Success Advice

Your Response to Your Level of Success Will Determine Your Happiness

Published

5 years ago

Jan 9, 2019

We are looking for ways and means to become more successful; the definition of such is really personal and has nothing to do with fame or fortune. Rather, it revolves around our ability towards being happy. Of course, the implication here is that successful people are happy people. And as long as you do not have a contorted view of success, such as I will step on as many people as I have to get rich, then this implication tends to hold true.

Happiness itself is a very strange word to define. Charles Haanel, in his groundbreaking 1912 work on metaphysical mindset and success entitled, The Master Key System, defines happiness as three separate and distinct entities that must exist to varying degrees within a person’s purview.

They are health, wealth, and love. Haanel suggested that if a person has the three of those entities to the degree of their satisfaction, they are, by definition, happy! Florence Scovel Shinn, in her 1925 publication, The Game of Life, adds a fourth dimension to happiness: Self Expression. She calls the four keys of happiness the “square of life.”

Since happiness and success are inexorably linked as we strive for one, we tend to get more of the other. This collinear relationship can assist us in building additional groundswell and momentum. In other words, when success increases, happiness increases as a result of the increase in success, and as happiness increases, we become more successful as a result of the increase in happiness.

“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” – Abraham Lincoln

But the question before us today is how do we react to that increase of success when it occurs? This is a very important question to answer as our life, in this wonderful cause and effect universe, means that an “effect” can become a cause for an entirely new effect. And if we are not careful, what started as a noble endeavor, can lead to ruin. Our mental responses to future increased success and happiness, is truly contingent upon how we react to our current level of success and happiness!

There are two “H” camps that form possible responses to the level of success we are currently enjoying: One “H” camp is hubris; the other is humility. We get to choose our response initially, but eventually it will become habit and the response will become automatic.

If hubris is chosen as an initial response to success, we tend to be overtly proud of our accomplishments and incline to want to tell the world how great we are and that the world should “get in line” and follow our path toward attainment. The focus is off of our accomplishments and is centered on us! We become the focal point instead of what we did! In Greek tragedies, hubris was considered excessive pride in defiance of the gods.

“A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.” – C.S. Lewis

It is easy to fall into this trap of thinking how great we are, because of the hard work and effort we put into our achievements. This is how hubris becomes established as a habit of behavior.

There might be a better path to consider traveling; that of humility. Being humble in the face of your accomplishments tells the world (and more important, yourself; your self-image) that you alone were not responsible for what you accomplished. That you had assistance from your parents (who had you), your teachers (who molded you), your friends (who socialized you), your business associates (who vetted you), and a cadre of others.

Humility gives them thanks for the way they touched you throughout your life. Be careful! Humility is fickle. When you begin to think you have enough humility, you begin to lose some!

Here are a few ideas for developing a healthy dose of humility in your life:

Spend a few minutes in quite meditation – If not overt mediation, at least in quiet time where you can start making the connections between your success and the people that assisted you.
Spend time thinking about happiness – Happiness is a present condition. If you wait for some future event to occur before you are happy, you are robbing yourself of the chance to be happy NOW.
Think about the linkage between a productive existence and a happy life – Are you sacrificing too much now, for some future event? If so, is that sacrifice causing regret, remorse and guilt now? (It’s hard to celebrate your success and be happy now when you are carrying all that emotional baggage.)
Begin to practice non-resistance – Don’t be a doormat but learn to bend and let go. Acceptance of what exists is a great start! Try not to argue too much with reality. It has no sense of humor! This will cause happiness to flood into your life. (And remember happiness and success are linked. When you get more of one, you get more of the other!)
Be grateful – Show gratitude! Thank whoever it is you believe created the universe for the wonderful opportunity you have to show your skills and talents. And, for what you already have AND for what you will get in the future. In the words of Father Solanus Casey, OFM, “Thank God ahead of time.”

Good luck on your journey. Write me and let me know how you are doing with your success and happiness!

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Biagio Sciacca

Biagio Sciacca, known to his friends as Bill, was a lifelong resident of Pittston, PA. He is the owner of Intelligent Motivation, Inc. a global consulting and training firm specializing in management and leadership training as well as psychological assessment for hiring and staff development. He is the author of several books relating to goal setting, and his third book, Provocative Leadership, is publishing soon. Now residing in Tamarindo, Costa Rica, he divides his time between his international coaching and training clients, writing his next book and wandering aimlessly on the beach. Feel free to contact Bill at bill@intelligentmotivationinc.com or schedule a call with him by going to www.intelligentmotivationinc.com and clicking on the “set up a call” tab.

