HJ: Success does not just happen randomly, it is created by a very precise set of qualities you can cultivate in your life. When it seems like success just came out of nowhere for somebody, in truth, at some level they had been embracing one or more of the qualities listed in this article AND their system of beliefs allowed for it, which is an important distinction. And to be even more concise, it is not enough to just believe that something is possible. You must also not hold any CONFLICTING beliefs as well, as these can ‘cancel out’ any positive, expansive beliefs you may hold and end up keeping you stuck where you are at or moving forward slowly. this is why many people get frustrated thinking they are doing everything right but nothing is happening. In truth, they are holding conflicting beliefs as well at a deep subconscious level.
You can think of it like those old scales where there are two plates on each side of a beam balanced on a tower. One plate is your expansive/positive beliefs. The other is you self-limiting/negative beliefs. If your positive plate outweighs your negative plate, you will move forward to the degree of difference between the two. And vice versa. If your negative plate equals or outweighs your positive plate, you will stay stuck or even regress.
Below you will find 7 powerful distinctions, which lead to beliefs and perceptions that create success like clockwork. The deeper you can integrate them into your own psyche, the more profound the results you will get will be.
– Truth
The 7 Keys to Creating Success in Your Life
By Luis Romero | Luis E Romero
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In my book, The Seventh Distinction: The Path to Personal Mastery, Leadership & Peak Performance, I introduce seven distinctions (high-value comparisons) that give rise to the seven keys to success. These keys, as it turns out, make us stronger human beings and more competent professionals, thus helping us achieve our most challenging goals in business and life.
Here is a summary of the seven distinctions and their respective keys to success.
DISTINCTION 1: Complexity vs. Complication / KEY 1: Simplicity
- Complexity is an intrinsic trait of the world in which we live. This is because everything is interconnected, either directly or indirectly, thus constantly engendering change.
- Complication is the first evidence that the complexity of a situation has been misunderstood and dealt with inappropriately. A complication is in fact the very definition of a problem.
- Simplicity is the result of properly understanding the underlying complexity of the situation we are dealing with, thus managing it successfully.
DISTINCTION 2: Understanding vs. Learning / KEY 2: Evolution
- Understanding is the capacity to break down reality into its fundamental components and describe the patterns of interaction among said components.
- While understanding happens in the mind, learning happens in the entirety of a person (mind, heart and body.) While understanding translates into new knowledge, learning translates into new behaviors.
- Evolution is the ability to understand ourselves and the world around us in ways that allow us to become better individuals, better professionals, and more effective builders of a better world.
DISTINCTION 3: Management vs. Influence / KEY 3: Leadership
- Management is the ability to achieve the objectives in sight by efficiently using the available resources. For this, the manager must envision and implement a pertinent strategy, design and implement the appropriate processes, and design and assemble the necessary structure.
- Influence is the ability to help collaborators realize higher levels of enthusiasm and commitment in the pursuit of the sought objectives.
- Leadership is much more complex than management and influence taken separately. Leadership is a personality profile that combines the skill set of management with the ability to influence others in ways that strengthen the operation.
DISTINCTION 4: Talent vs. Personality / KEY 4: Competency
- Talent is the capability to perform a task by executing specific actions or displaying specific behaviors.
- Personality is a far more complex component of the human condition. It is so complex that there are almost as many personality models as there are authors who have theories on the subject.
- Competencies, which make us competent and competitive at what we do, result from channeling our talents through the amplifying and targeting effects of our personality.
DISTINCTION 5: Ambition vs. Mission / KEY 5: Vision
- An ambition is the desire to achieve something for the sake of personal benefit, usually disregarding its potential consequences on others.
- A mission, however, is the desire to achieve something for the sake of collective benefit, usually including the self.
- A vision is, more than an image of the future, a worldview that allows us to learn from the past and act in the present in order to build a better future. When our vision relies solely on ambition, our ego keeps us from learning key lessons from our past that would allow us to build a better, more sustainable future. When our vision relies on a mission, our ego is kept in check mate, thus allowing true humility to open our minds and hearts. This puts us in a better position to learn key lessons from our past in order to build a better future for ourselves and those around us.
DISTINCTION 6: Obligation vs. Conviction / KEY 6: Principle
- Obligations are actions people take in order to gain someone else’s approval or to comply with cultural, religious, and political standards in order facilitate social adaptation.
- Convictions are actions people take in order to fulfill personal objective and pursue self-realization.
- A principle is a personal value that reaffirms one’s right to achieve self-realization, and the rights of all others to achieve theirs. This way, convictions and obligations are merged into powerful references for action that are feasible for everyone. Principles translate into peaceful, constructive, and sustainable coexistence among people.
DISTINCTION 7: Ego vs. Self / KEY 7: Consciousness
- The ego is the apparent self that we show to others. It starts to develop as soon as we are born, maybe even earlier in our mother’s womb. Since its purpose is to help us adapt to the world around us, we are programmed to engineer our egos on the basis of other people’s expectations.
- The self is that inner voice that tells us that we are something other than our ego. The self is a sense of individual awareness that allows us to see ourselves beyond other people’s expectations.
- Consciousness is the acknowledgement and development of our inner self as we learn to manage our ego in our relationships with others.
The seventh distinction, ego vs. self, is the pivot that allows all the other distinctions to fall into place. Ergo, consciousness is the key that allows us to master all the other keys to success.
These distinctions and keys are the product of twelve years of research, consulting, and coaching work with over sixty organizations and over seven thousand people. If you would like to explore them in more depth, including detailed examples, common misconceptions, and practical applications for life and business, you may purchase the book (paperback and kindle) by clicking on the image below.
What do you think?
Do the seven distinctions make a difference in the way you will pursue success? Do the seven keys to success serve as a useful reference in your personal and work lives? Does your work team understand the seven distinctions and their implications? Does your work team possess the seven keys to success?
