1. 10 Commandments
of Success according to OG
Mandino, 1923-1996
Raymond van Diemel
Chair:
Telematic Education
Military Academy
Faculty of Military Science
Stellenbosch University
raymond@ma2.sun.ac.za

2.  Attempt something so big, … it’s doomed
to failure, unless you give 100%


3.  Labour each day as if your life hung in the balance
 We were not created for a life of idleness
 Work is not our enemy, but our friend
 We need not love the work we do
 Even kings dream of other occupations
 No man who is careless with his hammer will ever build a palace
 There is no work so rude that you may not exalt it
 No work is so dull that you may not enliven it
 There is only one certain method of attaining success and that is
through hard work
 If you are unwilling to pay this price for distinction, be prepared for a
lifetime of mediocrity
 What you plant now, you will harvest later.
 Be grateful for your tasks and their demands

4. With patience you can control your
destiny
 The more enduring your patience, the more certain your reward
 There is no accomplishment that is not the result of patient working
 No road will be too long for you if you advance deliberately
 Avoid, every carriage that offers you a swift journey to wealth
 Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet
 With patience you can bear up under any adversity
 With patience you can control your destiny
 Realise that you cannot hurry success any more than a flower can
bloom before it season
 What pyramid was ever built but by a stone at a time
 To be ambitious without patience can destroy careers.
 Patience is power
 Employ patience to stiffen your spirit and sweeten your temper

5. Chart your course with care
 Without hard work you will never succeed
 No ship ever lifted anchor and set sail without a destination
 No army ever marched off to battle without a plan of victory
 It is impossible to advance properly without goals
 Life is a game with few players and many spectators
 Those who watch are the hordes who wander through life without
dreams
 Whatever your goals, fix them in your mind
 Give yourself every chance to succeed
 If you fail, fail trying
 Draw up your plans today
 Determine where you will be a year from today
 Plan what you need to do to get there – do it!

6. Prepare for darkness while travelling in the
sunlight
 Realise that no condition is permanent
 Always have faith that conditions will change
 Though your heart be heavy, your body bruished, and
your purse empty – hold on!
 Believe your period of misfortune must end
 Prepare for your future

7. Smile in the face of adversity until it surrender
 Realise that adversity is never a permanent condition
 Deal with adversity in one way – welcome them with open arms
 Realise that adversities always strengthens your nerves and sharpens your
skills
 Adversity is the rain in your life
 Adversity is also your greatest teacher
 Remind yourself that every failure is only a step towards success

8. Plans are only dreams without action
 Only actions gives to life its strength, its joy, its purpose
 The world will always determine your worth by the deeds
you do
 How will you proclaim your abilities if you are a spectator
and never a player
 Action is the balm that will heal any wounds
 Laugh at your doubts and move ahead
 The more you do, the more you can do
 The busier you are, the more leisure you will have
 Act or you will be acted upon

9. Sweep cobwebs from your mind before they
imprison you
 Never grieve over past failures
 Never let worry about tomorrow cast a shadow over
today
 What madness it is to be expecting evil before it comes
 Waste not a moment’s thought on that which may never
happen
 Concern yourself only with the present
 He who worries about calamities suffers them twice over

10. Lighten your load if you would reach your
destination
 We came into this world with nothing
 Through the years we have allowed ourselves to be
weighed down by so much heavy baggage
 Lighten your load, beginning today
 The greatest blessings of life are always within you, or
within your reach
 The greatest falsehood in the world is that money and
property can fill your life with joy.
 Simplify your life
 He is richest who is content with the least

11. Never forget that it is always later than you think
 Abide always with the thought that you are mortal
 Live with death as your companion but never fear it
 Many are so afraid to die that they never live
 Remember it is always later than you think
 Fasten this warning deep in your mind
 Remind yourself that you toady may be all you have
 Learn to live with death but never flee from it.

12. Never strive to be anything but yourself
 To be what you are and to become what you are capable
of becoming is the secret of a happy life
 Never waste any effort into elevating yourself into
something you are not, to please another
 You cannot choose your calling - it chooses you
 You have been blessed with special skills that are yours
alone
 You have no obligation to succeed
 You have only the obligation to be true to yourself
 Do the very best you can in the things you do best, and
you will know, in your soul, that you are the greatest
success in the world

13.  REACH FOR YOUR GOALS
Credit: OG Mandino,
The Greatest Salesman in the World.
Secrets for Success and Happiness