Success Secrets of the Rich and Happy

By Troy Riggs

Secret #1: Choose Friends Wisely•

Individuals are profoundly influenced by their circle of friends. A 1994 Harvard study examined those who had radically changed their lives in a short amount of time.

• As one would expect, many of these lifestyle changes were prompted by tragic events such as an illness, but just as many of these transformations occurred without any great catalyst.

The researchers found that about 50% simply changed the social group they spent time with the most. Another study called the Longevity Project reported the same findings.

Secret #2: Never Stop Learning•

While mediocre individuals often have lofty goals involving appearance or attaining social status, the book “Nine Things Successful People Do Differently” points out that successful people have goals centered around getting better at something.

• Instead of the goal being about themselves, it’s about their projects. This disassociation lets these people turn everything in life into a learning opportunity.

Secret #3: Develop Grit•

“Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us” states that researchers have found that perseverance and passion for long term goals is the single most important predictor of success.

• Creativity and intelligence are nothing without this non-cognitive trait that researchers have dubbed “grit.” Sticking with it when things get hard is an essential character trait that leads to success and happiness in life.

Secret #4: Success is Planned•

Plans bring clarity to life, and this creates motivation, achievement and lasting happiness. According to “Nine Things Successful People Do Differently,” one of the most successful planning methods is called if-then planning. If-then plans work incredibly well because the brain intuitively understands the if-then format.

Resources

Learn Personal development @ Success.com sculpt your own success at Success Sculpting Another great example of how people can learn

to become successful, including inspiration quotes can be found on Brian Moaddeli’s blog at BrianMoaddeli.com