The secrets of their success...

Found this in the Fast Company article “The secrets of their success – And yours” and liked it a lot.

Though my opinion of what success is and what its importance is has been shaped up quite a bit after reading Success Vs Joy, and I may not pay as much importance to it now as I did before, I pass on these nuggets as they nevertheless hold good whether you are pursuing success or not. Actually, come to think of it, the fact is that John Mackey and Warren Bennis may have said this in response to the question what is success? But these are, as far as I am concerned, related to joy. The truth perhaps is that the people who’re considered successful by society and have been able to sustain the perception for long are actually those who’ve focused somewhere else. On what gives them joy! Right, Sethi? :)

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Response from John Mackey, Founder and CEO, Whole Foods Market, Austin, Texas, www.wholefoods.com to the question, what is success? :

A few years ago someone asked me to write down what success meant to me and the principles I followed to achieve it. My answer then is still how I feel. Here's what I wrote:

-I create my own reality through my thoughts and emotions.
-I am never a victim of anyone else.
-I follow my heart in all circumstances.
-Life is an adventure. Seize the day!
-When confronted with alternatives I always choose the one that creates the most excitement within me.
-I do what I'm afraid to do until it doesn't scare me anymore.
-I would rather be happy than right.
-Love is the only reality. Everything else is merely a dream or illusion.
-Forgiveness is the key to healing all relationships, and leads to happiness.
-Always tell the truth.
-Giving and receiving are one and the same.
-I choose to be healthy.

Whole Foods Market (1996 revenues: $900 million) is the country's largest natural-foods grocer. It was founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas. It now has 74 stores in 17 states.

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Another section (in the same article) which resonates with me is this extract from Warren Bennis’s response to the same question - what is success?

1.       Do you know the difference between what you want and what you're good at?

2.       Do you know what drives you and what gives you satisfaction?

3.       Do you know what your values and priorities are, what your organization's values and priorities are, and can you identify the differences between the two?

4.       Having measured the differences between what you want and what you're able to do, between what drives you and what satisfies you, and between your values and those of your organization -- are you able to overcome those differences?