This article explores the fundamental and universal practical steps you must take to succeed in life. If you have not yet read “The Mentality of Success: Why Only a Few People Succeed,” here: https://aibiedaily.com/why-most-people-fail-and-only-a-few-succeed/ it is highly recommended that you do so first, as it provides the essential foundation for everything discussed here.

The steps outlined in this guide are carefully structured to challenge your thinking, inspire self-reflection, and push you toward making meaningful changes. By applying these principles consistently, you can position yourself to achieve the level of success you truly desire in life. you can read the part one of this article here https://aibiedaily.com/how-to-succeed-in-life/

8. ACT AS IF IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO FAIL

Things that scare most people away from initiating something or launching out their ideas are things that never happen. For you to rightly approach success, you must discard your imaginary fears. (BE OPTIMISTIC)

You can’t take what you don’t see; until you see success in what you are doing, you might not succeed.

What you see is what you get. Most of the things we expect are what we work to achieve. Aristotle said, “No soul thinks without a picture.” Zig Ziglar confirms that, “What you picture in your mind, your mind will go to work to accomplish. When you change your picture, you automatically change your performance.”

No wonder Norman Vincent Peale advises us not to build obstacles in our imaginations. In his book As a Man Thinketh, James Allen wrote, “All that a man achieves or fails to achieve is the direct result of his thoughts.”

You can’t see the beautiful colors of the rainbow through a dark glass. Your thought is the glass through which you must see the world; ensure you keep it clean and bright.

No one is born an optimist or a pessimist; it is the attitude we assume that forms our outlook and eventually determines our destiny. The future is destined to be better than the past and present, but the expectation with which we confront it determines what it unfolds for us.

Always imagine and expect the best in everything you do. If you see yourself failing, you will always fail. We see what we want to see, and we get what we truly see. No matter how dark your today is, you can choose to see a brighter tomorrow and work to achieve it.

Visualize the success you desire to achieve, because when you imagine yourself achieving the things you desire, the image of that victory becomes a possibility. But when your imagination is not in tune with your effort and desires, your struggle is doomed.

The pessimist sees the negative side of things, while the optimist sees the positive side of things, and neither of these outlooks is genetically acquired; this means we can choose to change our outlook.

Let us not make imaginary evils when there are real ones to encounter.

I found wisdom in the words of a young naval student in a story I read about an old naval captain and a student. When the student handled a sudden storm, the captain walked up to him and asked how he had handled the storm.

“I threw out an anchor, sir,” said the student.

“What if another storm approaches?” the captain asked.

“I will throw out another anchor, sir,” the student replied.

“What if the storm keeps coming?” the captain asked.

“I will keep throwing anchors, sir,” the student answered.

“Hold on, son,” said the captain. “Where are you getting these anchors from?”

“From the same place you keep getting those storms, sir,” the student replied.

If you keep looking for negative things that could happen if you try something, you are surely not going to do anything because you will find dozens of them. You cannot exhaust the “what ifs” of life; the best you can do is ignore them.

I am not saying you should not foresee obstacles and plan how to overcome them; I am saying that no obstacle you foresee should stop you from achieving what you want to achieve, because no obstacle is too great to prevent the necessary work from getting done.

9. STAND IN THE POSITION OF NO RETREAT AND NO QUITTING

“An enterprise, when fairly once begun, should not be left till all that ought is won.” — William Shakespeare (BE PERSISTENT)

Any soldier who drops his sword and bows to the enemy never wins.

Józef Piłsudski said, “To be defeated and yet not surrender—that is victory.” You might be losing the occasional battle, but you are winning the war. Situations can never stop you unless you allow them to. John Mason said, “No one can keep you down unless you decide not to rise again.”

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Persistence Leads to Perfection

With the help of nature, it is by trying often that monkeys learn to jump from tree to tree without falling to the ground. You don’t have to be perfect to go on, but you have to go on to become perfect.

Aristotle said, “The things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”

Soichiro Honda said, “Only one out of my hundred ideas worked.” Lucky him—he kept trying after his 99th failure.

Grigori Perelman said, “Victory goes to the man who makes the second-to-the-last mistake.”

The tragedy is not that a man loses, but that he almost won and then quits.

People often abandon projects or goals they have completed 99% of because they fail to persist. There is a story of a man who was digging for gold. He dug 200 feet down without finding any gold, then gave up and sold the mine at a cheap rate. When the new owner continued digging, he uncovered a vast store of gold in just a few hours. That mine became renowned in South Africa as the “White Feather Mine.”

No wonder, when Thomas Edison was asked how he became successful, he replied, “I start where others leave off.” You have to wrestle with that force in you that always wants you to quit.

