day at work. To make things less boring, she decided to compete with herself. Every day she set herself the task of exceeding the number of forms filled out the day before. As a result, she filled out several times more forms than any other office employee. The work no longer seemed dull to her; the excitement of competition appeared.

Even if your current responsibilities are not related to your aspirations, try to fulfill them to the best of your ability. You never know where it might come in handy.

Richard Branson - Frankness

The creator of the Virgin empire is also known in Russia as the author of popular business books - in particular, “The Naked Business”. Branson talks candidly about the underbelly of business. We advise you to take it into service!

Here are some interesting quotes:

1. “There is no point in forcing people to work under stress. It's important to give them time to recover." Tell me honestly, how many businessmen consider their subordinates as living people, and not biorobots on a salary? But all that is needed is to provide people with comfortable working conditions, assign a decent salary and treat them humanely.
2. “Publicity is absolutely necessary in business.” We have already written about how important it is to develop a personal brand, even if you are the owner of a small online store with a narrow circle of regular customers. Act as an expert, give interviews, act as a speaker at conferences and business forums, or simply record a video and publish it online!
3. “Find good people and give them freedom to act.” Trust your employees more. In order for them to work well and be full of new ideas, you need to assemble a cohesive team and be confident in each of its members. Give freedom little by little, at first control the completion of tasks, then you can loosen the reins a little. As a result, you will get self-sufficient employees and be sure that even if you leave or go on vacation, the online store will work like clockwork.

Set realistic goals

Another thing that distinguishes successful people from everyone else is the ability to look at things objectively and set achievable goals.

Set clear deadlines for obtaining results. You want to lose excess weight. The abstract formulation sounds like this: “I want to lose 10 extra pounds.” A specific goal sounds different: “In 3 months I will lose 10 kilograms.”

The second formulation sounds more convincing. It makes you believe in the reality of achieving results.

Correct goal setting

Work only for yourself

“Be successful by starting your own business. You will never become rich if you work for another person throughout the day,” one of the wealthiest people on the planet, John Davison Rockefeller, liked to say. He derived this theorem as a teenager, when he decided to earn pocket money. Having worked for an entrepreneur, he quickly realized that the lion's share of the profit ended up in someone else's pocket. Therefore, I decided not to waste my energy enriching other people, and organized my own business.

Rockefeller started making money literally from scratch. You won’t believe it, but at the start the man had a meager amount of money. With his $800 and borrowing another $1,200 from friends, he opened a business. His brothers and good comrades helped him, and together they organized the Standart Oil company, which dealt with gasoline and kerosene. Having made a successful bet on fuel, they quickly became rich. At the time of his death, John's net worth was 1.5 billion, approximately one and a half percent of US GDP. He saw the secret of success in life in determination, hard work, and piety. For these character traits, his brothers nicknamed him the Deacon. Rockefeller was involved in charity work and constantly funded education and medical research.

Exercise

Sometimes your head is so full of everyday worries that there is no strength left for the main goal.

Julia Cameron's book The Artist's Way describes an exercise to help organize your thoughts. The exercise is called “Morning Pages”. Its essence is as follows: upon waking up, you need to write 3 pages of handwritten text, write, without thinking, what comes to mind. This “stream of consciousness” allows problems to come out and remain on paper.

Most Morning Pages practitioners report that they remain in good spirits for the rest of the day and are able to concentrate on achieving their goals.

Walk at least 15 minutes a day

Successful people make sure to set aside time in their schedule for exercise. Walking can also serve as excellent exercise.

Charles Darwin walked twice a day: at noon and 16:00. Beethoven would go for a long walk after lunch and take a pencil and music paper with him in case inspiration struck. Charles Dickens walked briskly more than 10 kilometers a day, which helped him not to burn out from work. Steve Jobs walked if there was an important conversation ahead of him.

Only those ideas that appear during a walk have value.

Friedrich Nietzsche

famous philosopher.

Other famous people who have learned the benefits of long walks include Aristotle, Mahatma Gandhi, Jack Dorsey, Tory Burch, Howard Schultz, Oliver Sacks and Winston Churchill.

This habit is definitely worth adopting. After all, scientists have confirmed the Stanford study finds walking improves creativity. that walks invigorate, refresh the mind, increase creativity and even prolong life. According to the study How Only 15 Minutes of Walking Can Change Everything. , which lasted 12 years, among people over 65 who walked 15 minutes a day, the death rate was 22% lower.

Keep a success diary

Words on paper acquire magical power: you tell the Universe about your desires and aspirations. Keeping a success journal can be beneficial.

You can use a regular diary. It should be divided into 2 parts: the first will contain short-term goals (up to 1 year) and their gradual implementation, the second will contain those that require more time to complete.

