The Success Diamond: Creating a Personal Road Map for Success

The Success Diamond is a simple visual aid that I created for myself to capture nine ideas that helped me achieve success in life and business. These nine accounted for 80% of my results. Here are the ideas in alphabetical order:

Awareness

Know yourself and become self-aware. You must understand yourself at a deep level. Become a student of your behavior and personality. What motivates you, and what causes you discomfort? What are your strengths, and what are your weaknesses? Write a statement of your beliefs and values.

Communication Skills & Listening

Strive to become a superior communicator, and to learn to be a deep listener. Remember this: you must adapt your communication approach to the individual or group you are communicating with. One communication approach does not fit all.  Also, listening, deep listening, is the critical communication skill you must develop.  Learn to listen with the ears, the heart, and the mind.  Give everyone the gift of attention.
 

Control Your Thoughts

Control your thoughts and your thinking at every opportunity.  As you learn to control your thinking, strive to eliminate negative thoughts from your life.  Focus on the positive and focus on solutions.

Discipline

Become a disciplined person, not rigid, just disciplined.  One aspect of a disciplined life is developing positive habits, such as saving money, eating a healthy diet, and managing your time.  Life is binary in the extreme.  We either accumulate the values and assets of life, or we accumulate the liabilities.

Interpersonal Skills

The ability to interact and work with other people is another critical life skill to develop and sharpen.  So, get good at working with people and put your ego away.  Also, learn to be a team player and a team builder.

Keep A Journal

Buy a journal to carry with you and write in it every day, if possible.  Collect inspirational and thought-provoking quotations and ideas from your reading and record them in your journal.  Review your journal frequently and reflect on what you have written. At the end of the year, read your journal, and review it to extract more wisdom.

Lifelong Learner & Reading

Become a lifelong learner and never stop learning.  This learning is done by reading across a variety of subjects and topics.  As a suggestion, I would recommend you follow the 80/20 Rule in your reading—read 80% non-fiction and 20% fiction.  And, read every day without exception and read books that will challenge and enrich your thinking.  If you want to become a leader, develop a passion for reading and learning.

Positive Mental Attitude

Attitude is everything.  A positive mental attitude is key to success in life and business.  So, it pays to err on the side of optimism.  Check yourself several times during the day and ask yourself: Am I expanding or contracting? Am I moving forward or moving backward? Am I focusing on the positive or the negative?  Also, it pays to associate with others who are optimistic.  Optimism is infectious (but so is pessimism), so choose your friends and business associates carefully.

The Art of Execution (Getting Things Done)

Execution is the ability to get things done.  The ability to execute effectively is an essential business or life skill.  Execution requires people to be organized, focused, and led.  Formulating strategy is crucial, but the strategy has to be executed or implemented.  You can have an extraordinary plan, but if you cannot implement it, then nothing is gained.  Become known as a person who makes things happen and gets things done.

A Clarion Call to Action

Create your Success Diamond as a visual aid to help you.  Use this Success Diamond as a guide and choose nine ideas or life skills that you want to focus on.  Success in life and business can be easy to achieve, but you will need a road map and a plan.  I have provided an internal link below (on this website) that will show a visual graphic of my Success Diamond.

Internal Link:  https://whitebeardwisdom.com/product/the-success-diamond-poster-2/

External Link: https://theasianantiquarian.com/

Share The Ideas! Share The Wisdom!

Andrew J Guinosso

Professional Writer and Published Author of "The Success Playbook for Everyone." Retired Business Executive, Entrepreneur, and Restauranteur