Before the holiday season crept up on me I wrote a post called “The 5 Categories of Success,” in which I promised to expound a bit more on each separate category. So, as “Self” is the first category, I would not be in integrity if I were to break that promise to you and to myself. But isn’t that truly where it starts? Trusting yourself and knowing that if you make a commitment, you will keep it. It’s so much easier to do, but is the most damaging in effect, when we break self promises.
Now before I get off on a tangent, allow me to break self success into a few subcategories for ease of reading. Now I don’t pretend to know everything there is about everything and am not a self proclaimed Guru. I just know that I have learned some things in my life that can assist anyone who is willing to integrate them into their own.
Self – The First Category of Success
- Integrity – I can’t tell you how much your level of achievement in this life is based on how well you stick to your core values. If you have no core values then you may be in a bit of trouble in the near or distant future. Being a religious guy, you have to wonder why the scriptures speak of how difficult it is for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of Heaven. It’s because people have a tendency to lose themselves in the pursuit of money. If you achieve all the success in the world but lose your integrity , you have gained nothing. Integrity consists of honesty, dependability, respect, virtue, truth, sound, grounded, bold and stalwart. A couple of phrases that comes to mind are “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” and “Do the right thing, even and especially when no one is watching!” The person you truly are is revealed by the things you do when no one else is around. Part of integrity is the ability to keep promises, especially to yourself.
- Physical Health – Take pride in everything of who you are. This includes your physical appearance and your body’s health. I don’t know how many of you have ever heard of this saying, “Your body is a temple?” It has been in my life since I had my first memory. Meaning, don’t desecrate it. Take care of it. Keep it clean and fine tuned. Exercise regularly and eat healthy. Think of your body as the outward expression of who you are inside. Maybe this is the wrong way to put it, but if you are fat, lazy and hairy on the inside, you’ll be fat, lazy and hairy on the outside. If the real you can’t find it’s way to the outside because of poor physical health and fitness, you may never reach your full potential. And I know, we can play the blame game. It’s a thyroid problem or genetic. All I have to say about that is don’t settle for that! Treat your body as a fine tuned earthly machine that is being operated by a more powerful and intelligent soul….because we all are heavenly beings having a human, earthly experience.
- Self Education – I once heard a quote from the late Jim Rohn that said, “Formal education will make you a living, self-education will make you a fortune. …. Don’t let school interfere with your education.” Go to college, read books and gain knowledge and wisdom from anywhere you can. Not just any knowledge, but knowledge that is praiseworthy and of good report….the kind of knowledge that compels to action by simply occupying space in your head.
These are just a few, but I think you get the point. For those of you who know what the Be-Do-Have principle is, “becoming” is the first step to any level of success. You must first be, then do, then get. It doesn’t work in any other order. Never forget that.
Success is truly an individual matter. After mastermind groups, seminars, books, lectures, college and business, it all comes down to you. Do you want it bad enough to become the person you want to become? You are the one. No one will do it for you. It’s an individual matter. It all starts with you and ends with you, but never really is about you. It’s about helping others, and finding yourself along the way!
If you think about all the different components of a car that have to work together to make it work, there are a ton. The main goal of all those car parts is to make a vehicle that works. The vehicle, the car, is it. Everything else is just part of it. I mean, if you want to be the rim, the gas pedal, the steering shaft or the radiator, you can fit into that position very nicely and will probably do a great JOB in making that car work…….but you’ll never be the car. When you get into your car, you don’t say, “Man, I love the radiator, the gas pedal and the rims that make up this car.” No! You say, “Man I love this car!” The car is the thing that exists, and as a component of the car, when you break, you are replaced with a better working part. The car still exists. It was always about the car, not the parts.