Fundamentals of Success

1 Take 100% Responsibility for Your Life
2 Be Clear Why You’re Here
3 Decide What You Want
4 Believe It’s Possible
5 Believe in Yourself
6 Become an Inverse Paranoid
7 Unleash the Power of Goal Setting
8 Chunk It Down
9 Success Leaves Clues
10 Release the Brakes
11 See What You Want, Get What You See
12 Act As If
13 Take Action
14 Just Lean Into It
15 Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway
16 Be Willing to Pay the Price
17 Ask! Ask! Ask!
18 Reject Rejection!
19 Use Feedback to Your Advantage
20 Commit to Constant and Never-Ending Improvement
21 Keep Score for Success
22 Practice Persistence…Never Give Up!
23 Practice the Rule of 5
24 Exceed Expectations

Section 2: Transform Yourself for Success

25 Drop Out of the “Ain’t It Awful” Club
26 Acknowledge Your Positive Past
27 Keep Your Eye on the Prize
28 Clean Up Your Messes and Your Incompletes
29 Complete the Past to Embrace the Future
30 Face What Isn’t Working
31 Embrace Change
32 Transform Your Inner Critic into an Inner Coach
33 Transcend Your Limiting Beliefs
34 Develop Four New Success Habits a Year
35 99% Is a Bitch—100% Is a Breeze
36 Learn More to Earn More
37 Stay Motivated with the Masters
38 Fuel Your Success with Passion and Enthusiasm

Section 3: Build Your Success Team

39 Stay Focused on Your Core Genius
40 Redefine Time
41 Build a Powerful Support Team
42 Just Say No!
43 Say No to the Good, So You Can Say Yes to the Great
44 Find a Wong to Climb Under
45 Hire a Personal Coach
46 Mastermind Your Way to Success
47 Inquire Within

Section 4: Build Successful Relationships

48 Be Hear Now
49 Have a Heart Talk
50 Tell the Truth Faster
51 Speak With Impeccability
52 When In Doubt, Check It Out
53 Practice Uncommon Appreciation
54 Keep Your Agreements
55 Be a Class Act

Section 5: Success and Money

56 Develop a Positive Money Consciousness
57 You Get What You Focus On
58 Pay Yourself First
59 Master the Spending Game
60 To Spend More, First Make More
61 Give More to Get More
62 Find a Way to Serve

Section 6: Success Starts Now

63 Start Now…Just Do It!
64 Empower Others to Empower Yourself

by: Jack Canfield

Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem

An Interview with Umm Saalih,

A Grandmother Who Completed Memorizing the Qur`aan at

Eighty-Two Years Old

As Read by Dr. Saleh as Saleh

Al-Hamdulillaah (All-Praise is due to Allah), the One Who said (what

means): “And in truth We have made the Qur’aan easy to remember; but
is there any that remembers?” Surah 54: 32

Many all over the world memorize the Qur`aan, and it is not strange to
see the youth memorizing the Noble Qur`aan at an early age.
Al-Hamdulillaah, the One who made the Qur’aan easy for remembrance,
had made it easy for

Umm Saalih age 82. In an interview with Umm Saalih, she was asked the
following questions:

Q1: “What was the reason that drove you to memorize the Qur’aan after
so many years?”

She said, “I always hoped to memorize the Qur`aan from the time I was
young. My father always used to invoke Allaah for me to become one of
the memorizers of the Qur`aan, like himself and like the elder
brothers of my family who memorized it. So I memorized in the
beginning about three parts and then after I completed the age of
thirteen, I got married and became busy with the household and the
children. After I had seven children, my husband died. They (the
children) were all young so I took the time to raise them and educate
them, and then after they grew up and got married, I had more time for
myself. Therefore, the first thing I directed myself to focus upon was
the Qur`aan.

Q2: “Tell us about your journey with the Noble Qur`aan.”

