This Week's Quote and Commentary

Your level of success will never exceed your level of personal development.

I really like this quote. Focused and to the point. It is your commitment and follow-thru to your personal development that will help propel you up the ladder of success. If you are not willing to put in the time to develop yourself how can you reasonably expect to succeed in whatever area you are focused on.

This holds true for each of the five elements of success: Head, Heart, Health, Wealth and World. Head obviously takes the lead. Successful people are lifetime learners. They are consistently active and open to new information. They know that the world around them is changing at an ever increasing pace and the only way to keep up is to seek out and find new information and skills on a variety of subjects. The more you know, he more you can connect and use ideas from multiple disciplines. What is working in one area may well be the answer to a problem in another area.

To be successful in the Heart requires learning how to communicate and relate to the people in your life. It requires you to be both vulnerable and giving at the same time. The more you learn about interpersonal practices the more successful you can become with all your relationships.

Health success requires you to keep up with the latest science on nutrition, exercise and mental health. Learning what, when and how much to eat help you achieve weight control success. What you learn and practice in the area of exercise helps your body stay strong, lean and flexible. What you learn about yoga, meditation and other forms of relaxation help maintain your mental health. Staying healthy helps you climb the success ladder in every other area as well.

Success on the Wealth front requires developing money saving and investing strategies. You have to commit to developing your financial acumen in order to move ahead both personally in wealth management but very often to move forward in the workplace as well. The more you know the more valuable you become to the marketplace. The more valuable to the marketplace you become, the more options you have and the more likely that those options include higher salary become.   

World success requires a high level of personal development. How else can you successfully mentor other people or know where you can best give back (time and/or money) to make a lasting impact on the world around you. You may not impact the entire world at large (hard to impact over 7 billion people at once) but you can make an impact in your part of the world (your home, your workplace, your neighborhood, your town).

Your level of personal development truly affects your level of success. You owe it to yourself and those you love and are yet to love, to become the best possible version of you. Develop yourself and let everyone see and benefit from all you can bring to the world. Success is yours for the making. Take up the personal development challenge and see just how high up the ladder you can climb.