“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.”
― Conrad Hilton

No one is born a success, but everyone has the potential to become one. Like everything else, being successful in life too has a precise set of rules. We admit that there is certainly no single road to success, but there are some distinct guiding blueprints to getting there.

If you are not there yet, this article might help you to tap into some of the principles a few of the “already-greats” have used to dictate their own lives and achieve financial prosperity.

Find 9 guidelines for tapping into your innate greatness below

01. Turn Away From Greed

“Greedy people try to get rich quick but don’t realize they’re headed for poverty.” – Proverbs 28:22

Greed is something that can suck a person in and take over every part of his life. Greed is something similar to cancer which runs through your life and absolutely rid you of any sort of joy in life. Greed will not only ruin yourself but also the people around you.

02. Diversify your Life

“Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.” – Ecclesiastes 11:2

The above verse speaks directly on diversifying your investments. It is fascinating to know that diversification as a core rule of investing has gone back as far as biblical times.

Diversification is mostly brought up in relation to investing. However, I believe diversification should come in all forms of life; including diversifying your sources of income to what areas of life you choose to study.

If you are solely a specialist in one specific area, you will surely falter when it comes to areas outside of your specialty. However, if you learn from varied sources and have few areas of expertise while having diversified sources of income, whatever the turn the world takes, you will not feel the full force of a fall.

03. Reduce Debt

“The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.” – Proverbs 22:7

For many, the only way they would be able to go to college and earn an education is through the use of a loan. You are leveraging the use of a loan so that in the future you can have a job that will pay you more than the loan and the interest of the loan will cost you. Therefore ALL DEBT IS NOT BAD.

But in today’s society, companies play to our current culture of immediate satisfaction robots. We want everything right now, and don’t want to pay for it until later. To me, this is a dangerous indication that debt should not be taken lightly as it has many implications for your mental wellbeing and being happy. Whatever you purchase by going into debt, the debt burden will not let you enjoy what you have bought.

04. Be open to advice

“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advise.” – Proverbs 12:15

The reason I say advice is so important is because our own views can be tainted at times. We also multiply are knowledge when taking the advice from someone else. This being said, remember that the advice given is only as good as the advisor giving the advice. Therefore it is critical that we surround ourselves with good men and women. As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

05. Take Hold of Opportunities

“He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap.” – Ecclesiastes 11:4

The above verse speaks to the overly cautious people. The ones who wait for the absolute perfect time to do something. There may never be a perfect time. We cannot just sit on the sidelines hoping something will happen. We always have to get out there and work for it.

If you wait too long to start a business or invest for your retirement, the opportunity maybe is gone.

06. Hard Work is Important

“A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.” – Proverbs 6:10-11

We cannot achieve success just by hoping for it. To achieve true success, we need the strength of mind and body to struggle and work hard to reach our fullest potential.

07. Hard work itself isn’t enough

“If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom helps one to succeed.” – Ecclesiastes 10:10

A Person cannot JUST be a hard worker and become successful. You must also use intelligence in your attempts to get the work done.

Intelligence creates room for high efficiency and effectiveness. The result is much greater when hard work and smart work are combined than one alone.

08. Be a Giver

“Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything.” – Proverbs 11:24

How often do we get trapped in our own little worlds and forget about those around us? Most of the people today are takers rather than givers. People who give and share are at times considered as doormats where most people try to get advantage from them.

Psychologist Adam Grant has recently published a research which proves that givers end up being the most successful people. In today’s world, success also depends on how we interact with others. People who give are often loved, respected and gets support when they are in need. They are more successful in their relationships with their partners, friends and the community as a whole.

09. Rest is important

Hard work is important, but so is rest

A rest/work/life balance is important in life in general. In order to stay sharp, an adequate rest is essential.

What we discussed in the article are mostly directed towards how to achieve financial prosperity. We must not forget that there are many implications when devoting one’s life to financial endeavors. We must always try to find the perfect balance as most of the important things in life are not related to the size of our bank accounts. Financial success is a small part of a successful life.