« BEWARE These Speaking Business Predators!!! | Home | TIME THIEVES: How To Identify The Time Wasters That Rob Your Performance And Productivity! »
The Two Things That Determine A Person’s Success In Life!
By JP Maroney | May 15, 2007
This is PART ONE of a series I’ll be posting.
I would first like your response on the following:
I often say in my live presentations — and in personal conversations that…
“Two things determine a person’s success in life:
1) The thoughts that occupy your mind, and
2) The people with whom you associate.”
What do you think?
I’ll explain my point of view on this in the next post.
This should be interesting.
JP
Topics: Business Growth, Employee Development, Internet Marketing, Personal Development, Uncategorized |
May 15th, 2007 at 1:42 am
Right on the Money
And both of them, go hand in hand. If you get one of them (or lose one of them) you will gain or lose the other.
And one of them will always influence the other.
Course its a little harder to think one way and associate yourself with another group of people you surround yourself with but the point to that is really that when you associate yourself with a group thats out of your “thinking” pattern long enough, you’ll usually begin to adapt and adopt their thinking as your own.
Course you can make the arguement that you had to have that one thought in order to have even shown up to that group and associate yourself but….another time that can be debated over….and its not important, the results are
So
Right on the Money
May 15th, 2007 at 1:45 am
3) The action you take.
Faith without works is dead.
Regards,
-Mike
Michael E. Young, J.D., LL.M.
Attorney & Counselor at Law
http://www.MikeYoungLaw.com
Legal Solutions You Can Trust
DISCLAIMER: Information posted by me at this website is general in nature,
should not be construed to be formal legal advice or the formation of a lawyer/client relationship.
Consult an attorney to address specific legal issues.
May 15th, 2007 at 1:45 am
My experience shows that what you say is true. I am generally “positive” in my thoughts, but self-sabotage undoubtedly still holds me back. And my associates do tend to be generally “poor”- great people but hardly the folks I need to be “rubbing shoulders” with in order to become a financial success.
May 15th, 2007 at 1:46 am
One more thing
If those two things were one machine, then you don’t need to say or take away anything more - the highest point of a machine is when you need not take anything away.
May 15th, 2007 at 2:42 am
The two are inseparable. The people we care about, we think about. If they’re constantly worried, or have a lot of drama in their lives, odds are that we’ll get caught up in it. On the other hand, if they’re successful, motivated and happy, we will tend to want to be, too.
Of course, there are exceptions to this. There are stories of people who have refused to listen to the negative voices around them and risen up anyway, and there are also people who have had success practically handed to them on a silver platter and squandered it all away. But these are the exception, not the rule.
If you want to fly like an eagle, don’t hang around with turkeys.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:51 am
JP,
Both are important questions and they are both connected.
It is very important to have the right midset and do not allow negative thoughts to take over your mind.Because when this happens you become less effective,lose focus and decisions become difficult to make etc.
My father always you to tell me that you are judged but the people you associate with or “hang with”.
I have chosen to associate myself with people who are successful, positive,
provide wise and sound advice,and encourage you to case your dreams.
Kind regards
Arthur
May 15th, 2007 at 5:04 am
@ Mike Young
Mike,
I agree… that ACTION is vital.
In fact, I’m from the south. And, my grandmother has a great southern phrase I love.
Regarding biscuits that failed to rise, she says, “They squatted to rise, and got caught in the squat!”
I love that…
I’m going to EXPAND on my points (with info from my live presentation) — give you and the others how “THOUGHTS” eventual lead to “ACTION.”
So… good that you brought it up.
Thanks - and stay tuned!!!
May 15th, 2007 at 5:58 am
To be slightly controversial, I believe the statement, although raising important points, is a little untrue.
Both are critcal elements on the journey towards achieving success, but they are not what ultimately determines a persons success. What determines success is the action taken based on what a person believes. The 2 points in question, thoughts and associates, will influence our belief structures, but we are “not locked” into them.
We have a personal and social responsibility to evaluate our experiences, relationships, observations and knowledge to determine what we believe and what we will do with them.
My final point is in regard to what you believe success is. To one it might be the acquisition of wealth, to another it might be the dispursing of wealth to the poor. Success has to be evaulated in terms of your values, which come from your beliefs.
So to sum up, I believe, thoughts and associates influence but do not determine our success. Our success is determined by the action we take towards any given goal of our value, based on what we believe.
May 15th, 2007 at 6:36 am
Thoughts require actions to determine success.
The people you trust and care about are your foundation. Who you associate with may not be a fair representation.
May 15th, 2007 at 7:39 am
I think it *all* rests on your first point, JP, “The thoughts that occupy your mind.”
The people with whom you (choose to) associate, the actions you take, how you react to things, the kinds of goals you establish, what you choose to do with your money, the kinds of people you choose to do business with, and so on–these all grow out of “The thoughts that occupy your mind,” don’t they?
Of course those things will then in turn *influence* the thoughts that occupy your mind. Call it a self-reinforcing cycle.
But even before thinking the right kinds of thoughts (those conducive to success, I mean), I believe that success is usually founded on a *decision* to succeed, which serves as a sort of on-ramp to success.
For some people, maybe those with solid early role models or a certain type of personality, that decision seems to come naturally. Other folks have to go through hell, high water, and a series of detour routes to get there.
Anyway, looking forward to Part 2….
P.S. Not that I’ve darkened a church doorway lately, but your two points brought to mind a couple other biblical references (in addition to the one Mr. Young added): 1. As a man thinketh, so is he, and 2. As iron sharpeneth iron….
May 21st, 2007 at 10:01 pm
Some will be tempted to say, “That’s too simple… everyone knows that already… tell me something I don’t know…”
But…
Clearly most people do NOT accept these two truths you have posted here. All you have to do to verify this is examine most people’s lives to see that this is so.
May 21st, 2007 at 10:46 pm
Hey JP!
I agree.
The thoughts lead to actions…
And the people around you either suck the life out of you while you’re trying to take action or give you the rocket fuel to make it happen!
Later
Caleb
August 17th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
I can’t agree enough with that JP! The only other thing that I would add, is:
3. The words that we choose to use.
“The tongue has the power of death and life.” - Proverbs 18:21
August 18th, 2007 at 3:13 am
To quote Buddha: “All that you are, is a result of your thoughts”
Thanks for your enlightened blogs. /M