If you bring together a couple of children and you ask them what kind of person they want to be and what kind of life they want to have in the future, their responses will tell you that there is a silent, undeniable desire in all of us to be successful and have a good life.
You see, no one really sets out to fail or be a failure in life. Everyone who has ended up as such, arrived at that destination because they didn’t take the path that would have led them to the success they desired.
They probably thought they would end up successful and fulfilled regardless of what they did you and what they chose not to do.
Alas, that’s not true!
There are a number of factors that influences how a person ends up in life. A major one, is what we choose to do or refuse to do. What you do or refuse to do – as a habit or lifestyle, will to a great extent determine how you end up in life.
Just like every other human concept, there are principles that enhance the possibility and attainment of success.
Before we explore these principles, let’s examine what success means.
What Does Success Mean?
It’s usually a case of different strokes for different folks, when trying to understand what success is.
Some people consider themselves successful when they have attained a distinguished height in their career. Some others consider being famous or renowned as the definition of success. There are also those who use wealth and acquisitions as the yardstick of success.
Furthermore, there are those who believe success is tied to fulfilment – if you feel fulfilled with your life or in what you’re doing, then you’re successful; whether you’re distinguished, famous, wealthy or not, it doesn’t matter. There is still a school of thought that views success in the light of impact – that is how well an individual has impacted society.
In her post about success, Nicole Fredricks Jackson emphasizes that, “ultimately, success is something that you define for yourself based on your values, passions, and goals.”
I believe success is all about finding meaning and purpose for our lives, and in every stage of it; and getting things done in view of that.
Regardless of what your view of success is, getting things done will always be an underlying factor.
You’d have to get things done (in the right way), to achieve or attain whatever it is you define as success.
It is to this end that I have highlighted 15 principles that are universally important in the attainment of success.
Let’s delve in.
#1. The Principle of Planning
It is often said that ‘if you fail to plan, you plan to fail’. This clearly shows that, planning is key to avoiding failure and attaining success.
Jesus expounded it in one of his teachings. He said, ‘For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it – lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build, and was not able to finish’? (Luke 14:28-30)
It’s simple, without planning, success is unattainable. Whatever endeavour one wants to undertake, whatever goal or dream one wants to pursue, it must start from planning.
Planning is so important that before you build a house, you need a building plan. Similarly in business, you need a business plan; and in sports, you need a game plan.
What does it mean to plan? To plan is to devise a strategy by which your goal will be achieved. To plan is to consider the resources you have whether they will be enough to accomplish your aim; and if not, how you would go about getting more.
To plan involves allocating your time and other resources you have appropriately, to ensure your desire is met. To plan requires putting time into consideration and figuring when you want to achieve what and how.
#2. The Principle of Persistence
Persistence is an important ingredient in the recipe of success.
In my opinion, the word persist can be seen as a merger of two words: persevere and insist. To insist is to make a request or a demand and refuse to take a ‘No’ as an answer. To persevere is to continue to try, even when it seems you aren’t getting the desired results.
In the bible, Jesus gave us two parables to emphasize the power of persistence: the parable of the persistent widow and the parable of the friend at night.
In the first parable, the Judge got tired of the woman and said, ‘because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ (Luke 18:5) In the latter, Jesus concluded by saying, the man who was already in bed with his family will not rise and give his friend bread that night, just because he is his friend, but because of his persistence at knocking the door and repeating his request, refusing to leave. (Luke 11:8)
You see, persistence is indeed a force for accomplishing set goals and targets. In contemporary times, we know of how Thomas Edison succeeded at inventing an electric light bulb after three thousand attempts!
There are doors you may not be able to open in life, if you give up easily.
Likewise, there are heights you may never get to if you don’t imbibe persistence as a working principle in your life.
#3. The Principle of Self-Discipline
Self-discipline refers to the virtue or quality of been able to do what you ought to do even when you don’t feel like doing it. It also refers to the ability to refrain yourself from what you ought not to do even when you feel like doing it.
Self-discipline is a very important principle on the road to success because, on many occasions you won’t feel like doing what you need to do; and on the flip side too, several times, you will feel like doing what you know you shouldn’t.
Your ability to sustain self-discipline will help you to remain consistent and committed to the activities, tasks and endeavours that are essential for you to achieve success.
In order to keep fit, and be able to compete, athletes subject themselves to training and discipline. The same is true for military men.
You see, it takes self-discipline to show up every day and get to do the things you need to while avoiding the ones you should. Doing that however, brings success in view.
#4. The Principle of Sowing and Reaping
In Genesis 8:22, Scripture says, ‘while the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, and winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.’ In Galatians 6:7, it further says, ‘whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.’ These tell you that sowing and reaping is in fact, a universal principle.
What this simply means is that if you expect some kind of results, you need to put in the required efforts.
If you want to reap fantastic academic results, you need to sow (invest) your time, dedication and efforts on studying.
This applies in every ramification of our lives, be it spiritual, financial or some other area. If you want to reap, you must sow!
