Negative relationships are unpleasant but predictable.

Enemies make better allies than frenemies.

The more I help out, the more successful I become. But I measure success in what it has done for the people around me. That is the real accolade.

Dissenting opinions are useful even when they're wrong. So instead of speaking to highly agreeable audiences, target suggestions to people with a history of originality.

Negative relationships are unpleasant but predictable.

This is what I find most magnetic about successful givers: they get to the top without cutting others down, finding ways of expanding the pie that benefit themselves and the people around them. Whereas success is zero-sum in a group of takers, in groups of givers, it may be true that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Focus attention and energy on making a difference in the lives of others, and success might follow as a by-product.