The Bible teaches us that Daniel excelled because he had an excellent spirit in him. This is undoubtedly speaking about his animating energy. This excellent spirit is his attitude, his character, and how he conducts himself.
“Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm”.
We can have this same excellent spirit and generate similar results to Daniel. We may never be a high-ranking and powerful official in the land, but we will be infinitely more successful if we have excellent spirits.
Attitude
A good attitude leads to success. This is where it begins. Attitude influences everything we do, but can also be shifted in a moment. Have you ever “snapped out” of a bad mood almost instantly? If you have, then you know it can be done. Knowing something can be done is incredibly valuable. Now all we have to do is figure out how to do it.
Whatever you do, attempt to shift your thinking to an optimistic mentality. Approach every task as if you can do it. Approach every obstacle as if you could crush it. Maybe you can and maybe you can’t, but your optimistic attitude will propel you farther than a pessimistic attitude will.
Aura
Be enjoyable to be around. No one wants to be around a Loser who makes everything around him worse. When you enter a room, make a concerted effort to leave it better than you found it. Give the compliment. Start the conversation. Focus on optimistic outcomes.
Look Beyond Obstacles
Don’t let the struggles of the present distract you from what you can accomplish. We mistakenly magnify our struggles, whine about them, and make them much bigger than they should be. But nothing is ever that difficult in the modern world. To think it gives external events more power than they deserve and drains us of our strength. Instead, train your mind to look beyond the moment and into the future.
Continual Effort
Focus on the long term. Learn to be patient with and love the process. Deliver the same excellent results day after day and you will be rewarded in the material world. But beyond that, you will gain confidence that you didn’t have before. That sense of value in yourself is worth its weight in gold.
Professional Efforts
Notice that Daniel became a success in the physical world. This physical success was due in no small part to his spiritual success. Do not let people discourage you from pursuing excellence in your earthly life. We are built to do work with all our might and truly attempt to achieve. It is only those people who want to justify their lack of success who look for moral reasons to avoid work and training.
Recognition
Daniel’s efforts and successes made the king take note of him. When you do work to the best of your ability, eventually, the best may take note of you. It’s not guaranteed, but you are more likely to be noticed if you are excellent and have an excellent spirit than if you are mediocre in work or attitude.
Competition
The workers around Daniel were jealous of him. This is the normal course of events that occurs when you become more and more successful. Your success is a spotlight on the failures and missed opportunities of others around you.
Humility
Daniel’s success did not make him arrogant. He kept it in perspective. Always placing spiritual things above physical things in a rank of importance. This is critical to remember that in all this success, we must prevent success from becoming an ideal we worship.
Copy these traits of Daniel and become more successful
