My definition of integrity is: Doing the right thing when no one is watching.

Wealthy, successful people forge such powerfully strong relationships with other like-minded, successful people because they understand the power of integrity. When you have integrity you build a trust bank account that you can withdraw from when opportunities or a need arises. When your important relationships know you have integrity they trust you and will lend you money, invest with you, refer you business, help you or a family member find a job and open up doors for you. They will invest in their relationship with you because you have integrity and they trust you. Those who lack integrity regularly damage their relationships and are constantly in pursuit of new relationships to replace the old, damaged ones. Eventually the word gets around and successful people will avoid anyone with a bad reputation like the plague. Those who lack integrity never get far in life. They struggle financially. Many eventually go bankrupt, destroying even more relationships in the process.

If you want to realize true success in life make a Rich Habit out of doing the right thing every time, when no one is watching.

There are three paths to wealth creation:

1. Living Below Your Means or
2. Expanding Your Means or
3. Doing Both #1 and #2

Successful, wealthy individuals do not rely on one source of income. They typically have multiple streams of income. They Expand Their Means. Creating each stream requires an investment in time and money and also involves taking some risk. In time, these multiple streams begin to generate cash flow that increases your income and your wealth. Expanding your means could involve a real estate investment, side business, pursuing something you are passionate about that can eventually create cash flow or investing in equities, bonds etc. Relying on one source of income, oftentimes your earnings from your job, actually creates more risk in your life. You could get downsized, fired or stuck in a job with very little opportunity for earnings growth. Living expenses do not go down; they increase, until you near retirement. At that point it may be too late for you to accumulate enough wealth on which to retire. Expanding your means gives you a shot at multiple streams of income before you near retirement age and can produce cash flow well into your retirement years.

Webster’s definition of persistence: The quality that allows someone to continue doing something or trying to do something even though it is difficult or opposed by other people.

Successful people are persistent. They never quit. They face obstacles and overcome them. They make mistakes and learn from them. They fail and then try again. Sometimes, those closest to them urge them on and encourage them. But more often, they don’t because those closest to them are negatively impacted by those obstacles, mistakes and failures. It takes almost superhuman effort to achieve success when there are so many forces aligned against you. That’s what makes successful people so special and so rare. If you want to be successful in life you must persist in the face of so much adversity. Successful people are successful because they never quit!

Successful, wealthy individuals invest time and money in pursuing a big goal, major purpose of lifelong dream. They invest in themselves for the long-term, saving money, and developing skills and knowledge that will one day pay big dividends. This long-term investment, at the expense of current enjoyment is known as the Law of Delayed Gratification. It takes time to save money, or realize a goal, purpose or dream. It requires that you do certain things today in order to reap the benefits tomorrow.

The Law of Awareness states that you must be aware of your automatic thoughts, actions, behaviors and choices – also known as Habits. 40% or more of all of our activities are habits (Duke 2006 study).  Habits unconsciously dictate the type of life we live. Wealth, poverty, happiness and unhappiness are directly linked to our daily habits. If you want to change your life you have to change your habits. It requires that you stop and think about your habitual behavior. You must become aware of your habits. This allows you to evaluate whether your habits are helping you or hurting you. It’s the first step in the process of habit change. Awareness makes change possible.

Successful people are in constant pursuit of feedback. They make a habit of it. Feedback improves any product or service you offer in your business. Feedback obtained prior to a launch of a product or service enables you to improve the product or service prior to the launch. Feedback is also critical during and after the launch. Seeking feedback should be seen as a reconnaissance mission. It gives you the ability to obtain valuable information that will add value to your product or service. Making a habit of seeking feedback will set you apart from your competition and allow you to learn and improve upon anything you do.

If you want to change anything in your life you have to track it. Want to lose weight? Track how many calories you consume each day. Want to do more aerobic exercise? Track how many minutes you jog each day.  Want to stop watching so much T.V.? Track exactly how much time you spend watching T.V. Want to learn more? Track how much you read and what you learn from that reading each day. Change begins with tracking. Tracking is so powerful that it will change your behavior immediately. Not tomorrow, not next week. Tracking produces immediate change. When you want to change bad habits or add new habits, tracking will make that happen. Tracking works because when you do it it automatically calls into action three important success traits: self-assessment, mindfulness (being self-aware or what you’re doing) and accountability. The beauty of tracking is that you can create a tracking schedule for just about any activity you want to start, stop or reduce.

Blood’s major purpose in the body is to carry nutrients (glucose and oxygen) to the cells and to carry waste out through our lungs in the form of carbon dioxide. When we exercise we increase blood flow throughout the body. The more you exercise the greater the blood flow. This means more nutrients and more waste removal. Exercise also increases blood flow into the Dentrate Gyrus. The Dentrate Gyrus is part of our brain’s Hippocampus, a region involved in memory formation and neurogenisis (birth of new neurons). Exercise also stimulates the production of Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDFN). BDFN is miracle grow for the neurons inside our brain. Exercise is, in many respects, like candy for the brain.

The Law of Investment is really about investing in yourself in pursuit of your goal, purpose or life dream. It requires persistence and sacrifice – putting off things you want to do or have today, until some later time (delayed gratification). Successful people consistently invest their time and effort in self-education, taking action, making mistakes, making course corrections and relentlessly pursuing their big goals, purpose or life dream. They invest in themselves and grow to become the person they need to be in order to achieve these goals, their purpose or life dream. Success is a journey, it’s a process and it requires investment. A lot of investment.