The Pyramid of Success

The Pyramid of Success outlines the required stages that are fundamental to achieving success. This means that you can focus on the top all you want, but it's better to just focus on the stage that is in front of you.

Conception

"What the mind can conceive and believe, is what the mind can achieve."

- Napoleon Hill

The Pyramid of Success starts with an idea that is born in the mind. It is though our perception and awareness that new ideas and initiatives can lead us to unknown area's of our life. Because what we can conceive we might be able to believe.

Confidence

To get to the level of Confidence you need to have belief in your ability. Put differently, it's the competence to handle a situation. Nathaniel Branden calls this the concept of self-esteem:

“Self-esteem is the disposition to experience oneself as being competent to cope with the basic challenges of life and of being worthy of happiness. It is confidence in the efficacy of our mind, in our ability to think. By extension, it is confidence in our ability to learn, make appropriate choices and decisions, and respond effectively to change. It is also the experience that success, achievement, fulfillment – happiness – are right and natural for us. The survival-value of such confidence is obvious; so is the danger when it is missing.”

- Nathaniel Brendan

Through our confidence, there is trust that we will finish the job. With this type of confidence it becomes possible to act towards life rather than away from it. Facing challenges instead of waving them off.

However, it doesn't mean that we think we can already achieve everything. It simply means we're willing to trust ourselves enough that we can learn what we need along the way.

Concentration

To achieve concentration we need pure awareness. Because it is our conscious mind that has to focus on the initiative in order to make it a success.

Stated otherwise, concentration produces the willpower to achieve and act on our thoughts and goals. It also gives us the opportunity to reflect and improve over time.

Consistency

Concentration is not enough in itself though. To get to the level of Consistency we need action to set things in motion. But only acting once isn't enough either. We need to follow a pattern, because the cumulative build-up of actions is what will become significant.

“A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence.”

- James N. Watkins

Commitment

When we are consistently investing in goals we develop aspiration. This aspiration take the shape of a dream or an idea we want to pursue and make a reality. From this a growing sense of commitment will start to appear.

The more commitment we have for something, we more we place our values in line with this commitment. It's like a pledge, promising to yourself to see things through, to stay true to your resolve.

In other words, the dedication that springs from commitment is what allows you to cultivate an identity around your personal values and objectives.

Character

When all these fundamental elements are combined, the commitment becomes accepted as part of our character. This is the moment that we reach the top of the Pyramid of Success. Here, thoughts, words and actions are synchronized to push you towards success.

However, you will still fail. You will still learn:

“You learn more from failure than from success. Don’t let it stop you. Failure builds character.”

And that's what this crazy life is. A mix of aspiration, fear, failure and success. But once you go through this process, alignment will be created. Over time, success will be achieved.

But don't believe that it should only be hard work. There also has to be joy in the process of growth, which brings me to the last element of Success.

Capacity

In each step of our life, we might feel the situation can become too much. And even though it's impossible to always have a clear head, life should be there to be lived by you.

So enjoy the adventure and feel the capacity to cherish each moment. By seeing that every step along the journey is a necessary one to climb the Pyramid of Success.