The Laws of Business Success
Under the Laws of Leadership
The true leader radiates the confidence that all difficulties can be overcome and all goals can be attained.
Optimism in a leader inspires and empowers people to believe that they can do more and be better than they ever have before. It is one of the most powerful of all qualities for leadership and success in personal and business life. And you learn to become an optimist by practicing the behaviors of other positive, optimistic, future-oriented people.
You become an irrepressible optimist by practicing the habits of optimism whenever they are called for. Optimism is the foundation of a positive mental attitude. Optimism is the ability to find something worthwhile in every situation. It has been best defined as "a generally positive and constructive response to stress."
The only things you can control in your life are your responses to the inevitable problems and difficulties you face each day. How you respond to a situation, or how you interpret the situation, determines how you feel about it. Your feelings, your emotions, then determine the clarity and effectiveness of your thoughts and your responses. The more optimistic and positive you are, the calmer, more positive, and more creative you will be.
Optimists are "Can do!" people. They look for the good in every situation. When something goes wrong, they say, "That’s good!" and then look for something that is good within the problem or difficulty. And they always find it.
Optimists seek the valuable lesson in every setback or disappointment. As Napoleon Hill wrote, "They look for the seed of an equal or greater benefit or advantage in every setback or obstacle." They operate on the principle that "Difficulties come not to obstruct, but to instruct."
Optimists focus on the future rather than the past. They look for the opportunity in every difficulty. They think about what can be done now rather than focusing on what has happened in the past and who is to blame for it.
Above all, optimists are solution oriented rather than problem oriented. They focus on the solution, on the next step, rather than the problem. They think in terms of what can be done now rather than what has happened or who is to blame.
You can change your mind from negative to positive in one second by taking your mind off the problem and focusing exclusively on the solution to whatever challenge is facing you. Make it a habit. Whenever you are faced with a problem of any kind, immediately stop and ask, Okay, what do we do now? What’s the next step? Where do we go from here?
Imagine that your biggest problem, whatever it is, has been sent to you at this time to teach you something valuable that you need to learn. It is exactly what you need for your ongoing growth and development. It contains a gift of wisdom that has been designed just for you, at this moment in your life.
What could be the most important lesson or insight contained in the biggest problem or difficulty you are wrestling with today? Thomas Edison became the greatest inventor in America and one of the richest people in the world by following a simple philosophy. He believed that success consisted of, first, defining the desired invention or product and then, second, experimenting until he had eliminated every way that would not work. Edison believed that success was merely a process of elimination, of repeated failures, of continuing to experiment until the correct method was found.
When you begin to look upon each temporary failure or set-back as a stepping-stone on the road to the success that must inevitably come, you will become a completely optimistic, positive, highly creative, and effective person and leader.
How you can apply this law immediately:
1. List your three most important goals in life, right now. Then, write down one step that you can take immediately to move you in the direction of each of those goals. This simple exercise will give you an increased sense of control and personal power.
2. List your three biggest worries or concerns today. Decide on at least one specific action you can take in each case to begin solving the problem or resolving the worry or concern.
3. Identify the most valuable lesson that could be contained in the biggest single problem you are wrestling with right now. When you begin to identify and capitalize on the lessons contained in every difficulty you face, you will begin to move ahead at a more rapid rate than ever before.
Source: Brian Tracy, The 100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Business Success, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc, (San Francisco, 2000).
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