The Pyramid of Success

The Pyramid of Success

1. Industriousness 

"There is no substitute for work. Worthwhile results come from hard work and careful planning."

Reflection: To me by "Industriousness" he means to be a hard worker. If you want something to happen in life, you must put in the effort to get the results you want. If you just sit there and wait for it to come to you, you will never see it. Hard workers are the only people that get results and gain progress. An example can be like being good at basketball. You can't expect to be a great player by simply showing up to practice. One must put all of their effort to be better than the day before. The hard worker will come to practice before everyone else and stay there longer than anyone else. On the other hand, the one who just goes to practice and does the basic drills, will just stay at a certain peek of their ability. This is why the person just showing up should be industrious and work to their full potential. That being said, this is a great way to build your success. By being a hard worker, you will receive what you put in. 

2. Enthusiasm
"It is the engine that powers all blocks of the Pyramid. It is why I chose Industriousness and Enthusiasm as the cornerstones of my Pyramid of Success. It is where everything begins."

Reflection: These two blocks are in the bottom corners for a reason. They are the ones that cause the rest of the pyramid to properly function. When there is Enthusiasm and Industriousness, there will be results you want to see. If one doesn't have enthusiasm, they will not be wanting to proceed with their pathway to success. On the other hand, when there is enthusiasm, one will be more determined to accomplish their goals and become an overall more successful person. An example of having and not having enthusiasm can be in a math class. If there is a student who does not complain and does his work with enthusiasm, he/she will pass the class and learn all the material. That being said, the one student who doesn't have enthusiasm will not go to class everyday and won't bother to learn the material needed to pass the class. This will lead him/her to most likely fail the class and have to retake. Enthusiasm will benefit everyone that exercises that skill because it will give you a mindset that nothing can hold you back. This skill, when used, will give you leverage to using other skills that will also help you become a more successful person. If not used, your likeliness of success will become more slim and more difficult to achieve your goals.



3. Friendship
"Comes from mutual esteem, respect and devotion. Like marriage it must not be taken for granted but requires a joint effort."

Reflection: Having friends and making new friendships can really boost your chance to become a more successful person. Having many friends can help you establish more networks, be more confident and receive help to help you improve. An example of having friends can help you become successful can be like in college. If you talk to more friends and make relationships with professors, you will open up more networks. These networks can help you get things you need to become more successful. If you are a smart student and start talking to your professor, you can possibly be asked to help him with his studies. This can help you because by you helping him, he can recommend you to his company or one of his friends company. This network helped you get a job before you probably graduated college and earn a better salary. Also, having good friends can help you improve yourself as well. People who choose to have friends that smoke and drink will eventually be persuaded to do likewise. On the other hand, hanging around with friends that are CTR people, do good in school and are polite, will motivate you to do what they do and help you be a better person. This is how having friendships can either hurt your success path or help you achieve more goals and make you a more successful person.

4. Loyalty
"To yourself and to all those depending upon you. Keep your self-respect."

Reflection: I think that this "brick" plays a huge role in keeping the pyramid in a good structure. If you practice all of the other "bricks" and aren't loyal, the whole process will become a waste. This can also connect well with the 3rd block which was friendship. Being loyal to your friends and others will increase your relationships and create a stronger bond. An example of loyalty can also be being loyal to yourself. What I mean by this is that one can be loyal to themselves by not taking any enhancement drugs to make them an overall better athlete. If you are loyal to yourself to not take any drugs to make yourself improve better, you will not fear of being caught and know that you put out the best you can and that is what matters. On the other hand, if someone isn't loyal to themselves, they can hurt their overall health and careers. If not loyal and caught taking drugs to improve, you can be banned from team or sport in general. That being said, the result can also damage your health negatively over a period of time. Also another example can be being loyal to your parents. If they tell you not to do drugs, do good in school, behave, etc., it will not make you a good person because you do what they ask, all they ask from you is things that will benefit your whole life and future in the best way possible.

