In my first book review article in May, I pledged to read one book on entrepreneurship and business every single month and share the knowledge gained and lessons learned with you. The book I’m about to share with you for the month of June is the second in my series.

The well-known classic book "100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Business Successs" by Brian Tracy is introduced in this article. Although the book's title is striking and compelling, it's not the kind of book you read once and never pick up again. No. One of those books that every business owner ought to have in their collection is this one.

The laws of business success contained in this book are true, tested and timeless. It was very difficult to choose just ten out of the 100 powerful laws in the book to share with you in this article.

The ten laws I’ve shared in this article resonated with me the most and I’m sure you will find more interesting laws when you read the full book.

Here we go! Meet my top ten favourite laws and lessons I learned from this amazing and inspiring book.

You could also click here to view this book on Amazon.com.

Ten Laws This Best-Selling Book Taught Us

1. The Law of Cause and Effect

Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher, is credited with this brilliant law. According to the principle of Cause and Effect, everything in our world is governed by law, not luck or chance.

There is always a reason for everything that happens in our lives, whether or not we know what it is. This law is one of the strongest foundations on which modern science, technology and medicine are built.

Even the world’s major religions operate on this powerful law. ‘What a man sows, he shall reap’ is a common truth in many religions.

Well, contrary to what many people believe, success, especially in business, is not an accident. It is not due entirely to luck, chance or superstition. Success is the effect of sowing seeds of hard work, determination and skill over time.

Simply put, if you don’t sow the seeds that will lead to success, you will reap nothing.

For example, if you study and prepare for a tough exam, you’re likely to pass. However, if you don’t study and choose to depend on luck, you’re certain to fail. This is how the law of cause and effect operates.

Many of us have entrepreneurial ambitions and dream of starting our own business someday. What are you doing today to bring that dream into effect?

If you’re doing nothing, you’ll get nothing. But if you’re taking positive actions towards your dream, you’re very likely to achieve positive results. It’s just how the world works. We live in a world of causes and effects.

2. The Law of Direction

 “Successful people have a clear sense of purpose and direction in every area of their lives.”

Many people live their lives like a ball floating on a river. Up and down they move, their motions and actions are determined by the aimless winds of everyday life. They have no sense of direction and have not given any thought to where their life is headed.

Ask them where they want to be in the next five years and you’ll surely get responses that contain ‘Maybe’ and ‘Not sure’.

These people have no focus, no goals, no plans and of course, no direction for their lives. It’s not surprising that many of the people you know who fit this profile are largely unsuccessful and will remain so until they find and position their life’s compass.

If you plan to succeed in any business, you must first be VERY clear about what you really want.

According to the book,

“Absolute clarity about what you want is the starting point of all great success. The more definite and focused you are, the easier it is for you to make better decisions on your priorities and the use of your time.

The more time you spend on your most important goals, the more you accomplish, and the better you get at accomplishing even more.

And the more you achieve, the better you feel about yourself, the more you feel like a winner and the more you want to achieve. You put yourself onto an upward spiral that leads to ever-greater accomplishments. You feel terrific about yourself.”

3. The Law of Responsibility

“You are completely responsible for everything you are and for everything you become and achieve.”

One interesting characteristic shared by all unsuccessful people around the world is that they believe somebody else is responsible for their failures.

• They never accept or take personal responsibility for their lives.
• They blame their parents for their lack of privilege and deficient upbringing.
• They blame the government and politicians for not providing jobs and opportunities.
• They blame the banks for killing their business dreams because they couldn’t get a bank loan.
• They blame the rich and successful for the failures in their lives.
• They blame their friends, neighbours and the environment. They often blame luck.
• They sometimes blame God.

Until they change, they will always be resentful, bitter, and unsuccessful because they will never accept accountability for their circumstances.

People who are successful, however, are aware of and follow the Law of Responsibility. They accept responsibility for everything that occurs in their lives, good or bad.

Rather than searching for an object or person to place the blame on, successful business people take the lessons they can from each failure and apply them to their next venture.

