12 Universal Principles of Success

By Robert Seviour

1. Ahead of any other requirement is your personal motivation. If you want 'it', you can have 'it' (whatever 'it' is) if you will do enough of the right things. But without burning desire, neither ability nor knowledge will get you what you want.

2. If your level of 'want' is high enough, the next step is action. Thinking without doing won't achieve what you long for. Action truly is the key.

3. Use Pareto's Principle to choose how to use your time. 80% of our actions do not contribute to achieving our goals, 20% do. So identify the 'thieves of time' and reduce them so that you don't find yourself saying, 'If only I had more time'. Remember, successful or not, everybody gets only 24 hours a day. It's what you choose to do in that period that determines your outcomes.

4. Many objectives cannot be reached without concentrated effort, so focus your energies.
Massive action will achieve massive results. Diffused efforts leave you with a discouraging array of uncompleted projects.

5. Develop a confident persona. Others will respect your opinions and advice if you deliver them with confidence; a diffident manner invites disbelief.

6. Establish yourself as an expert in your field. Become an author, write articles and reports, post them on the internet, give talks on your topic. As an expert you have credibility and influence.

7. There is a challenge which comes with increasing authority and success, you must always be alert for arrogance. It is insidious and damaging. The truly great are humble with it. When you know a lot, you realise that it's actually only a very little.

8. Treat everyone with respect. Every single individual on this planet knows more about something than you do. Respect generates respect. Arrogance does the opposite.

9. Listen actively. Don't just wait for your chance to talk, hear what other people are saying and attune yourself to the emotion behind the words. This is how empathy is generated. It's a thousand times easier to obtain what you want when empathy is working with you.

10. Sometimes your ideas are going to turn out to be wrong. Accept that this can happen, learn what you can from the experience and then move on. Sincere belief that you are right does not mean that you are. Even Albert Einstein had to face this truth.

11. Build your 'sales' skills. If you cannot make a convincing case for your ideas, you are doomed to a life of implementing those of other people.

12. Give your plans a 'reality check' early on. Try and sell the idea to someone, you'll quickly learn what the constraints are. The real world feedback will allow you to adjust and focus your concept.

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Information on the Selling for Engineers manual and Seminar

Robert Seviour is a sales trainer specialising in business development for technical companies.