Success Principles few people follow

                    By Bayo Ogunmupe

    It is essential that you understand the principles of success in order to enable you make the best of your life. Every thing in life is by choice. Everyday we choose to do the same things that hardly move us closer to the life we want. Since the quality of our lives is shaped by the choices we make and those we don't make, then the secret of making wise choices is to live by the right success principles.

    In his book, Ray Dalio, the billionaire investor, hedge fund manager and philanthropist, said, "Principles are fundamental truths that serve as the foundations for behavior that gets you what you want out of life. They can be applied again and again in similar situations to help you achieve your goals." From the way we practice our politics to the way we live our lives, we know many Nigerians have no principles. But principles govern the world. Thus, the forgoing are the ways you can use to define your personal principles. Ideally, the best way to develop your own principles is to write them down. Think for yourself to decide what you want and what you should do to achieve it.

    Don't spend your life preparing for life. The renowned naturalist, Charles Darwin once said: "A man who dares to waste an hour of time has not discovered the value of his life." Life is too short when you spend it meaningfully on accomplishments. But strangely enough, few people consciously choose to live in the present. Indeed, it is better to live for today, not for tomorrow, and never look back, for, there is nothing there for you. The past provides closure while the future gives hope but focusing on either obsessively, becomes deteriorating to your mental and emotional well-being.

    In her collection of essays, The Writing Life, the celebrated short story writer, Annie Dillard explains that how we spend our days, is the way we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is the way we fritter away our lives. Fixing targets is the way we defend ourselves from chaos, whims and caprices. It is a net for catching days. The schedule is a scaffolding on which a worker can stand and labour with both hands at sections of time. Which is why you should accept your weaknesses as part of your imperfection. Our innately flawed nature makes perfection beyond us. We should recognize this and move ahead.

    The real world doesn't reward perfectionists, there lies our consolation. This world rewards those who get things done with progress and prosperity. The author of Extreme Productivity, Bob Pozen argues that while Perfectionism is a learned habit, it can be unlearned if you work at it. No matter how many mistakes you make, or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of people who spend their live making excuses because of their weaknesses. Thus, the alternative to perfection isn't failure; the alternative is in making peace with yourself that you are good enough.

    There are many fait accompli in life. Some of these are that you cannot change the past or control the future by predetermining it. The only thing within your control is today. And the most important moment is the present moment. Therefore, life isn't elsewhere, it is fully and properly here and now. But for whosoever is worried about the future, the Roman philosopher Seneca advises, "Everyone hustles his life along and is troubled by a longing for the future and weariness of the present. But the man who .....organizes every day as though it were his last, neither longs for, nor fear the next day....Nothing can be taken from this life, and you can only add to it as if giving to a man who is already full and satisfied food which he does not want but can hold. 

    "So you must not think a man has lived long because he has white hair and wrinkles: he has not lived long, just existed long. For purpose you should think that a man had had a long voyage  who had been caught in a raging storm as he left the harbour, and carried hither and thither and driven round and round in a circle by the rage of opposing winds? He did not have a long voyage, just a long tossing about."