Finding factors associated with success

What are the factors associated with success?

After 20 years of studying success and achievement, consultant Brian Tracy identified six factors: 1) Inner Peace; 2) High Energy; 3) Loving Relationships; 4) Financial Freedom; 5) Worthy Goals; and 6) Personal Fulfillment.

This column will be devoted to Inner Peace or Peace of Mind. On the surface, this seems ludicrous in a society addicted to fast pace and instant gratification. Inner Peace is limited only to the extent of giving the externals around us priority over the internal within us.

Without stimuli, we are uncomfortable and awkward. Case in point: Go to a business meeting and observe how uncomfortable people are with silence. We are an airtime culture. Observe speech patterns and discover the fill in words to avoid silence…"like," "you know," "okay," "right."

It is possible, however challenging, to find peace of mind. One avenue to explore is based on the following natural law that states, "When my behavior matches my beliefs, I have a legitimate claim to inner peace."

If you are doubtful or cynical, look at the opposite of the law. Can we achieve peace of mind when our behavior does not match our beliefs? This conflict is inner turmoil resulting in stress, anxiety or depression.

How does this law apply to our careers? For starters, it requires the hard work of discovering your values and finding the appropriate field of interest. For example, freedom and individuality is linked to entrepreneurship as helping others is linked to teaching.

The next step is to find an organization whose culture closely matches your professional values. Excluding downsizing, a mismatch of an organizations culture and the individual's values is the leading reason people leave jobs. Motivated people live their values through their work in the right environment.

Another strategy is practicing control management. Let's begin by differentiating between choice and control. We always have choices; we don't always have control. Our choices determine opportunity or consequence. Control management or mismanagement of same determines the level of negative stress.

We can apply control management in three ways:

1) Adapt to the task or event to which you have no control. It is taking control when you have no control. The alternative is negative anger focusing on the problem and not the solution.

2) Although we frequently have no control, we always have influence. Personal power, unlike positional power, is an equal commodity for all employees. Consistently positive behavior is a prerequisite to building trust with all levels in the organization.

3) Develop a plan of action for situations you can control. You will feel better if procrastination is avoided. You will do better if your actions are preceded by clear thinking and thorough planning.

Working toward inner peace is not "touchy feely." It is meeting life as it is with tenacity, focus and personal accountability.

Time to close as your attention span and the availability of space is beyond my control. If you would like to share a piece of your mind about peace of mind, please e-mail me at

(Editor's Note; Joseph Wardy is a careers counselor in the guidance department at Morristown High School.)

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