These people are not perfect. Like many of us, they have to make decisions every day. The big difference is they accept the consequences of their choices and avoid blame.  

According to the book, “Never make excuses or blame anyone else for anything. Never say or even think, ‘That’s not my job!’ This is the way people who have no future think and talk. This is not for you. You are responsible.”

4. The Law of Overcompensation

“If you always do more than you are paid for, you will always be paid more than you are getting now.”

Have you ever wondered why some businesses succeed while others fail, even when they sell the same products or services?

Although there are many reasons why a business could fail, but one common cause is loss of customers. When a business goes out of its way to do more for its customers and exceed their expectations, that business is usually very well rewarded. It gains a strong and loyal customer base and attracts more customers from its competitors. That’s how the law of overcompensation works.

By looking for more interesting ways to serve your customers, focusing on creating more value and ‘going the extra mile’ for them, you will be creating an experience that will last forever in the minds of these customers.Have you really ever wondered why companies like Apple and Google remain some of the most highly valued companies in the world today?

It’s because of the immense value they offer in their products. They are always creating interesting and innovative products that provide huge value to consumers. By going the extra mile, they have become incredibly successful companies today.

5. The Law of Applied Effort

“The harder you work, the luckier you get.”

For many people, the reason they’re not yet successful is because they are plain lazy. They don’t want to work but they dream of becoming successful one day.

These people do not understand that “every great success is preceded by a long period of hard, hard work in a single direction toward a clearly defined purpose.”

Anybody can come up with a brilliant business idea but it will take dedication and hardwork to transform that idea into a successful business.

According to this book,

“to achieve more than the average person, you must work longer and harder than the average person.

Your ability to work very, very hard will open up the doors of opportunity for you and will bring to your assistance all manner of people and resources that you could not have imagined would come your way.

Your commitment to hard work creates a force field of positive energy around you that attracts positive people and greater opportunities into your life.”

By hard work, I don’t mean ‘manual labour’. I don’t mean you must have sweat dripping from your face to prove your hard work.

If you’re working on the wrong goals or working in the wrong direction of your life, you will surely get nowhere.

Work smart. More than anything else, you should always work every time you work!

Many of us waste a lot of precious time chatting with friends online and offline, or engage in long idle chats over the phone. No matter how much you pretend to yourself and people around you, the only work that will count in the end is the one that concerns your goals.

6. The Law of Persistence

“Your ability to persist in the face of setbacks and disappointments is a measure of your belief in yourself and your ability to succeed.”

Failure, and the fear of failure, are the biggest reasons why many of us will never become entrepreneurs in our lifetime.

Many people who have interesting and high-potential business ideas often give up too early in the race before their ideas can transform into successful businesses.

Persistence is common in the character of every successful entrepreneur. In fact, persistence is the iron quality of success. The most important asset you can have – the one quality that separates you from everyone else – is your ability to persist longer than anyone else.

According to the book,

“when you back all your goals and plans with unshakable determination and persistence, you will eventually find that there is nothing in the world that can stop you. You will become an irresistible force of nature. Your goals of high achievement will become your realities.”

If you plan to start your own business, it would be a good idea to prepare in advance for the tough times ahead and set persistence in your favour. Make sure that you resolve in advance that, no matter what happens, you will never give up.

Remember that if you advance confidently in the direction of your dreams, and you resolve in advance that you will never quit, you will ultimately become a great success.

No one can ever stop you but yourself. Go for it!

7. The Law of Creativity

“Every advance in human life begins with an idea in the mind of a single person.”

Yes, it’s true what they say about ideas; they rule the world! Every single thing around you right now was once just an idea in somebody’s mind.

The mobile phone or computer you’re reading this on was conceived in the mind of a person. The clothes you’re wearing at this moment were first designed in somebody’s mind before it was sold on the market and you bought it.

Look around you, everything that your eyes can see is the product of some person’s imagination. And your mind is not an exception, it can create its own ideas too!

