Top 10 Counterintuitive Rules Of Success In Life

What are the rules of success? Is there a success formula? Here are some of the life lessons and rules for success in life that I have learned over 50 years.

How can we achieve success in life? What are the guidelines for our success in life?

These 10 rules of success in life may sound counterintuitive, but they’re gleaned from my own life experience, as well as Law of Attraction success stories and success quotes.

If you want to succeed in life, these 10 principles for success and wise sayings about success will help you define and ease your path to success in life.

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Top 10 Counterintuitive Rules Of Success In Life
Success tips & tools

Top 10 Counterintuitive Rules Of Success In Life

In this list of my top ten rules for success, you’ll find a number of motivational quotes for success, as well as the success habits and success mindset that have stood me in good stead throughout my life.

#1. Defining success is up to you

What success means to me may not be what success means to you. If you want to be successful, you have to define what success means to you.

So how do you go about defining success and living a successful life? My first rule of success is that there’s no success formula or success meaning that works for everyone. Success is whatever you choose to make it!

“Success is whatever you choose to make it!”

Defining success is totally up to you, and is based on the vision of your dream life as you choose to see it. There are many types of success in life and your meaning of success may differ greatly from how someone else defines success.

For instance, some people may consider personal success, in terms of finding their soulmate, building a family, and having fulfilling relationships as their way to success.

Some may consider freedom as success, while for others business success or financial success may be their success motivation.

For others, professional success may be defined by choosing a meaningful career that actually makes a difference in the world.

Some entrepreneurs may be interested in building a billion-dollar business while others may be happy working as solopreneurs or freelancers.

As Abraham Hicks says, “When feeling happy is of paramount importance to you — and what you do for a living makes you happy — you have found the best of all combinations.”

“When feeling happy is of paramount importance to you — and what you do for a living makes you happy — you have found the best of all combinations.” ~ Abraham Hicks

What success looks like for me is joy, ease, flow, freedom, and balance in life. My own rule of success in life is to follow my bliss and do what makes my heart sing (which usually involves writing).

Only you can choose what’s most important to you, and start defining success by your own motivations. So set your own rules of success and refuse to let anyone else impose their version of success on you.

As this success quote by Anne Sweeney says, “Define success on your own terms, achieve it by your own rules, and build a life you’re proud to live.”

“Define success on your own terms, achieve it by your own rules, and build a life you’re proud to live.” ~ Anne Sweeney

#2. Success entails overcoming your limiting beliefs

We all have limiting beliefs – false beliefs that rear their heads at different times in our lives and hold us back from what we most desire.

The reason they’re known as self-limiting beliefs is that they limit our success and prevent us from achieving our goals.

But, as Law of Attraction teacher, Abraham Hicks, says, “A belief is only a thought you continue to think; and when your beliefs match your desires, then your desires must become your reality.”

“A belief is only a thought you continue to think; and when your beliefs match your desires, then your desires must become your reality.” ~ Abraham Hicks

There are ways to overcome your limiting beliefs so you can achieve your goals and dreams. Hypnosis and energy work are some of the healing modalities that played a big role in helping me do that, and I use them even today.

Once you overcome your limiting beliefs, your success is only limited by your imagination. As one of the most inspiring quotes about success and achievement by William Arthur Ward states, “If you can imagine it, you can create it. If you can dream it, you can become it.”

“If you can imagine it, you can create it. If you can dream it, you can become it.” ~ William Arthur Ward

#3. Self-care & self-love are crucial to success

Self-love and self-care are essential elements of success. Successful people understand the importance of taking care of their physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

It doesn’t matter what you’ve achieved or how much money you have if you’re stressed out, unhealthy, and miserable.

As Syed Balkhi wisely said, “Happiness is the new rich. Inner peace is the new success. Health is the new wealth.”

“Happiness is the new rich. Inner peace is the new success. Health is the new wealth.” ~ Syed Balkhi

Self-care takes mental discipline, in terms of guiding your thoughts in a more positive direction and cultivating success through a positive mental attitude.

You cannot create good things in your life as long as you focus on negative news and negative people. As Abraham Hicks says, “You can’t watch out for bad things and allow good things at the same time. It is vibrationally not possible.”

“You can’t watch out for bad things and allow good things at the same time. It is vibrationally not possible.” ~ Abraham Hicks

In other words, emotional self-care and mental discipline are the keys to success, especially as they pertain to positive thinking.

#4. Hard work is no guarantee of success

You may have read many motivational quotes about hard work and perseverance as the keys to success. But I’ve learned that the connection between hard work and success is overrated.

The reason why I don’t share motivational quotes on hard work and success is that it’s a myth that hard work leads to success.

For instance, there are millions of people who work very hard but live hand to mouth, while some of the most successful people don’t spend their time working hard.

Equating hard work with success is like trying to push a noodle or swim upstream against the current. You’ll end up expending a lot of effort for mediocre results.

Successful people have an idea of what they want to achieve and focus on building a vision of what they want to create in their minds before they take inspired action toward it.

And when the actions you take are inspired rather than forced, they cease to be hard work. So imagine that your dream has already happened and what it will feel like when it is that way.

Then follow the inspired impulses that pull you towards that vision. As Abraham Hicks says, “You’re not manifesting, you’re creating the environment that allows the manifestation.”