Reviewing records of your own success in achieving your goals is the most powerful incentive to move forward of all!

A success diary will help you achieve your goals

They regularly ask for feedback

By analogy, the strongest leaders are not afraid of feedback—from their peers, their bosses, or even their subordinates. Done right, it can be an equally powerful tool for learning and growth.

How to: Make a list of 10 people you work closely with or know well. Come up with three questions that are specific to the feedback you want to receive.

For example, if you are seeking feedback about your leadership style, you might ask, “What quality about my leadership style do you like best?” or “What conversation do you think I could have handled differently in the past month?”

Mention that you are looking for more feedback and will contact you again in three months with additional questions. Encourage them to do the same and let them know that you are more than willing to reciprocate.

Take care of your surroundings

The support and understanding of loved ones is extremely important on the path to achieving your goal. You need to surround yourself with people you can trust.

Do not get involved with those who promise to quickly achieve what you want in a short time. The secrets of the vast majority of successful people are simple: a measured life, in which at least a little time is devoted to what you love every day, and movement forward.

The key to success is patience and perseverance.

The environment should consist of people you can trust

Principles of a successful personality

The foundation for achieving success is the internal qualities of the individual. Entire books have been written about these qualities, but if we highlight the main thing, then the following are the principles of a successful personality:

1. Self-sufficiency
   . A successful person determines his own life priorities and goals himself, not paying attention to the opinions of others and not needing approval.
2. The ability to forgive
   . Resentment is a destructive feeling that consumes emotional energy. If you are offended by a loved one, forgive me; if you are offended by a stranger, just forget about his existence. This will free you from the heavy moral burden that interferes with self-realization.
3. The ability to conserve strength
   . Hard work is a good trait, but you don’t need to waste all your energy, otherwise what you love may become unpleasant.
4. Lack of perfectionism
   . This tendency can be useful, but for most it prevents them from achieving success in life. Perfectionism forces you to spend an inordinate amount of time on every little detail, improving the quality of the result only slightly. Don't strive for perfection, just do it well.
5. Ability to be distracted and switch
   . Life consists of several areas, and you need to give yourself completely to each. While working, do not think about everyday worries, and when spending time with loved ones, do not think about work.
6. The ability to say “No!”
   . Most people do not know how to refuse when they are called to a meeting, asked for something, or offered an unprofitable deal. Successful people always act rationally; they cannot be persuaded to do something they don’t want to do.
7. Goodwill
   . A successful person is friendly to others, encourages and rejoices when they have achieved significant achievements in life. He is polite, does not brag about his achievements, and knows how to listen to his interlocutor without interrupting. Pay attention to how your friends behave, and you will understand that the listed traits are characteristic of successful people. Losers, on the other hand, are usually negatively disposed towards others, envious and prone to gloating.

Have your own opinion

Don't be afraid of what people will say. There will always be someone who claims that our dreams, plans and aspirations are meaningless and unattainable.

At the very beginning of his career, Stephen King received so many refusals to publish his works that he even got a special nail on which he would string rejection letters. The number of letters grew, but King did not give up, he continued to write. Now Stephen King is a successful and sought-after author, the generally recognized king of the horror genre, having published more than 50 novels and 200 short stories.

Walt Disney was fired from the newspaper "due to lack of imagination and good ideas." If he had lost heart, we would never have seen any of his wonderful cartoons.

Oleg Tinkov - charisma

Oleg Yuryevich is perhaps the most controversial figure in our business. His sharp quotes have long been spread across business publications, young entrepreneurs want to be like him, and some are spitting venom, observing the success of the next brainchild of a businessman. One thing we can say for sure: he leaves no one indifferent. Few people dare to cut the truth completely openly and in such quantities.

Here, for example, is Tinkov’s famous statement “If I see that a business is an ass, I sell it and move on . And rightly so, if you think about it! There is a well-known saying: if a horse is dead, get off. There is no need to convince yourself that the nag is still breathing, there is no need to revive it in different ways - everything is useless. Tinkov understood this a long time ago and puts it into practice. If you count the number of his businesses, you'll miss the first ten. Not all of them were successful - in this case, the businessman sold his brainchild without unnecessary regrets, got up and started all over again.

Or here’s another: “I am convinced that if you do something with complete dedication and confidence, professionally, it will bear fruit. Concentrate or die!” . One can only guess how much effort and money Oleg Yuryevich puts into his projects, how hard he works. Of course, not alone, but together with the team.

