Michael Jackson's life and death teaches us a lot about success. On the upside, the lesson is if you have natural talent and you develop it and work at improving yourself and your game with each passing year, you'll probably do quite well for yourself.
Most wildly successful people were really passionate about something, early in their lives, that they stuck with until it paid off for them. And Michael Jackson was a perfect example of someone who recognized his potential early in life and realized his potential; especially if your definition of success is wealth and fame; if your idea of success is having huge sums of money, a lavish lifestyle and worldwide adoration. Don't get me wrong, I'm not player hatin'. I'm sure I could find a way to really spruce up my lifestyle and my vacation options with a couple of million bucks, as we all could. All I'm saying is that "visual, external, signs of success" are only one part of the success equation.
I'm sure Michael Jackson, the Kennedy's, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Halle Berry, Hilary Clinton, Princess Diana and a host of other "visually successful" people could all testify about external success not being all it's cracked up to be. Material things only provide short-term, temporary happiness, not long-term feelings of successfulness, fulfillment and self-worth. Long-term fulfillment and success comes from activities that make you feel good about yourself, inside your mind, body and spirit, not outside of it. That's why loving yourself and others properly is the first Success Principle, as far as I'm concerned, because it's the most important Success Principle. If you don't truly embrace it, you probably won't be able to make the most of other tried and true Success Principles. And this could impact every aspect of your life, because success happens from the inside out, not the other way around. Money, fame, and material possessions don't make you successful. Your success depends more on the love, support and nourishment that you give yourself, than on anything else.
The Self-Love, Self-Esteem and Success Connection
Self-love, self-esteem and "successful living" are intertwined. Self-esteem is self-love and vice versa. You can't have high self-esteem, without high self-love, and the way you get and keep high self-love is to support and stand up for yourself, always, no matter what the circumstance or challenge. Giving up on yourself and/or allowing circumstances or others to dictate how you feel about yourself is non-productive and unhealthy. Accordingly, when you give yourself the love and support you need, when you need it, no matter what, you're already a winner because you've put yourself in a position to capitalize on all opportunities that come your way. Therefore, if you want to be a winner and have the successful life that the Creator intended for you to have, and that you want and deserve, you must love yourself properly, enough and always.
Let me give you another compelling reason why you must start with self-love. If you don't, whether you realize it or not, you're really sabotaging yourself, and setting yourself up to fail because you're approaching life from a position of weakness, not strength. When you make others' needs and wants more important than your own and/or you're not willing to "show up for yourself" when you need to, you're not going to get the best that life has to offer, you're going to get the leftovers; what somebody is willing to give you, what "they think" you deserve, or even worse, what nobody else really wants. Winners and successful people never settle for what someone else thinks they should have or get, they know what they want, and they go after it, no matter what.
Here's another reason why self-love is the foundation of your success plan: no other human being will ever know you like you know you. Nobody else wants or needs, exactly, what you want or need, when you want or need it. Nobody else knows what it feels like to be you or all of the circumstances that led to you being who you are, therefore nobody else can ever be as big a fan, advocate, rescuer or protector for you, as you can be for yourself, because no other human being will ever "get you" the way you "get you."
Your life is an adventure, a roller coaster ride of self-discovery, from the known to the unknown. What's known is what your unique talents and skills are. The unknown is how you can best share those talents and skills with the world and ultimately achieve your "highest and best use".
Just remember, if you don't "really" deal with what's going on with you "inside" everything on the outside is really just an illusion, a diversion, an escape or a projection. If huge sums of money, a lavish lifestyle and worldwide adoration was all it took to be happy, or "successful" Michael Jackson would probably still be alive today.
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Carmen Pulido, a success writer and trainer has developed Success Principles and Exercises that show you how to turn your dreams into reality. Unlock the key to your success, go to
http://www.womenssuccessguide.com
