Tips for Success
(Excerpt from “Secrets of Life” by Douglas James Cottrell, Ph.D.)
Let your body and mind be disciplined. Temper your emotions – which are the constructive and destructive forces in your body. Do not be afraid to be successful. Be willing to step out of step, not locked into conformity (which is usually the formula for failure). If you step outside of the ordinary and routine, there is a good chance you are falling upon new steps that will lead you towards success. Over ninety per cent of people are failing. In the Western world, most people at age sixty-five are penniless and totally dependent upon someone else for their livelihood. About three to five per cent are comfortable and able to manage on their own resources and their own acquisition of income. Somewhere between one and three per cent of the population are, indeed, truly wealthy. They do not need to rely upon anyone for their creature comforts and needs, for they have managed to save up, produce, gain, or acquire money throughout their lives. This has brought them into a state of being wealthy.
Anyone in society can do the same. First, and foremost, it takes a good understanding of money management. Second, it takes the ability to acquire material excess, or more money than you think you need. Third, it takes some degree of management of these resources. And fourth, it takes an attitude that what you are doing in your vocation or career is something you love to do. In the end, you become self-empowered, self-determining, and self-successful and you need not depend on anyone for your future sustenance. You depend on yourself and God – which is a loving and just God – for your ultimate success.
Each and everyone can acquire success. When in doubt, when feeling self-pity, or when worry or fear holds you back, it is better to do something – anything – than nothing. Be willing to take the first step, and do anything you can to become self-supporting. Look for answers under all possible avenues. Do not stop until you find the right answer and you will find that you have gone from despair to delight; from darkness to light. The rules are simple: choose what you want to become, but be willing to make compromises, changes or shifts in direction. Do not stop the ongoing desire to acquire your ultimate success. Let your ultimate success be something tangible; something that can be measured in physical terms. Then, every minute of every day, do everything in your power to acquire that end result or that goal. Do not be dissuaded or discouraged. When you fall down, get up. When you feel delay, continue. Reach out and reach your goal. No one else will stop you. No one else will do it for you. Just like breathing, success is a personal thing. Continue to breathe. Continue to be successful. Continue to be self-determining and self-supportive.
Learn to be wealthy. Speak to the experts. As you move through life, use your own understanding. If you are usually doing something different than everyone else, then you must be doing something right, for conformity is a sin. Conformity keeps you limited, isolated, and unwilling to expand. Do not conform. Utilize the rules and regulations, but do not conform.
Success is at the hands of all. Choose what you will choose for yourself, though light, life, success and prosperity seem the better choices. Enjoyment of all things in the world is part of the human experience – your privilege, if you will – while you are in the flesh. Do not let material things deter you from your ultimate success. Rather, learn to use them to acquire it. But never substitute material wealth or material prosperity as the true God. God is a loving and just God. Love God with every cell of your being. Always do what is right, and you will be successful. No matter what.