5. Cooperation
"With all levels of your co-workers. Listen if you want to be heard. Be interested in finding the best way, not in having your own way."

Reflection: In general he is saying to listen first before you making comments so you can exercise the cooperation block and understand how to accept ideas or opinions from others. It is important to work together because you can get a bigger view of the topic you both are working on. You can't cooperate with others if you don't sit back and listen. This is because if you don't practice that, you will be used to everything going your way and not worrying about other peoples part in the discussion. An example of cooperation can be like working on IDP's. In these projects you work as a team to come up with ideas to prevent, control, help with a disease or illness. If the whole team allows each person to share their opinion about the illness or disease then your whole project will benefit because you can get more ideas that go with your part or even might found out that you might had been wrong on some topic and correct yourself. On the other hand, if a group only hears the "smart" persons idea or opinion and don't allow others to share then the group will not expand in theories and have a less effective presentation. This is why there is a saying that "two heads are better than one." This saying can relate to cooperation because it simply states how two heads, which can be two people working together, is more effective if you just do something on your own. This help you bring success to your life and anything you use cooperation in. This is my take on cooperation and how it can help you be successful and make the rest of the pyramid of success work together.

6. Ambition
(For Noble Goals)

Reflection: Having ambition is the feeling of want to achieve something you desire. It's similar to working hard. An example can be like a person wanting to become a model. If that person has that ambition, they will do anything they can to become a model. They will take photos of themselves to show their work and commitment. On the other hand, someone who wants to be a model but isn't ambitious will likely stay home and wait for a sponsor to come to them. This is bad because by not putting yourself out there and showing your talents, reduces the chances of succeeding. This is why having ambition puts you ahead of others in the success path and motivates you to do more. Also having ambition makes you say "I can do it" instead of "I can't do it." This is crucial because if you have a negative mindset, you are holding yourself back from your full potential and opportunities. By practicing this block you will become more successful. Being ambitious motivates you to do more than the average person resulting in standing out and being successful.

8. Alertness
"Be observing constantly. Stay open-minded. Be eager to learn and improve."

Reflection: Alertness is a way of being alert. In other words it means that you always have to be open minded and to think outside the box. Think ahead of others and yourself. For example, in school you have to be alert that its not the time to be fooling around once you start going into your sophomore year because if you just don't care then you won t be having an easy future you're going to have to be struggling more than what you already have been struggling. Another example is that in some situations you have to be alert of some of the consequences you can get if you don't pay attention. If you are in a class and work hard and pay attention to the teacher, you will pass the class and not have to rely on others to cheat. On the other hand, if you don't pay attention,  you will have to cheat your way in order to pass. This is important because this reflects the amount of work you put in and how much you cared and payed attention. This block is important for the others to work together. If you don't practice this block you will not be able to be successful. This is what alertness means to me and how to use this skill to become successful.

9. Initiative 
"Cultivate the ability to make decisions and think alone. Do not be afraid of failure, but learn from it."
Reflection: Being initiative comes from yourself and is a way to be self-motivated. When you want something, you have to have the initiative to go out and work for it. This can be a leadership skill because not everyone has the initiative to do what they want. An example of being initiative can be like getting a job. If someone has the initiative to work, they will always be filling out applications and going to interviews. On the other hand, if they don't have the initiative to go out, they will be stuck with wanting a job. The person who went out and was initiative will find a job and more opportunities. This is a great block to the pyramid of success because it can relate to all blocks. For example, one block is about skill. You cannot just buy skill, it has to be developed over a period of time. Being initiative makes you go out and try new things, thus giving you more skills than what you had before. This is what I think being initiative means and how it can be in the pyramid of success.

