Adnan Rafique M.D.

1- Don’t be without Faith: Always put God first. Faith keeps you humble, giving you hope and strength in the time of adversity. It keeps true believers balanced and gives you morals in life. People who have faith are more grateful, and people who are more grateful and give charity are much happier in life.

2- Don’t be without Knowledge: Not all educated people are knowledgeable. Always be paranoid about learning new things, whether you are 19 or 91, never stop learning. Having knowledge alone is useless, applied knowledge is the key to success.

3- Don’t be an Average Person: Life is short and it's the only chance you have, live your life to the fullest. Most people have a fear of the unknown which keeps them from living their life to the maximum potential. Find your gift and purpose, don’t merely survive for the sake of existence. Make a difference.

4- Don’t be a Pessimist: You have a choice. You can be a positive person or a negative one. You have the choice between being a winner or a whiner. You can look at the glass half full or half empty. Your choices make your future. Stay away from negative people, negative news, and negative thoughts. If you want happiness, change the way you think and see this world.

5- Don’t be Arrogant: Successful people don’t have to be arrogant, success with humility is the virtue of strong character. Someone once said “Arrogance is a great obstruction to wisdom."

6- Don’t be Lazy: Procrastination and laziness are the biggest reasons for failure. Develop good habits early in life and kill procrastination before it kills your dream and future success. Time is something you cannot produce, so respect time and get things done on or before schedule. Remember, an idle mind becomes the house for evil thoughts.

7- Don’t be without Enthusiasm: “Enthusiasm is the mother of great effort, without which nothing great has ever achieved” (Anonymous). Positive enthusiasm creates energy which brings you closer to the door step of success despite all the hurdles and obstacles in life.

8- Don’t be Broke and Poor: God doesn’t want you to be poor and miserable. He has made enough money available for all. If you are not happy with your financial status, change your mindset, have a desire, belief, and action plan to succeed in any goal you set up in this life.

9- Don’t be Someone without Goals and Purpose: Every life on this planet has a special purpose and gift. Don’t live a selfish and purposeless life. Life is not about just living for yourself. People who find their bigger purpose find happiness in serving others.

10- Don’t be like the Majority: Most people live their life fulfilling someone else’s dream. They don’t have the desire or confidence to pursue their own dream. They are fearful about failure and other people’s opinions about them. These fears keep most people poor and a follower, not a leader. Once you break the shackle of this fear, you join the group of only 5% of highly successful people who live the life of free. When you join the majority, you become a part of mediocrity.