Successful Living: Achieving Happiness and Fulfillment

By Deborah Schaefer

A successful life is about finding your true purpose and pursuing it with all your passion. It is about find the true riches of life that lead to happiness and fulfillment. It is having goals that drive your life.

Many people who achieve fortune in the world are not born rich. But they accomplished it through hard work and a plan of action. Every type of person on earth can become successful. There are saints and scoundrels; philanthropists and thieves; poets and politicians; young and old. There are no limitations or physical boundaries for success.

Success comes to those who deeply think about success and constantly strive for it! Although many rich financiers at the turn of the century had no formal education, they overcame that and went on to great fame.

Some people strive towards a single goal from early in life, and often attain that goal while still young. Others are willing to risk new adventures later and still attain success.

"It's never too late to learn," wrote Malcolm Forbes, the money magnate. "I learned to ride a motorcycle at 50 and fly balloons at 52."

Whatever your task, whatever your obstacles, you can be as successful as anyone else. Study the people who accomplished recognition in the areas of your pursuit. How did they achieve their goals? And don't be afraid you don't have what it takes.
As Daniel Webster wrote, "There is always room at the top."

Forming Conviction-
The single attribute that every successful person has is the one pointed devotion to attain a goal."There in the sunshine are my highest aspirations," wrote Louisa May Alcott, "I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead."

What are your desires? How can you form them into definite goals that you can attain?
Lawrence Peter wrote, "If you don't know where you're going, you'll probably end up somewhere else."

Maybe you're studying a craft or skill. Perhaps you're caught in a rung of the corporate ladder. Or, you might feel constricted by your family and the environment around you.

Which star are you reaching for?

"Ours is a world where people don't know what they want and are willing to go through anything to get it," wrote Don Marquis.

Take the time to think about your own aspirations. Look inside to find what feels right. Almost everyone entertains the notions of fame and fortune, but put on the 'costume' that fits you. Conviction requires certain qualities of action. Successful Living requires that you be sincere and be willing to assume responsibility. And you need the self-discipline necessary to work towards your goals.

-Are you prepared to achieve your dreams?
-Can you form their reality in your mind?
-Will you devote your entire being to attaining what you want?!?

On Your Own-
Most millionaires are non-conformists. So are the most famous actors and actresses; and the most prominent artists. Writers are known for their individual traits and eccentricities. Your convictions and goals are your own business, even when you find help along the path.

Mentors often take people under their wings to nourish and teach. Or spiritual guides will show you the path to attainment. But you're on your own to achieve.

Cultivate a sense of justice and an ability to make decisions. Cooperate with everybody and develop your own self-respect. And follow good criticism and advice after you've judged carefully.

J. Paul Getty said, "I advise young millionaires to be skeptical of advice. They should advise themselves; they should form their own opinions."

Lord Byron wrote, "There is rapture on the lonely shore." And if you attain your goals with poise and sincerity, you'll find warmth and love at the top- not the cold loneliness pictured by the jealous. Put on blinders to negative comments and criticism meant to hurt you.

About the people who criticize, Voltaire wrote, "Never having been able to succeed in the world, they took revenge by speaking ill of it."

Seize the Day!
People are judged by what they think and what they say. But the true measure of their character is what they do. Anyone who has achieved success and fortune in the world has done it by action. William Jennings Bryan wrote, "Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."

The choice of the path you follow is often put before you as opportunity. "Few people recognize opportunity," said Cary Grant, "because it comes disguised as hard work."

Don't let opportunities slip past while you're still considering them, and create new ones as you see them. "Wise people make more opportunities than they find," said Francis Bacon.

What opportunities can you act upon? Woolworth saw a need for small inexpensive items and opened the chain of stores that grossed billions. Wrigley started giving gum away as a bonus from a supplies wagon he sold from, and saw the opportunity to make money from the gum that became in high demand.

All successful people the world over have found the opportunities for their own special talents and acted upon those ways to achieve. Why wait for the time to pass? There's never a better time than now. Lewis Carroll believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. Take your own impossible dreams and make them become reality.

How They Think-
Thousands of potential millionaires are born every year. And making a million dollars is coming closer to everyone's pocket. What advice did the money-makers follow?

Aristotle Onassis worked eighteen hours a day to maintain his fortune. He started as a welder and aimed for the top. "You have to think money day and night," he said, "you should even dream about it in your sleep."

John D. Rockefeller, Jr., said, "I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes every person an opportunity to make a living."

And J. Paul Getty acknowledged his hard work: "I have no complex about wealth. I have worked hard for my money, producing things people need."

Even Proverbs advises: "In all labor there is profit." Richard Bach, the author of the best-selling "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" wrote, "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it, however."

The Empress of the British Empire, Queen Victoria, admonished, "We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat."

