“Be at war with your vice, at peace with your neighbors, and let every New Year find you a better man.” – Benjamin Franklin

 As we start a new year many Success-Minded People are looking to new goals and actions to move them forward toward their dreams.  This is an excellent thing to do, but alone it is incomplete.  Please remember that true success involves the whole person, not just what they can accomplish.  Many a person has succeeded in achieving something and failed in other areas, that is not full success.

To help us look at some simple ways to improve out self in the New Year, I have taken the word RIGHT and broken it down into five easy to remember elements.  By following these we can improve all areas of life and move forward to the achievement of our dreams.

• R – Repent:  When we think of the word repent we thing in spiritual terms most of the time.  True that repentance is the moving away from sin – and that is a must for the Success-Minded Person – but it also means changing our behavior.  Stop doing what is wrong and start doing what is right.  Turn away from those things that seem to cause you to compromise your standards.  Businessman Mark Caine said “The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself.”
• I – Imaginative:  Be ready to use your imagination and do new and creative things this year.  The old year is over and so is the way you pursued your goals.  Be creative and brave as you move into new and exciting things.  Tom Peters said: “It’s really comfortable to feel comfortable and it’s the number one cause of professional death.”
• G – Goal Orientated:  Know what you want and go after it.  Have clear and exciting goals in every area of your life.  This is a time for action and a time to do what you have not done before.  As success expert Brian Tracy said “In a time of rapid change, standing still is the most dangerous course of action.”
• H – Health Conscience:  Tony Robbins says you have to be careful not to run out of gas climbing the hill of success.  Your health is the most valuable tool you own. If you do not take care of yourself and treat you health as a priority, you will not have the energy or the ability to succeed.  You may not even live to see it.  Ralph Waldo Emerson said “The first wealth is health.”  And that is exactly true.  Without good health you will not be able to create or enjoy wealth.
• T – Teachable:  Success-Minded People must be teachable.  You do not know it all – not even most of it – and you will not grow if you do not learn.  Be open to all that is around you and all you can learn from others.  I believe that every person we meet has something to teach us, even if it is what not to do.  Zig Ziglar said: “Everything that occurs teaches and prepares you for the next stage of life.  Nothing is lost.”  Be open to learn and you will be amazed at how much there is to learn.

              May your 2012 be filled with all the success you can hold!  Be a dreamer and achieve the impossible every day.  You hold the key to your success.  Have a clear knowledge of where you are going and why.  Set an action plan and time table.  Then get going.  2012 will become 2013 before you know it.  As French Philosopher von Goethe said “Knowing is not enough; we must apply.  Willing is not enough; we must do.”

 © 2012 John Patrick Hickey