Are You Singing Your Song of Success? Five Secrets to Following Your Dreams and Achieving More Success in Your Life

Posted on 12. Apr, 2010 by admin in Success

Recently, Susan Boyle, an unemployed forty-seven year old single woman from the small village of Blackburn, Scotland decided to compete in the television program, “Britain’s Got Talent.” She did not look like the typical “star quality” contestant. So, when she first walked out on the stage, the audience and judges started laughing and giving her cynical looks. Then she sang. The audience and judges were instantly won over and she continued to the next round of competition. Because the program was on television and the video of her program appeared on YouTube, she won over millions of additional fans with her unique talent. Whether she wins the competition or not, she already won by living her dream. By taking the bold step of competing, Susan won over millions while creating unlimited opportunities to sing her song of success.

So I ask you the following:

Are You Singing Your Song of Success?

Are you letting your song of success go silent? The following are five secrets that will guarantee that your song of success is heard and you can also live your dreams:

Create Powerful Goals to Be Successful – Take the time to set clear, concise life and success goals that you can be excited about on a daily basis. Refer to your goals every day so that you can stay on course to achieve your dreams. Make your goals S-M-A-R-T-E-R: specific, measureable, attainable, realistic, time-based, encouraging, and rewarded. Develop Your Positive Expectations to Be Successful - Even as the audience was laughing about what to expect, the judge asked her which singer’s level fame she wanted to attain. Susan answered, without hesitation: Elaine Page, one of the most famous English singers of all time. This drew more laughter and skeptical looks. Then she sang and over the skeptical looks changed to awe. In Susan Boyle’s mind, she was as good as the best singer in England. She had already developed her positive expectations to be a great singer and wouldn’t allow anyone to deter her from her goal.

What are your positive expectations for success? If someone were to ask you what career or life goals you want to achieve, would you be able to communicate it without hesitation? Develop your positive expectations so that you can move forward with your goals in the face of opposition. Follow Your Passion to Be Successful - Susan’s passion since she was twelve years old was singing. It was the one thing she loved to do. When she walked out of the stage, you could see the excitement and enthusiasm about at being given the opportunity to do what she loved showed in the way she talked, walked, and finally…sang.

If there Iis there something you are passionate about? Is it a hobby? Is it a business opportunity? Is it a career opportunity? Well Let your passion for whatever you what show. Your passion will knock down barriers and create new opportunities for you. Your passion will keep you going even during the darkest times and evaluate elevate you even more during good times. Say Coleman Cox once said the following: “When enthusiasm is inspired by reason, is practical in application, reflects confidence, and spreads good cheer, raises morale, inspires associates, arouses loyalty, and laughs at adversity, it is beyond price.” Be passionate about whatever the goals you what to achieve. Let your enthusiasm be your weapon against naysayers and cynics in life and you will achieve your goals. Be True to Yourself to Be Successful - When Susan walked out on the stage and conversed with the judges, it was clear that she had a very unique personality. However, in spite of being in a high-pressure situation, in front of thousands of audience members, millions of television watchers, and the judges, she was comfortable in her own skin and true to herself. She wasn’t going to change who she was because of this very important moment in her life. She was even more true to herself under pressure.

How many times have you felt pressure to change who you are to be successful? This may occur at work, in business, or with your family. True success comes from staying who you are while achieving success. How many times have you heard stories about people who “sold their soul” so that they can be successful and later become even bigger failures? Stay true to your values in the face of pressure and you will become successful. Be Persistent to Be Successful - You will meet many roadblocks on your way to achieving your goals and living your dreams. You may never be given the opportunity to succeed, but be persistent. You ideas may be discredited, but be persistent. You may be laughed at for believing in your goals like Susan Boyle, but be persistent.

Realize that many people do not hold the same dreams and goals that you believe in. When you are persistent, you will find the energy to pursue your goals in spite of others who are negative toward your dreams. By being persistent in achieving your goals, you will win over allies who will help you achieve your dreams.

Bonus Tip: Have fun along the way to success.. Susan looked like she was having fun in the moment no matter what happened. Have fun along your journey of success and it will make your trip that much more enjoyable.

Apply the five success secrets at your business, your career, and your life in the face of all obstacles and you can live your dreams. Susan is singing her song of success; why not let your song be heard?

More Strategies for Effortless Business Success

Posted on 11. Apr, 2010 by admin in Success

Copyright (c) 2009 Willie Horton

You may have already my article “Strategies for Effortless Business Success” – with the emphasis on the word effortless. In this follow up article, I want to explore what I mean by success – because most “normal” people really haven’t got the first clue what the word actually means in the context of their everyday lives. Bear in mind, of course, that normal people are technically insane – their subconscious mind controls them – not the other way around.

Many people, when they first hear me say this, laugh at the notion – but, I can assure you, that it is no laughing matter, for it is the normal perspective on success that has brought the global banking system to the very brink of self-destruction. It is the normal definitions of success that has brought the auto industry to its knees, left ordinary people with unserviceable debt and made life so incredibly difficult for so many business people. So, before we go any further, let’s understand that normal definitions of success simply won’t do.

A couple of years back, I asked a large gathering at a Chamber of Commerce business breakfast, if they thought that making abnormal financial gains and achieving abnormal business growth would be a good definition of success. Considering many people to have achieved that level of “success”, many of the participants made the point that that kind of “success” often comes at a high price – whether it be family life, personal life or even health, many people “gain the whole world” and “lose their own soul”.

Unfortunately, normal definitions of success are both comparative and competitive. Businesses compare themselves to the competition. There was a time when large accountancy practices measured their success by comparing their employee numbers against those of their competitors – to the point that one such firm employed extra gardeners to put them into first place on what was a completely mis-constructed league table. Life assurance companies construct their version of success based on the amount of new business growth – regardless of whether their new business was profitable or not (or even sensible or not). And banks measure their relative success on the “size of their balance sheet” – like bold boys going around shouting that “mine is bigger than yours”!

We all know where comparative and competitive definitions of success get us. What appears to be common sense has actually turned out to be complete nonsense. For your business, you need to know what success means for you (just as you need to know what your version of personal success is). Can I be so bold as to suggest a framework definition of real business success?

“We excel at what we do – and we do it effortlessly. Each customer is valued as if they were the only one (because we simply never know who will be the most important customer to us in the long run). We get very well rewarded and make the kind of margins that others envy. We don’t regard what we do as work – it’s both fun and it allows us plenty of “work/life” balance. The team is more like family – there are no hidden agendas, everyone’s open – we hold back on nothing. We’re constantly open to change and the next big opportunity.”

Perhaps, you think that’s an ideal and that an ideal world simply does not exist. You would be wrong on both counts.

Over the years – including quite recently – I’ve worked with business teams whose outlook and ambitions closely mirror what I’ve written above. Such businesses are few and far between – which, I suppose, means that they are abnormal! But, if you don’t want to be normal in your personal life (because so-called “normal” people are technically insane!) why settle for normality in business? If psychological research proves that normal business teams are dysfunctional, why settle for a normal business team? The vast majority of businesses range from dysfunctional to mediocre – the more successful are simply a little less dysfunctional and mediocre than everyone else – why settle for that when you can achieve effortless business success?

I refer back to my first article in this series – where I gave you four simple ideas on how to create an effortlessly successful business strategy, where we talked about seeing, feeling, hearing, smelling and tasting the desired outcome. I suggest you adopt that approach. In doing so, the things you will experience as a result of your abnormal definition of success will need to be encapsulated in that desired outcome.

How To Be A Business Success

Posted on 09. Apr, 2010 by admin in Success

Through observing business people who have been successful, and how they achieved their success, I have concluded that there are a number of factors that must be present for business success to occur. As I like to keep things simple, these success factors can be condensed into a formula. It is:

Success = Startup Business Person + Product/Service + Market

Let us look at this formula in a little more detail. Firstly, what is success? The definition of success depends on what you want to get out of the venture, that is, what your goals are. Business success usually means creating a viable entity (business) that returns its investment and earns a profit.

Appropriate and realistic goals include to be challenged, to achieve, and to build something good. For example, your definition of success could be to earn $100,000 a year from your home business so that you can replace your full time job income.

The most crucial element of the above formula is the “Startup Business Person”. This element decides all the others.

Ultimately, a successful startup business person is someone who opens, manages and runs a successful startup business and can repeat the process. This is someone who has accepted the responsibility and learned how the job is done.

Successful startup business people usually always start small and grow the business. They do not have too many irons in the fire at once so that their efforts are not diffused. They give it everything they have and believe that hard work counts. They try repeatedly until they achieve the success they are looking for. Moreover, most of all, they possess a positive mental attitude.

They have learned to emulate success. Do you know what emulate means? To emulate means to attempt to equal or surpass. In other words, if you were to attempt to emulate someone else’s success, you would imitate them and as you gained further knowledge and skill, you would attempt to do better than them. Remember that emulation takes things one step further than imitate.

The next part of the formula is “Product/Service”. Without something to sell, there can be no business. Generally, the product or service needs to be of a high quality. It also needs to be something that people are prepared to pay for.

The last component of the formula is “Market”. A successful business person knows who their market is and how to reach it in the most cost effective manner. The market is defined as the people who want and are prepared to pay for the product or service.

I would now like to run through with you what I consider are the basic principles of home, small or online business success.

Believe in Your Product or Service

First, you need to believe in your product or service. If you do not believe in it, you will have a great deal of difficulty selling your product or service to other people. You also need to have confidence in your ability to provide and promote your product or service. An old saying sums this up best: “All things are possible to he who believes”.

Aptitude for the Business

Secondly, you need to have an aptitude for the business. You will also need the motivation to acquire at the very least basic skills and experience before you start your business. If you were to set yourself up as a home electrician but did not have any skills or training in this area, then you will almost certainly fail. However, if you are employed as a bookkeeper and you enjoy the job, then setting up your own bookkeeping service would be a sensible choice with a greater chance of success.

Be Responsible

Thirdly, you need to be responsible to your customers. This is achieved by only making commitments you can keep and by not engaging in misleading or dishonest advertising. If you want to build long term success in your home business, then you need to develop long term satisfied customers. When their needs are being satisfied, customers are at their happiest.

Aim for High Quality

The next principle is that you need to have a high quality product or service. This will be your best advertisement. Inferior quality products usually generate poor customer satisfaction. A dissatisfied customer can be very dangerous for your business. Usually they tell on average about fourteen other people who will then be disinclined to buy your product or service based on the experience of that one dissatisfied person. Therefore, always aim for a top quality product or service.

Make a Profit

However, it is not enough to have a top quality product or service. You also need to have a product or service that will generate enough income to cover all your business expenses and give you a satisfactory wage. A friend of mine once said that business is only about two things: satisfying customers and making a profit. A simple statement but very true.

Sufficient Startup Capital

You also need to have access to enough cash to set up and run your business, and enough income to meet your private expenses during the startup phase. A major problem with many home and small businesses is that they fail to have enough money available to ensure their success. There is nothing more discouraging than having a great idea, getting it started on a shoestring, not being able to expand due to cash shortages and seeing a competitor come along and steal your market.

Start Small

Another fundamental principle of home business success is that you start small. This will enable you to minimize your overheads until you are confident of your success in the marketplace. For many of you, this would mean starting part-time while retaining your full-time income source. When you can, expand your business into a full-time venture. This is a great way of minimizing the risk of failure.

Be Well Organized

Successful home businesses are well organized. They have a system for keeping track of expenditure and earnings. This level of organization in your business will help to ensure that you are providing your customers or clients with a top quality product or service. It will also ensure that you have enough information available to maximize your profitability and to satisfy your legal requirements for record keeping.

Be Prepared

Preparation is another important ingredient in your business success. This preparation will include being aware of the regulations and laws affecting small, home or online business in your area or country. Armed with this knowledge, you should not have any nasty surprises from unintentional violations of the law.

Have a Business Plan

Finally, successful home businesses have developed a comprehensive business plan. This is their road map to success. It tells them where they are going and how they are going to get there. It is very useful for comparing actual performance against what you planned and enabling you to make adjustments to lead to greater success. There are many useful software packages available to assist you with your business plan preparation.

Success…Bottoms-Up!

Posted on 08. Apr, 2010 by admin in Success

Who doesn’t want to be successful? Even as kids, we dreamt of reaching the pinnacle someday. We get a lot of tips and pieces of advice on how to snag success in an instant and once it has stopped by right at our doorstep, there is nothing left to do but gush over it.

People define success as where they desire to go, what they need to achieve and what skills they can give. Success is relative. Success can mean wealth, it can mean enhancement of one’s talent. Success can be the be-all and end-all of someone’s existence. If that is case, that person is totally drunk on success.

The question “Are you drunk on success?” can mean two things: it can be “are you too engrossed with success that you’re forgetting everything else” and it can also mean “are you finally enjoying what you have?” But the meaning leans toward more on the latter.

Too much success is a good thing, but being too preoccupied on this success isn’t.

How to know if one is drunk on success? Read on to find out:

1. You are just too busy planning how to be more successful.

You’re way above successful but for you there is no such thing as successful enough so you work yourself to death and just ignore everything else. It is a classic case of being drunk on success. You are just so impossibly workaholic that there is no stopping you!

2. You tend to become selfish.

For you, success gets depleted if you keep sharing so you just keep everything to yourself. Success has turned you to a tightwad and cheapskate. Oh no!

3. You turn to a materialistic person.

Let’s admit it, we all love gorging on material things but too much of them can just squeeze the values and goodness out of us. If being drunk on success means being drunk on everything that has a designer label, then it is best to assess things first.

Again, this article points out that being too successful is not a bad thing. Oh no, of course not! But what if you haven’t reached that success level yet, what can be done? To be drunk on success in a good way, remember the following:

1. Write down your goals.

Then cross out every goal accomplished. Knowing your goals and seeing them all neatly written down can inspire you and motivate you more. Then soon enough, success will just come in an instant!

2. Prioritize.

A lot of people have been taking priorities for granted. If you are aware of your priorities, then you know what things to accomplish first. Result? Success will come easily!

3. Don’t watch too much TV.

You heard it right? If you minimize the TV viewing then you can concentrate on other things. Breaking the couch potato habit can lead you to better things and before you know it, you’re already drunk on success.

4. Positive thinking can go along way.

Oh yes! If you envision positive results, expect yourself to gain positive results! People underestimate positive thinking and they shouldn’t. Remember, you are what you think. If you are normally a pessimistic person, start looking at the brighter side!

5. Be friends with successful people.

Not that you are going to use them or anything, but if you surround yourself with people you made it big, inspiration arrives early and easily.

6. Don’t forget your values.

This is such a basic thing. Never forget essential things in life like honesty, trust, kindness, courage and determination. If you are armed with all those values, success will not be elusive.

7. Have faith!

Don’t say to yourself that you cannot make it. Don’t be stuck in a mindset that I will never get drunk on success. Have faith, my friend! Faith moves mountains, that we all know.

8. Keep learning.

As soon as your mind becomes stagnant, nothing influential will ever happen to you. Keep learning! Read those books! Indulge yourself in intellectually stimulating conversations!

9. Never give up.

They say failure comes when people stop trying. Remember that adage? Try and try until you succeed!

Getting drunk and intoxicated on success is a good thing, only if one knows how to handle it properly. Don’t let success get into your head. Keep yourself humble and grounded. Cheers!

Finding the Success in Failure

Posted on 06. Apr, 2010 by admin in Success

Failure does not exist at higher levels of awareness. Failure is experienced when the mind is focused on the physical life and present circumstances.

Thomas Edison succeeded with the invention of the light bulb by eliminating all the things that didn’t work-more than a 1000 so called failures. Walt Disney created Disney Land from bankruptcy by successfully visiting over 400 banks before he found one that would lend him the money.

Neither one of these men focused on failure-in fact their minds were not focused in the physical world. Both of them had a dream and their minds were focused in the imagination where failure does not exist. It is a wonderful place where we have 100% control over the outcome, anything is possible and there are no limitations. If we stay focused we will always succeed. The so called failure comes from interpretation of the images into physical life and the failures are simply a process of elimination-taking away what does not work to get to what does work.

From the position of the silent observer (a place of quiet reflection), all steps you have taken lead you to this moment of awareness. From this place of observation there are just moments of success in the knowingness of all things are as they should be. What you perceive as failures are steps towards success. It is when you let go of the notion you have failed you will have found success. Your life can never be a failure-it always reflects your own thoughts. Even if you consider yourself a failure, you will find success in that belief. Your physical life will always demonstrate accurately what you believe. You can demonstrate what a failure looks like and be successful at it.

If you consider yourself a successful failure then it is relatively easy to move to another place. You have already arrived at where you said you now are. You were successful at getting there-at that moment of realization you can let go and begin to be successful at something else.

In your search for a certain grocery item, you stop into a store and do not find it-are you a failure or did you just make a poor choice. How would you know the store did not have the item you were searching for unless you stopped in-do you give up? You stop into three other stores and do not find what you are looking for, but you found two other items you have been searching for for months-is the trip a failure? Finally at the last stop you run into an old friend you have lost contact with-he invites you out to lunch and you order a dish which just happens to be made from the grocery item you were looking for.

Was this your original intension? From the place of the ego it would be a failure-you still didn’t find the grocery item you set out to find in the form you desired. The truth is (your root thought) you wanted to consume it. If you let go of the thought of failure and look back on the events you will see your intentions worked out perfectly-in fact you got more than the ego bargained for. When you work from a higher level of consciousness you will know things always work out favorably-intention brings opportunity which brings success. You may have forgotten certain aspects of what you desired, but opportunity in time brings them all together in place-the right time and place.

Even when success is not immediate, you will get what you desire as long as you maintain the power of intention. Your intention will bring what you desire when the opportunity for its greatest rewards are ready for manifestation. We often consider our failure when we try to control our success. To be truly successful at creating, you must allow the spirit to create it without the interference of your mind-know that it will happen and it will. The creation process itself is too complicated for the physical mind to comprehend. The only thing you need to know are the three steps-thought, word, and deed. Imagine what you desire, declare it is what you wish to create and know you have it. That is so simply, yet it is too complicated for most conscious minds to comprehend. Most people when told of this process will first consider the failure of it-and it is what they will experience. It’s just too simple, nothing works like that, they will snap their fingers and say-”see, I told you.”

With practice one will be able to snap ones fingers and create on demand-once you let go of the notion you cannot. Your history texts and holy scripts are full of these stories. In hind site you will find these experiences in your own life. The only other thing getting in your way of this kind of success is your belief you “do not deserve” and somebody else does. This you will also experience successfully.

The universe is perfect, what you consider to be your creator is perfect, therefore the systems which are in place-the natural laws are perfect. Humanity comes into conflict with them because he does not understand the perfection. All things are created from mind, therefore all things are possible-you are mind-all things you imagine are possible unless you believe they are not.

Seven years ago I went bankrupt from a successful business. I lost sight of my success and refocused on poverty as the way of obtaining spiritual enlightenment-stupid move-you don’t have to be poor to be spiritually aware. However, it was the path I chose. One of the greatest motivators of any belief system is it can be demonstrated that it works and brings you all that you desire.

