10 Rules of Success

Rule THREE: Change, Learn and Improve.

“If you do not change, life will change you, but not on your terms.”

Bacon has said, he that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils.

Change is the essence of life, don’t be afraid of it. No progress can take place without change. You can’t put your knowledge and experience to use without learning from it and all learning results in change. Learning that does not lead to change is like a book on the shelf, waiting to be read.

Change is growth and growth is never static, it is continuous and multidimensional process. It can be positive or negative, you either go up or down, but you never stay at the same place for long. Change is relevant in all areas of human development and learning. In this blog I am dealing with positive change; change that will lead us to the kind of growth we desire for and are looking forward to; change that will inspire us and stay with us for ever; change that will bring peace of mind make us happy.

“Today is not yesterday. We ourselves change. How then, can our works and thoughts, if they are always to be the fittest, continue always the same?” –Carlyle-

Philip C. McGraw, in his book Life Strategies, says, “If you refuse to acknowledge your own self destructive behaviors, not only will they continue, they will actually gain momentum, become more deeply entrenched in the habitual pattern of your life, and grow more and more resistant to change.”

The first step towards helping ourselves with our problems is to recognize that there is a problem. How can we help ourselves or seek help unless we know that there is something wrong with us. To be able to identify our problems and look for solutions we have to acknowledge them first. We will not take our car to a mechanic unless we know there is something wrong with it. We will continue to use it till it breaks down completely. We may even be stranded on the road. Our not acknowledging the problem will only aggravate it further.

Acknowledging a problem is half the battle won, when we know that there is something wrong with us we are more willing to change and improve.

“The circumstances of the world are so variable, that an irrevocable purpose or opinion is almost synonymous with a foolish one.” –W. H. Seward.-

There were two bakers in a market having adjoining shops. Both were doing good business and were second generation bakers. Their products were liked by all. But slowly, and with time, tastes of the people began to change and they started asking for more variety and new products. One of the bakers was ready to experiment with new ideas and items while the other one held on to his age-old specialties. As time went by the baker who was experimenting with new technique and rang started growing rapidly while the other baker started to lose business. Then came a time when he had to close the shop. He did not change with the time and got trampled.

The difference between a loser and a winner is the difference in their readiness to learn and change. If you are not satisfied with your progress you have to change your plans and do things differently. As the saying goes, “if your today is like what your yesterday was, your tomorrow will be what your today is”. If you stick to what you have been doing you will get what you have been getting. Your future is what you do today irrespective of what you want and desire and plan. If you want to improve, you have to change.

Change does not mean losing your identify or forgetting your past, it simply means improving upon it. None of us was born perfect and none of us is perfect today. It is those who learn faster and change better are the ones who are better adapted to life. They in turn become more confident individuals and have a stronger inner self that never feels threatened by learning and change. When you learn more you get better equipped to face the challenges of life and attain success faster too.

Just keep these few points in mind.

• Change is the essence of life; it is inevitable and takes place every day. Make the most of it and always change for the better.
• Remember, no progress can take place without change, the better prepared you are the faster it will be.
• Change is possible only with your determination and understanding of your problems and your willingness to change accordingly. It is you and only you who can make it happen.
• Resistance to change may, at times, provide a false sense of security but it will soon make you obsolete.
• The difference between a loser and a winner is the difference in their willingness and readiness to change and improve. There can be no learning or improvement without change.