Rituals for making a successful life

By Bayo Ogunmupe Today, let us begin with the necessity of work to make a living. According to the British statesman and World War 11 hero as Commander- in- Chief, Sir Winston Churchill: "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give," But just because you're struggling doesn't mean you're failing. Success requires the worthy struggle to get. Although the journey may be tough, it always feels better to be exhausted from tiny pieces of progress, than it does to be tired of doing nothing at all. Every step in the struggle counts. And as you know, the result of enormous success is often pretty noisy-lots of people talking, writing and sharing stories about it. But the actual process of achieving enormous success is far more discreet and mysterious. Yet it is this process that happens quietly, behind the scenes, that makes all the difference in the world. As a journalist I am fortunate enough to know many billionaires. Regardless of lifestyle, industry or profession, each of them shares many of these quiet rituals.And I want to share three of these initiative taking rituals today, some of which relate to the present challenges you're facing. Many of the iconic books, songs and inventions of all time were inspired by gut- wrenching pain and heartbreaks. Thus, the silver lining of these painful challenges is that they were the catalyst to the creation of epic masterpieces. An emerging field of psychology called Post Traumatic Growth suggests that many people are able to use their hardships and traumas for creative and intellectual development. Also, researchers have found that trauma can help people grow in the areas of interpersonal relationships such as contentment, personal strength and resourcefulness. When our view of the world as a safe place is shattered, we're forced to reboot our perspective on things. We suddenly have the opportunity to look out to the periphery and see things with a new, fresh set of beginner’s eyes, which is conducive to personal growth and long- term success and wellness. Also, the millionaires mindfully focus on the positive all of the time. This view was confirmed by a recent scientific study. The study showed that doctors who are in a positive mood before making a diagnosis, consistently experience significant boosts to their intellectual abilities than doctors in a neutral state, which allows them to make accurate diagnosis almost 20 percent faster. When the same study was shifted to other vocations, they found that optimistic salespeople outsell their pessimistic counterparts by over 50 percent. Students primed to feel happy before taking math exams substantially outperform their neutral peers. Thus, it turns out that our minds are literally hardwired to perform at their best, not when they are negative, or even neutral, but when they are positive. Of course, that’s not to say that successful people never get upset; but your effectiveness in all walks of life will fare better if you are able to mindfully accept and let go of negative emotions, rather than dwelling on them. Think less about managing your problems but more about managing your mindset. Don’t forget that you’re not alone. Ninety percent of the whole world is in continuous struggle. You are just one of them. Finally, in your battle for success in life, you must always take the initiative by taking action. You can if you will take action. Pathfinders don’t wait for others to motivate them. They know it is their responsibility to move themselves forward, beyond their comfort zones. The Bible says, “Trust in the Lord and do good(take action); dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness.” Learn from your failures and keep moving forward. The good news about trailblazers is, they make things happen. The bad news about them is that they make lots of mistakes along the way. The greater your potential for greatness, the greater your chance for failure. Former U.S. Attorney General Senator Robert Kennedy said, “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” Which is why you should always on the look out for opportunities. Never wait for opportunities to come to you, they never will. You must be willing to pray and take a leap of faith. Don’t wait endlessly before taking a decision. As former chairman of Chrysler, Lee Iacocca said, “Even the correct decision is wrong when it was taken too late.” If you haven’t moved out of your comfort zone lately, you might have to jumpstart your initiative to move forward. The Bible says, “He is your help and …shield,” Psalm 115. That means God will help you to succeed and protect you if you fail.