11. Sincerity 

(Keeps Friends)

Reflection: Being sincere allows to to make more friends and have more people to trust you. This is important because when people trust you, they will open themselves more to you and be there when you need them. That being said, it also builds true friendships because they see that you are trustworthy and honest. An example of this can be like being honest with your friends. If a friends asks you to pick them up at 9 and you don't even show up, it shows that you lack sincerity. This can negatively impact you because that friends will see that you don't keep your word and are not trustworthy nor honest. If you show up 30 minutes before, you show that you are sincere and are true to your word. This block also benefits your success because having those true friends will give you  the hand you can always trust there when you need it the most. If you don't have friends that are sincere, you will always be let down when you need them to help you. This block also works well with others because they will all work together if they have trust in each other. Being sincere can't be given right away, you have to make decisions and stick to them as a way of exercising that skill. This is my view on sincerity and how I think it can benefit your success.

12. Adaptability 

(To any situation) 

Reflection: What this means to me is that you have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. In other words, you have to accept changes and live by them. If you do not live by the changes and live how you want it to be, you will be stuck in you "own" world. An example of this can be like your boss making you do another big assignment every week. This change might not sound good to you and you might not want to do it. But if you adapt to this change and work with it rather than against, you can use it for your advantage. One advantage of this can be that you might become more skilled at that subject. Doing more work allows you to deeply understand the concept and understand how it functions. On the other hand, if you don't adjust to this change, you can end up losing your job. Your boss will see that you are not motivated and aren't as capable as he thought you might be. This is one example of adapting to something new. You can use any change to your advantage rather than just complaining about things you don't want to do. 

13. Condition 

"Mental-Moral-Physical. Rest, exercise and diet must be considered. Moderation bust be practiced. Dissipation must be eliminated."

Reflection: There are 3 parts of you that you can condition daily: Mental, Moral and Physical. All these must be conditioned because they all play roles to help one-another. One way to exercise mental well-being can be like not thinking inappropriately or having negative thoughts. This can negatively effect your mental health because it will cause you to be depressed and have a low self-esteem. You can have a positive view on things to have a healthy mental condition. A way to exercise your moral health can be to have good and positive moral values. These can consist of the category:honest, honorable, kind, trustworthy, etc. Practicing these will help you build and have a healthy moral condition. Lastly, having a good physical health contributes to all of the other 2 values. If you do not have a healthy physical body, then you won't be working at your peak. To maintain a healthy condition you can exercise daily and not eat unhealthy and junk foods. Instead of having a bag of chips you can replace it for an apple or any other healthy foods. All these 3 values, if exercised and use correctly, will give you an advantage to being the best you can and becoming successful.

14. Skill 

"A knowledge of and the ability to properly and quickly execute the fundamentals. Be prepared and cover every little detail."

Reflection: Having skills plays a huge role in all of the blocks in the pyramid. Skill isn't always something you were born with but can be something you develop over time. When you have good skills, you will be more productive. An example of developing skills can be like being a mechanic. You will not start off by fixing everything about cars. Over time with working with them, you will become more skillful and be able to fix more things. Also, skills are important to the blocks because without skills, you will not be able to accomplish any goals you are trying to achieve. Skills can sometimes be natural to someone but they can still improve it by working more on it. When someone isn't skillful and does not attempt to improve on it, they will not accomplish any progress. Another example of progressing in your life can be like our daily goal journal. Those are skills we are developing so we can plan out our desired future. This will help us become successful because we are using planning skills to know what we need to accomplish to achieve our dream goals and personal goals. This will motivate us to achieve more goals when we mark a check beside our accomplished goal.

15. Team Spirit

"A genuine consideration for others. An eagerness to sacrifice personal interests of glory for the welfare of all."

Reflection: Team spirit takes an important role in the pyramid of success. When you have team spirit, you learn how to not be greedy. This is beneficial because when you are greedy, not many people trust you and it can hurt you in the long run. There is a saying "2 heads are better than 1." This can relate to this block because it refers that working with 2 people is better than working on yourself. This will help you develop team spirit and make you have a stronger outcome. When you work at something with a good team and all have good team spirit, you all will have a stronger result. An example can be like IDP presentations we have at our school. When we do these presentations we are required to have every member to share out their ideas and opinions. This helps us to develop a good team spirit and have a well-developed team. This helped us out because it gave us all a bigger view with our teams ideas. If we hadn't worked together, we would have only been limited to certain ideas and a less effective result. 

