"If we could sell our experiences for what they cost us...we would all be millionaires."- Abigail Van Buren
No...I am certain that you can achieve your own success, or yourown interpretation of what you deem another person's success to be, but not the exact same results or the same success as others...as we are all born at different microseconds in the past, making it factually impossible to experience the same as anyone else - unless you have a time machine. As our world is measured, or restricted, by time...it is possible to benefit from the experience of another's interpretation of a specific event...but not the actual account for ourselves.
Have you ever witnessed an event alongside another person, only to experience something completely different?
The benefit of time is that we can learn from the past in specific detail, and as the information era grows, so does the accessibility. Where would you go if you needed to know the tide timings for a boating trip? The local paper? Google? The library perhaps? Well, these are the very same places you can go to if you need to learn from the successes of others.
Note: I said successes, not failures...why would you want to learn how not to do something?
To move forward on your journey towards success, it is important to be aligned with your future, and the best way to do this is simple: answer the following question...
Who are you? ......................................................................................
I know that this can be a difficult question to answer and probably one that you have not been asked before, and why would you have asked yourself? But, before moving on, it's important to understand who you really are...knowing this will open your mind to areas that haven't been accessed before.... Of course, you could answer with, "well, I am Ben" or, "I am a author," but what I want you to do is to really explore the opportunities that you have within, and come up with an answer that you would be willing to shout about...as this is going to be one of the foundation stones to your life of abundance...
It doesn't matter what you thought you were before, just positively think about who you are right now. Look back now and read what you've written...does reading it change your emotional state...? If it doesn't, then go back and re- write it...understanding who you are is critical to your very existence... there isn't a right or wrong answer, just your answer...but it must be powerful enough to change your state...
Success for me is also about growth. In nature, everything grows, and if it stops, then the inevitable happens. I believe that unless you are consistently growing, you're simply going to wilt...think back to when you were a child; how much did you learn within the first several years of your life?
It is said within the NLP community that it's during the first 21 years of your life that your values are created...your values being the tools that drive you towards or away from certain aspects of your daily life... the very things that have shaped your past to this point.... Values are generally divided into two areas, means values and ends values, each having a massive influence over where you are going right now, so it is therefore very important to understand how you can use these to your advantage and consciously work with them to achieve success. Means values are the stepping-stones required to cross the large pond to get to the ends value. You can have the stepping-stones without crossing the pond, but to cross the pond you must have the stepping stones.
Values are also divided into motivators and de-motivators, each pulling you towards or away from certain areas of your life. To utilize these in a positive way, you must be consciously aware of what values you choose to adopt. A "towards" value would be happiness and an "away from" value would be sadness.
Although these values are created from an early age...birth to seven years being the period that you learn from your parents; eight years to 13 years, the period of modeling from those you mix with the most; and between 14 and 21 years, the period of developing the socialization values that control your relationships...being aware of your values gives you flexibility.... You don't even have to know what they are... because it's simply by having them, whatever they are, that you'll already understand why you have them and the reasons for why they are there.
For more tips and advice on success click here
Image from shutterstock