Success is Nice

Yes, success is very nice. When you succeed, when you accomplish what you set out to do, the feeling of pride and completion can warm you from the inside out like nothing else.

In order to succeed, most people find it helpful to be nice along the way. I don't mean namby-pamby, wimpy, sweet nice. I mean courteouos and kind to those you encounter. Whether it's in the parking lot, in a classroom, on the job, or with your family, old-fashion manners go a long way toward creating the aura of success that makes people respect and take you seriously.

Look at this way. Someone who is consistently successful can afford to take the time and thought to be courteous and kind. Act the part until it is second nature for you, and speed your journey to success.

My students will remember the short video on inattentional blindness that we watched in class. ( Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahg6qcgoay4 to see it again.)

A big inference from that experience is that what you are looking for is what you will see.

Therefore, why not focus on the success already present in yourself? Begin now to seek out and pay attention to the successful person already lurking inside! Start to think, speak and act like a successful person.

One very simple way to do that is to reclaim the courtesies you were most likely taught as a kid.

This could be as simple as raising your hand to speak in a dynamic conversation in a college class. It could be putting cell phones away, out of sight and vibration sound, so as not to disturb your classmates and instructor when you are tempted to do a quick text response. It could be not smoking except in designated smoking areas on campus, and putting cigarette butts into a trash receptacle. Nothing heroic. Just acting like someone who can afford to be civilized because you are already a success!

I'll leave you with this thought from Aristotle: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit."