The Secret to Success

Why is it that for some people success seems to have come easy while for others it seems a struggle?

One of my business partners always tells me that his father, who became a millionaire at 25, used to always tell him that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Every successful person you see has gotten to where they are because they paid the ultimate prize for their accomplishment.

I am surprised each day by the price people are willing to pay for a temporary state of accomplishment. Wherever you are in you career cycle, have you ever tried to project a decade into the future? I will give you an example of what I'm getting at.

I attended a class at church where the people in my class felt that our church was putting pressure on them because everyone in the church was young and was driving some kind of really cool and expensive car. For that reason they felt that they were not fitting into the particular kind of class the church was targeting. I told them a story of a lady who worked in one of the leading banks in asset finance. She came to visit and as she took a look in the parking lot she recognized a lot of cars that she owned in the asset portfolio she managed for the bank because the owners were still repaying their car loans for these flashy cars. Yet here were these young men and women feeling that they were not financially capable!
Are you willing to pay the ultimate price!

What sets successful people apart is how they behave. They don’t wait for things to happen they make them happen. They don’t wait until the time is right, they take calculated risks. When things don’t go according to plan, they adapt quickly. They are willing to make mistakes, experiment and explore new possibilities.

One of my favorite songs by Kanye West has a line which goes something like; “before I had it I closed my eyes and imagined”. Ask yourself what you truly want. Think about how you will feel when you have what you want. This means you can begin to direct your life because you have a precise well defined and accurately identified goal.