“Your success in life depends on you more than any other external factors.” 

~ Lailah Gifty Akita

By Paul Waugh, Head Mentor, Lighthouse International

Welcome to the first instalment of our 10 Fundamental Steps of Effectiveness Series. It includes the discovery and application of correct principles.

Based on our research and development over the last 17 years, these are some of the problems people shared with us that were preventing them from being successful, perhaps you can relate to some of them…

  • “I just don’t see myself succeeding… I mean why me? There are loads of people out there with a much better education than me and millions of them have failed or are failing. I feel life is just a lottery I’m not sure I want to encounter. I want to succeed and do my best, but I feel much safer in my little job, at least I know I’m going to get paid at the end of the month.”
  • “I wish I had more courage to venture out, but I just don’t. I just don’t have the will power either. I start something, but rarely finish what I start.. I can hardly get through the first chapter of a book. There are just so many demands on me and I feel overwhelmed to be honest! Why does life have to be this hard? I guess I just don’t trust myself to follow through when it really, really gets hard so I either don’t start or stop before it does!!”
  • “I have pretty much given up on my dreams.. I once had dreams, but… not anymore… I guess that if I don’t have dreams then I won’t be disappointed. I have my expectations really low now, but I find that is easier on me.”
  • “I could not organise a party in a brewery. I am so disorganised! I just get lost in the details and don’t know where to start eventually. I am good at what I do, but I need to be led and managed otherwise I just won’t get anywhere. I just can’t handle the stress. I’m safer just plugging away. I know it’s a dead-end job, but it pays the bills so…”
  • “I have a great education. Went to a top notch university. I’m making loads of money, but I hate what I do. I’m so unhappy I don’t even know I’m unhappy, it does not bear thinking about. I just put my head down and wish for the weekend … But even then I’m having relationship problems at home. I just hope one day things will change…”
  • “If I had a rich uncle then maybe I would be more successful. It’s who you know not what you know.. You know? I know no one, I am from the wrong side of the tracks anyway. I once tried to get a good mentor to help me, but I even failed at that. I also considered a coach, but couldn’t afford it so gave up before I even tried…”
  • “I once was doing really well and all my dreams where right in front of me and then my business partner did the dirty on me financially leaving me to pick up the pieces. I was devastated. Then when it really got hard my husband left me for another woman. You just can’t trust people these days. I mean I am the only person I can trust and I can’t do it on my own so I just settle for less than what I feel I deserve…”
  • “I’m really positive, I believe in my self-development and I work hard on it… Who else will if I don’t hey? I’m the most precious asset I have so I understand the importance of self-investment and believe me I don’t hold back, but… I would love to start a business, but I just don’t have the funding or the network. If I had the resources I would resign tomorrow and go for it. I don’t have the resources in terms of the people and the things I need. So one year just leads into another.. Hopefully one day huh?.. Perhaps I will win the lottery. I remain positive and smile .. Hey …”


These are some of the really painful problems some of us have to live with every day. Problems that have gotten the better of us and have in some way influenced us to our detriment. Perhaps some of the above challenges apply to you? Perhaps there are others still? After having formally and informally interviewed several hundred people, I realised I was not alone in many of the problems that I was suffering through.

I swore I would find the truth of what was behind truly living a successful life across the board in line with my innermost heart-felt values. This pact with myself has led me on a passionate lifelong journey of discovery that has led me to the path that I am now enjoying.  I will be sharing my journey with you. I will be sharing both my journey and what I have discovered on this journey in terms of…

  • The levels of self -awareness including mutual, general and environmental awareness that is needed to succeed in achieving your expectations for your life as well as how to build it to the required levels.
  • The self-evident and timeless principles of effectiveness that are applicable to everything you will ever do that require success whether you went to school and can read or write or not.


In ten sequential and interrelated (principle-centred) steps you will be able to…

  1. Be Real –Have a solid and conscious take on reality (not what you just think is reality, but to truly be aware of what is real and what is not).
  1. Step Up & Take Charge – Take powerful responsibility for making things happen in your life – no more hoping and hitting, missing and giving up after selling yourself out.
  1. Know What You Want – Start by having a clear and compelling picture of what you are going to be taking responsibility for in your life.
  1. Know How to Get It –Bring your new found compelling picture you have for your life in your mind into reality one step at a time.
  1. Know Who to Get It With –Bring the right people into your life in a way that helps both you and them achieve their goals.
  1. Relate With Who You Know – Build those relationships successfully into lifelong friendships in life and business.
  1. Succeed –Bring it all together powerfully and effectively – bring all 6 of the aforementioned steps together in a seamless and powerful whole that will make anything you choose to achieve hugely effective and successful.
  1. Maintain & Improve –How to be consistently better at implementing the aforementioned 7 steps to high effectiveness.
  1. Influence – How to help others to become effective with you by becoming a leader and teacher of the first 8 steps.
  1. Lead – How to build the right communities in the form of Support Networks and Strategic Networks.


To be continued …