The 3 S’s of Success

The 3 S’s of Success is the nineteenth in a series of articles to help you reach your goal. What are your goals? I know you thought about it! You know, it is your dream, wish or resolution you made! Before you can get to where you want to be, you need to know where you are going. You wouldn’t get on a bus, train or plane without knowing where it was going.

Background

Are you selfish, self centered, self absorbed or self involved?  Do I think about myself first?  Is there something wrong with that?  When you make a decision, you probably do it for personal reasons.  Yes, you are thinking about yourself first!  When I think of myself, it includes my wife and children.  They are my number one priority.  Some may say that changes everything.  I do not think so, although it does expand the definition.  Success is more than money and putting my family at center of my life helps me succeed.

I am a child of cheap parents!  Okay, I meant to say frugal parents.  They gave me everything I needed, but very few of the things I wanted.  Don’t feel sorry for me, I was not exactly deprived.  After all, I had a privileged upbringing.  Private school, European vacation, college was paid for and a brand new car for graduation from college.  No regrets because I worked for it.  I worked for free for my parents every weekend starting at seven (7) years old.  I learned a great deal from them and others.  I learned to save for the things I wanted and it is probably my most important or valuable skill.

I learned about stocks at a very age, but never did much about it.  I did not start to invest in stocks until I was older.  I started to invest in stocks when I started my career job.  One reason I did not do it earlier was because my parents lived through The Great Depression.  People who go through those times have good reason to be skeptical of the stock market.  My parents made their money in business and how can you argue with success.  I started using my profit sharing to invest into the market.  Over time, I would invest more, but always stay diversified with the stock market, real estate and many other things.

Self

Self is an individual person as the object of his or her own reflective consciousness.  It is also what distinguishes you from others.  I include my family in myself because it is so important to me.  I attribute my success to their support and understanding.  Self is important for success because of self determination, self confidence, self discipline, self awareness, self esteem and self motivation.  These are many of the attributes you need to succeed and they all begin with self.

Savings

Savings is a reduction in money, time or another resource.  It is also the money saved through a bank account, money market account or investments.  Money accumulated over time that will help you achieve your financial goals   This single habit helped me become successful more than any other habit.  It didn’t stop there!  Savings provides choices and freedom.  It helped achieve financial independence and it will help you too.

Stock

Stocks are a type of security that signifies ownership in a corporation and represents a claim on part of the corporation’ assets and earnings.  Most successful and wealthy people have a variety of investments including stock.  It may be stock in their own company, stock market investment or investments in other private companies.  Diversification in the stock market is important, but diversification in your investments is even more important.  Creating an asset allocation for all your investments is something not discussed often.  You should never allow one asset class to dominate your investments.

Final Thoughts

This is the nineteenth article in the series about success; I expect to publish throughout 2012. There will be twenty-six (26) of them, one for each letter of the alphabet. The 3 S’s of success are self. savings and stocks.   I think everyone wants success in life; business and career; however it takes a concerted effort to reach success. The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man’s determination.” Tommy Lasorda sums it up much better than I can!

I started this series because I run into so many people who have difficulty reaching success. They want to know my secrets! So I thought I would share them in a format that will be most helpful. I also think this format may make it more interesting and easier to use. My goal in these articles to provide useful and interesting information that will help you succeed. The 3 S’s of Success is now a series.

Photo by:  dno1967b