“The trouble with so many of us is that we underestimate the power of simplicity. We have a tendency it seems to over complicate our lives and forget what’s important and what’s not. We tend to mistake movement for achievement. We tend to focus on activities instead of results. As the pace of life continues to race along in the outside world, we forget that we have the power to control our lives regardless of what’s going on outside.”
– Robert Stuberg

“First, all relationships are with yourself — and sometimes they involve other people. Second, the most important relationship in your life — the one you have, like it or not, until the day you die — is with yourself.”
– Peter McWilliams

Remember that your inner self is your greatest source of all that feeds you along the road of life. It’s what builds you as a person. It’s your values, your priorities, your mind, and especially your peace of mind. Most important, it’s your self-image. Since your image is a mere reflection of your self-image, then what goes on outside of you is an indication of what goes on inside.

As Denis Waitley in The Psychology Of Winning once wrote, “What is impressed on the inside is expressed on the outside.” That is why, throughout this book, I often refer to self-esteem as the key determinant in your success. Inextricably, it affects who you are, what you do, and the people around you. You can never do what you love or love what you do if you don’t love yourself firsthand. Rumi once wrote, “Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.”

In addition, you will love others to the exact same degree you love yourself. Relationships are a mirror reflection of the relationship you have with yourself. Therefore, the more aligned you are, the better your relationships will be.

Stephen Covey once wrote, “People who are constantly repressing, not transcending feelings toward a higher meaning find that it affects the quality of their relationships with others.”

The way you treat others is directly proportional to the way you treat yourself, and the relationships you maintain reflect the quality of the relationship you maintain with yourself. If your relationships are less than desirable, then the problem lies within you — not outside.

In essence, if you ignore others, you ignore the fact that people contribute to your quality of life. As the cliché goes, “Nobody on their deathbed wished they spent more time at the office.” The level of success you achieve in your life is wholly dependent on the relationship you have with the people you know, serve, and love. And that, my friend, all starts with you.

For instance, if wealth is one of your values, remember that you can not buy happiness let alone friendship. Stuart Wilde once said, “People are the custodians of the world’s wealth. If you want to be wealthy, you’ve got to be nice to people.”

Money is but an energy, and it is not and should never be a goal in itself. Therefore, if you neglect others in the process of reaching your income goals, it is because you are neglecting yourself. You may become rich but you can also become poor in other ways.

If you don’t believe me, you should take a quick trip to your library. You will find that there are many rich men and women who, although being successful in a material sense, have failed in many other ways. They’ve failed in their businesses, in their partnerships, in their marriages, with their peers, with their kids, and even with themselves through suicide.

Bob Proctor, in the introduction of his book Born to be Rich, provides some very interesting statistics. To make a long story short, he listed the names of many of the world’s greatest self-made millionaires who have committed suicide, became mentally insane or incompetent, were killed, or died due to an over-consumption of drugs or alcohol.

Jim Rohn said, “Don’t become wealthy at the expense of others but rather at the service of others.” Wealth, therefore, is but a byproduct of love. If you seek to accumulate wealth, do so through doing what you love and not by setting it as a goal in itself.

In other words, wealth is a value and not a goal. Love yourself and you will love what you do as well as other people. In the end, success, happiness, wealth, and many other wonderful things will come to you in unexpected ways.

About the Author

Michel Fortin is a direct response copywriter, author, speaker, consultant, and CEO of The Success Doctor, Inc. Visit his blog and signup free to get tested conversion strategies and response-boosting tips by email, along with blog updates, news, and more! Go now to http://www.michelfortin.com.

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