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True Success

Summary

One of the most common maladies of our time is a misunderstanding of success. In this book Morris lays out the simple truth about success, what it is and how to have it

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Key Takeaways
  1. Socrates determined that most people spend the most attention on the least important things and the least attention on the most important things
  2. There are 7 C's of Success, 7 components of a successful mindset, 7 means to a successful life
    1. Conception - you need a clear and precise conception of what you want, a vivid vision, a goal or set of goals powerfully imagined
    2. Confidence - you need a strong confidence that you can attain your goals
    3. Concentration - you need a focused concentration on what it takes to reach your goal
    4. Consistency - you need a stubborn consistency in pursuing our vision, a determined persistence in thought and action
    5. Commitment - you need an emotional commitment to the importance of what you're doing and to the people with whom you are doing it
    6. Character - you need a good character to guide you and keep you on a proper course
    7. Capacity - you need a capacity to enjoy the process along the way
  3. If you're after power, understand power for what purpose
  4. The happiest people in the world are people who love what they are doing, regardless of whether wealth, fame, power and elevated social status ever come their way. The happiest people in the world realize that true success is up to them - using their talents and following their heart to bring about important change in their lives and lives of others
  5. Self-knowledge is the greatest source of personal power on this earth
  6. We need to put aside time to simply sit and think - to understand ourselves, what we want, what we love and value
  7. Goals must be clear and specific
  8. Satisfaction Audit - asking yourself what you like and dislike in your life and how to go about changing what you dislike
  9. Self-knowledge, self-discovery and self-definition
  10. Our values give rise to our goals
  11. Goals and desires are subtly but very different - you can't have a goal that you don't intend to act on
  12. Imagination is more important than knowledge
  13. Losers visualize the penalties of failure where winners visualize the rewards of success
  14. Good to ask yourself what the worst case scenario is - it is often not nearly as bad as we initially make it out to be
  15. Do everything to the best of your ability - that way you can look back on your life with no/few regrets
  16. Celebrate, no matter how small, whenever you reach a goal
  17. Whenever you achieve your goals, you must set yourself new goals immediately
  18. We all need support when we confront something difficult - need cheerleaders (Stutman)
  19. It's easy to underestimate the power of negative thinking
  20. Precursive faith - faith that runs ahead of evidence
  21. You can't please everybody. Don't even try and don't let it bother you
  22. Nothing worth doing is easy
  23. By learning how not to do something, you put yourself in a position so that you'll be able to do it. Failure = learning
  24. Aim to be a realistic optimist
  25. Important to communicate confidence to yourself with self-talk and to others through how you carry yourself, what you do, how you speak/dress, etc.
  26. One of the most elusive traits today is self-esteem, aim to be moderately high in this arena
  27. Third party compliments do amazing things (Stutman)
  28. Nothing builds your own confidence like the hard work of good preparation
  29. The most consistently lucky people happen to be those who are best prepared
  30. "Everything we do can be, in one way or another, preparation for what we can contribute in this life. The good we do, and even the mistakes we make, can prepare us for greater good. But I cannot stress too much the importance of deliberate, thoughtful and specific creative preparation for any success we hope to attain."
  31. Most people underestimate their limits and underestimate their strengths
  32. Intelligent preparation can make hard work much easier - knowledge itself is leverage
  33. Little things mean a lot and can make all the difference
  34. Expect the unexpected - even the best plans are made with incomplete knowledge
  35. What seems very bad at the time can turn out to be very good in the end
  36. Fail soon, fail often, fail forward
  37. No matter what, always learn from your failures
  38. Do not think that a successful plan, thought process, goal, etc. will translate into a different context
  39. Always look for the sages - the guys who have been around forever and have seen a lot
  40. Most successful people love to magnify their success through younger people
  41. Must know when to be stubborn and consistent in your goal but also when to be flexible in your approach
  42. Small inconsistencies should never be ignored
  43. The 5-I Framework for Positive Change - Ignorance, Indifference, Inertia, Information, Imagination
  44. Enthusiasm - theos (God) en (infused)
  45. Energy, enthusiasm, emotional commitment is the ultimate aphrodisiac. People are attracted to people who care
  46. "By the work one knows the workman" - Jean de la Fontaine
  47. Successful living and successful working is a process of self-discovery, self-invention, self-discipline and self-indulgence
  48. Make everything sacred. Aim to only have beautiful things around you
  49. Have to work in renewal and relaxation - learn when to take a break, stretch out, gain perspective and slow down. Better to sprint and rest than slowly trot along (The Way We're Working Isn't Working)
  50. Selfishness is self-destructive
  51. Elevate characteristics and not people
  52. Arete = excellence, virtue (human excellence and ethics are one in the same)
  53. "I believe I have an ethical obligation to be the best I can be in everything I do, across a broad range of activities, compatible with the realities of my situation."
  54. Avoid compartmentalization - integrate all parts of your life
  55. "True success is best thought of not as a far off destination, or an end state of any kind, but as a process, a dynamic process of successful living...Enjoyment should not be the end goal but interwoven through the way."
  56. Enjoyment must come from within
  57. Nothing is as good or as bad as it seems
  58. Be people's biggest fan - celebrate with them, appreciate them, acknowledge them (Stutman)
  59. We tend to enjoy whatever we are doing the most when we are most immersed in it
  60. We are happy when we are growing
  61. Everyone needs a sense of uniqueness, a sense of union with something larger than the self, a sense of usefulness and a sense of understanding
What I got out of it
  1. One of my favorite books of the year - success needs to be interwoven into your daily routine/journey, 7 C's of Success

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