Do YOU Have What It Takes?
There are qualities of endeavor and achievement that are common to many people who make it to the top. The following questions are a guideline to self-enterprise and attaining your goals.

-Do you prefer to work for yourself than for others?
-Are you well-informed on current business and political affairs?
-Are you a leader?
-Do you take advantage of opportunities?
-Do you pay attention to what other people say?
-Can you finish a job even when it is difficult or unpleasant?
-Are you challenged by problems?
-Do you have a goal you want to achieve?
-Do you consider other people?
-Do you strive to attain?
-Can you obey commands?
-Can you bounce back after defeat?
-Do you believe in yourself?
-Can you stand by your actions in spite of criticism?
-Can you follow instructions?
-Can you respond to the needs of others?
-Will you give credit to others?
-Can you make your own decisions?
-Are you determined?
-Are you ready for success?

Establish a Goal-

-What do you want?

-Are you looking for financial security, professional
acknowledgment, spiritual attainment?

-Do you want to fit better socially, or become more expressive creatively?

Establish the goal that's right for you.
Then turn that goal from a dream into a desire. You want to realize that goal, not just wish for it. Aesop said, "Beware that you do not lose the substance by grabbing at the shadow."

-Know exactly what you want, then go for it.
-Don't be tricked by your own procrastination- especially if you want to achieve something artistic.

The writer Thomas Wolfe wrote, "I had been sustained by that delightful illusion of success which we all have when we dream about the books we are going to write instead of actually doing them. Now I was face to face with it, and suddenly I realized that I had
committed my life and my integrity so irrevocably to this struggle that I must conquer now or be destroyed."

Can you see what you want? If you want the abundance of material wealth that money provides, what goal will give you that money?

-Do you want the prestige of owning your own business?
-What business do you want to begin?
-Where are the opportunities for you?

Talk to everyone in the business you want to join. Make friends in the literary or art societies in your area. Read books and articles about your field of endeavor. How can you attain your goal?

"If you don't want to work, you have to work to earn enough money so that you don't have to work!" wrote Ogden Nash. Money makes money; success breeds success.
But not always.

How can you break through those thoughts to help yourself to the rewards?

Henry David Thoreau wrote...
"I have learned this at least by my experiment: that if you advance confidently in the direction of your dreams, and endeavor to live the life which you imagine, you will meet with success."

Think BIG and passionately visualize success, consistently and without ceasing:

-Do you see yourself in a big house?
-Maybe you picture your artwork hanging in a gallery.
-Can you feel your book in print and in your hands?
-How does it feel to be a person of success?!?

Affirm-

To make firm.

Make firm that you are; know that it is in your grasp. That's what the others did, and that's how people make it to the top. Then get down to basics.

Be precise.

Exactly how much money do you want, and by what date?
And exactly what are you going to do to earn that money? Be realistic, but give yourself short-term goals. Write it down. In six months or one year, you will have how much money. And repeat it until it feels good. Then repeat it twice a day until it swirls in your subconscious, until it becomes your one-pointed goal.

"The goal stands up, the keeper stands up to keep the goal," wrote A.E. Housman.

Keys to Successful Living-

-Make people feel at ease- They will respond to your needs as you respond to theirs.
-Share the spotlight.
-Give credit to those who deserve it- and to those who strive.
-Don't grab praise away from other people.
-Have confidence in your own value.
-Don't do anything that won't credit your own self-respect.
-Follow up your actions as they reflect your own self-worth.

Listen well to others' comments. Then weigh your own actions. Cultivate relationships with people who have good and important things to say.

Participate in life.
Be active in business meetings and endeavors; volunteer to be part of organizations and groups. Social interaction will boost your sense of well-being.

Feel worthy of your own goal.
Know that you can attain it and that it is right for you. Grasp your own challenge. Don't give yourself impossible goals, but always reach higher. Relax and be yourself. Each person is different and just as wonderful as the next. Don't be plagued by what you think others think of you.

Don't bathe in success- use it. Once you achieve your first goal, go on to others. Use the money you earn for the rewards you look for. Then go on to the next endeavor.

Be slow to criticize others' achievements. Find out how they did it and learn from them. Never use subterfuge. Don't go behind someone's back. Speak your mind and earn respect. Banish negative thoughts and traits. Restructure your life to exclude bad habits.

Believe in yourself and what you are to accomplish. All the power in the world is within you to achieve. Success in life is attainable for everyone who follows their dreams and passions.

About the author

Deborah Schaefer, publisher of http://www.SuccessOrate.com
the Successful Living Resource Center, is a WAHM who is lving her passion by helping people improve their lives through her
informative,
inspirational and motivational writing. from http://www.FreeArticlesAndContent.com