In hindsight I can plainly see all things worked together to bring me the success I am enjoying today. I went from digging out coins in the phone both returns to buy supper-to publishing my first printed book this year. The book is now distributed in six difference countries and it’s only the beginning. I have finished my next book and have started on the third-there are seven more to come. I had no writing experience when I started and the process has been a great learning experience and a lot of hard work.

As much as I have learned spiritually in the last seven years, I still have years of negativity to overcome or let go of. The system has clearly worked for me and it is observable. The only limitations to what I can create come from the years of being told I cannot have anything that I desire-but mostly from the fear of failure.

When I started out on my spiritual quest I let go of any thoughts of what I was experiencing as being “crazy” or “insane.” I was, and still am willing to go there if it is what it takes. My books, ebooks and articles and now my work shops are filled with these thoughts that for many are controversial, pushing the limits, or for some just plain blasphemous.

From what may have appeared as failure come new insights, and new awareness I have always shared with others. The failure was not as it seemed at all-what I have achieved could not have been accomplished any other way. All turns brought me to this place I now find myself in. This does not exclude me from life, but brings me closer to it, to its magnificence and perfection. Once again I am reminded of the Buddhist saying, “Before enlightenment comes chopping wood and carrying water-after enlightenment comes chopping wood and carrying water.” There are no failures in life unless you believe there are. All failures are successful steps leading to something better. Once you have obtained failure, success is the next step.

In every step you call failure are the seeds to your next success. Learn to see all the things you do in your lifetime as successful, and success is all you will experience. Failure is just a word-it is how you experience it that makes the difference. Even people who demonstrate abundance and success have failed if what they have created has not brought them what they truly desired. It is simply a demonstration of what they have chosen to manifest success. It may be a process of elimination and not an end unto itself.

It is not possible to accurately judge the choices of others-what appears failure to one is actually success in progress to another. Self judgment is worse than any judgment declared by another because it is personal and you believe it. Judgment by another is simply a demonstration of personal thoughts and is not your truth. Judgment is never a correct observation of any circumstance.

Failure is merely success in motion-learn to accept it, and know it is leading to something better.

Success and Failure: Two Sides of the Same Coin

Posted on 05. Apr, 2010 by admin in Success

Failure is Great!

You are probably asking yourself what could be good about failing. Failing means, well essentially, that you failed, that you did not achieve the results you wanted and that things did not turn out as you hoped. What could be good about that?

The advantage is that you now know one way not to do something. And this is as useful as knowing one way of how to do something.

As Thomas Edison said, -Just because something doesn’t do what you planned it to do in the first place doesn’t mean it’s useless…. Results? Why, man, I have gotten lots of results! If I find 10,000 ways something won’t work, I haven’t failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is often a step forward…. –

Failure is a learning opportunity, but only if you let it be. More often than not failure is seen as something that should be hidden and avoided and never admitted to. How often in your company do you think people make the same mistakes over and over again because no one ever admits to the mistake or examines why the mistake was made.

Would it not be more cost effective and time effective if when a mistake is initially made that it results in a learning opportunity? Each time something does not go according to plan think about you could do next time to get the results you want? What was missing? What needs to be added? What needs to change?

Once the answers to the questions have been thoroughly explored with an open mind and no assumptions, then take those learnings and apply them to the future. Every company should continually strive to learn and improve. Just because a particular method works does not mean it is the best one. Strive to improve.

Be prepared to fail and learn; it is the only way forward.

Celebrate Successes

The opposite side of the same coin is success. Just as it is important to analyze your failures and learn from them so it is also important that you celebrate your successes and repeat them.

Every year we strive to do be better and be more successful at what we do. Often, however, we only remember successes that are so large that they hit us right in the face, when they are so large that everyone else congratulates you. We remember landing a $100 million dollar account or tripling our profits from the year before or being awarded some Presidential award.

While these are amazing successes that you should definitely celebrate and tell the world about they are not the kind of successes that most of us can hope to achieve. The rest of us need to be happy with the smaller more mundane successes. Successes like generating a profit in our business, getting the client we have been trying to land or simply being thanked by one of our clients for a job well done.