#5. The Principle of Diligence
“I do not know anyone who has got to the top without hard work. That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top, but should get you pretty near.’ Those were the wise words of Margaret Thatcher, the first female prime minister of the United Kingdom.
Samuel Johnson, the great English literary figure has a similar view. He said, ‘Diligence is the mother of good fortune, and idleness, its opposite never brought a man to the goal of any of his best wishes.’
In plain terms, diligence is hard work, done tirelessly with carefulness. Diligence is not just about industry or making efforts; it is a mixture of that, with patience and a meticulous approach.
Without diligence, it will be difficult to climb the ladder of success, fulfilment or greatness.
No wonder Scriptures declare, ‘Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; He shall not stand before mean men.’ (Proverbs 22:29, KJV)
#6. The Principle of Delayed Gratification
According to Tony Robbins, delaying gratification refers to the ability to hold out now for a better reward later.
To delay gratification, is to resist the temptation of taking an immediate reward, because you are looking forward to a greater reward in future. It is a form of self-control that helps you to postpone pleasure or enjoyment till a later time, when you can do so with much more freedom, benefits, fulfilment and resources.
The key thing to note here is that delayed gratification brings about something better; more valuable and more rewarding not immediately, but later.
A good example is when a boy resists the urge to play his favourite video game so he can study for his exams the next day. Playing the video game at that time would surely have been pleasurable to him, but if he chooses to study instead, he would enjoy a greater pleasure and satisfaction of getting excellent grades later on.
In business, an example of delayed gratification is choosing to re-invest the money from the initial profit back into the business instead of squandering it on lavish living. Eventually, the business will become more established and the individual will make more money and even be able to afford anything he wants. But if he had started the flamboyant spending earlier on, the business may not survive to grow even bigger.
The opposite of delayed gratification is instant gratification. And that’s what many young people are after. However, to succeed, delayed gratification is the better choice.
#7. The Principle of Right Association
According to Proverbs 13:20, ‘He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.’ This teaches us something very profound: the kind of people you flock with can determine how you end up.
Dr. Paul Enenche puts it this way, ‘Who you hang around with, determines what hangs on you.’
So, if you want to end up successful and fulfilled, hang around people who also want to end up like that. Associate and connect with people who can help you reach your goal(s) in life.
If you associate with the wrong set of people, they are likely to draw you far away from the destiny God planned for you.
This is the principle of right association!
#8. The Principle of Mentoring
Mentoring refers to that process whereby someone who is older, senior or more experienced in a given area of life or career, guides, advises and/or trains a younger, junior or less-experienced individual.
Regardless of the direction you choose to take in life, there will always be people who have gone ahead and are well accomplished in that path. It is only wisdom to get groomed by such.
You need to find a way to get mentored because it will help you learn in a short time what took a long time for those ahead of you to know. And that not only helps you to run faster, but also helps you to be properly guided.
You can get mentored directly or indirectly. To be directly mentored requires you submitting yourself under the close tutelage of someone, while with indirect mentoring, you may never meet or see the mentor. He or she may not even live in your time, but you get educated by such person through his or her publications, programs, life story, and other resources.
#9. The Principle of Firm Decision
There is something very poignant to learn from the story of Daniel in the bible. It is the power of a firm decision. Scripture says, ‘Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.’ (Daniel 1:8)
Daniel was about 17 years of age when he got to Babylon. In spite of his age, he already understood that certain times in life, some future-shaping, destiny-defining, and purpose-driven decisions need to be taken.
We must realize this as well.
In the journey of life and destiny, if we will achieve success and be fulfilled, we would need to take some tough, firm decisions at certain points and ensure to stand by our decisions.
#10. The Principle of Goal Setting
Goal setting is an age-long principle. No one ever achieved anything meaningful or remarkable without goal setting. Goal setting can be applied in every area of life to help attain success.
Good goals are SMART goals; that is, they are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound.
A goal is specific when it is direct, straightforward, and clear. For instance, saying you want to be the best is not specific. But if you say you want to be the best in the entire school, then you have a specific aim.
Your goals must also be measurable, in that you should be able to know whether you have achieved them; whether you did not achieve all of them; or you did not achieve any at all. For instance, the example we gave above can be measured per session.
Similarly, goals must be achievable. In other words, they must be set within the confines of what is generally possible, all other things being equal. You can’t set a goal of a GPA of 6.0 when the highest possible is 5.0.
In addition, in setting goals, one has to be realistic. To be realistic is to consider the situations of things around us as they really are. It is to approach a matter from a real-life view. To be realistic is not to be pessimistic and see things as impossible, but to understand the way things really are and, in that light, determine whether what is being desired can really happen.
Now, equally important, is the fact that a goal must have a time frame. Our example above, of being the best in the entire university, is specific but not time-bound. If we want to make it time-bound, then we can say, “the goal is to be the best in the entire school at graduation.”
