Success Is Based on A Few Key Essentials
By Philip Humbert
For me a truly World Class Life is based on two Key Essentials. It requires that we DO SOMETHING with our lives, and that we live our own lives in our own way.
You might say a truly great life requires a variety of other key ingredients such as loving relationships, spirituality, goal achievement, creating a legacy, or some level of approval, fame, power or financial success.
I'm sure all of those deserve careful consideration. But I'm also sure that most of the really big things in life are simpler than that.
Remember what Woody Allan said about success? He noted that, "About 90% of success is just showing up." I like that.
I also like the story of legendary UCLA basketball coach, John Wooden. He started every season by insisting his entire team learn how to put on their sox (to avoid blisters) and tie their shoes (to avoid accidents). He was famous for requiring his players to practice free-throws and lay-ups—thousands of them—to get the "fundamentals" down pat. Apparently it worked. He became the most successful coach in history.
Brian Tracy advised thousands of clients, including most of the Fortune 500, that success in any endeavor usually requires the mastery of no more than seven basic fundamentals. Again, it must have worked because he was paid millions of dollars for that simple, profound advice!
So, what are your "Key Essentials"? And, have you mastered them?
We live in an age of distractions. There are thousands of "new and improved" solutions to every problem. New tools, new technologies and new policies come at us every day. We are told we must be "constant learners" (I personally suspect that may be true!) and that "the only constant is change." The impression is that anything more than a few months old is hopelessly out of date. We are told to replace old equipment, old techniques and old fundamentals every single day or we don't stand a chance.
Well. Maybe. And maybe not.
Jim Rohn argued that there is no such thing as a "new fundamental." He pointed out that the basics, the essentials never change.
He suggested that being a person of character and integrity, putting "first things first," and refusing to be distracted by bright, shiny objects were old principles that have stood the test of time. He suggested that being clear about a few carefully chosen goals, and pursuing them doggedly hasserved generations and has never changed.
So again, what are your Key Essentials? Have you mastered them?
There may be a thousand miscellaneous skills and tools we should learn. There may be some new technologies that make us more efficient or more productive, and that's all good. But at bottom, a great life is still about knowing who you are, what you stand for, and where you're going in life.
Being clear about who you love and remembering that love is a verb—a series of thoughtful, loving actions—seems important. Keeping life balanced and focused on a few key objectives seems like an old idea that still has merit. Telling the truth, working hard and being persistent are still good ideas. They haven't changed.
So I'll stick with my argument that both success (getting the things we want) and living a great life along the way are, and always have been, based on a few Key Essentials.
Identify and master the Key Essentials in your life. Whatever you believe them to be, name them, study them, and stick to them! It seems to work out better that way.
"There's no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love. There is only a scarcity of resolve to make it happen." ~ Wayne Dyer