She said, “My younger daughter was going to high school and she was
the closest of my children to me and the most beloved, because she
stayed with me after her older sisters got married and got busy with
their lives, and because she was a quiet girl, upright, loving, and
good. In addition, she was interested in learning the Noble Qur`aan,
and her teachers encouraged her.

Furthermore, she was very enthusiastic and always told me of many
women who were driven by this great motivation to memorize the
Qur’aan, and this is where I started.”

Q3: “Tell me about your way of memorization.”

She said, “We assigned ten verses (meaning her and her daughter who
was going to high school). So each day after Asr, we used to sit
together. She reads and I repeat after her three times. Then she
explains the meaning to me, and after a while, she repeats that three
times. On the next morning, she repeats them to me before she goes to
school.

She recorded also the recitations of Ash Shaykh al Husary,
Rahimuhullaah, repeating each verse three times and thus I continued
to listen most of the time. Therefore, the next day we would go to the
next ten verses if my memorization was good.Otherwise, we would
postpone taking additional verses until the day after. Moreover, we
assigned the day of Friday to review the memorizations of the entire
week. And this was the journey from the beginning.”

Then she said, “Over four years and a half, I memorized twelve juz’
according to the way I described to you. Then this young daughter got
married. When her husband knew of our task concerning the
memorization, he rented a house close to me, close to my house, so
that he could allow the continuation of the memorization. In addition,
he, May Allah reward him used to encourage us and sometimes sit with
us listening, explaining and teaching.

Then after three years of her marriage, my daughter got busy with the
children and the household and our schedule was interrupted, but that
did not make her give up. To the contrary, she sensed that my
eagerness for the memorization was still established so she looked for
a special good teacher to continue the journey under her supervision.
So, I completed the memorization by the success of Allaah and my
daughter is still working to finish the memorization of the Glorious
Qur`aan. She has a little left, In Shaa Allaah Ta`aala.

Q4: “This motivation of yours, did it have an effect on other women
around you?”

She said, “It really had a good strong effect. My daughters and
stepdaughters were all encouraged and worked on learning and teaching
the Qur`aan to their children and learning it themselves.

Q5: “After finishing the Noble Qur`aan, don’t you think about working
on memorizing hadith?”

She said, “Now I have memorized ninety hadith and In Shaa Allaah I
will continue the journey. I depend, in my memorization, upon the
tapes and upon the Qur`aan radio station. At the end of each week, my
daughter comes and checks for me the memorization of three hadith, and
I am trying now to memorize more.

Q6: “Over this period of memorization of the Qur`aan, did your life
change? Was it affected in one way or another?”

She said, “Yes, I went through a major change and I tried always, all
praise is due to Allaah, to obey Allaah before I started the
memorization. However, after I started the task of memorization, I
began to feel a self-comfort, a great self-comfort and all worries
began to move away from me. I even reached the stage of freeing myself
from all these excessive worries concerning fearing for the children
and their affairs, and my morale was boosted.

I had a noble objective to work for and this is a great Ni’mah (Favor)
from Allaah . upon me, since we know that some women, when they get
old and they do not have a husband, and their children got married,
may be destroyed by the empty time, thoughts, worries, and so forth.
But, AlHamdulillaah, I didn’t go through this and I made myself busy
with a great task and a great objective.

Q7: “Didn’t you think at one point, to join one of the circles
focusing on teaching the Noble Qur`aan?”

The answer was, “Yes, some of the women suggested this to me, but I am
a woman who got used to staying at home, and I don’t like to go out
everyday, and Al Hamdulillaah, my daughter sufficed me from all
difficulty and I was so happy while I was learning from her. My
daughter had set an example in goodness and righteousness which we
rarely find in our days.

She started this task and journey with me while she was an adolescent
and this is a critical age many people complain of. She used to
pressure herself so that she could have spare time to teach me, and
she used to teach me with kindness and wisdom. Her husband was a good
help to her and he exerted a lot of effort. I ask Allaah . to give
them success and to bring their children up on uprightness.”