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Success Advice

How to Ignite the Spark Within for Future Success

All of us come to this world with our own reserve of magic unfortunately, not everyone can unleash it

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4 days ago

Dec 4, 2023

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Nov 20, 2023

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Success Advice

How to Break the Cycles of Mediocrity and Manifest Your Greatness

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity

Published

3 weeks ago

Nov 16, 2023

Jamelle Sanders

Image Credit: Midjourney

In just a few weeks, we will be wrapping up 2023. Can you believe it? This year has been absolutely incredible for me.

I have seen amazing doors opened, new relationships formed and I am seeing dreams realized in my life. While this seems like the hallmarks of a great year, this has also been the most challenging year of my life. With all of the change happening in my life, I have been forced out of my comfort zone and challenged to grow in every area of my life.

I can truly say that I have made the most of my moments this year and I have used everything as a catalyst for maximizing my greatest potential.

As a revolutionary leader, I have the pleasure of consulting and advising leaders around the world to fulfill purpose, realize their greatest potential and make an impact.

I want to share some insights with you that will help you to break cycles of mediocrity and manifest your greatness.

Everything legal must come through the matrix

I am sure that some of you are wondering why I am using the term matrix. However, what you have to understand is that I am trying to make a highly complex spiritual principle practical to understand.

Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, every life has an origin and I believe that origin is divine and begins with eternity. You are birthed from eternity and into time to fulfill a unique purpose and assignment in your lifetime and generation.

The matrix is simply the portal or vehicle that brings something out of the invisible realm and into tangible form. The problem with much of the teaching today is that it excludes the matrix. We are told to believe that success is instantaneous and overnight.

Nobody talks about how a dream progresses through stages beginning with visualization and ultimately culminating in manifestation. Without a matrix or portal then everything that you attempt to birth and build will be illegal.

The matrix not only makes you legal but it gives you the authority and power to function as the greatest expression of who you were created to be.

Every matrix has an incubation process

While many people admire and respect me today, I remember a time when nobody knew who I was or the significance of my message. How did I get to where I am today? I got here through an incubation process.

In other words, everything that has been destined for your life is incubating and awaiting a set time of manifestation. The problem is that most people live their entire lives idle and never initiate the incubation process.

What do I meany by that? Most people are living reckless and very few people are living intentionally. I am amazed at the number of people I have conversations with that have no vision, goals or strategies for their lives. They show great promise and they have undeniable potential.

However, without development they will die with their dreams still in them.

Everything that has been destined for your life must be incubated and converted to become realities born to time.

“Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blueprint and begin to build.” – Robert Collier

You must give expression to that which is not yet born to time

When you think about a matrix or a prophetic incubation process, you have to understand that potential is often unrealized and untapped. In other words, your potential is in raw form and your potential cannot serve you as long as it is untapped.

The thing that makes me valuable is that I have the ability to convert potential into power. I have done it in my own life and I have empowered leaders around the world to do the same. How do you convert potential into power?

First, it is important to note that you have to perceive potential. If you cannot perceive your potential then you can never cultivate your potential. In addition, you must take the time to cultivate your potential. We often get excited about our capabilities; however, we never expand our capacity in order to realize our greatest potential.

In other words, the strength of your potential is only discovered through your willingness to stretch. The more we are challenged the more we are empowered to expand our capacity for greatness. Most of all, you must begin to express your potential. The expression of potential is different for every person.

For example, the expression of my potential is best demonstrated through the thoughts, ideas, products, services, books, etc.

For another person the expression of potential may look like a screenplay, artwork, sports, scientific discoveries, medical breakthroughs, etc.

Regardless of the form of expression, I know that you will live empty and unfulfilled until you make the decision to express your potential. The expression of your potential gives voice to your dreams, life to your vision, significance to your moments and activates your true power.

You must manifest your greatness

As a revolutionary thinker and leader, my work has impacted people around the world. I am grateful that my life is a source of empowerment to so many people. However, before anyone could ever benefit from my life, I had to make a non-negotiable decision to become who I was born to be.

I wish I could tell you that this journey is easy and that you will get there overnight. However, in a world that celebrates us for doing we are often criticized for being. As a result, I wasted a lot of time trying to be who other people wanted me to be instead of being who I was born to be.

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity. It is through our bravery to be vulnerable that we ultimately manifest our greatness. We do not bless the world by being a duplicate. We bless the world when we honor our difference. When you honor your difference you honor your potential.

Ultimately, your difference is how you manifest your greatness.

When you present anything but your authentic self to the world, you are playing small and you are robbing the world of your significance. Manifesting your greatness requires you to master your gifts.