#11. The Principle of Preparation
It was the famous sage, Zig Ziglar that said, ‘success occurs when opportunity meets preparation.’
Sadly, many people have missed out on several opportunities to make progress and great leaps in their lives because they do not understand the principle of preparation. Whatever vision you see of yourself in the future, you must begin to prepare for it in the little ways you can.
It would have appeared as if David became a hero overnight after he killed Goliath. But in the secret where no one else was, David had killed a bear and a lion at separate instances. Those instances were preparatory for him. There was no way he would have gotten the confidence to confront Goliath if he hadn’t confronted the bear and the lion.
Think of Joseph, He knew he was destined to be a leader, so when the opportunity came to be the supervisor in Potiphar’s house, he didn’t shy away. Even in the prison, he was also appointed to be in charge; he didn’t decline. Those were his preparatory classes for the prime minister’s office.
To live with the principle of preparation is to learn to take responsibility. It is to learn to see opportunities n adversities. It is to learn to take the initiative along the line of your future and vision. So, when the breakthrough opening comes, you won’t be found wanting.
#12. The Principle of Positivity
There is a power in positive thinking. There is a power in staying positive. There is a power in affirming or confessing positive.
Scriptures say, ‘For as he thinks in his heart so is he.’ (Proverbs 23:7) Napoleon Hill wrote a book and titled it, Think and Grow Rich. These emphasize that there is a strong connection between what we think and who we are or what we become.
Over the years, studies have been conducted on people who had terminal illnesses and how their positive or negative attitude affected their outcomes; and repeatedly it will be discovered that most of the people who stayed positive were likely to get better and actually did while those who stayed negative were likely not to get better and did not.
It’s all about the power of thinking right. It’s about thinking the positive things about and for yourself.
Staying positive, affirming positive and thinking positive especially in adverse situations is very instrumental not only to survival but to thriving and flourishing in every area of life.
#13. The Principle of Deliberate Growth
Growth, is often said to be a constant process. But that’s only for someone who is deliberate about it.
When a child is born, physical growth happens naturally; perhaps inevitably, especially as long as the child is not starving. In the real world, it doesn’t necessarily follow like that. If you must grow in value, character, knowledge, asset, you have to be intentional about it. It wouldn’t fall on you like a bunch of cherries. Growth doesn’t just happen; it must be sought.
That’s the principle of deliberate growth.
To be intentional or deliberate requires first of all that there would be a desire – a genuine desire to be better. That desire will be further fueled by a sense of dissatisfaction with the status quo. And then that fires up the necessary actions that ought to be taken to see the desired growth.
That’s the way of success.
#14. The Principle of Time Management
Time is life, people do say.
That’s because, whatever you will become in life is first a function of how you use your time. And of course, our life is summed up together by the time we have spent. So, to waste time, is to waste one’s life.
We all have 24 hours each day. Every one who has done more with their lives than others, have done so from understanding the principle of time management. The more you manage your time well, the better your life is being managed and the more productive, fulfilled and successful you will be.
Scriptures have put it succinctly, ‘To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.’ (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
#15. The Principle of Divine Alliance
The universe we live in today is the work of the Creator. He it is who has provided the enabling environment and the wherewithal for anybody’s success. For instance, if someone is very smart and can innovate witty inventions, whether he acknowledges the divine or not, that does not change the fact that his brains and intelligence were made possible by the supreme being. Scripture says, it is the Lord who gives us the power to get wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18).
It may be possible to achieve some things without God’s direct or immediate involvement or guidance, but no matter what you achieve, it will always be better with God in the equation, all other things being equal.
If that’s the case, aligning with the divine is then a wise thing to do. It’s the principle that brings about success that’s commendable by God and then men. It was told Joshua, “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth; but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8).
Success may come from your efforts and applying principles but good success comes only when there is a divine alliance and allegiance alongside.
If you enjoyed reading this post and found it valuable, kindly share, so some others may benefit from it too.
See Also
6 Smart Tips for Getting Things Done
Why Some Difficulties Are Good for You
Is Fasting Necessary for Christians Today?
Obedience: God’s Greatest Love Language
13 Effective Prayer Tips for Busy Christians
5 Hidden Benefits of Failure You Should Know
10 Life Lessons Jesus Taught Through His Actions
20 Compelling Things Jesus Said That Affirm His Divinity
Stand On What God Says; Even if You Are Standing Alone
6 Things Every Christian Must Know About the Call to Serve
5 Habits That Make it Easier to Get Help When You Need it Most
What it Really Means to Give to Caesar What Belongs to Caesar
Self-Discovery: The One Really Good Benefit of Going to School
Why a Good God Allowed Evil Befall His Beloved: The Curious Story of Job
Ogaga Eruteya is a Nigerian Christian minister, writer and speaker. He writes on Faith, Personal Development, Youth Development, and Life Realities. With his words, he seeks to inspire, motivate, propagate life’s truths and represent a sincere Christian voice. Learn more about Ogaga here.
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