By Hal Urban. 2003.
Contents
1. Success Is More Than Making Money
2. Life Is Hard…and Not Always Fair
3. Life Is Also Fun…and Incredibly Funny
4. We Live by Choice, Not by Chance
5. Attitude Is a Choice–the Most Important One You’ll Ever Make
6. Habits Are the Key to All Success
7. Being Thankful Is a Habit–the Best One You’ll Make
8. Good people build their lives on a foundation of respect
9. Honesty is still the best policy
10. Kind Words Cost Little But Accomplish Much
11. Real Motivation Comes From Within
12. Goals Are Dreams With Deadlines
13. There’s No Substitute for Hard Work
14. You Have to Give Up Something to Get Something
15. Successful People Don’t Find Time–They Make Time
16. No One Else Can Raise Your Self-Esteem
17. The Body Needs Nutrition and Exercise–So Do the Mind and Spirit
18. It’s OK to Fail–Everyone Else Has
19. Life Is Simpler When We Know What’s Essential
20. Essential #1 Is Being a Good Person
Chapter 1: Success Is More Than Making Money
“The good news is that the best season of your life can be ahead of you no matter what your age or circumstances –if you choose to make it so–because 90% of your potential is not only untapped and unused, but also undiscovered.”
– Tim Hansel
“To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.”
– Robert Louis Stevenson
Chapter 2: Life Is Hard…and Not Always Fair
Life is a series of problems. Do we want to moan about them or solve them?
– M. Scott Peck
Chapter 3: Life Is Also Fun…and Incredibly Funny
Human beings need to have fun. We need to play, and most importantly, we need to laugh.
Chapter 6: Habits Are the Key to All Success
The first one was Habits Of The Heart, by sociologist Robert Bellah and four associates. They write that “…the kind of life we want depends on the kind of people we are—on our character.” It isn’t what we have or the techniques we use that make us successful. It’s who we are. The habits that matter most are the ones that involve our connectedness to other people and the rest of the world. People with high principles and good character have such habits as integrity, concern for others, service, and commitment. They know that the good life is impossible if we look out only for ourselves. It’s earned, not by taking from life, but by contributing to it.
Chapter 11: Real Motivation Comes From Within
Desire is the seed from which all achievement grows. More than any other characteristic, it determines whether we are going to be mediocre or successful in life. Desire, not ability, separates average people from those who excel. If that something extra which makes it possible for ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things. I love the old phrase “burning desire” because it’s so descriptive. People who have it are almost impossible to stop. The stronger the flame burns, the greater the determination, and the more likely the success.
Chapter 15: Successful People Don’t Find Time–They Make Time
Four Keys to Mastering Your Time and Your Life
1. Plan your day
2. Make appointments with yourself
3. Use the little-bit-at-a-time approach
4. Know your most productive time
A successful life is nothing more than a string of successful days. So why not make the most of you each one?… Some people call it making a “to do” list; I call it daily goal setting. Whatever you call it, virtually every successful person does it in some form. Of all the positive ways to invest your time, this is number one.