MOTIVATIONAL ARTICLES
ARTICLES
The DNA of Top Achievers by Chris Widener
Of course by now we are all becoming aware of DNA. It is the source code that determines who we are. When we look at DNA we can see what a person will look like, what diseases they may come down with, etc. This has been a tremendous breakthrough for scientists and will continue to be so for some time, I believe. This got me to thinking about what makes up those who are top achievers. Is there a "DNA" to them? Obviously, all top achievers wouldn't have the same literal DNA but what about a figurative DNA? Is there a common "gene" that they all have? Are there common "genes" perhaps? I think so! If we could get right down to it, I think these are the genes we would find in the DNA of top achievers:
1) A predisposition to setting high, lofty goals. Top achievers are people who won't and can't settle for the status quo. They see average as a place they want to keep in the rear-view mirror. Instead, they continually look for ways to stretch themselves, to get better, to do better, to be better! They set their sights on goals that others have never even thought of. They want to shoot so high that even if they miss, they go higher than everyone else. This is what makes them top achievers.
2) An ability to focus intently upon reaching their desired destination. Many people can set high goals, but just as many people get sidetracked by one thing or another on their way to those goals. High, lofty goals usually take a while to get there so there will always be plenty of time to be tempted to stray away from the road that is taking you to those goals. Often, those things that sidetrack people are good things, but not the best things. Top achievers do not get sidetracked. They stay focused. They know where they are going. They have an ability to say "no" to the good things in order to get to the best things.
3) The willingness to personally sacrifice in order to get to their goal. When the going gets tough, many people quit. When the going gets tough personally, most people quit. When the going gets tough for top achievers, they remind themselves of the high. Lofty goals they have set for themselves. They remind themselves of what an accomplishment it will be for them and that the reward is worth pushing through the momentary trials. They are willing to sacrifice personally in the short-term in order to get the reward and the prize long-term. Keeping their eyes on the big picture enables them to persevere through any personal pain they may experience.
4) A predisposition to tenacity. Tenacity is the ability to "keep on going." Tough times? Keep on going! Financial troubles? Keep on going! People are suspect? Keep on going! You look like a dreamer? Keep on going! Tired? Keep on going! Want to quit and take it easy? Keep on going! Just remember this: Keep on going! The prize is ahead! Many people quit just before they were to get the reward, so keep on going!
5) The ability to see available resources and to use them accordingly. Those who are top achievers know that they cannot be lone-rangers on the way to the top. No one makes it by himself or herself. Top achievers recognize their weaknesses – the weaknesses that if they don't cover will keep them from becoming a top achiever! They see their resources and they work to get them into a helping position so they can continue the route to becoming a top achiever. And they don't use them, they utilize them. There is a big difference! People, finances, etc are all brought in to help by the top achiever.
6) A desire to help others achieve more for themselves as well. The top achiever knows that they can make a difference for others by becoming a top achiever. They know that the wealth they make can feed the hungry. They know that the position of influence they achieve can open a door for someone who may not normally get a chance. True top achievers look at how they can bring many with them, not how they can leave many in the dust. People are helped by the top achiever, not trampled upon!
I think if we could get to the DNA of top achievers, the things we talked about above would be at the core and fiber of their beings. What about you? Did you recognize yourself at all? I hope so! The good news about the DNA we are talking about today as opposed to real DNA is that you can go out and work on top achiever DNA whereas you are stuck with real DNA. So if you lack a little in the above-mentioned areas, take heart – you can get better and work on them so that you can become a top achiever!
Chris Widener is an internationally recognized speaker, author and radio host. Chris is the author of five books and audio series as well as over 350 success articles. If you would like to order Chris' products, including his Newest Release, The Secrets of Influence - 12 Characteristics of Dynamic Leaders, Sales People and Top Performers or his other products including his latest book, The Angel Inside as well as Live the Life You Always Dreamed Of or his CD series, The Extraordinary Leaders Seminar, or to book him to speak at your next event, go to http://influence.jimrohn.com or or call 800-929-0434. Also to subscribe to Chris's free Weekly Ezine.
Develop A Prosperity Consciousness by Brian Tracy
The starting point of all riches is the development of a prosperity consciousness. You must become a financial success in your thinking long before you achieve it in your reality. Both poverty and riches are the result of a state of mind, and the most important single step you ever take on the road to wealth and financial independence is the decision to change your thinking, to impress into your mind an unshakable belief that you can and will achieve your financial goals. This must happen before anything else happens.
Think and Grow Rich: While I was growing up, I was fascinated by stories of successful men and women and how they made and lost their fortunes, and then made them over again. I read about the importance of a prosperity consciousness in the book, Think And Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill, several times. But I never fully understood what it meant until about five years ago. Then it hit me and I've never been quite the same since. Every aspect of my life has improved dramatically, especially in the area of accumulating wealth, since I finally understood what it meant by a prosperity consciousness.
Two Great Discoveries: Here are two of the most exciting principles ever discovered in the long search by mankind for the secrets of health, happiness and great personal wealth.
