I saw a chart posted recently that made me think about my life in a different way.  In the world, there are really only two different types of people out there.  There are people who are upbeat and have a can do attitude.  We will call these successful people.  Then, there are people who are constantly complaining and saying that life is “too hard”.  These people give up easily and feel like everything should be handed to them on a silver platter without having to do any work for it.  These people are unsuccessful people.

When most people think of successful people, they think of business people in suits who make more money than most of us will see in a lifetime.  But this isn’t necessarily the case.  It’s really not about how much money you make, its about your attitude. Throughout life, you can choose to be successful or unsuccessful.  We are going to look at what makes a person successful or unsuccessful.

1. Do you have the power of YET?
This is a fairly new idea, but it’s really always been there.  Schools today are teaching children the power of YET.  When a child says I can’t do that, they are taught to say YET, meaning, just because they can’t do it now, they can LEARN how to do it.  A successful person is a person who has the power of YET.  They know that they can learn to do something that they can’t currently do.
An unsuccessful person is a person who says that they can’t do something, and can’t be bothered to learn how to do it or doesn’t care if they learn how to do something or not.

2. Do you work for what you have?
Successful people work for what they have.  They don’t expect to have anything given to them and learn to appreciate what they have. They see hard work as beneficial and have a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment at the end of the day.
Unsuccessful people have a sense of entitlement and expect everything to just be handed to them whether they work for it or not.  They expect life to be easy and don’t feel like hard work is beneficial.  At the end of the day, they feel unfulfilled and worthless.

3. How do you look at your failures?
Successful people accept responsibility for their failures and learn from them.  They then turn around and find ways to improve.  They set goals and work toward those goals.  For this reason they are continually learning new things and new ways succeed.
Unsuccessful people blame others for their failures.  They don’t take responsibility and then make the same mistakes over and over again.  They don’t learn better ways to do things and therefore fail over and over again.  Because of this, they are always hoping that others will fail as well.

4. Do you encourage others to succeed?
Successful people give other people credit for their victories, therefore encouraging others to succeed as well and radiate joy in all they do. They compliment others for a job well done.
Unsuccessful people take all the credit for their victories and hoard information so that others can’t succeed either.  They think they know it all and that no one knows better than them.  They are constantly angry when things don’t go their way, and make everyone around them miserable as well.  They criticize others when things go wrong.

5. Do you know what you want from life?
Successful people know what they want from life and do whatever it takes to get there.  They set goals and are always striving to reach those goals, learning along the way.  They are always moving forward and setting new goals based upon what they learn as they reach their goals.
Unsuccessful people have no idea what they want from life and expect others to tell them what to do and when.  They set no goals to strive for and therefore have no direction.

6. Can an unsuccessful person become a successful person?
Of course they can!  They can learn from successful people what it takes to become successful.  They can start setting goals, learn how to encourage others and look forward rather than blaming themselves for mistakes.  They can change the way they act, stop blaming others and learn to take responsibility for their mistakes and actions.  They can stop only thinking of themselves and start thinking more of what other’s want and need.  Most importantly, they can start learning from their mistakes and learn the power of YET.  Just because you can’t do something, doesn’t mean you can’t LEARN to do it.

Are you a successful person or unsuccessful person?  If you are an unsuccessful person, you have what it takes to become successful!  Take time to look at your life and start setting goals and learning from your mistakes.  Place the blame where it goes, on yourself.  With hard work, everyone CAN be successful in everything they do!