The quest for success is never a competition against someone else. It is a competition against yourself.

Habib Dawaki once said, “Success is like a marathon.” A marathon is not really about competing against an opponent, but about competing against yourself.

Richard Halverson said, “Do you want to be a winner? Compete against yourself, not somebody else.”

You have not failed yet until you quit.

Winners don’t quit; they stand in the position of no quitting and no retreat. One unique feature of a failure is that he always looks for excuses not to go on. I agree: people don’t fail, they just quit too soon.

It does not matter how many times you fail; all you need is success—and if you keep going, you will find it.

Winston Churchill advised, “Never, never, never give up.”

Michael Jordan said, “I can accept failure, everyone fails, but I cannot accept not trying again.”

MKO Abiola added, “I have fallen down before, but I am not on the ground now. If I fall down again, I will still rise again.”

10. SURRENDER TO CHANGE

On the race to success, flexibility is a recommended virtue. Don’t be fixed like concrete, which must be destroyed before it can be amended. (BE FLEXIBLE)

You can’t do the same thing over and over again and expect different results.

At times, we keep failing at the same thing over and over because we fail to change the way we approach it. If you are not progressing, change the quality and quantity of your effort. Until you do, you will remain where you are.

One thing I discovered common to a lot of people at the lower strata of society is that they cherish, for good reasons, their old beliefs even if those beliefs are the cause of their suffering.

John Mason said, “The person who never changes his opinion never corrects his mistakes.”

Change to Avoid Unfavorable Consequences

People change for different reasons. Some people change to avoid unfavorable consequences, while others change as a result of the pain caused by their actions and inactions. Only wise people change for the first reason.

A lot of people don’t like a particular thing, but they enjoy the processes leading to the achievement of that particular thing. And we all know that once the process is in motion, we must one day get the result. For example: “I don’t want to die young, but I cannot do without smoking.”

Search your life thoroughly and identify the area that requires change—whether it is a habit, belief, or attitude. Whatever it is, it does not matter how long you have been with it; what matters is that you can change it.

All you need is a resolution to change and the willpower to carry it out, and gradually you will be free from that habit, belief, or attitude.

But I must warn that sometimes we become too comfortable in our old ways to the extent that everything about us may be against change. Yet our determination to carry on with the resolution to change, in spite of all internal and external opposition, is the price that must be paid for change to be achieved.

I have seen chronic drunkards quit drinking, smokers stop smoking, extremely shy and timid people become bold and confident, and academically low performers become brilliant and smart.

Your situation is never exempt from change; in fact, it is the first item on the change list the moment you become determined to change.

Change Is the Hard But Only Way to Progress

Of course, not all changes are progress, but for any progress to occur, there must be change in certain areas.

Always bear in mind that at any point you feel you are not willing to change for success to be achieved, then the desire to fail cannot be denied.

Anyone who intends to improve the quality of his life by changing everything and everyone around him except himself is wasting precious time in an effort that will eventually fail, thereby making the life he proposed to improve more miserable than before.

11. BE READY FOR OPPORTUNITY

“Facing an opportunity without being ready is like preparing a shield on the battlefield; by the time you are ready to shoot, you have been wiped out.” — John Grogan (BE PREPARED ALWAYS)

Readiness is like a landing ground for opportunity. Where readiness is absent, opportunity passes to the next available landing ground.

Muhammad Ali practiced and exercised from morning till evening for months before a match that would last less than an hour or two. Abraham Lincoln was considered a great orator, yet before he made any speech, he prepared and kept on preparing until the last minute before he climbed the stage.

To all these great people, without preparation, success would have passed them by.

Henry Ford said, “Before anything else, getting ready is the secret to success.”

Arthur Ashe said, “The key to winning is self-confidence, and the key to self-confidence is preparation.”

Be prepared in advance and look for opportunities where they exist. If they don’t exist, create one.

The people who get ahead in this life are those who look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, they make them. You should not wait all your life for opportunity to come.

Joan Rivers said, “I have become my own version of an optimist. If I can’t get through one door, I will go through another or I will make a door. Something terrific might happen, no matter how dark the present might be.”

“Ready or not, here I come”—that is the signal of opportunity.

Albert Dunning said, “Great opportunities come to all, but many do not know they have met them. The only preparation to take advantage of it is to watch what each day brings.”

The secret to success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes. A lot of young people fail to do what they are supposed to do because they feel they are still young. Young age is the best age to prepare for old age.

Show me a successful old man, and I will show you someone who utilized his youth preparing for his old age.

12. SEEK POSITIVE AND PRODUCTIVE INFORMATION

The events you attend, the materials you read or do not read, the music you listen to, the conversations you hold, and the thoughts you entertain are all shaping your mind and eventually your character and destiny. (SELECT YOUR INFORMATION)

Your output in life depends on the information you feed your mind with.

