Do You Have What It Takes To Find Happiness And Success. Part 5.

In the past parts of this series we duscussed some of the necessary character traits and drivers in order for you to find success and happiness. In this part we will be discussing imagination and decisiveness. Self-talk is discussed in other articles I have written. To find these articles please read the second part of this series. A few articles that go into detail specifically about using your language to create the life of your dreams are discussed. This part will be focused on understanding and using your imagination as well as decisiveness in order to get to where you want to go in life.

The next trait I want to talk about is imagination. Imagination is something we are all born with but are trained to lose as we grow older. Hand a child a pen and that pen becomes a world of possibility. It is a nose picker, a tool to dig things out of the carpet or a toy. It becomes a scratcher or a nifty thing that colors on stuff. A pen can be a million things to a child. As we grow older, we begin to put labels on things as to what this is or that is. We call it a pen and it is used for writing. This can be one of the worst things we can do for ourselves.

Our ability to take normal, everyday ideas and turn them into something completely different is magical and essential for our success. Some of the wealthiest men in history did nothing more than take and average idea and turn it into something extraordinary. The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little word extra. Your ability to take ordinary ideas or see potential where others only see things or problems will be an essential skill in your arsenal of success. Learn to look at ordinary things and see what the possibilities of those things are. The more you work your creative center the better it will work for you. Can you see a back scratcher in a pen. A weapon to defend yourself with. Possibly a tool to open your house door after you accidentally forget your keys in the morning. Take ordinary things, and turn them into anything you can allow your imagination to make them. This is the key to creativity. Taking different, ordinary ideas, and linking them together into extraordinary things.

The next trait to work on is decisiveness. Your ability to make a decision when it matters and when it is needed will be in direct relationship to your success. Successful people don't stand around thinking about what to do. They don't sit around discussing what should happen. They know what they want, and they make decisions on a regular basis to make it happen. If they find that they have made a bad or poor decision, they simply make a different one to get them back on track. You must have a good plan in order to get to where you want to go, but more importantly, you must be willing to make a decision, even the wrong decision, to make progress and move forward. Thomas Edison is quoted as having said "I didn't fail 10,000 times, I simply found 10,000 ways that didn't work." This must be your attitude. If one thing fails you must make another deicions and move forward.

Many people fall into what we like to call analysis peralysis. This means that they spend way to much time analysing and thinking about and what if and then what. Time waits for no man, or woman, and your ability to make a decision right now and move with it will get you greater results than trying to find the perfect plan and work out the bugs in that plan and figure out what could go wrong with the plan. More people are successful because of their willingness to make mistakes and move on than people who are brilliant in the head and never take any action or make any decisions. Be willing to fall down and fail. Be willing to make those mistakes and try again. Be willing to decide when a decision is needed and move forward with your dreams. This is not to say that you should just jump in head first and cross that bridge when you get there. You should put some effort into planning things, and take the time to decide on things that do need time to see the correct answer. The ability to know which is which and when which type of action is the hardest thing to develop when it comes to decisiveness. Just start moving, and expreience will teach you what you need to learn along the way.

In the final part of this series we will discuss the most powerful and useful trait you could possibly develop within yourself when it comes to success and happiness. This trait is probably the most valuable thing that every single successful person in history developed within themselves. Take the time to read part six of this series and work on these traits and success will surely follow you wherever you go. Follow your heart toward success, and happiness will be your true birthright.