What Seeds do You Plant?
I love reading books on the topic of success. What makes some people successful and others not? Who determines what success looks and feels like? Are there really secrets to success?
So many books, seminars, and opinions on these topics differ. So how do you know what really works?
My answer? All of them work! They just may work for different people.
I just did a quick zip past my bookshelf and pulled off six of my favorite books. My mission today is to summarize in just one or two sentences what these books suggest is the key to success.
What you can do to plant seeds of success in your family…
1. Visit your local library or bookstore and choose one book on success and make a commitment to read it.
2. Do the exercises within the book.
3. Share what you’ve learned with your children.
4. Encourage them to practice the same skill.
For instance…
Exercise: Write down your goals.
Action: You write down your goals and encourage your child to write down a goal.
Follow up: Review your list every month to see if progress is being made toward it.
(Please note: You may click on the titles to view more information on this book at Amazon.com. The link provided included my referral code which means I’ll earn a small percentage of the purchase price–this does not impact what you pay for the book–should you decide to purchase it.)
1. See You At The Top
Success is the result of positive thinking, positive believing, and positive doing. You can’t just stare up the steps, you have to step up the stairs!
2. The Magic of Thinking Big
The title says it all and the books tells you how to do it. Again the emphasis is on thinking, believing, and doing.
3. Write It Down, Make It Happen
The secret to success? Write down your goals and your intentions. Let the universe conspire to help you. As a writer, this was a natural fit for me. And yes, it works!
4. Secrets of Successful Speakers
Success comes from three words: Purpose, passion and compassion. If your heart is in it, success will find you.
5. What Matters Most: The Power of Living Your Values
Success comes from knowing who you are and what you value to what degrees. Making life choices based on your core values and beliefs will prevent you from feeling cheated or dissatisfied with your life.
6. The 100 Simple Secrets of Successful People
This book is harder to pin down just by it’s nature of being 100 secrets, but the key thing I learned (revisited actually because few of the secrets were new to me) was that you can’t just learn something once and then move on. Success tips need to be revisited, reawakened and reapplied over and over again.
So what have I learned from today’s exercise? I think the key to success is to have a goal, belief you can accomplish it, and then take the actions necessary to reach that goal. The passion, purpose and values all tie in to keeping yourself motivated, inspired, and determined to see your dreams through the hard times.
Hmmm… my long time tagline has been “Imagine. Believe. Become.” I guess that sums up success for me. 
