If you’ve drifted away from the time proven principles for developing and living a highly successful, happy life, it’s not to late to get back to them.
You were born to succeed. You are your greatest strength and there are wonderful things in store for you, if you are willing to reach for them.
Be resolutely willing to do what’s necessary to fashion a new life and the keys to happiness and success that have existed for thousands of years will be made readily available to you.
Always seek the things in life that make a difference and master them. You don’t need to worry about finding new fundamentals, basics will always be basics. They’re the foundation on which happiness and success are built.
These five basic principles remain unerring in their capacity to produce life changing results.
1. Love and value yourself…one of the major keys to success and happiness
You are your greatest asset. Not what you own, but who you are.
Treat yourself as the precious commodity you are and put your time, energy and effort into training and encouraging yourself. If you’re still trying to fit in, stop…you were meant to stand out.
At the end of the day it only matters that you can say, “I had the courage to live a life that was truly mine and not the life other people wanted me to live.” Love and value yourself enough to make the choices that make a difference in your life.
Life is too short to wait for outside approval. Count yourself as fortunate if you’re ready to transform yourself and your life, but make sure you’re life is changed by your choices, not because someone else thinks it’s a great idea.
2. Practice having great thoughts
Your thoughts have the capacity to propel you towards future fortune or future calamity and one of the great challenges in life is to control your thinking.
Great thoughts bring great things. The best thoughts to have are those that create a philosophy on life that allows you to make the best decisions and take the best action. Your philosophy plays a far bigger role in messing up your life experience than the challenges you experience.
What’s the greatest thought you could have about your life today? Think it often and repeat it tomorrow and then the next tomorrow. You’ll be gaining a skill that results in a change in the course of your life.
3. Become more aware
The magic of the world sometimes works in quiet whispers. Keep your attention in the now. Be alert to the extraordinary opportunities that might be hidden in the seemingly insignificant experiences of the day.
Everything you give your attention to is being recorded within and unless it adds value to who you are and what you desire, turn your attention towards something else, something that adds to your ability to develop the basics for your happy, successful life.
None of us can rise above what we don’t know. Be alert to what’s happening around you. Awareness is the first key to change.
4. Watch your attitudes
The basic cause of all that happens in life is the attitude you bring to it. What you feel about life determines the things that happen, and the way you deal with them. The right attitudes will move mountains the wrong ones will crush your dreams.
You’re getting almost everything in your life right now based on the attitudes you have. Your feelings about things impel the actions you take and decides the quality of your lifestyle. It’s these attitudes that are the cause of all…your results are the effects.
Just a little shift in attitude can cause a big change in life. Find one thing today that you deliberately choose to see differently. Doing this on a daily basis will launch you into a new state of mind and that’s where the magic takes place.
5. Be careful of the company you keep
Arrange your time so that you spend some of it with something, or someone who inspires, educates and supports you in moving in the right direction. It’s easy to load up on tragedy and misery by picking up any newspaper or listening to the news.
If you continually dump the woes of the world into your mind, don’t expect to have a rich, positive, fun filled life. It can’t be done.
Remember you’re the average of the people you spend the most time with. You’ve got to stop allowing people and outside influences, that add so little to your life, to be a major player in it. It’s time to let go of the people and things that no longer challenge and inspire you.
The path to success and happiness gets easier when you remove the things that make it difficult.
Got feedback? I’d love to know in the comments below what basic principles you use to grow out of your past and into your future? YOUR share could trigger a breakthrough or inspiration that someone else really needs.
As always thank you so much for reading and commenting. Please share this on your favorite social networks. Between us we could support more people who need a little inspiration and encouragement in their lives. You rock!
Encourage one another.
Love Elle
28 Comments
Hi Elle; I always love reading your posts. when i get bogged down in work i still keep them in my inbox knowing that when I do read them they will still hold some bit of truth or inspiration for me. I don’t think you can over estimate the importance of choosing who and what you bring into your life. This is especially true of the people you spend the most time with. I sometimes have to avoid my younger brother because he lets news stories effect him too strongly. I watch the news or that is listen to it but only for an hour to 90 minutes out of my day. I don’t listen to political talk radio. Although I will admit to checking in on some of the sports talk shows and a bit of oprah or dr. laura on my sirius radio. but let’s keep that between us. 😉 thanks again for sharing and take care, Max
Hi Max, I want you to know how much I appreciate you stopping by…I’m always so encouraged by your comments. And it’s a good thing to encourage one another. Right? 🙂
Hi ell; yes it is a good thing to encourage others. and don’t discount the benefits to your own mood by doing so. i try to remember that phrase you have next to th check box that says promise to encourage each other and that you are not a spammr. that’s so cool. take care, max
Hi Max great point you make about the benefits we get by encouraging another. I find it amazing that people miss out on being happy for the success of others not realizing it contributes to their own success. 🙂
Hi elle; we both know its because so many people out there come from a scarcity mentality. they believe that for someone to have success it means someone else has to experience failure. and in rare cases this is true. but for the most part my neighbor doing well doesn’t mean i do poorly. and there is an energy there that you can tap into if you will be happy for the other person. take care, max
So true Max. We’ve all seen and hear those who are jealous of another’s success. Sadly they haven’t realized that the energy of envy closes the door to their own successes. How great that you understand and operate from the principle of tapping into happiness for others is like tapping into it for yourself. No wonder you’re experiencing more and more success in your business. 🙂
hi elle; thanks for the complement. the truth is i have learned how to draw a line between personal success and financial success. i like to tell people that i am a success my bank account just hasn’t caught up with my emotional account yet. 🙂 if you want to feel better right now do something to make someone else feel better. best advice i can give. take care, max
That is fabulous Max. Success truly is about who we are, because who we are will show up in our world…so keep an eye on that bank account! 🙂
The right attitude is a big one for me. How you feel about something going in definitely shapes the outcome you’re going to get. When your attitude is poor you can’t get in the right space to turn things around.
