While earning my MBA, I developed an interest in high achievement. Granted, high achievement is subjective, so feel free to replace high achievement with your heart’s desire. To seek guidance on this subject, I read. By the time I read the 3rd book on this topic, I noticed a trend. After the 7th book, I decided to create a spreadsheet of overlapping principles. From this spreadsheet, I created a list of the principles that existed in 3 or more books. The list is as follows:
1. Desire and diligence
2. Vision
3. Proactive, doing what is important
4. Reaffirming belief in success
5. Specialized knowledge
6. Think different
7. Plan
9. Utilize a counsel (team)
10. Do what you love, love what you do
11. Don’t fear failure
12. Listen and understand others
13. Don’t overreact, control emotions
14. Control greed and expenses
15. Continuously learn
16. Evaluate and refine often
17. Never give up
For the record, I don’t believe in a recipe for success; I do believe all high achievement includes some aspect of these principles. Find a high achiever and you’ll find the principles in this list.