Uncover the Secrets of Success in 2014

Published: 16 January 2014

The New Year is usually met with the excitement of new beginnings and a fresh start. This is a time when most people start thinking of New Year's resolutions, and things they wanted to do in the previous year but never got round to doing because of obstacles that arose. New Year's resolutions will be short-lived if they are conceived without a plan or if there's a lack of discipline. Instead of wishing for things to happen, change your approach and turn your resolutions into achievable and measurable goals.

In this year's first edition of our weekly newsletter, we look at seven of the fifty-two secrets of success, extracted from Regenesys' Chairman Dr Marko Saravanja's book 'Secrets of Success', to help you to create a vision for yourself. These secrets will help you to put the right plans in place to ensure that your vision comes to life. We hope this will motivate you to become innovative and decisive and to execute all of your projects with excellence.

Vision
Have a vision. Think big. Dream. Personal and business success is created twice, first in the mind and then in the external world. Vision is a source of motivation, passion and success. If you strive for the impossible you will achieve the best possible. Take the risk, be courageous, become extraordinary. You are on this planet to accomplish a unique mission. Believe in the beauty of your dreams. Do not stop dreaming.

Planning
If you do not plan, you plan to fail. When you set goals, they work in two ways - you work for them and they work for you. Translate your vision into a business plan. Set goals for the rest of your life - and break them into yearly, monthly and weekly targets. Be disciplined, persevere and monitor your goals continuously - and experience the joy of accomplishing them. Successful people are great strategists and planners. They always plan a few steps ahead, they are pro-active and they plan for risks and contingencies. They manage the future instead allowing the future to manage them. Planning is a source of their confidence, direction and strength. Experience the power of your mind - what you think you become. If nurtured over a period of time, ideas transform into reality. Plan and succeed.

Innovation
Innovation is a mysterious, invisible and powerful force responsible for the birth, development and destruction of a business. Every business starts with an innovative idea. As the business matures, innovation becomes a competitive advantage determining its future success. The end of innovation is the end of the business. Innovation is a resource. It is free and exists in abundance. Every organisation has creative people capable of producing innovative ideas. But their talent is often wasted due to the absence of strong leadership. If your leadership style lacks the ability to nurture innovation - change it. Manage innovation.

Decisiveness
Rather make a decision today than a perfect decision when it is too late. All great leaders have one thing in common - decisiveness. They have the courage to take an unpopular decision when faced with difficult choices. Every decision involves risk. At times the risk is so great that many avoid making a decision due to a fear of failure. Ironically, procrastination often results in a greater loss than a faulty decision. Indecisiveness leads to missed deadlines, demotivated staff, project paralysis, loss of quality, and possibly financial disaster. Indecisiveness, procrastination and risk avoidance - these are the greatest obstacles on your path to success. Take the bull by the horns. Be decisive.

Learning
Your ability to learn faster than your competitors will be your advantage. But knowledge without action is worthless. Your ability to translate your learning into action and master the forces of change will be your competitive advantage. But action and knowledge without ethics is dangerous. Your ability to base your actions on foundations of strong values, ethics and morals will be your ultimate competitive advantage. Liberate yourself and embrace learning as a life-long process. Invest in learning as the knowledge will stay with you forever - it cannot be taken away from you.

Excellence
Excellence breeds success. Many centuries ago, Aristotle spoke about excellence as not an act but a habit. Excellence is developed by changing your mindset and approaching every single task with care, diligence and rigour. Excellence is about exceeding the expectations of those you interact with - surprising them, amazing them and loving them. It is about attention to small things, about ‘running the extra mile' and about striving for perfection. Excellence comes from working with passion, out of love and in truth. Everything you do in your life is a reflection of yourself - stamp your work with excellence and success will follow. Say “no” to mediocrity - it is the enemy of excellence. Do not accept second best. Be excellent.

Quality
Everyone aspires to quality but very few are capable of delivering and sustaining it. Outstanding achievers strive for quality in all their endeavours, especially, to quote Henry Ford, "when no-one is looking." Striving for quality requires a mindset of inner motivation, not an external locus of control. Quality is a holistic concept that embodies all aspects of an organisation, from the humblest service to the highest strategic goals. Over the years, many quality management fads have come and gone, such as TQM, Batho Pele, quality and gone, such as TQM, Batho Pele, quality circles, ISO, etc. Whatever the method adopted by an organisation, at the heart is a profound belief and commitment to the pursuit of excellence by all its people. Quality is not something to be pursued occasionally by a few, but an activity that requires continuous reflection and improvement by all. Eat, drink, think, dream, live quality - and success will follow.

It inspires me to think that you may embark on a journey of self-actualisation. Even more inspiring is the thought that, once you achieve success, you may choose the path of serving humanity. May you awaken your potential, knowing that everything you need to succeed is within you.

- Dr Marko Saravanja I Regenesys