There aren’t many people in this world who don’t dream of having ultimate success, although, everyone may have a different definition of what success means to them.

To many it’s all about the money and career – sometimes to the expense of relationships and family life. But is that all there is?

I know for one that success is so much more than about money.

For me a sense of accomplishing my goals and dreams is definitely the road that moves me towards success, but how to achieve that success, who I am becoming along the way and the feeling of satisfaction that comes after… are the keys to happiness.

Success and happiness for me go hand in hand.

To be successful you have to develop self-confidence and start loving who you are.

Some people believe that success must come first and then they can be happy. They believe that they will love themselves more, once they are successful… once they reached a goal, once they have a real reason.

You see, they don’t understand that it is not about the goal itself, it is about who you get to BE in order to achieve that goal… it’s about the journey, as many masters say.

You can’t achieve success easily when you are in the wrong frame of mind. I suggest choose to be happy first and then work towards goals that inspire and move you forwards.

So here are my 5 simple success principles on how to succeed in life:

1. Choose to be happy. 

Choose to be grateful and appreciate everything you have. Develop a success mindset… and learn how to improve self-confidence. Yes, I do mean CHOOSE because we have the power to choose our own thoughts, which in turn determine our feelings that effect the actions we take and these in turn effect the results and success we get.

2. Set your goals. 

Be clear and know exactly what you want. Commit 100% to your goals… like your life depends on it. Write them down in a goal book or use a vision board and visualize them often. Your body will not go where your mind has not gone first. Visualization allows your mind to get used to your dreams and goals and when these get imprinted in your subconscious mind, your success is inevitable.

3. Never give up. 

If you know clearly what you want and it inspires you to achieve that goal or make that dream come true, perseverance is your guarantee that success is coming. What separates the great form the rest, is not just their big dreams but also how they deal with the challenges they experience on the way to success. Nobody said success is a straight forward line…

4. Surround yourself with positive people.

Surround yourself with people who believe in you, who are self-confident and have a mindset of success. The energy that you surround yourself with correlates directly to how fast you will achieve your success. Linger around too many negative people, and you might have to not only wait a while for success… but work a lot harder to get it.

5. Celebrate often.

Take a break once in a while to celebrate and re-energize. Success breeds success, so celebrate ALL the little successes every day, because this kind of success energy will attract more of the same energy. When your mind is comfortable and used to success, success becomes your path of least resistance.

February 2013 Issue