16. Honesty 

"Honesty is the best policy."

Reflection: Honesty takes a good character to be done. In other words, when you are honest, you will be a good person. Being honest to yourself and others will help you with personal and financial success. When you are honest with others, they will see that and be honest with you. This is crucial because that will help strengthen relationships and also make new bonds with others. An example of this can be like being honest in the workforce. If you aren't honest and don't come in on time everyday, you are being dishonest to your boss. If you are caught, your boss will not have trust in you and this may lead to less privileges and even up to losing your job. On the other hand, if there is something valuable and you are honest to yourself that you won't steal it, your boss will see that you are honest and trustworthy. You can then be trusted more than others allowing you to get promoted to other job levels. Being honest is just you keeping your word to something and going by it no matter what. Honesty is earned by you showing you can keep that word to others or yourself. This is how I feel honesty makes an impact on your success life. 

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17. Resoucefulness 

"If you have a dream, if you have somehting you've always wanted to do, look within yourself because that is where resourcefulness resides; and go for it."

Reflection: Being a resourceful person will allow you to become independent and not rely on others to become more successful. When you are resourceful, you manage your time and resources wisely. If you are not resouceful, you will have no direct directon and start to navigate th ewrong way while wasting time and items. My definition for this block is to have the  ability to find fast and smart ways to achieve and overcome obsiticles. An example of this can be like being smart and thinking a problem through. For example, if theres a math problem you can't solve, you want to be able to go back to your notes and overcome the probelm. On the other hand, if you are not resourceful, you will skip the problem and never understnad how to solve them. When you do this you will overcome obsticles and learn how to overcome a difficult task. If you don't, you will always get stuck overcoming obsticles and give up. This hurts your future success becuase it prevent you from learning outcomes to challenges. This is how I see how the block resourcefulness can help you be a more successful person.

18. Poise 

"Just being yourself. Being at ease in any situation."

Reflection: Being poise allows you to be at a calm state and to no be stressed. When you are stressed or not yourself, you can hurt your success path. This is because if you are not yourself, you will pretnend to be something or someone else and thus resulting in poor effort that will lead to oyu being unsuccessful. Being poise will help you be successful because you are being yourself and you are being true. An exampl of being poise can be a singer. If there is a singer going to a professional career and he tries to be as another singer, he won't go far. In his case, he should sing with his own style and be different to increase his success level. This is because if you aren't yourself at that moment, you will not sing at your full potential or not show all your talents due to you trying to be like another singer. Being yourself allows you to have your own special character.

19. Confidence 

"Throughought preparation breeds confidence."

Reflection: When you are a confident person, you will most likely complete more tasks than someone who lacks confidence. This block allows you to strive for your goals with a strong feeling of self-assurance. When you lack confidence, you will not have to courage to open more doors of opportunitites. Confidence is something that has to be worked on over a period of time. Building this skill will help you become successful because you will start to do things you probably thought you could not accomplish before. An example of this can be like trying out for a sport you like. Maybe you have told yourself that "you can't" make the team and not have the confidence to try. When you have confidence you will then start to tell yourself "I can't" and start to try to open opportunities for yourself. This skill will help you in the future because it will allow you to not be scared to take risks. When you take risks, you learn from them and improve from them. People who are not risk takers will lack learning from their experiences and growing. They hold themselves back and stay in the same place they were in. This is what I think of the block confidence and how you can use it to become a more successful person.

20. Reliability 

(Creates Respect)

Reflection: This block can help you become an overall successful person. Being a reliable person allows you to build trust between your relationships. This is important because these people you have relationships with will have more respect for you and you for them. An example of being reliable can be as simple as having your word. When you tell someone you are going to do somehting and you do it, you become reliable to them. This will also build respect because they know they can trust your word. On the other hand, if you are not keeping your word you are unreliable. This can hurt their respect for you because they know they can't trust you. If your boss sees that you are a reliable person, they will have more respect for you as a person and it can help in your work-force. This block plays a huge roll in the pyramid of success. This is my opinion towards this block and how I think you can use it to become an overall more successful person. It also connects to other blocks in the pyramid of success. 