Q8: “What do you say to a woman of your age who wishes to learn and
memorize the Qur`aan yet she is worried about it and feeling unable
to?”

She said, “I say to her there their shall be no despair with the firm,
sincere and truthful determination. Begin with sincerity, firm
determination and dependence on Allaah at each time. And remember
that at this age you should have the time for yourself. However, do
not use your time to only go out or to sleep and so forth. Rather,
busy yourself with righteous work.

Q9: “Now what would you say to a woman who is still young? What would
you advise her?”

She, may Allaah preserve her, said: “Preserve Allaah and He will
preserve you. Make use of the favor of Allaah bestowed upon you from
health and ways and means of comfort. Use that to memorize the Book of
Allaah. This is the light which enlivens your heart, your life and
your grave after you die.

And if you have a mother then exert the effort to teach her, and there
is no better favor upon a mother than one of her righteous children
aiding her to be close to Allaah.”

Presented on the 1st of Muharram 1426, Feb 10th 2005.

Originally published in Ad-Da’wah Magazine, no. 1552, 17th of Rabee’
Al-Awwal 1417,

corresponding to Aug 1, 1996.

The Messenger of Allaah sallaa llaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “A
person will be with those whom he loves.”

All successful people have a vision defined for their life and a clear understanding of how their work will help them create the life they want. These individuals exhibit seven behavioral traits. These traits are:

. Selfishness
. Focus
. Discipline
. Persistence
. Ownership
. Results Oriented
. People Oriented

Selfishness: Successful people are selfish. Selfishness is good and is a behavior that allows them to protect their time, energy and money. Since they know where they are going and what they must do, they know the people they need to meet and the actions that will take them where they want to go. They know that time is a precious commodity and there are only so many hours in a day. They use this time wisely.

Focus: Successful people are focused. Being focused is like being a marathon runner. They continually put one foot in front of the other and know they have specific actions they must do to finish the job at hand (finish the race). They stay focused on those actions.

Discipline: Successful people are disciplined. They do not lose site of where they are going or how they are going to get there. They walk away from or delay activities that do not take them where they want to go. They develop routines that become habits and they are disciplined in those routines.

Persistent: Successful people are persistent. They know where they are going and they do not quit. They may be stymied or delayed but they find away around each obstacle. They try again and approach obstacles from different directions until they find what works, but they do not quit.

Responsible: Successful people are responsible for their actions and the results they get. They know they control the outcome through their behavior. If things are not working they know that they came change their behavior and move towards the desired outcome. They also know that they need others to be successful and they are quick to give credit to others as they achieve success.

Results Oriented: Successful people are results oriented. They understand that the only thing that counts are results. They make no excuses. They know there is no such thing as trying, only doing. You get the job done or you do not.

People Oriented: A common trait of successful people is that they understand their success is dependent upon how well they motivate, inspire, lead, manage, sell and communicate to others their ideas, vision, thoughts, and action.

How many of the attitudes and behaviors are you using? Honestly ask yourself if you are using all seven and if you are not happy with the answer, put a plan is place to begin using these new behaviors.

What Employers Want

Awareness of employer’s expectations is essential to finding a job. Older job-hunting techniques focused on “you“, the person. It laid emphasis on your work history, accomplishments, academic background and other credentials. It focused on your qualifications and objectives as well. But that has changed and today, employers expect you to know what their needs are and tell them how you can complement the organization.

Energy

Displaying the right energy and initiative is very important. Energetic people are credited with enthusiasm, vigor and drive and that is exactly what employers want. Most jobs require you to be proactive. Employers can easily evaluate this ability, almost as soon as the candidate enters the room. If you are not an energetic person, you should practice ways to look and act accordingly, in order to make a good first impression. It can make a huge difference; most of the time, job opportunities are won or lost on approach and preparation.

