Laying the Foundation by Zig Ziglar

There are six  characteristics that comprise the foundation stones of your life and your  success.

The six characteristics are

1. honesty,
2. character,
3. faith,
4. integrity, 
5. love, and
6. loyalty.

All of these foundation stones are necessary to create a  Wheel of Life that is balanced and will produce the kind of success I’ve  described. In my eighty-five years of living I have learned that people who compromise  any of these principles usually end up with only a beggar’s portion of what  life offers them. I’ve seen people acquire money through dishonesty and deceit,  but their friends are few and they lack true peace of mind. The business professional  who alienates his family in his climb to the top is not a success. People who  have no faith in something greater than themselves can only rely on themselves in  times of great difficulty. The longer I live and the more successful people I  meet, the more convinced I become that these foundation stones are the most  critical success weapons you have in your arsenal.

Why are these foundation  stones so important to your success? Well, I’m glad you asked, because I’m going  to tell you! A human being goes through life thinking and doing. Then they  usually do what they think about most of the time. I want to remind you that  you were born to win. I also want to remind you that you are what you are and  where you are because of what’s gone into your mind, but you can change what  you are and where you are by changing what goes into your mind. The reason this  is so is because you generally do what you think. Your thinking drives your  choices. Choices determine the action you take, and action produces the results  of your life. You can only think in ways consistent with the information you have  in your mind. So to change what you do, you have to change the way you think,  and to think differently, you need to change what goes into your mind.

Who we are is determined  by the foundation stones of honesty, character, faith, integrity, love, and  loyalty. The six foundational stones essentially provide the raw material for  all your thinking. As such, they become the core characteristics of what you are,  do, and have, which ultimately determines the results you get in life. These  stones form your code for success or failure because your thinking and your actions  must be consistent with the characteristics of the foundation you build.

I wish it were possible  for me to introduce you to the many personable, persuasive, talented—even  brilliant—people I have met in my travels who are generally just one step in  front of the bill collector and sometimes just two steps ahead of the law. They  are always looking for a “deal” and the “fast buck.” They never build very much  or very high, because they have no foundation to build on. Others don’t realize  that the real opportunity for success lies within the person and not in the job;  that you can best get to the top by getting to the bottom of things and then  climbing the stairs of success, one at a time. Success and happiness are not  matters of chance but choice. The foundation stones provide the basis for making  the right choices.