Success Principles for Leaders

Overview

After discovering Jack Canfield’s book, The Success Principles, and reading it from cover to cover, I was so inspired that I spent a year and a half studying with the Canfield organization and became a certified Success Principles Trainer. These days, I train and coach others on using Success Principles to get from where they are to where they want to be. 

Below, I’ve outlined what I believe are the most important Success Principles for leaders, along with brief thoughts, experiences, and/or personal stories highlighting why they are so critical. 

Take 100% Responsibility for Your Life

“You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself.”—Jim Rohn 

To live your best life personally and professionally, you must take 100% responsibility for everything in your life—this includes your results, relationships, health, finances, and absolutely everything! This isn’t easy to do because we’ve been conditioned to look outside of ourselves for responsibility. Yet we rarely look within, which is where our power lies. 

There’s a simple formula that highlights where our true power resides: 

E + R = O ... Event + Response = Outcome

Everything you experience (Outcomes) is the result of your Responses to earlier Events. If you don’t like your current outcomes (project results, sales numbers, amount of free time, etc.) you can change the way you respond to the events in your life. You have control over three responses – your thoughts, the images you create in your mind, and your behaviors (which include what you say and your actions.) 

For example, if a project you’ve overseen falls short, instead of complaining about the IT team, blaming your boss, and justifying your results based on limited resources, take time to make honest observations about what went well and what you and your team could have done better. Take ownership of the results and use what you learned as a gift to improve next time. 

You may be wondering how you could have created a great solution with no additional resources or why you got sick or why something less than optimal occurred. So...if you aren’t ready to fully buy into this principle, simply ACT AS IF YOU ARE 100% RESPONSIBLE and see what happens.

Taking 100% responsibility—or even acting as if you are 100% responsible—shifts your mindset from victim to empowered. When one feels empowered, new doors open, inspired ideas appear, and the impossible becomes possible. 

Use the Law of Attraction

When I talk about the Law of Attraction (LOA) in the corporate world, it’s often viewed as “woo-woo” or dismissed as a trendy Eastern philosophy. Yet, in reality, it’s basic quantum physics. 

At a high level, everything in the universe consists of energy or vibration, and that includes us. Simply put, the level of vibration we put out is what we attract in return. Catherine Ponder, author of The Dynamic Laws of Prosperity, summarized this well: “What you radiate in your thoughts, feelings, mental pictures, and words, you attract into your life.” 

Sadly, many of our thoughts are random, contradictory, and negative, and thus, that is what we unconsciously attract in return. But we can bring ourselves into vibrational harmony with and attract anything we desire through our deliberate thoughts.

“Attention to what-is only creates more of what-is. In order to effect true positive change in your experience, you must disregard how things are – as well as how others are seeing you – and give more of your attention to the way you prefer things to be. With practice, you will change your point of attraction and will experience a substantial change in your life experience.”—Esther and Jerry Hicks, author of The Law of Attraction

What’s Your Vision?

In this module, I build on the Law of Attraction and combine several success principles, including Be Clear Why You’re Here, Decide What You Want, and Use Affirmations and Visualization. 

Many of us think we know what we want in life, but when we attempt to write down our priorities in different aspects of our lives (work, health, relationships, finances, spirituality, etc.), we often come up blank. That’s a problem! 

If we can’t articulate our priorities, how can our subconscious mind work to our advantage to help us achieve our desires? Thus, the first action is to get very clear on what you want, focusing on what brings you joy (there are many exercises that can help with this), and then you can use various tools, such as affirmations and visualization, to help you more quickly achieve your desires.

Visualization is using your imagination to see what you want clearly. Research has shown that the human mind can’t tell the difference between a real event and an imagined one because the same neuro-pathways are used in the brain whether you are actually performing a task or vividly imagining it. I know this sounds outrageous, but studies conducted across all walks of life have proven this premise. These results give credence to the notion that what one imagines affects performance! 

If your mind can’t tell the difference between a real and an imaginary event, putting your attention on the things you want to acquire or achieve and visualizing your success will help you get there.

Affirmations are positive statements that affirm your desired goal as if it was already achieved. Affirmations should be short, positive, and stated in the present. For example, “I am so happy and blessed to earn $250,000 a year training and coaching others on the Success Principles.”

“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.”—Albert Einstein

Everything You Want is on the Other Side of Fear

Fear can be useful; for example, when in a life-threatening situation, our fear can give us a burst of adrenaline to fight or run away. Yet these days, most of our fears are not associated with life-threatening situations. 

Think of fear as a yield sign or the opportunity to slow down and pay attention. But don’t let it stop you...because almost everything we want sits on the other side of fear!

Fear represents Fantasized Experiences Appearing Real. When you recognize that fear is simply a negative image, thought, or limiting belief of an unwanted outcome that you are holding in your mind, you can take positive action.   

Fear is learned and can be unlearned through the use of many effective techniques.

Believe in Yourself

This Success Principle is a powerful concept. I think it’s especially important for leaders because if you don’t believe in yourself, your team members won’t believe in you, either. 

Believing in yourself is a choice. What you choose to believe is up to you—you can believe you’re too old or too young, not smart enough, don’t have enough resources, skills, finances, or whatever. Or you can choose to believe you are smart, capable, and resourceful, and that you’ll find a way to achieve your goals and dreams. Which perspective (thoughts, images, and responses) are you choosing?

A great tool to practice this concept is to give up the phrase, “I can’t.” In the Law of Attraction principle, we established that what we think and the words we say affect our reality. Using the words “I can’t” disempowers you, and when tested using kinesiology, the words physically make you weaker. By giving up this phrase and other limiting beliefs, you will be amazed at what you can accomplish!

“You have to believe in yourself when no one else does. That’s what makes you a winner.”—Venus Williams, Olympic gold medalist and professional tennis champion

Practice Uncommon Appreciation

Practicing appreciation is an imperative leadership skill. 

In the Success Principles, Canfield shares several studies which outline how important feeling appreciated is to employees. One such study showed that 46% of employees leave a company because they feel unappreciated.  Another annual study asks employees what motivates them the most, and employees always list appreciation as the number one motivator. 

Successful leaders recognize, acknowledge, and appreciate the work of their employees. Doing so builds relationships, respect, and adds joy into the workplace. 

Practicing gratitude is also important for one’s personal development. Did you know that when you’re feeling genuinely grateful, it’s impossible to at the same time feel angry, anxious, envious…or any other negative emotion? That in and of itself is a great reason to make appreciation a part of your daily life. 

When we feel gratitude for the blessings in our lives, we cultivate a deep sense of positivity. According to Psychology Today, feeling grateful boosts happiness and delivers physical and psychological health benefits. In addition, our gratitude significantly benefits others. When we’re feeling grateful, we’re kinder, more generous, and more giving toward our family, friends, colleagues, employees, and really, everyone around us. 

“Gratitude is a powerful catalyst for happiness. It’s the spark that lights a fire of joy in your soul.” – Amy Collette