The mind accumulates and stores information. From the accumulated information, reference is made later in life. It is more like pouring water into a bottle; when the need to use the content of that bottle arises, believe it or not, the content will still be water—even if what you need at that moment is kerosene. You act with what you know; irrespective of what you need, it is what you know that is at your disposal.

Your future depends on the information you feed your mind with

Your future depends on your information because it determines what you think. You think about what you hear or see. For example, you tend to think of accidents whenever you pass an accident scene.

It determines what you speak; you speak out what you think, and you cannot speak differently from what you are thinking. It determines how you act; you act in accordance with your thoughts and utterances.

 It determines what you are; you are what you think, speak, and act. It determines what you can become; your future depends on what you are now.

The information you feed your mind with is like a planted seed; it grows and bears fruit. The question is: what type of fruit will the information you feed your mind produce?

Anything else is not as important as the information you feed your mind with. Be careful with the information you allow into your mind.

It is much easier and better to prevent information from entering your mind than to flush it out when it is already inside. The old adage still proves useful: “Prevention is better than cure.”

A lot of people are enslaved by negative information they exposed themselves to earlier in life. Try as much as possible to avoid information that labels laziness as enjoyment, lowers your self-confidence, and makes you feel miserable, or information that comforts you in your position when you aspire to progress in life.

I advise you to seek information in the profession you aspire to; by so doing, you will become professional even before you are formally qualified.

13. ENGAGE THE BRAIN BEFORE SPEAKING

A man can be assessed by his appearance, but his actual value can only be determined through the quality of his utterances. Choose your words carefully. (CONTROL YOUR UTTERANCES)

Amateurs speak on everything they come across. The average person speaks when they feel like speaking, and the mature speak only when they have something to say.

Abraham Lincoln said, “I believe I will never be old enough to speak without embarrassment when I have nothing to say.”

Search around you for an illogical talkative person and tell me about his social status and how much you personally value him. Think about this: first-class people are fond of discussing ideas, second-class people always discuss events, and third-class people find pleasure only in gossip.

Learn to control your utterances, for words are like gas—once released, they cannot be retrieved.

A lot of people become victims of their uncontrolled utterances. It is better a million times to keep your mouth shut than to utter a single destructive word. People believe you are what you speak.

The only gate pass to your mind is your words, and it is out of the abundance of the mind that the mouth speaks. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Sirach said, “Your wisdom and education can only be known by what you say.”

Speak what you want to become. Whatever you attach the words “I am” to, you will become, because you will tend to act in accordance with what you say.

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14. ASSOCIATE WITH PEOPLE WISER, MORE CONFIDENT, AND MORE AMBITIOUS THAN YOU

Someone in misery may love company, but he never motivates you to progress. (CHOOSE YOUR FRIENDS)

You are who your friends are

Charlie Jones observed that, “You will be the same person you are five years from now except for two things: the books you read and the people you associate with.”  Friends have more influence in your life than any other set of people you associate with, whether you believe it or not.

Success is easily achieved when you make friends with people who also aspire and struggle to succeed. Unless you make friends with people you share similar interests with, your effort to succeed will be like sailing against the wind.

The secret to making good friends is to live positively and maintain high moral standards; by so doing, you will attract people with similar life patterns. Remember, great men are lovers of their kind.

If you want to see your future tomorrow, look at your friends today.

Your friends determine your conduct, your conduct determines your character, and your character determines your destiny.

15. PORTRAY WHO YOU ARE IN THE WAY YOU DRESS

Those who choose to display their individuality by dressing inappropriately end up displaying their immaturity and poor inner values. (DRESS APPROPRIATELY)

Put on what fits you best and makes you feel comfortable and confident about yourself

Dr. Jame O. Comer said, “Body image is part of self image; it can affect a person’s self confidence, what he does and not do in life” it equally important to dress appropriate to the occasion at hand, a well fitted suit may be appropriate for an interview, but is out of place at the beach.

How people will treat you depends on you treat and present yourself.

If you dress like a king, you will be treated like a king. If you dress like a servant you will be treated like a servant. In his book dress for success, T. Molloy said, “The way we dress has a remarkable impact on the people we meet and greatly affect the way they treat us.” Your dressing creates first impression about you in the people you meet even before you speak. The impression you create matters a lot because it will serve as a yardstick with which the people you meet will measure you. Remember first impressions are lasting impressions; don’t fail to give out the best.

Portray who you are in your dressing

A banker dresses like bankers, engineer dresses like engineers, sport men and women dresses like sport men, soldier dresses like soldiers, sex worker dresses like sex workers and dressing somehow contributes to reality.

