If you just read #1-14 and a voice in your head gave reasons to shoot them down then you have the ‘negative bug’.  This is the most crippling reason why people don’t succeed.  The negative bug destroys ideas, demolishes hard work, makes excuses and in general creates a negative production level.  Some people project the negative bug vocally through complaining or making fun of ideas or work that should get done, while others are slowly eaten away at by a negative internal voice that shoots good ideas down.  Did you read #1 Never Look At the Clock and say to yourself, ‘Well, how would I know when to go to the staff meeting?  This is the negative bug!  Instead of reading the 16 Keys to SUCCESS and using them for good and growth, the negative bug found a way to determine why they are not good or can’t be followed.  Delete this bug and re-read #1-14.

Ever tell someone that you’ll do something and then decide not to do it?  If it was something minor, such as ‘tomorrow I’ll come into work a half hour early’ then it is easy to think, ‘I know I said I was coming in early, but I was tired, no big deal’ … this might be true.  It might be true that not coming in early is not a big deal, but the BIG DEAL is that you broke your word.  Every time you break your word people remember.  They don’t get mad or upset if it is minor stuff, but sooner or later if your broken word becomes habit the expectation level for you decreases.  Being known for not following through brings about a decreased expectation that without your even knowing it decreases your value and view by others as someone to trust and believe in.   When you commit >> DO IT!  And if you really want to excel DO IT even when you don’t commit.

Just the word READ can be scary to many, but it shouldn’t be.  Reading can start with news or business websites and should eventually grow to books.  Reading opens the mind, increases intelligence and makes you a more productive employee.  Ever met a person who reads a lot and sounds unintelligent?  The answer is NO, unless they read comics only (and even then they may sound well read).  Reading increases your brain cells and pools all your knowledge together.  By reading you’ll be surprised what good ideas you come up with in the world outside of the books.

Reading books has a way of ingraining an intelligent subconscious that simply can’t be bought.  You can buy an expensive computer, a high tech phone, a tool that helps your job function, but you cannot buy the smarts that get from reading.  Beyond not being able to buy what reading books gives your inner person, you also can’t fake it either!  Everyone around you instantly knows whether you Read.

In many things we do in life it is easy to turn the brain off and go into autopilot.  Ever drive, get to your location and can’t remember the drive?  You were on autopilot.  Essentially your brain was mush.  Of course this is normal sometimes, but the key is to take those zone out moments and use your brain to think.  Whether you think about ways to improve work or ways to improve other things in your life you will be better off training your brain to think.

There are only 24 hours in a day and 5-8 of those hours are sleeping.  With the remaining 16-19 hours you have obligations, family and other things that will consume your mind.   You also have ‘mush’ time.  This time is super valuable.  Keep some down time to stay refreshed, but find ways to take other down town and turn it into something that has value.   Train your brain to think and you’ll find successful concepts and ideas flood in.

In the end cutting corners will always catch up with you in a negative way.  Even in little things if you skip steps, or make something easier by doing it in a way that is not 100% right, you are cutting a corner.   Take something as minor as brushing your teeth, the person who cuts time or skips flossing will most likely in the long run have worse teeth.  This example is good because it shows that sometimes cutting a corner does not have an immediate bad outcome, you can skip flossing today and be fine, but continue on that pattern and 6 years from now it could catch up with you.  The thing with cutting a corner that is important to know is that you never really know which corner cut will result in a negative outcome. Truth is some cut corners can appear to be smart at first, but the problem is they never create more effective outcomes.

An improvement comes from thinking and determining a better solution, not from skipping a step or taking a simple path.  In a work example, not double checking task or copying another employee’s work is a cut corner.  Sure it may seem quicker and easier at the time, but in the end it will have an adverse effect.  Never take the easy way out!

If asked, ‘what did you do today’, never say ‘oh I just did this’ or ‘oh just the usual’.  Those who work and don’t value what they do respond this way.  Have you ever seen a successful person say ‘oh I just did’?  The answer is NO, because successful people turn a basic day and make it better or make it more productive.  Prevent work boredom by setting goals, learning and seeking more and you’ll never respond with ‘oh I just did’.  The success factor sounds simple, but it is one of the hardest.  Your overall mindset should never turn to “Oh I just do”.   Next time someone asks you how your day was or what you did, first stop, think and before you say the usual, quick and easy answer, think of what you did to make an impact.  Now, answer the question, it doesn’t have to be long winded, but rather make it have a purpose that encompasses a successful day. …And if you can’t…. Then you better start having productive days!

There should never be any work that is set aside or ignored.  The successful leader knows if they don’t complete the work no one will and that would create company problems.  Have a task with an issue?  SOLVE IT.  Unsure how?  You can always ask a manager or colleague, but you can also determine a solution that makes good business sense.   The attitude of ‘handling it tomorrow is fine’ or ‘its no big deal’ does not embody success.   Everything matters and things that seem to be less urgent to you are most likely urgent to someone else or your company.  Don’t assume something can wait or will have no effect if delayed.   It will ALWAYS have a negative effect.  Just the simple fact that you have to do the task tomorrow means something else important is delayed from getting your attention.  Leaving yesterday’s work for today creates an avalanche of lost time, productivity and most certainly will have a negative effect on your company.  Never sweep work under a rug.  Instead handle it and move on to the next challenge.

To be the most successful you must have a vision for the future. By setting goals you are keeping yourself on track and vigilant against easy distractions.  Setting a goal can be for everything.  Set goals to do everything better.  If yesterday took 2 hours to complete a daily task, make a goal for it to only take 1 HR 45 Minutes tomorrow.  Or make general goals to make your company better outside of what is asked of you.  There is no piece of success that isn’t first thought in your head.  Create a vision to obtain and execute to achieve.  Set hard goals, but don’t make them so hard that you become discouraged if they are too hard.   Lastly, if a goal is too easy, re-set the goal or add new goals to fill in the time.

Why are so many people afraid of goals?  So often goals are not set because people are afraid of failure.  The fear of not reaching a goal is so strong that the average person won’t even set goals.  This means just by setting goals you are step closer to success.  The point that no-goal setters don’t understand is that failure to reach goals is a good thing.   If you hit every goal then you’ve set easy goals.  When goes are missed and failure happens that is what causes true internal growth and the ability to re-evaluate and go at it again.  Failure breads success and you can’t have true failure without first having goals.

A person who is honest and moral is the most important trait for success.  Everything else can be taught, but honestly is the inner core of who you are.  This success factor must be innate and encompasses the little things as well as the big things.  It can be said that without first having integrity a person has nothing.  Always do the right thing, but if an error occurs, own it and vow to do better.

Being honest is also as much about being honest to others as it is about being honest to yourself, as only ‘you’ know the true effort that you’ve put into a task or goal.   Never cheat yourself or lie yourself into thinking your effort is the best it can be.  Make a point to honest in everything you do.  This is not easy as human pride is a great flaw that everyone has to fight.  Ever drop and break a glass?  Ever try to clean it up quick, throw it away and say nothing?  This micro example shows the embarrassment of even the silliest mistake.  Don’t hide from your mistakes, say them aloud, own it and vow to do better.   Remember the cover up is always worse than the offense.  Be honest.