SECRETS OF SUCCESS

At this time of the year, I start thinking of all the high school and college graduates and what is going through their minds about what the future holds for them. I also think back to the spring of 1964 when I was a senior in high school and the spring of 1969 when I was graduating from college- way over 40 years ago! Yikes! I wrote a book two years ago called 5 Words And Then Some, How to Succeed in This Big Game We Call Life, and the target audience is the over 3 million young adults who graduate from high school, vocational school and get out of the military each year. This book provides a roadmap on how to succeed in life, in whatever endeavors you choose. It is full of Hope, Inspiration and practical advice. If you follow the advice in this book, you are just about guaranteed to succeed. I know! I applied most of what is in this book and I have had a wonderful life. If I can do it, you can do it. If you have kids, grandkids or nieces and nephews, the messages in this book apply to them. They also apply to anyone who is part way through life and things aren't going the way they thought. Here are a few highlights. If everyone who graduates applies these 5 Words, develops their own Vision, Values and Goals, watches what they eat, exercises, and gives back to the community, they are going to have a wonderful life. HARDWORK-- Nothing comes easy in this life. Thomas Edison said "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration." Always do more than asked at work or school and do more than is required. POSITIVE ATTITUDE-- More and more studies are showing that this is an attribute that many companies are looking for when hiring. I have had a positive attitude all my life and it has had amazing results. Charles Swindoll said and I will paraphrase here -"The longer I live the more I realize the importance of attitude. It is more important than education, money, the past, what other people think. Its more important than appearance or skill. It can make or break a company or an organization." ENTHUSIASM--Emerson said "Nothing great was ever accomplished without enthusiasm." Approach every thing you do in life with enthusiasm. You will be surprised by the results and this is another attribute that businesses look for. Like a positive attitude, this had a huge impact in my life, at work, at home and in the community. You will not believe what this can accomplish. PERSEVERANCE-- I often get asked in my talks what the most important of the 5 Words is. And I always say perseverance. We are all going to get knocked down in life. We have to keep getting up. And life is not always fair. Bad things happen to good people. But we have to keep pressing on. We have to be persistent and determined. And you know what? It usually all works out! FUN--This always gets a laugh in my talks. I tell the audience "that we are all going to be dead a long time. So lets have some fun along the way." Whether at work, at home, in the community, make it fun. I always had a saying at work that we are going to work hard, make the numbers, and have fun doing it. VISIONING-- I talked about this in detail in a prior blog, but if you take these 5 Words, develop your own Vision, Values and set of Goals, you are going to succeed in this big game we call life. For more details, you can always go to my website www.franlarkin.com, go to the 5 Words page, and you can watch my talk on this subject at the Newburyport library, which was filmed by the good folks at Port Media. And I will be glad to speak to any schools or community groups. Thanking you for your time, this time, until next time, Regards, FRAN