Specific Skills

Every job involves a set of specific skills and education or training, with the required background and experience. Most often, these skill sets are mentioned in the advertisement. If, however, they are not mentioned specifically, find out about the company and its hierarchical structure. This will help you to prepare to present specific abilities and initiative, creating a positive impact on the employer. Your primary concern, once you have the list of required skills, should be to present evidence that you have those skills.

This could involve your academic qualifications, projects and achievements. In addition, you need to project the capability to meet job responsibilities, work experience, voluntary activities and tasks in personnel management. The key is to try to match your skills and capability to the specific requirement of the employer. Highlight the relevant areas, since recruiters usually do not have a lot of time on hand and have to deal with a number of applications. They show interest only in particular skill sets that are required by the organizations that they represent. Make these skill sets noticeable. Precision and brevity are important too, but it is also important to highlight the skills you possess and how you can be an asset to the firm.

Transferable Skills

There are particular skills that most employers look for that have nothing to do with the competencies required for the particular job. These skills indicate the development potential and not the knowledge level. These so-called transferable skills include communication, teamwork, leadership, initiative, problem solving, adaptability, motivation and numerical skills. In addition to this, private sector companies prefer the candidate to have some idea of how the firm operates, current business news and trends and their impact on the organization. The courses completed, work experience and hobbies are of value as well. Be ready to answer clearly if asked at the interview as to how your education has prepared you for a specific job. You should be prepared with a good and precise answer. It is important to plan in advance.

By applying the steps above, you will be well on your way to giving employers what they want and conducting a highly successful job search.

Many aspects of your environment are out of your control; what you can control is your reaction and relationship to them. In other words, learn where the currents run, learn where the obstacles are, and learn to go with the flow or steer clear of the rapids.

Here are 5 actions you can take to either work with or avoid obstacles that tear down your self-confidence.

1. Learn to identify your skills and strengths. Don’t fall prey to thinking that the solutions to your confidence issues are outside yourself. Understand that everyone has a talent, something that makes him or her unique and special. Know what yours is and learn to use it.

2. If you want to be a winner, learn to hang out with winners. If you find yourself surrounded by whiners, complainers, slackers, gossipers, back stabbers and patronizers, balance the time you absolutely MUST spend with them with equal or more time spent with positive, energetic, supportive, successful, and honest people.

3. Start practicing positive self-talk. What’s that, you ask? It can be many things, such as allowing someone to compliment you by being grateful and accepting it gracefully. Believe that you truly deserve it. Positive self-talk can be replacing the negative tapes that run through your mind with positive ones. Do you find yourself thinking “I could never lose as much weight as she did“, or, “I always try to think of something creative to offer in meetings but I never can“, or, “I’ll never be able to make friends as easily as he does“? You create your reality with your thoughts and words so choose them carefully.

4. Set realistic goals and take time to celebrate when you reach them. Don’t set the bar too high or you’ll be disappointed and lose motivation to try again. And even if you do fail, take the time to figure out what you did wrong and plan for success the next time.

5. Find your voice and use it. Finding your voice means saying what you need to say. It can be expressing unrequited love, asking the question everyone is afraid to ask, asking for help, asking someone to stop criticizing you, telling a joke, writing a letter to the editor, or placing a classified ad. Saying what you need to say isn’t about getting what you want. Your question may not be answered, the criticism may continue, or no one may laugh at your joke.

Saying what you need to say may mean hearing yourself for the very first time. You can evaluate your own reaction and take your next step based on how having finally expressed yourself makes you feel. If you ask for the criticism to stop and it doesn’t, you may feel empowered enough to leave the relationship or quit your job.

Finding your voice means being honest with yourself and portraying yourself honestly to others; it means engaging the human community in dialog, opening yourself up to hearing someone else say “me too!” and it means honoring your truth. Speaking out can help someone else avoid your lack of self-confidence or pain, and it allows others to share it.

By following these 5 steps, you can find joy, peace and courage. In order to change your life, first you need to acknowledge what needs changing. Then and only then can you take your place in the world with confidence.