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Article from The Straits Times, 26th February 2000
Don’t Worry, BE HAPPY
…and you can be a success too. Believe it! Starting here, the seven key qualities of happy and successful people.
Success is a journey, not a destination. Though over-used, this saying is spot-on! In life, everything is relative.
Some millionaires believe they are not quite successful relative to a billionaire. But success can be measured by so many things, not just by financial wealth.
I do believe that may of us are successful people in one way or another.
Financial success is just one aspect of success. As we’ve seen often in the past, the super-rich can have their own problems that you and I don’t have.
In the course of managing my business, I have come to know many successful people.
Interestingly, some show the signs of success (in their behavior or otherwise), while others do not.
Many have gone through tough times before finding their pot of gold; others are born with a silver spoon in their mouths, so to speak, and benefit from the success of their previous generation(s).
In some cases, success has brought about arrogance and a “Who are you? Do I know you?” mentality. Thankfully, these cases are rare.
The Chinese – and I’m sure many other races and nationalities too – believe that in life, everything has its place in a cycle.
Sometimes, you do well and everything you touch turns to gold. In other phases of your life, you go through tough times.
In my outplacement business, we regularly see highly successful people who have “fallen” through involuntary loss of their senior-level jobs.
Some feel betrayed and respond as if the whole world has caved in on them.
They feel useless and sometimes go through a period of intense depression.
Through professional counseling many pull through eventually and move on to other challenges.
The interesting thing is that many are happier, relative to their previous situations.
Some find fresh challenges, while others end up having a more balanced and better quality of family life.
Which brings me to a very important point – being happy in life is also a sign of success. We have only one life and if we can live our lives in a way that makes us happy, wouldn’t it be wonderful?
If you can read this article, you should feel blessed that you are not visually impaired.
Many of your fellow human beings do not have the gift of sight.
Do a full reality-check, and I am sure you will end up with many more blessings than otherwise.
It doesn’t matter if you are a salesman or a CEO of a multi-national. Everyone can be happy – seriously!
Being happy with life, whatever the circumstances is one of the attributes of highly successful people.
In the next article, I will share with you the other six.
In the meantime, ask yourself this question: “Am I happy?”
Professional input for this key area is thus more necessary than being an issue of choice.
Sweet smell of SUCCESS
Six more ways that can help anyone – whether you’re a salesman or a CEO – be happy and successful.
Be humble
Humility is a virtue I would strongly encourage all to cultivate. I am fortunate to know of a handful of financially successful people who are humble to a fault.
The beauty of each is that they don’t even “try” to be so; they just are.
One such person readily comes to mind. Rising from the ranks to become the most senior person in The Straits Times newsroom, he is a gentleman with a ready smile for whoever he meets – from the senior editors down to the company driver – and is usually the first to offer a greeting.
As a colleague, I couldn’t fail to notice this. To this day – some 10 years later – I can still remember this humble person’s smile.
2 Be content
Also known as Acknowledging That You Can’t Earn All The Money In The World. When you’ve made your first million, or whatever magic figure you want to achieve, don’t fall into the trap of raising the bar endlessly.
You can’t get something for nothing. In your quest for greater financial success, something has to give.
If not your health, maybe your family life. Families are the focal point of everything we do. Without this nucleus, nothing else matters much.
When you are making enough money, learn to be content. Even if you could earn all the money in the world, don’t.
3 Strike a balance
Work or making money isn’t and shouldn’t be the sole reason for your being alive.
Strive to achieve a sense of balance in your life. The key factors you should focus on are:
n Family
n Work / career
n Finance
n Health
n Learning / acquiring knowledge
n Peace of mind
Harmony produces a steady stream of positive energy. Use this to give a little of your success back to the community.
4 Give back to society
Success arises from the society we live in. Achieving success would be so much more meaningful and fulfilling if you can give some of your wealth and time to those less fortunate in your community.
We are often reminded that we need more social workers, but you needn’t be a social worker to do social work.
If you can set aside a part of your time or a small percentage of your monthly income, then less fortunate people can benefit from your giving.
Or you could consider joining organisations like the Rotary Club or the Lions.
5 Strive to grow
Being happy and content doesn’t mean stopping or stunting your personal growth.
You should continuously strive to grow and challenge yourself to do things that do not necessarily result in financial gain.
You can think of many things; a list is limited only by the extent of your imagination.
Write a book, develop your photographic skills, grow bonsai, improve on your fitness level, better your golf handicap and so on.
6 Help others succeed
There is tremendous satisfaction in helping others succeed.
In many societies, it’s usually a larger proportion of people who want to receive rather than give. It would be wonderful if all of us can play a small role in reversing this.
If you are in business, share your experience and maybe even invest financially in start-ups.
Volunteer to help a colleague in meeting a deadline, or help a client – free of charge – by initiating suggestions for improving their delivery efficiency.
Paul Heng
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