Golden rules of success

There are no clear recommendations on whether there are rules for a successful person, and no one can give you guarantees of achieving success. But if you follow a few important points, you can significantly increase your chances of winning. In a sense, these are the rules leading to a successful life:

• Take responsibility for your own life and actions. Many people tend to blame anyone for their failures: family, friends, environment, living conditions, but not themselves.
• Believe in your success. Many of those who begin to move towards their goals experience difficulties. This is completely normal; changes in life come with discomfort. This scares some people and they leave the race. Don't lose your goals! Perseverance, constancy, faith - these are the rules of unconditional success.
• There are no easy paths to success. It just seems that someone gets everything without making any effort. There are no uniform rules for achieving success. The main secret is this: success is achieved through long and painstaking work.
• Make sure you always look neat. Wrinkled clothes or dirty shoes can greatly spoil the impression.
• Don't borrow money. There is always the possibility of failure.
• Don't complain about the injustice of life.
• Take action! The easiest way is to stay where you are now. Without action, you will not become more successful or richer. Any experience, even a bad one, can benefit your future business.
• Don't be afraid to lose! There are no victories without defeats. The rules of successful people say: failures make us move on. Confucius said: “The greatest glory lies not in never making a mistake, but in being able to rise every time you fall.” Michael Jordan has experienced a lot of failures. Hundreds of times he missed the decisive shot. “I fail day after day. That’s why I’m a champion!”
• Every day take at least a small step towards your goal.
• Get out of your comfort zone. This is a kind of challenge. It is much easier and safer to do nothing. No one will tell you the secret of how you can instantly achieve what you want without making any effort, will not draw up a detailed action plan for you to achieve your goals, and will not tell you the rules for achieving one hundred percent success. No one guarantees an easy and carefree life.

The key to success is determination, hard work, perseverance and unshakable self-confidence.

The road appears under the steps of the walker.

Sam Walton - tenacity

The creator of the American chain of stores Wal-Mart was one of the first to come up with the idea of ​​opening supermarkets with low prices. But few people know that the poor son of a farmer took out a loan to open the very first store. And when it didn’t work out, he gritted his teeth and went into debt again. We see the result - in terms of capital, Sam Walton could compete with Bill Gates himself.

And that is not all. To come up with an idea and have the strength to implement it - doesn’t that require perseverance? Walton not only anticipated the format of modern hypermarkets, but also introduced special rules that are strictly observed to this day . For example, deliberately lower prices (in those days this was a revolutionary decision), organize grand sales and discounts, introduce self-service - so that customers wander around the store for an unlimited amount of time, filling their baskets and carts. And the now popular “product of the day” format (every day there is a discount on some product) also comes from America of the last century, also the brainchild of Sam Walton. It is not surprising that his ideas became popular and are now used all over the world.

Don't spare money

This is the life credo of the famous investor Warren Buffett. What is the secret of success for a person who was born into an ordinary American family? It's simple - he never spared the money he earned and constantly invested it in the development of potentially profitable projects, in his opinion. His intuition did not let him down, because it was given to him thanks to his genes: his father was a pretty good entrepreneur and politician. The investor's wealth grew exponentially and reached $72.7 billion in March 2015.

Interestingly, he made his first profit at the age of 6: in a store, the boy bought a package of carbonated drink for 25 cents and sold each can separately for $0.5. The profit was small, but it was at that moment that it dawned on him how he could and should earn money literally from scratch. Later, he actively tried himself on the stock exchange, buying shares of large companies and earning substantial money from their sale. Buffett was not afraid to take risks, invested money and received dividends. The secrets to the success of this great businessman are amazing intuition, fearlessness, the ability to respect competitors and not be afraid to make mistakes.

“He who owns the information owns the world”

The famous phrase belongs to the founder of the American Rothschild dynasty - Nathan. He was a distant descendant of a German businessman with Jewish roots who, as a second-generation banker, was known as a good mathematician, tactician and entrepreneur. It was this distant ancestor, who, using pigeon mail, learned about Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, launched misinformation. Wanting to make money on the London Stock Exchange, he claimed that the French ruler had allegedly won. All holders of valuable shares began to urgently sell them, and cunning people began to buy them at low prices. When the truth was revealed, Rothschild was already rich, and his competitors had lost almost everything. Many of them committed suicide.

This family is still one of the wealthiest. What are the secrets of success of the great representatives of the dynasty? How did they manage to achieve such high results? The formula for their success lies in three words: “Consent. Honesty. Hard work." It is this motto that decorates their family coat of arms. Today, the descendants of Nathan Mayer Rothschild live in Europe and America: they finance the improvement of railways, the construction of buildings, the development of scientific expeditions, they have banking, and so on. Their activities are very different, but each of them remembers that information in the modern world is a priceless thing. And they often remember the founder of the family, telling children the legend of his enrichment.