Success Intelligence

Essential Lessons and Practices from the World's Leading Coaching Program on Authentic Success

by Robert Holden

Number of pages: 408

Publisher: Hay House

BBB Library: Personal Success

ISBN: 9781401921712



About the Author

Robert, Ph.D., is the Director of The Happiness Project and Success Intelligence. He is a British psychologist, author, and broadcaster, who works in the field of positive psychology and well-being, and is considered "Britain's foremost expert on happiness".

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Editorial Review

There are so many apparently intelligent people chasing success in the most foolhardy manner. They are manic, hyper and busy to the point of distraction. They might have gotten A’s for effort, but not for intelligence. We live in a “Success Culture”. Many people pursue success as a primary goal in life and are often obsessed with it. They judge their entire lives on whether or not they’re a success. They secretly attack themselves for not being successful enough. But how much success is enough?

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Wisdom to Share

We live in a “Success Culture”. Many people pursue success as a primary goal in life and are often obsessed with it.

People crave success because they hope it will deliver salvation from the ego’s self-attack.

The egocentric craving for success is becoming a “disease”, so talking about Success Intelligence emphasizes the need to think wisely about success.

People are chasing success, but they have no real vision of what it really is. The more successes they achieve, the more they begin to wonder about the nature of true success.

Success is not a race; it is a journey. Success is not an achievement; it is a discovery. The primary task, then, is to create a vision for success – one that engages your whole being.

Vision is what helps you discover the truth about success. Vision is, then, the first key to Success Intelligence.

In the supermarkets, you’ll find new kind of teabag for sale – the quick-releasing flavor kind, with the added extra of powdered skim milk already inserted inside each teabag. Imagine how much time this new product could save you! Could this really be the difference between success and failure?

In the Manic Society, we live our lives fast, but we do not always live them well. There is no stopping. When we don’t stop, we forget – we forget what is important, we forget who we are, we forget that there are other options, and we forget what life is really for.

In the world’s biggest companies, you can see how the obsessive need to be first to market (a “first move” in corporate-speak) has almost bankrupted them. Many ambitious entrepreneurs’ obsession with quick profits and fast results has cost them their health, their money and their happiness.

The pressure to work harder is relentless, and we often end up emotionally unavailable and socially isolated.

Stopping can help us remember our vision, connect more deeply to our wisdom, and make us more open and available to inspiration.

It is not enough to be busy. A busy life is not necessarily a life well lived. A busy work schedule is not evidence of any great accomplishment. Being busy neither guarantees success nor equates to success.

An important key to success is the willingness to look beyond your busyness in order to find a better way. On the other side of busyness there are all manner of gifts waiting to be discovered, such as new inspiration, creative partnership and increased effectiveness.

Cultivating a strong vision, in which you learn to “see” not just with your eyes but also with your mind and your heart, is essential for success.

No matter how intelligent, talented or committed you may be, it is your sense of worthiness that ultimately supports your success.

Anyone who wants to be successful in this world must take into account that change is constant. Change is happening everywhere.

Dr. Karl Menninger said that the real challenge of adversity and suffering is that “the voice of intelligence is drowned out by the roar of fear”.

On one level, every problem is an encounter with fear. Hence, some Fear Management is essential if you are to make way for vision, wisdom and inspiration.

We are never upset for the reason we think. For example, stress is not the problem, it is a symptom; and poor work/life balance is not the problem, it is a symptom.

In ancient Greek, the word for Truth is Aletheia, which means “not forgetting”. Any problem or difficulty challenges us to remember our real intentions and values.

“True success is about growing your awareness of who you are and what your strengths are. It is also about placing your faith and your power in what will help you to grow beyond the mistakes, failures and setbacks you encounter by seeing them as opportunities, not blocks.

A person cannot go further than the thoughts onto which he holds. If we change our thoughts, we can change our life.

Success Intelligence is the ability to process pain and choose success, feel fear and choose wisdom, be sad and choose hope, acknowledge anger and choose creativity.

Trust is what creates success or failure in any situation. In a nutshell, what you place your trust in is where you put your strength.

People fail because they don’t put all their trust in their wisdom. They do not trust themselves to succeed.

Any problem or conflict is a signal to try something new. There is an old saying, “Keep doing what you are doing, and you will keep getting what you have got.”

A common fear of asking for help is that we may not receive any; yet, by not asking, the outcome is certain. Each time we ask for help we set new possibilities in motion.

Dysfunctionally independent people believe that needing help is a failure. They rely solely on their own for new answers. This is a bit like reading only one book in the library for the answer to everything.