My father used to have this saying,”It works for you by not working.” When I was younger I didn’t understand but now I sure do. He was saying that you expected it not to work and so it doesn’t, proving you right, giving you what you wanted.
That little saying always reminds me to enter with the right frame of mind.
~Lea
Your dad sounds like one wise man Lea. I’ve found for myself that in challenging situations I have to take my time until I’m in the right frame of mind to be more likely to get the response I want. Charging in like a bull in a china shop, doesn’t actually cut it…I discovered! 🙂
I agree that practice having great thoughts is so important. It helps to train your mind consciously to have them so eventually subconsciously you will have them more often. One of my favorite activities is to take the time to consciously write out some of my thoughts and reframe them into more positive ones. Over time this has helped me become a more natural positive thinker.
Oooh I like that you do that Sebastian. Taking the time to write some of your thoughts and reframe them. It’s such a great exercise to train yourself to be focused on the thoughts that make a positive difference in life. Good job you…as we say over the pond. 🙂
Elle,
I am so surprised at the fact that people can ignore the first one you mentioned. Self love is so important, yet it seems that we’ve been conditioned to believe that to love yourself is an act of selfishness or conceit. Thanks for sharing yet another wonderful mountain of wonderful insight and helpfulness!
Hi Victor – you make a great point. We are conditioned to believe that caring for ourselves is selfish. Especially for women I think. And I appreciate and thank you for taking the time to share your views with us. 🙂
Hi Elle,
I would add this point that you mention in your introduction: “Always seek the things in life that make a difference and master them.” Focusing on what will really make a difference! That’s a principle we can apply as we plan our day, week, month, and year. All these other factors you mention are so key as well.
Hi Sandra, This is something I aspire to Sandra. I’m easily distracted and have to really be relentless in bringing my focus back to the thing that will make the biggest difference. Once I’ve worked out what that is of course. But that’s another story! 🙂
Hi, another great article, we should really make sure that our life is changed by our choices, not because someone else thinks it’s a great idea. Nothing is easy in this world but as what you have said, ” The path to success and happiness gets easier when you remove the things that make it difficult”. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Sherill, sometimes it’s a little confusing…we get so caught up in what everyone else is saying it’s difficult to hear the choices we need to make for ourselves. This is why taking the time to be silent and listen to that still small voice can work wonders. I do thank you for stopping by and giving us your viewpoint, it’s important for us to hear what each other is thinking and focusing on. It’s always helpful as we make our way in the world. 🙂
Love this article, Elle. The idea of being careful of the company that you keep is a good one. I know makes a difference for me. When I surround myself by positive, supportive, happy people my outlook is better. This is a great reminder – “Remember you’re the average of the people you spend the most time with.”
Take care.
Thanks Cathy. I think we’ve all done it, held on to those who offer only negativity and complaints…and you’re so right, it doesn’t leave us feeling good. 🙂
Elle,
I really love these tips. As I re-read the post I tried to pick a favorite but couldn’t decide between positive thoughts, attitude and the right tribe to hang out with! All are great thoughts. I always come away with much to think about and put into practice after reading your posts!
Thanks!
Hi Betsy and thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. I’m really happy you enjoyed the tips. 🙂
Wow this is a great blog post! Very relatable and truly inspiring! I am also a motivational and inspirational blogger… definitely check out my blog
Thanks Sabrina…very glad the article resonated with you. 🙂
A lovely post Elle, and I especially agree with #3 – becoming more aware. I think the more conscious we can be about the every day choices we make, the more likely we are to choose stuff that serves us.
So true Ellen. That most definitely works in my life and even after all my years of practicing awareness I can still get caught flat footed with my focus on things I’d prefer not to have happen! 🙂 Seems like it’s a lifetime process.
Elle, I love the lightness around the simple but direct truth of your messages. The part of this article that resonates the most for me is the part about who we keep as our company. It is so true and yet I often feel a bit guilty distancing from friends who are in a woeful space. After several encouraging recommendations and redirections if they seem really stuck in that negative place I do feel it is my duty to myself to tell them they really need to seek professional counseling to help get out of that hole. I am very compassionate but also recognize the need for self-preservation.
Good for you Lynn. I’ll repeat that. Good for you. We, none of us, can take care of others unless we take care of ourselves first. Over the years I’ve learned that the biggest gift I can give another is to imagine them being happy and fulfilled. Believe it to see it, as Wayne Dyer was fond of saying. 🙂