Businesses sell products and services that satisfy people’s needs and solve their problems. There is virtually no obstacle in life that cannot be overcome with the power of thought, with the power of concentration, and with the power of ideas.

According to Napoleon Hill, one of my most favourite authors,

”Whatever the mind of a man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

According to the book,

“The human mind is designed in such a way that you cannot have an idea on the one hand without also having the ability to bring that idea into reality.

The very existence of an idea in your conscious mind means that you have within you and around you the capacity to turn it into reality. The only question you have to answer is, How badly do you want it?”

If you’re looking for a great way to brainstorm ideas and kickstart your creativity, this article is highly recommended.

8. Parkinson’s Law

“Expenses always rise to meet income.”

This law is so shocking but it’s also very true. It’s one of the biggest reasons why many people will never become financially successful.

Parkinson’s Law says that

“no matter how much money some people earn, they are very likely to spend the entire amount and even a little bit more.”

For some scary reason, their expenses always rise in lockstep with their incomes; the more they earn, the more they spend. In the end, there is usually little or nothing left behind.

According to the book,

“many people are earning today several times what they were earning a few years ago. But somehow, they seem to need every single penny to maintain their current lifestyle. No matter how much they make, there never seems to be enough.”

This is the reason for debt, money worries and financial frustration experienced by millions of people around the world.

9. The Law of Differentiation

“A product or service must have a competitive advantage or an area of excellence that enables it to stand out from its competitors in some way if it is to succeed in a competitive marketplace.”

There are just too many ‘copycat’ and ‘me too’ businesses out there.

When some people notice a successful business, they go ahead to start up a similar one. What’s the point of selling a product or service that isn’t unique, better, or even outstanding in some way when compared to your competition?

You may succeed initially but it’ll be short lived. Without a clear differentiation and a competitive advantage, a business will never succeed in the long run.

When you think of starting a business that will sell a product or service, ask yourself:

• “Do I have a Unique Selling Point?”
• “Will my product/service be cheaper, easier to use or more effective than all the other products out there?”
• “Will your customer service be better?”
• “Will you offer flexible and favourable payment plans unlike your competition?”
• “How exactly are you different from the rest?”

If you cannot answer these questions, you may have a failure on your hands. Because if you don’t know how your product stands out from the rest in the market, customers will find no reason to buy from you and not the others.

If you plan to start your own business, there’s a piece of advice in this book that will save you heartaches and tears in the future. It goes: “If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete!”

10. The Law of Optimism

“A true entrepreneur radiates the confidence that all difficulties can be overcome and all goals can be attained.”

Closely observe any successful business person around and you’ll notice that they’re generally positive, optimistic and future-oriented people.

These people face the same problems, obstacles and challenges we face everyday but they remain upbeat while the rest of us complain, blame and become negative.

Whether it’s a failing economy, bad government, or an unfavourable business environment, successful people have trained themselves to believe in positive outcomes.

It is this belief that gives them the courage to take bold actions, invest time and energy in starting a business when other people are consumed by fear.

Especially in Africa, only the optimists can and will succeed. When many people (both Africans and non-Africans) are scared by a continent that is ravaged by poverty, unemployment, bad governance and poor infrastructure, true entrepreneurs see something very different.

They see a continent brimming with lucrative business opportunities, untapped resources and huge potentials.

According to the book,

“optimism is the foundation of a positive mental attitude. It is the ability to find something worthwhile in every situation.”

Only those who dare will win. Only the optimists will survive in Africa.

When will you apply these unbreakable laws of business success?

Yes, these are my top ten picks from this amazing book!

There are many more powerful, inspiring, shocking and educative laws in this book and I must tell you it was indeed very difficult to select just ten for this article.

Maybe it’s a good thing I couldn’t write about all 100 Laws. That’s why you have to get a copy of this book and read it over again as you progress on your journey to entrepreneurial and business success.

If you’ve read the book, what other laws caught your attention, touched your life or changed your thinking?

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