16. UTILIZE YOUR TIME

The only thing standing between you and what you what to become is time. Time is everything you need to become whatever you want to be, don’t allow anyone or anything steal it away from you. (BE TIME CONCIOUS)

If what you are doing is not worth the time spend, suspend it and get an important thing that is worth that time and do it first

It is unfortunate that we all have equal time at our disposal, yet productivity and achievement differs. The apparent reason for this great difference is that those we call the ‘rich’ utilize their time appropriately to do productive things and those we call the ‘poor’ misappropriate and under utilize their time.

Never waste a day without improvement or achievement

Billy Graham once said, “The greatest waste in all our earth which cannot be recycled or reclaimed is our waste of the time that God has given us each day.”

Youth with true signs of greatness are never the same today as they were yesterday. “Never to lose one moment of time, but to improve it in the most profitable way I possibly can.” This is the resolution of of Jonathan Edward when he was a young man, currently he is a great and successful man.

 Life has no extra time, make every day remarkable by doing those things that will bring you closer to your goal. Robert Schuller said, “There will never be another now, will make the most of today. There will never be another me, I will make the most of my life.”

Learn to tell your friends excuse me I need to go get something done no matter how pleasurable the moment might be.

John Grogan said, “be brutal with time but gentle with people.” He again said “don’t let others emergencies become your urgencies; highly productive people assert the right to control their schedules.”

If you don’t manage your time to achieve your goals you might be wasting a great deal of time on things that do not really matter. An Olympic gold medalist, was asked the secret of his success, he replied, “planned neglect; until my training period is completed, I neglect everything else.” Prioritize you activities because anything that takes the larger portion of your time is undoubtedly the most important thing in your life.

17. LEARN TO TAKE CALCULATE RISK

Nothing great was ever achieved without risk. No risk, no reward. (TAKE RISK)

Success is often preceded by risk

Tim Lahaye said, “Those who let their fears inhibit them from attempting whatever they would like to do have cross the line from normal fear to destructive fear.” For you to get to success you must pass through risk, but the tragedy is best explained by

William Shakespeare when he said, “our doubts are traitors that makes us loose the good we often might win by fearing to attempt.” Neil Armstrong, being the first person to walk on the moon took a great risk to do what no man has ever done. Your risk might not be as deadly as his, maybe all you have to risk is failure and embarrassment and you will achieve your desires.

Two things are possible if you attempt something; first, you win. Second, you lose, but one thing is certain if you don’t attempt and that is you failed.

 Mary Mary, in their song titled, ‘I just can’t give up now’ sang, “victory or defeat is up to me to decide, but how can I expect to win if I never try.” When your chances are slim and none go with the slim.

There is no such thing as absolute security in life.

Plan all the business strategies you have, no one will patronize you until you take the risk and invest. Helen Keller said, “security is mostly superstitious; is does not exist in nature nor do the children of men as a whole experience it.

 Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” Safe living lead to regret in the long run, for he who risks nothing has nothing. The most skillful pilot gained their reputation from storm and tempest. John Newton said, “Calculation never made a hero.”

Everything worthwhile in life is risky; therefore develop the courage to take calculated risk.

Risk must be evaluated not by the amount of fear it generates in you or the possibility of success, but by the value of the goal. Chuck Garge said, “You don’t concentrate on risk, you concentrates on result, no risk is great enough to prevent the necessary work from getting done.”

Theodore Roosevelt said, “Better it is to dare mighty things and win glorious triumph even though checked by failure than to mingle with those poor souls who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”

18. STAY TEACHABLE

Learning how to learn is the most important skill to acquire (learn how to learn)

The things that initially make make you successful might not necessarily be the things that keep you successful

Many a man are failure because of the success they once achieved. John Mason said, “Success should not diminish desire, if it does it will not remain successful.” John Wooden said, if you don’t stay teachable you will soon be eclipsed by those who stay teachable.

 It is important to know that learning is never an event, it is a process, it is never a period, it is a way of life; it is an activity that is not restricted by time or status.

At every stage of our life there are new lessons to be learnt. Whenever you stop learning, you stop growing. Einstein said, “Life is like riding a bicycle; to keep your balance you must keep moving.”

Welcome new ideas and always be willing to learn from anyone who has something to offer

Fools always brag with the little they know and refuse to learn more because they think they know it all. Wise people are always hungry to discover and grow. They are  ever willing to learn, unlearn and relearn.

Sydney Harris wrote, “a winner knows how much he still has to learn even when he is considered an expert by others. A loser wants to be considered an expert before he learns enough to know how little he knows.” There is more hope for a fool than for him who thinks he is wise but in reality a fool.”