6 Secrets to Success

How do successful people think? What drives them? If you truly understand their belief systems, levels of commitment and positive attitudes toward life and integrate these ways of thinking into your own belief system – you should be able to succeed at anything you put your mind to.

1. Live Your Life ‘On Purpose’

Professional public speakers will tell you that the time they feel most alive is when they are on stage, connecting with an audience. Having a sense of purpose in your life is the most important element of becoming a fully functioning person. The difference between living your life ‘on purpose’ and not is like night and day.

The latter consists of simply getting through the week with the least amount of problems while expending just enough effort to get by. When you live your life ‘on purpose’ however, your main concern is doing the job right. You love what you do, and it shows. Your conviction is as evident as it is persuasive.

People want to do business with you because they sense your commitment to giving your all. How do you live your life ‘on purpose’? – By finding a cause you believe in and creating a business around it, by focusing on providing value for others, the money will take care of itself.

2. Take 100% Responsibility

In a society where people blame everything from their parents to the Government for their failure to get ahead in life, successful people refuse to buy into the mentality that says, “I could succeed if only it weren’t for……..” They realised that when you say someone or something outside of yourself is preventing you from succeeding, you’re giving away your power to that someone or something.

You’re saying, “You have more control over my life than I do!” Successful people don’t buy into this victim thinking. Rather, their personal credo is “if it’s to be, it’s up to me!” There are certain things in life you can’t control, such as nature, the past and other people.

But there are things you absolutely can control, such as your thoughts and your actions. Taking 100% responsibility for your life is one of the most empowering things you can do for yourself.

3. Be Willing To Pay The Price

Wanting a big house, a luxury car or a million pounds in the bank is all very nice, but the problem is that practically everyone wants these things. The question then is, are you willing to pay the price to get them?

This is one of the major differences between the successful and the unsuccessful. Successful men and women find out what it’s going to cost to make their dream come true then they find a way to make it happen. Most importantly they don’t complain about the work it takes to achieve their dreams.

4. Stay Focused

Every day we are bombarded with hundreds of tasks and messages which all compete for our time. This is why the ability to focus on your goal is so critical. Focusing requires giving up some things in the present because you know the time invested will pay off big time down the road.

Spend as much of your day as you can focusing on achieving your goals and dreams. Every day, ask yourself, “Is what I’m right doing now bringing me closer to my goal?” if it’s not, do something that will. Focusing is like any habit: the more you do it, the easier it gets.

5. Never Give Up

It may sound simple, even obvious, but when you’re truly committed to achieving your goal, giving up isn’t even an option. You must be willing to do whatever it takes. In the mid – 1970’s, Dr. Wayne Dyer quit his job as a professor at Wayne State University to promote his new book, Your Erroneous Zones. However, no major talk show would book the then unknown Dyer.

Did he give up? Not on your life. He loaded his car from floor to roof with copies of his book, and then spent a year on the road, travelling from small town to small town and appearing on any radio or TV talk show that would have him. Once on the air he would give out the number of the local bookstore and say that his book was available there. After the interview he’d quickly drive over to that bookstore, where the manager would say:

“Oh, you’re Wayne Dyer? We’ve been getting lots of calls for your book!”

Dyer would reply, “Well, I have a case in the car. Would you like some?”

“Oh, yes! And would you sign some while you are here?”

By the end of the year, The Tonight Show was calling him. And by the end of the 1970’s, Your Erroneous Zones had become a number-one best-selling non-fiction book of the entire decade. This is what the power of perseverance can do for you.

6. Plan For Achieving

Taking the time to write out an action plan or map for how you’re going to achieve your goals is one of the best ways to get there faster. Brian Tracey, one of America’s most successful business sales trainers and speakers, points out, “Goals that are not in writing are not goals at all. They are merely wishes or fantasies.”