By Alex Aubuchon

This list won’t teach you anything about yourself or give you some great enlightenment about how to be successful like some genie in a bottle. What this list will do is start to lead you down the right path towards being successful in the future. Now that we’ve got that straight, give this list a good look before you ignore what I said and start shopping at the Mercedes dealership

1. Success is a Mindset

Half the battle of being successful is believing you can be. No, just believing you’re going to succeed won’t make you succeed, but the power of positive thinking should not be overlooked. Success often requires action and having a glass half-full mentality in all that you do will better serve you to find success in the future.

2. Hard Work Never Hurt Anybody

I’m sure on some occasions hard work has hurt someone but you get the gist. Some people may say that you didn’t work hard for your success, that you just got lucky. Take that as a compliment because luck is the residue of hard work. People who are successful aren’t afraid of hard work. In fact, successful people are molded into who they are by the work they do. Fruit for thought.

3. Plan Ahead

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Even so, I can think of many occasions where I’ve gone into a situation blind without a plan and it was a complete train wreck. Although all plans may not be successful, taking the time to think out a situation and make a plan will make you more prepared prepared to face whatever is coming your way.

4. The Buck Stops Here

President Harry Truman kept a sign on his desk with those words. They mean the nonsense stops here. When a situation is brought to you and you don’t feel like dealing with it it would be easy to just pass the buck on to the next guy but that’s not you. When a problem arises you are the first one to solve it. Problems start elsewhere but they end with you.

5. Trust and Honesty

Trust and Honesty are your two most powerful weapons on your way to success. Now I know what you’re thinking and you’d be right, there are plenty of dishonest and untrustworthy people in the world who are pretty damn successful. Although that is true, your word is your good name. What good is success if your good name is tarnished? No one likes you and you can’t share your success with anyone because you stabbed them all in the back. You’re going to be one lonesome millionaire, bah humbug!

6. Never Stop Learning

It doesn’t matter if your IQ is two or 200, always make the effort to expand your knowledge. The more you know the further in life you’ll go. Pretty creative right? It doesn’t just roll off the tongue well. Its words carry great merit with them. If you don’t keep learning you’ll remain stagnant.

7. Network Network Network

The most dependent variable of success that you can control is who you know. If you’ve ever graduated from college and started looking for a job someone has told you before to reach out to people you know because it’s all about who you know and how you know them. Thank whoever told you that, they were right. The connections you make in your life will have a big influence on the type of person you become and lifestyle you live. Make new acquaintances everywhere you go but be careful who you choose to associate with. You are the embodiment of the company you keep.