21. Fight

(Determined Effort)

Reflection: This block can help you achieve your goals and goals you thought you could not accomplish. When you fight through your problems, you will be a stronger person and not be affraid to keep pushing on. This is important becuase it will make you an overall more successful person and an achiever. An example of a fighter can be like when someone keeps challenging themselves to hard math problems. There can be a class where the students are given hard questoins that can't be solved easily and many will give up. There will be that fighter who will work hard to learn to solve those problems and much more. This shows that they will work hard to overcome their obsticles and future ones as well. This block is one of the most important ones to me because if you can be a fighter and keep pushing on, you will struggle to follow up with the other blocks. This is how I feel about the "Fight" block and how it can be used to become a more successful person. On the other hand you can take th easy way out and just give up. Many people do this once something gets hard. This impacts their success because they will not know how to push themselves to their full potential.

22. Competitive Greatness 

"Be at your best when your best is needed. Enjoyment of a difficult challenge."

Reflection: In my own words competitive greatness overall just means to be at your best during every challenge. By doing this you can improve as a person and your success career. An example of competitive greatness can be like a hard soccer match. If you give it your best and so do your teammates, you all will have a good time. The score will not matter because you all know yo udid the best you can. On the other hand, if you think its too hard you might just not even bother to try. This will have a negative impact on you because you will not be satisfied on how you played. The score does not matter at the end of the day. As long as you put your best and did whatever you could, you are a winner. This block helps your success career because it will guide you on how to be at your best in your work-force. By not complaining and taking challenges at work, you will surpass others and get where oyu want to be. This is how I see this block helping you to become a more successful person. This block can also connect to other blocks because if you don't continue being competitive, you will not surpass your goals.

23. Integrity 

(Purity of Intention)

Reflection: In my own words intergrity means a characteristic of being honest and having good morals. You can have good morals such as being polite, honorable, trustworthy and more. This block can help you become successful because it will train you to be a overall good person and have a CTR pathway. An example of having integrity can be like doing the right thing at any time no matter even if nobody is watching you. This can be like returning money that you have found. It might be easy for you to take it and keep it without anyone knowing. But deep down you will feel regret and you can have integrity by returning it to it's owner. On the other hand, the person who keeps the money will continue to be dishonest and do CTW choices. This will bring you to an unsuccessful life because you will get comfortable to make bad decisions and expect to get away with them. This is how I see the integrity block and how it can help you become a more successful person or the opposite. It can also apply to the rest of the pyramid of success becuase hvaing good morals will make you do things honestly.

24. Faith 

(Believe and Achieve. Positive Belief)

Reflection: Faith in other words is to have confidence or trust in something. When you have faith in something it is because you can trust it. An example of having faith can be like believeing in God. Nobody makes you believe in God but it is faith that makes you believe. Having faith can bring good success in your life. This is becasue you are having the power to trust something without you double-thinking about it. When people have faith in you, they trust you and go by your word. This is importnant because this will open new doors to opportunities. This can allow you to expand with your career and progress with your success path. On the other hand, if people don't have faith in you, you will not be able to expand and limit your success pathway. People who are not trusted don't get the same opportunites compared to those who are. This is how I see faith helping you become more successful. 

25. Patience 

(Good things take time)

Refleciton: This block is very important because overall, all these blocks need time for them to help you become successful. You cannot expect to try one of these skills and to become more successful the next day. When you start to use these skills, they have to be exercised over a period of time. Some people can take years or less to even notice a sign of change. When yo ustart to see change, you will be motivated to keep on exercising these habits. But all the progress can be lost with just not exercising all of them or even not giving it your best.