Here are five ways you can become as rich and successful as you want.

These are in no particular order. No one is greater or more important than another. Far too often when people see lists, they just concentrate on the top one or two items without paying much attention to the others. That is not the case here. These are all equally important.

These items are very easy to mold into your life. As you’ll see, it’s just a small perceptual change that needs to take place.

So, let’s get to them …

1. Do Something!

You have to do something if you want to be successful or rich. There’s no way around it. Action is key!

Unfortunately, many people still do not think that is the case. Instead of taking steady, deliberate action, they only fuss around with vision boards and things like that.

Let me make clear, vision boards (or goal boards) are fine! They serve a purpose. They remind us about why we are doing what we are doing:

A person may keep a picture of his family on his desk at work to remind himself of why he is toiling long hours.

A person may keep pictures of a fancy new car or house on a vision board to himself them to go further and work harder.

That’s how they work. They are inspirers and reminders. Nothing more nor less.

But the magic only happens when you get into action.

When you make bold moves.

When you forge a plan and put it into action.

Good people are known only by their deeds.

And so are rich and successful people.

You have to decide to do something.

2. Give Help Rather Than Waiting For It.

Most people want a hand — someone to pull them up.

They want to be “discovered” or they want someone to find them and give them what they need to succeed.

That rarely — if ever — happens.

What you should be looking for is someone you can help.

Someone you can make an effort for.

A sure path to riches is this: find a problem people are experiencing and solve it.

There you go; done in one.

Instead of looking for someone to help you, look for someone to help.

When you do that, you’ll find people coming to help you.

3. Be of Service.

Charles F. Haanel wrote in Week 23 of The Master Key System that the “law of success is service.”

3. We make money by making friends, and we enlarge our circle of friends by making money for them, by helping them, by being of service to them. The first law of success then is service, and this in turn is built on integrity and justice. The man who at least is not fair in his intention is simply ignorant; he has missed the fundamental law of all exchange; he is impossible; he will lose surely and certainly; he may not know it; he may think he is winning, but he is doomed to certain defeat. He cannot cheat the Infinite. The law of compensation will demand of him an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

People get rich not by taking from others nor by “lucking” into it.

They become rich and successful by serving others — by trading value for value.

When some people make the leap of starting their own business, they often say that they are “firing their boss.” Little do they know that instead of firing their one boss, they are actually going to be placing themselves in the service of many — hopefully! — bosses. Or, as they are colloquially called, their customers.

But that’s the name of the game. We serve each other. We become our “brother’s keeper” and find the best way we can serve our fellow man.

That is what business is all about.

4. Look Out for Other People Rather Than Yourself.

There are three Axioms for success. This is the third:

Successful people don’t worry about the things that they want; they look at what other people want and provide it — at a profit.

Read that again.

And again.

Get it bone-deep.

You were probably taught to only think about the things that you want: the new car, more money, a big promotion.

You were told to fix your mind on that and concentrate on that until you could think of nothing else.

How far has that gotten you?

You see, the trick to making this philosophy work for you is to stop focusing on the things you want.

Instead, look around you and see how you can deliver what other people want.

By supplying those wants and needs in a fair and efficient way, you can begin to get rich and successful.

Your goals — the new car, house, money — should be cast aside. They will serve as your motivators. Nothing more, nothing less.

But, to get the things you want, you have to provide the things other people want.

5. Look Beyond the Money.

Whether you’re looking at starting a business or you’re contemplating a career move, far too many people look at the money — at the dollar signs — rather than looking at what is really important, which is how what they are thinking of doing truly serves or benefits others.

This is a problem with beginning entrepreneurs. Rather than judge a business on its merits and feasibility, they look at or listen to the pie-in-the-sky promises of the person pitching the “opportunity.”

That makes them easy-pickin’s for scammers and bad business deals.

Look at the business.

Ask yourself questions about how a move will work.

Look at the whole picture.

Don’t just focus on the money; focus on the business and how that can generate revenue through serving others or supplying a want or need.

When you do that, then you’ll really begin to make bank.

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Here are a few more ways to become rich because rich people read great books.