Today, I came across a book, written by Herbert W Armstrong (1892 -1986), founder of The Worldwide Church of God, entitled The 7 Laws of Success. It is quite a short book; nothing wrong with that in my opinion. I enjoyed reading it and thought you might too.
Unable to determine whether or not the book is now in the public domain - despite its age, I would not assume this to be the case - I decided not to upload it to our main site. However, the book is available free on the internet and so I have provided a download link at the bottom if you would like to read the full text for yourself.
That said, here are the 7 laws of Success, taken from the book, together with my thoughts on each of them:
Law 1 - Fix the Right Goal
“The first law of success, I repeat, is to fix the RIGHT goal. Not any goal. One could set a goal in which he had little or no interests and drift into inaction.”
To set the right goal requires a proper understanding of what success actually is and, later in the book, the author links in this law with law #7 – having contact with and guidance from God. To set the right goal involves understanding your life-purpose, and that is God given.
Law 2 - Preparation
“The second step toward successfully accomplishing that goal is to LEARN THE WAY - to acquire the additional education, training, experience, to give you the know-how to achieve your goal.”
At my workshops, when I encourage people to think about what they really want to achieve, if they have the courage to do it properly, they will often not know how to achieve their goal. I love it when that happens – it shows they are thinking the right way. A goal that is worthy of a life commitment will certainly entail you transforming yourself. You will need to learn a whole bunch of new things – exciting stuff though.
Law 3 – Good Health
“And so man IS just what he eats. Some of the most famous physicians and surgeons have said that 90% to 95% of all sickness and disease comes from faulty diet!”
When I was younger, I would eat just about anything (well, except tripe ;)) but, these days, I have come to realise that just because you can eat something does not mean that you should. This law is wider than just diet; it encompasses doing everything you need to do in order to ensure you remain fit and healthy.
Law 4 - Drive!
“Success is accomplishment. It is DOING. They say any old dead fish can float downstream, but it takes a live one to swim up. An inactive person will not accomplish. Accomplishment is DOING.”
In order to achieve anything we must stay in motion, we must act. Without action, we are not creating the cause from which the desired effects will flow. If there is one thing that has made the Law of Attraction so appealing at the present time, it is the suggestion that you can apparently materialise something with the power of your mind and without the effort of your hands. This is just nonsense and a complete misunderstanding of what the Law of Attraction is all about.
Law 5 - Resourcefulness
“To succeed, you need to cultivate the ability, and the habit, of remaining unexcited, yet leaping to action on high tension, reaching the right decision, then acting on it!”
There are bound to be difficulties, or problems, along the way. We need to anticipate them and deal with them by staying calm and making the right decisions. When problems arise, as they inevitably will, you just need to take stock of the situation, be clear about what you are trying to achieve, examine the available options and then make the decision that is the best fit i.e. the one that is in line with your objectives.
Law 6 - Perseverance
“Yes, nine in ten … come to the place where they appear to be totally defeated! … They give up and quit, when just a little more determined hanging on, just a little more faith and perseverance - just a little more STICK-TO-IT-IVENESS would have turned apparent certain failure into glorious success.”
If there is one thing that robs people of success on the internet, it is the thought that success can come quickly and easily (no doubt popularised by the many make-money sites that are making such ridiculous claims). When it doesn’t, people tend to think they must be doing something wrong. They start questioning their approach and their systems and, in a lot of cases, they give up. To say that’s what separates winners from losers may sound trite, but it is nevertheless true.
Law 7 – God’s Guidance
“The Overlooked SEVENTH Law is having contact with, and the guidance and continuous help of GOD! The ‘successful’ of this world applied six of the success laws. But they left GOD out of the picture, and the happiness of real success out of their lives.”
The book finishes by making the point that this law changes the others. You can have success without conforming to law #7, but perhaps you might miss out on true happiness. When you are operating in harmony with God’s purpose for your life, you will be quite naturally setting the right goal (law #1) for example. Of course, it brings up the question: does God have a purpose for you? You can find my answer to that in my own book The 7 Keys to Success, and here is the full text of The 7 Laws of Success.
Quotations above are taken from the book The 7 Laws of Success by Herbert W Armstrong.
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It’s an insightful and inspiring write up,Will. A mini masterpiece, I think. 🙂
@Lauren, why not look beyond the writer’s reputation and stomach that valuable piece of literature? Or, no good thing can come out of Nazareth?
This comment is for Lauren. I’m sorry that you are so bitter, but Herbert Armstrong was a true man of God and followed God to the best of his ability. I believe that you need help with your anger and deserve to get well. Good luck.
thanks will edwards , evr since i started recieving your newsletter , i feel inspired ,and iwant you to know this particular article forms the foundation of my current achivements
god bless you and gretings from Kenya ,east africa
Very interesting Lauren. Thanks for posting. I have never come across him or his ‘church’ before but I did enjoy the book. Like you, I have no time for so-called evangelists who corrupt the ‘church’ and try to use it for their own ends.
Will 🙂
Sorry, Will, I can’t stomach anything that man came up with. His so-called Worldwide Church of God was his personal way of making money from people who could least afford it. He, himself, lived in a mansion on Millionaire’s Row in Pasadena, CA. He exhorted his “followers” to send their last dime to him so they could be “saved” in the End Times. My uncle was a top evangelist in his church and ended up leaving because of the hypocrisy and mis-interpretations of the Bible and couldn’t do it anymore even for the money. I could go on about what happened personally in my own family, but I’ll leave it at that. That church as it is now is nothing like what he ran. And succeeding? He got into the “religion business” because he failed at everything else. I am so glad my father found out the facts and the truth and so helped me look beyond the rules and regulations of this hypocrite.