I wrote last month about the first three habits of highly successful people - opening your mind through paradigm shifts, maintaining an interest in sport, and putting psychoforce to work. If you tried out these techniques you've probably already experienced an increase in respect from your friends, a promotion, or recognition in the media.
Not yet? Keep practising - these rewards will come, especially as you add the four remaining habits.
Habit #4 - Striking a Balance
Finding a healthy balance between work and play is one of the great challenges of adult life. Many people over-value their jobs, thinking the funds they generate will bring general happiness. But too much energy is spent going after the funds, too little on the happiness. No amount of fertilizer can restore a terminally shrivelled plant.
Our society is obsessed by those outward trappings of success, money and power. You should not be fooled by these partial and misleading measures. More long-term satisfaction can be gained by a life rich in challenge and variety and friendship.
Case #5: In an excess of zeal, Ernest Embyay ran what was left of his domestic life with the same analytical rigour and formality he used at work. Within a year, his wife, his son, and the dog had all tendered their resignation.
Habit #5 - Managing Television
Television, like it or not, is the principal conduit by which popular culture makes its way into our minds. Are there any successful people who do not watch television? I doubt it.
Unfortunately, there are so many channels that it is difficult to be sure you are watching the right ones. To impress the friends and colleagues critical to your success, you need a general grasp of a wide range of channels.
I suggest that you dedicate one whole week of vacation to concentrated channel surfing. You will then be able to participate actively in any TV-focused conversation for many months to come. Except for this necessary overdose, though, limit viewing to thirty minutes a day. You do not want to fritter away your life in the shallow world of TV.
Case #6: Asked how come he had no point of view in a discussion of favourite television shows and personalities, Bimbo Bamber admitted that he didn't own a TV. When he applied for a management position two weeks later, he was turned down.
Habit #6 - Honouring Your Spouse
Your spouse is beyond doubt a major factor in your success or lack of success, and as such deserves all possible respect. Honour this special person by showing him or her around your office one day, or lunching together in the cafeteria. Look proud!
You can further leverage your marital relationship by referring to your chosen one not by first name or - heaven forbid - a nickname, but as my husband, my wife, my partner, or Mr or Mrs Whatever-it-is. Formal titles are impressive where they are appropriate, as in the Chairman or the President (of the Bowling League, as it might be).
Case #4: Queen Elizabeth, one of the most successful women of our times, never says Phil and me. With impeccable taste, it is always my husband and I.
Habit #7 - Retaining Normalcy
As the existence of Sociologists and Gossip Columnists proves, man is a social creature. To be a success socially you must understand the prevailing norms of behaviour and acquisitiveness, you must do the right things and want the right things.
Interestingly, highly successful people establish norms, rather than follow them. This requires careful judgment. If you deviate too far from the norm you may be taken for a crank, but if you judge it right you will be merely mildly eccentric - and they will copy you!
Case #7: Sensitive, success-oriented Jock Jackson, noticing the subtle mockery he aroused by pedalling to work on a unicycle, decided instead to run in the lunch-hour. Within weeks you could see him jogging towards certain success in the company of his boss and his boss's boss!
A Professional Engineer with a BA from Cambridge and an MSc in Solid Mechanics from Aston University, Barry spent 30 years in IT development and management. He now works as a freelance communicator. Barry has written articles for in-house & external publication - in user manuals, technical documentation, reports, newsletters, websites, conference papers, speeches, skits, poetry, and a coffee-table book.