I am just recapping and reviewing (my notes of) what Dr Maxwell Maltz had talked extensively about the success-type personality, which then reminds of what I have had previously read about the late Bob Proctor's work in this area. He posed an interesting question:

WHY DON'T WE DO THE THINGS WE KNOW WE SHOULD TO CREATE SUCCESS?

Interestingly, Bob Proctor also had a CD product that goes under the label of 'Success Habits'. He had deliberately listed 12 'Success Habits'.

Although I have not reviewed his product, I would like to take the liberty of using those labels for success habits as an intellectual platform to tackle his pertinent question, with random bursts of insights, drawing learning experiences from my own long journey on the Highway of Life.

1) Success:

- most of us have a foggy idea about success, except for equating it with money and/or fame;

- it's never the end-result or destination; it's always the ride or journey, and as such, there are always road blocks and even unexpected accidents, e.g. storms, to deal with; sometimes, we may need to take detours to continue the journey;

- Earl Nightingale and Paul J Meyer defined it best:

"Success is the progressive realisation of predetermined, worthwhile and personal goals";

- it's also pertinent to point out that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which one has overcome while trying to succeed;

2) Decision:

- I once read that life is a sum of all our choices or decisions; unfortunately most of us like to sit on the fence;

- I am sure you can remember the jocularity of the proverbial 3 frogs sitting on a lily pod; two decided to jump into the pond; how many frogs are left on the pod?

- no wonder peak performance coach Anthony Robbins once said:

"It is in your moment of decision that your destiny is shaped";

What he is saying is that using the power of decision gives you the capacity to get past any excuse to change any and every part of your life in an instant;

- interestingly, good decisions come from experience, and experience comes from bad decisions;

- hence, indecisiveness is a stumbling block to success;

3) Risk:

- Most of us are risk adverse, including myself;

- I remember vividly during the late seventies, while I was a deputy divisional manager, one of my young engineers who left to start his own business [he wanted to make S$1 million before his 30th birthday] had posed me a question to the effect as to why I was still working for somebody else while I had more than a decade of professional experience; to be frank, risk was my concern at that point as I was gainfully employed; [that young engineer made it!]

- Helen Keller said it best:

"Security is mostly superstition. It does not exist in nature. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing".

- I am always bemused when I read this quotation from an unknown author:

"Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic."

- So, in late 1991, I left the corporate world after almost a quarter of a century, and the rest was history!

4) Persistence:

- I believe it was my persistence and perseverance that kept me going when I started my own small ventures during the early nineties, as the first 3 years were hell of a ride;

- the following advice from Paul J Meyer still rings true:

"90% of those who failed are not actually defeated. They simply quit!"

- in fact, I have learned that when defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not working, so rebuild those plans, and set sail once again toward your preferred outcome;

5) Responsibility;

- I am sure most readers can recall Stephen Covey's elaborate definition of "responsibility" in his debut classic, '7 Habits of Highly Effective People';

- For me, "responsibility" is taking charge of and taking action on one's own life;

- I just can't help thinking about what Spiderman's dying uncle had taught our young hero, as his parting advice:

"Great power comes with great responsibility!";

6) Confidence:

- I believe quite a lot of people, for one reason or another, suffer from low self-esteem; as a result, they have a poor image of themselves, and this always boils down to the lack of confidence in oneself;

- most of the time, this has also to do with one's own self-talk, especially the negative aspect;

- One problem I reckon has also to do with one's incessant need to compare with others - follow the Jones, so to speak; I always believe that we don't have to out beat anybody; we just have to be better our self everyday, and that's the first small step towards building self-confidence;

7) Action:

- action always follows decision, but the problem is that we often don't want to act on what we have decided; that's stupidity!

- from another perspective, famed scientist Marie Curie shared her thoughts this way:

"The common conception is that motivation leads to action, but the reverse is true - action precedes motivation. You have to 'prime the pump' and get the juice flowing, which motivates you to work on your goals. Getting momentum going is the most difficult part of the job, and often taking the first step is enough to prompt you to make the best of your day."

- remember, I have talked about "inertia" in an earlier post; also about "action-mindedness";

- Bruce Lee, whose fists shook the world, once said this:

"Knowing is not enough, you must apply. Willing is not enough, you must do.";

- Interestingly, futurist Joel Arthur Barker has this great perspective:

"Vision without action is daydreaming; action without vision is random activity; vision with action changes the world."

How about that?;

- Interestingly, as a counterpoint, action has consequences, but action also creates feedback for learning and opportunity;

8) Money:

- Most people like to hold the view that only after we have the money, we can then do something;

- I like what the cash flow guy Robert Kiyosaki has once taught me:

"Money is only an idea; if you want to have money in your hands, change your thinking!"

- it's also important to note that money isn't everything: I have some friends who are loaded, but surprisingly, they are still unhappy with their own lives.

9) Goals:

- many people fail in life, not for lack of ability or even courage, but simply because they have never organised their lives around a goal;

- undoubtedly, in any success or prosperity literature, old or new, goal setting & goal achieving always form one of the critical approaches to personal success;

- once your goals are set, life takes on a meaningful purpose, & everything else just falls into place - that's what I have found;

- in retrospect, you simply can't hit anything unless you have a target;

- successful companies, successful individuals & successful students have one thing in common: they have specific goals! Best of all, they know where they are going!

- I was so glad that I had learned about goal setting during my early professional years - many thanks to Paul J Meyer, Dr Maxwell Maltz and Napoleon Hill!

- Aristotle was right to day. and so was Dr Maxwell Maltz:

"Man is a goal-seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals."

10) Attitude:

- Attitude is everything - it's very true!

- A positive mental attitude can really make the difference;

- There is a wise saying from Zig Ziglar:

"It's your attitude, not your aptitude that determines your altitude!";

- put it in another way, aptitude may get you to the top, but it takes attitude to keep you there!;

- I remember in my employment days that knowledge and skills often help one to get a job, but poor attitude and bad habits can get one fired from the job!

11) Creativity:

- we are able to enjoy many modern technological conveniences today primarily because of the creativity and imagination of our forefathers;

- No wonder, Napoleon Hill once said:

"Ideas are the beginnings of all riches . . ."

- I don't know who said to this effect, but it makes sense:

"Ideas make money. Everything else is housekeeping."

- not only coming up with good ideas, but we must also have the will power to put them to work;

- it's also pertinent to point out that the problem is never how to get new ideas into your mind, but how to get old ideas out of the system;

12) Communications:

- well, just follow the intellectual cues of productivity strategist Stephen R Covey: Seek first to understand, then to be understood!

- To use empathic listening, listen patiently to what the other person has to say, even if you do not agree with it. It is important to show acceptance, though not necessarily agreement, by simply nodding or injecting phrases such as "I understand" or "I see."

Enjoy your reading, exploration and asssimilation!