1. Be honest with yourself.
Do not deceive yourself. Deceiving yourself is another way of pretending that everything is alright. When you are not honest with yourself, you totally defeat your quest for improvement and bury your potential self-image under layers of illusion and deception.

You are like the gardener who pretends that there are no weeds in the garden as he busies himself planting new flowers. One day he looks up from his planting and realizes that, in spite of all his efforts, the weeds have consumed his garden. When you are not honest with yourself, you destroy your possibilities for growth and improvement. And, the weeds will consume your garden.

2. Develop your imagination.
Your imagination is the blueprint for your future reality. It is the first step in the creative process.

"Where there is no vision, the people perish; but (they) that keepeth the law, happy (are they.)"
-Proverbs 29:18

What is "the law" referred to in the scripture? It is the Universal Law of Thought and Manifestation.

If you can think it, you can do it. If you can visualize it, you can become it.

Through your imagination, nothing is impossible. Develop your imagination by reading stimulating material. Get involved with exciting, successful people who can expand your realm of experience. Meditate daily and engage in artistic endeavors. See more possibilities in every experience and every relationship.

Once your vision - your thoughts about yourself and the world - is firmly grounded in your imagination, it cannot fail to be realized.

Where your imagination leads, your reality will follow.

3. Be able to relax.
Relaxation is the key to stress reduction, and to mental and physical regeneration. Through relaxation you can communicate with your subconscious mind and tap into that well of universal knowledge, wisdom, energy, and understanding. Without the ability to regularly relax, you can, over time, become victim to accumulated stress. This accumulated stress can lower your energy level, impede your judgment, and actually cause physical illness. Simple tiredness can distract your efforts and change the outcomes you experience in your endeavors.

4. Have that winning feeling.
The winning feeling is a strong positive attitude of accomplishment. It is reflected in the way you walk, talk, and act. When you have that winning feeling, people notice it and are attracted to you. They become quite willing to aid and assist you on your path to accomplishment.

Everyone loves a winner.

5. Cultivate good habits.
Habits are actions or behavior patterns that become automatic over time, through frequent repetition and consistency. Good habits are those which induce positive cycles of good health, proper rest, a balanced diet, regular exercise, and right thinking. By developing good habits, you establish a harmonic relationship with all that s good for you.

"Sow an act and you will reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you will reap a destiny."
- G. D. Boardman

"The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken."
- Samuel Johnson

When you strip away all other excuses and explanations, where you are right now, whatever is going on in your life, positive or negative, is a direct result of your habits.

We make our habits, then our habits make us.

6. Aim to be happy.
Have a great sense of expectancy each day. Expect each day to be full of happiness. Experience each day from a perspective of happiness. Focus on the good and positive aspects of every moment. What you focus on, through faith, will happen. When you face each day with a great sense of anticipation and expectancy, you become magnetized for the object of your expectations.

Expect happiness and be happy.

7. Unmask.
A mask is a personality trait that you create and project to the world. Its purpose is to hide the real you. Masks are symbols of insecurity and self-doubt. They are often the result of someone else's expectations for you. When you wear a mask to create a facade to please someone else, it is generally at the expense of suppressing the real you.

Remove the mask of someone else's expectations and stop deceiving yourself. As long as the mask remains, you cannot get to the underlying circumstances that caused you to create it. Neither can you get to that part of yourself that you need to change to improve your self-image. The moment you remove the mask, you feel as though a great weight has been lifted. For the first time in a long time, you can see the person behind the mask and begin the Work of discovering the real you.

8. Have compassion.
You must be sensitive to the needs of others and be willing to give assistance. As you progress along your success journey, you can acquire a greater sensitivity and a greater responsibility to the plight and condition of others. This human sensitivity puts you in harmony with your Creator, and elevates the quality of your own being.

According to Genesis 1:28, we have dominion over every living thing on the earth. This godlike dominion implies that it is our duty to be sensitive to and respond to the needs of others. This does not just apply to human beings, but to all things which live upon the earth. So, you must have compassion for, and be sensitive to the plight and needs of all living things people, animals, plants, and the environment.

9. Grow from your mistakes.
No one has ever succeeded without making mistakes. If you are making mistakes, at least you know that you are trying. Mistakes are life-lessons in wisdom.

Often, you learn more from your mistakes and failures than from your successes. You determine what works in a particular situation by learning what does not work and then trying again. One who has never made a mistake has probably never made a discovery.

Let your mistakes, through intelligent analysis and corrective actions, become markers showing the way on on your journey to improve your life.

Nothing beats failure like success.

10. Acknowledge your weaknesses.
Any weakness or personal shortcoming that is not acknowledged cannot be overcome. Refusing to acknowledge your weaknesses causes rationalization and deception, and therefore perpetuates that very condition.

11. Be Yourself.
People who pretend to be someone or something other than themselves never discover who they really are. When you try to be someone else, you become separated from your true self. As long as you are separated from your true self, your energies are diluted and your personal magnetism is greatly diminished. When you are true to yourself, you are in harmony with yourself, with other people, and with the world around you.

12. Never stop growing.
Life is a constant orchestration of growth through adversity and challenge.

The moment you reject the growth principle of life, you accept the static principle of death. The only way to attain the good health, wealth, happiness, and prosperity you seek and deserve is to grow into these qualities and attributes. To maintain them, you must continue to grow in knowledge, understanding, and consciousness.

Improving and developing your self-image into a positive, most effective tool, is the best first step you can take on building the new you. It is upon your newly developed self-image that the foundation for the mansion of your dreams is built. If this foundation is based on doubt, fear, and negativity, your mansion cannot stand. But, if it is built on truth, courage, compassion, self-confidence, and faith, your mansion stands on solid ground, and it will stand forever.

© 2004 LifeSkill Institute, Inc.

Based on The Twelve Universal Laws of Success, Second Edition, Expanded, ISBN 0-9748362-1-4 a new book by Herbert Harris, available at Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, or through the LifeSkill Institute, Inc. Call (800) 570-4009 to order books. Get your FREE copy of "Twelve Affirmations to Live By" poster by E-mail to: lifeskill@earthlink.net

Brother Herbert Harris will be keeping the Black community updated on thoughts for success and how we can succeed in our lives. Visit regularly for new information that could help you overcome and make the best of your everyday experiences.

To subscribe to Harris' column join the Afromerica email list to receive new information as it is updated. Or E-mail H Harris at: lifeskill@earthlink.net

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