“You’re not manifesting, you’re creating the environment that allows the manifestation.” ~ Abraham Hicks

As another example, you wouldn’t plant crops without preparing the soil for sowing first. Imagine your mind as the soil in which you sow the vision of your dream as the seeds of success.

In other words, preparation is the key to success, and the best kind of preparation is getting clarity on what you want to create first before taking inspired action.

In this Free Webinar with Jack Canfield, you’ll learn 6 steps to achieve any goal and create an extraordinary life by focusing on one big goal at a time.

Learn how to go from where you are to where you want to be, with mindfulness of your present situation. Build your roadmap and design a detailed plan to accomplish big goals that are in alignment with the life you want.

#5. You can have it all, just not all at the same time

Imagine that tomorrow, all your dreams came true at once. Would you be thrilled or overwhelmed? Would you really want to manifest everything you wanted all at once?

After all, we cannot eat every meal we will ever eat in our lives in one sitting. Nor would you want to drink all the water you needed to drink over a lifetime all at once. Most people would rather savor it over time, drop by precious drop.

Success doesn’t mean getting everything you want in a single day, but enjoying the process of manifesting over time, living with positive expectations, and savoring the delicious anticipation of what life will serve us next.

“You can have it all, just not all at the same time.” ~ Betty Friedan

#6. Success is freedom from what others think

In relationships, communication is the key to success, but that doesn’t mean you should take what others think or say about you personally.

As the second agreement of Don Miguel Ruiz’s classic, The Four Agreements, says, “Whatever happens around you, don’t take it personally. Nothing other people do is because of you. It is because of themselves.”

“Whatever happens around you, don’t take it personally. Nothing other people do is because of you. It is because of themselves.” ~ Don Miguel Ruiz

It’s important that we learn to become independent of the good (and bad) opinions of others. So, refuse to take anything personally and accept that others are entitled to their own opinions of you, or anyone or anything else.

As Abraham Hicks says, “The greatest gift you can give yourself is freedom from what others think.”

“The greatest gift you can give yourself is freedom from what others think.” ~ Abraham Hicks

#7. To succeed, reframe failure as feedback

Can success be disastrous? It can if you go by one of the most famous success and failure quotes from Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates, who said, “Success is a lousy teacher. It makes smart people think they can’t lose.”

“Success is a lousy teacher. It makes smart people think they can’t lose.” ~ Bill Gates

It’s true that failure teaches success and that you can learn more from failure than from success. Numerous ‘failure to success’ quotes from wise success coaches point out that every failure is a step to success or that failure is part of success.

For success, attitude is equally as important as ability, and often the only difference between success and failure is your willingness to keep going. As Winston Churchill said, “Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” ~ Winston Churchill

If you accept that failure is the key to success and learn how to reframe failure as feedback, it can help you cultivate an optimistic and positive attitude that takes you from failure to success.

If you learn how to control your emotions, be composed, and stay calm under pressure, you’ll start building resilience at work and be a resilient and successful leader.

#8. There’s no such thing as overnight success

Just as it takes nine months to create a newborn human being, it takes time to manifest success. There is no shortcut to success, and successful goals or ventures often take years, or even decades, to come to fruition.

The key to success when setting long-term goals is whether you have the persistence and determination to carry on, even when success seems elusive.

According to entrepreneurs, Ryan Mitchell Rios and Mark Atalla, consistency is the key to success, because it leads to self-discipline, teaches you self-control, improves your overall personality, and builds the momentum that aligns things in your favor.

“Consistency is the key to success.”

#9. Success is a journey, not a destination

One of the most famous quotes about success and happiness by Arthur Ashe says, “Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is usually more important than the outcome.”

“Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is usually more important than the outcome.” ~ Arthur Ashe

Lily Tomlin shared one of the most famous quotes about success, when she said, “The road to success is always under construction.”

“The road to success is always under construction.” ~ Lily Tomlin

It’s important to accept that success is not a destination, success is a journey. The road to success will be more enjoyable if you stop defining success as the outcome.

Instead, learn to be patient, take pleasure in the path, and have fun along the way to success.

#10. Success is not the key to happiness

How are success and happiness related? To explain this, I want to share one of my favorite success thoughts by Albert Schweitzer, which states, “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” ~ Albert Schweitzer

Richard Branson, another hugely successful billionaire entrepreneur, says this too. One of the life lessons I’ve learned is that happiness is a choice and that you can choose to live in a state of joy and happiness, no matter what happens.

According to the Law of Attraction, once you have the skills to actively direct your thoughts to control how you feel, you can positively influence the things that come into your life.

As one of the best quotes about success from Abraham Hicks states, “The only true measure of success is the amount of joy we are feeling.”

“The only true measure of success is the amount of joy we are feeling.” ~ Abraham Hicks

Now that you know these top 10 rules of success and quotes about achieving success, I hope they help you define success for yourself so you can reach your goals of success in life.

Don’t forget to sign up for this Free Success Formula Webcast with Jack Canfield, where you’ll learn a proven 3-step process for getting unstuck and creating breakthroughs to overcome any obstacle and move in the direction of your dreams. May success be with you always!

Success tips & tools

Priya Florence Shah

Priya Florence Shah is a bestselling author and an award-winning blogger. Check out Devi2Diva, her book on emotional self-care for women. In her spare time, Priya writes science-fiction novels and poetry and chills with her two-legged and four-legged kids.

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