We can define success in many ways. Success is essentially the favorable outcome of anything that we set out to accomplish.
Some define success as the achievement of wealth, fame or other similar forms of good fortune. Others would describe success as achieving peace or happiness.
Success can be anything that goes the way we want it to. To succeed is essentially to win.
How Do We Achieve Success?
This is the age old question. Achieving success in its many forms has been the pursuit of men and women since the beginning of our existence.
We struggle to this day to carve out our own little piece of Eden on earth through the pursuit of our own individual goals. Some of us will inevitable achieve more of our goals than others will.
So what is the difference between the people who achieve success and those who do not? This is a question that does not have a simple answer but there are some answers nonetheless.
Some People achieve success through many different means. Some are prepared from the beginning by being born into wealth.
A wealthy family can open a lot of doors that would have otherwise been shut. Others are born with natural talents that eventually prove lucrative or fulfilling. Still others have great personalities and form solid relationships with others in powerful positions.
Then again, some people are just lucky. In fact all of the scenarios above could be chalked up to nothing more than luck but the truth is that these people actually make up a small percentage of the successful people in this world.
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The vast majority of people that we think of as successful are people who made their own way. If you have ever read Robert Kiosaki books, you have learned that the overwhelming majority of wealthy people in this country are first generation, self-made millionaires.
So what does this mean?
Well, it means that you do not need to be lucky to achieve success.
Success can be had by anyone. Anyone. There have been countless studies made and books written on the subject of how to achieve success.
Successful people have been interviewed and questioned profusely for years so that we can reverse engineer their tactics, get into their heads, and see what makes them tick. We want to understand how they achieve success and of course, we have discovered quite a lot.
So why aren’t more people successful?
More people are not successful for a plethora of different reasons. The main one that stands out is simple; achieving success is hard.
There are several qualities that successful people tend to share with each other. They have similar mindsets with regards to certain personal strengths and disciplines.
The results that we have most commonly observed are that successful people share very strong work ethics, high levels of discipline, self-confidence, self esteem, tenacity, positive attitudes and an undying desire to achieve success.
It is no surprise that these qualities are all qualities of the mind. Therefore, it is easy for us to draw the correlation that your ability to achieve success begins in your very own mind.
Your strong work ethic will help you produce the work that is needed. Your discipline will spur you to do what is needed even when you do not want to or do not feel like it.
Your self confidence gives you the belief that you can achieve the goals you set out for yourself.
Self esteem allows you to feel good about yourself and maintain the positive attitude. The positive attitude keeps you moving and attracts others who will help you.
Finally, your tenacity and undying desire to succeed will push you to never give up until you reach your dreams.
What is the one other thing that all successful people have in common? They never quit.
If you are like most of us and your success will have to come from within, you must first acquire the necessary tools and successful mindset needed to reach your dreams. This alone takes quite a lot of work.
We have to break our bad habits. We must stop the negative self-talk and replace it with positive affirmations. We have to foster healthy self esteem and learn to build confidence. We have to plan and commit to our own success and never stop learning and moving toward it.
If you truly want to achieve success, you must plan carefully, research, learn about your chosen path, and make a decision that you will never quit until you get there.
This is unconditional of course. It must be because life will throw any number of unforeseen roadblocks and challenges your way. Your dedication is going to be put to the test.
Ask any successful person if they have ever failed and they will start to rattle off a rather lengthy list of their failures. The trick is to achieve in spite of failure rather than trying to avoid it.
Failures are inevitable but how you handle them determines whether you can turn them into successes.
Embracing Failure
This sounds contradictory I know, but it is true. By learning to embrace failure, we learn not to fear it.
We understand that failures are only temporary setbacks: stepping stones to victory. Failure is actually a good thing. We learn more from failures than from all the mentors, coaches and self help books combined.
When we learn to embrace these failures and truly utilize the lessons they teach, we can move forward better equipped, stronger and more determined to reach our goals.
Never give up on your Goals
Our dreams are the things that motivate us and move us forward. Know that you can handle anything that life throws at you. Know that you will never give up as long are you are still alive.
Keep driving at those goals a little at a time and eventually you will be able to look up one day and admire the things that you have accomplished. Any progress you make is success.
The only questions are “how much success do you want,” “how far will you get,” how hard will you work?” And only you can answer them.