All Causation Is Mental: The first principle is this. All causation is mental. All causation is mental. That means everything that you are or ever will be will be as a result of how you use your mind. You are merely a mind with a body to carry it around with. The entire man made world that you see is simply an expression of thought. Your entire life is an expression of your own thinking. And since the quality of your thinking determines the quality of your life, if you improve the quality of your thinking, you must, you will, inevitably improve the quality of your life.
The Law of Expectations: The second principle is what we call the law of expectations. This law says that whatever you expect with confidence, positive or negative, becomes your reality. If you confidently expect to succeed, if you confidently expect to learn something from every experience, if you confidently expect to become wealthy as a result of applying your talents and abilities to your opportunities and you maintain that attitude of confident expectations long enough, it will become your reality. It will give you a positive optimistic cheerful attitude that will cause people to want to help you, and will cause things to happen the way you want them to happen.
Action Steps: Here are two things you can do immediately to practice these principles in your day to day life:
First, start thinking today in a positive, optimistic, confident way about personal and financial success. Continually imagine what differences it would make in your life if you were financially independent. This is the starting point of developing a prosperity consciousness.
Second, develop your own attitude of positive expectations. Look for the good in every situation. Look for the valuable lesson in every setback or difficulty. Be positive and cheerful about everything that happens and you will be amazed at the difference it makes in your life.
Brian Tracy was one of our special guests at the recent Jim Rohn Weekend Leadership Event held in Anaheim, CA. If you would like to take advantage of the special Anniversary One-Year pricing for the Entire 2004 Jim Rohn Weekend Event on DVD and CD - good for a very limited time, plus three special bonuses for all those who order go to http://3day.jimrohn.com or call 800-929-0434.
Forging Your Character by Jim Rohn (excerpted from Leading an Inspired Life book)
Personal success is built on the foundation of character, and character is the result of hundreds and hundreds of choices you may make that gradually turn who you are at any given moment into who you want to be. If that decision-making process is not present, you'll still be somebody—you'll still be alive—but you may have a personality rather than a character, and to me that's something very different.
Character isn't something you were born with and can't change, like your fingerprints. It's something you must take responsibility for forming. You build character by how you respond to what happens in your life, whether it's winning every game, losing every game, getting rich or dealing with hard times.
You build character from certain qualities that you must create and diligently nurture within yourself, just like you would a plant and water a seed or gather wood to build a campfire. You've got to look for those things in your heart and in your gut. You've got to chisel away in order to find them, just like chiseling away rock to create the sculpture that has previously existed only in the imagination.
But the really amazing thing about character is that, if you're sincerely committed to making yourself into the person you want to be, you'll not only create those qualities, you'll strengthen them and re-create them in abundance, even as you're drawing on them everyday of your life. That's why building your character is vital to becoming all you can be.
This article was excerpted from Jim Rohn's Leading an Inspired Life book. To order Leading an Inspired Life and save over 40% (as part of the Inventory Reduction Sale) go to http://jr4.jimrohn.com or call 800-929-0434.
Success Quotes
Belief
"Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around." -- Henry David Thoreau
"Whatever you believe with emotion becomes reality. You always act in a manner consistent with your innermost beliefs and convictions." -- Brian Tracy
"If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything." -- Denis Waitley
"Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained." -- Marie Curie
Business
"Sell a customer what they Want, Deliver what they Need." -- Rick Beneteau
"Satisfied customers are apathetic. Loyal customers will be your advocate." -- Jeffrey Gitomer
"You have to have your heart in the business and the business in your heart." -- Thomas J. Watson, Jr.
"The creation of value is the only and everlasting source of profits." -- Denis Waitley
Books/Library/Reading
"A room without a book is like a body without a soul." -- Marcus Tullius Cicero
"I now have one of the better libraries. I admit that I haven't read everything in my library, but I feel smarter just walking in it." -- Jim Rohn
"There is a great deal of difference between the eager man who wants to read a book, and the tired man who wants a book to read." -- G.K. Chesterton
"If a man can write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mousetrap, than his neighbor, though he build his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Balance
"I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars." -- Og Mandino
"Life is part positive and part negative. Suppose you went to hear a symphony orchestra and all they played were the little, happy, high notes? Would you leave soon? Let me hear the rumble of the bass, the crash of the cymbals, and the minor keys." -- Jim Rohn
"Be prepared to ride the cycles and trends of life; success is never permanent and failure is never final." -- Brian Tracy
"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." -- Anne Bradstreet
Basics/Fundamentals
"Report on the deals, handle the details." -- Patricia Fripp
"It's good to have money and the things money can buy, but it's good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven't lost the things money can't buy." -- George Horace Lormier
"It takes less time to do things right than to explain why you did it wrong." -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"Morale and attitude are the fundamental ingredients to success." -- Bud Wilkinson
Being The Best
"My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment." -- Oprah Winfrey
"Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better." -- Pat Riley
"The greatest achievement is to outperform yourself." -- Denis Waitley
"Striving for perfection is the greatest stopper there is…It's you excuse to yourself for not doing anything. Instead, strive for excellence, doing your best." -- Sir Laurence Olivier
"Work spares us from three great evils: Boredom, Vice and Need." -- Voltaire
"Here aren't any great men. There are just great challenges that ordinary men like you and me are forced by circumstances to meet." -- William F. Halsey
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