Although these may seem like small successes, lots of small successes like these add up to a successful business, motivated staff and a happy you. Now what if you could repeat each of your small successes so that you could achieve them on a monthly or weekly basis -would that not spell big success for your business?

To achieve that big success you therefore need to celebrate each of your small successes. You need to remember each of them, examine them and find a way of repeating them. Sit down now and think, over the last year, what you did well. Think about what you succeeded in doing, what someone thanked you for, and, where you were appreciated.

Create a list of your successes no matter how small, examine them to find a way that you could repeat them. What was the essence of the success that would make it repeatable? Break the success into small process steps, think about everything that you did to get to the end point of success. Not just the big steps, think about each little step that was taken.

It is often not the big steps that determine a success, it is the little things. Maybe you wrote a client a thank you letter, or you called a client to see how they were doing. Maybe you referred a client to someone else to solve a problem that you could not. You could also have rewarded your staff or done something out of the ordinary for them to make them perform above and beyond.

Think about each success in great detail.

You should now be able to see where you did something differently to achieve the successful result. Your next step is to put together a plan on how you are going to repeat your past successes. Your plan should include each of those necessary steps that resulted in the success.

By understanding and planning for your successes you will be able to repeat them and eventually be able to achieve the large success of a successful business or department. Plan for success, learn from failures.

The Meaning Of Success Is The Meaning You Give It!

Posted on 03. Apr, 2010 by admin in Success

What is success? Are you successful if you are a stay at home mom? Is success about running a multi million empire? Are you clear about what success means to you and how you will clearly know when you have achieved it? When putting a plan together to work towards achieving a goal, or when working on longer term life plans, deciding what motivates you and creating a compelling vision that moves you towards it is an essential part of the process.

Another essential component is knowing exactly what success is in your own mind and what it will “look like” for you. It is very easy to continually work, work and work towards the achievement of something and never experience the fulfillment that comes with knowing you achieved your goal. Too many people complete a goal and then think, “What’s next” without even stopping to acknowledge and reflect upon their current success.

If you are one of those people who never stop to enjoy their success, or in fact if your definition of success is so high that you are not enjoying working towards it then you may find it useful just to stop and dedicate some time to finding your definition of what success is for you.
A tip here! Do your best to not make success all about “stuff” e.g. a fancy car and a big house – think about who you will become, the people you will support and who will be in your life too.

For a few years now success for me has always been about following my heart, making a difference and living with passion. As long as I am doing one or all three of these things I am successful.

What will success look like for you?

If you are unsure about what success is for you then spend time brainstorming ideas! Just write them all down. If you can find someone to do this exercise with it just helps to provide you with even more ideas and make it more fun. Allow yourself at least an hour for this.

Remember not to censor what you are writing during a brainstorming session, you just want to put all your ideas down on paper for now, you will spend time later looking through them in more detail. Start by saying

I am successful when……..

Then make a list and see what shows up. I am successful when I find time for me, when I have the flexibility to do what I want, when my children grow up healthy, when money is available from investments etc. Set yourself a time of 15 minutes for this exercise and when you think you cannot write any more give yourself another few minutes. Most of the really useful information will flow from you when you relax and give yourself time; this is not something to be rushed.

When you find yourself repeating answers or you are unable to think of anything else then it is time to move on to the next stage. Now take a good look at your list and rate them. On a scale of 1-10 (with 1 being not important and 10 being extremely important) rate your list and then write out on a clean sheet of paper anything that falls into the top 7. Again, allow 10-15 minutes for you to do this without rushing.

Now with the seven items on your list (have more or less if you want, it’s your list!!!), rate them from 1-7. Which out of the seven is the most important definition of success for you? If you are unsure about which is the more important one, answer this question

If I can have x but I can’t have y does that matter?
So as an example, if I can make a difference but I have no money does that matter?
Of course we are working towards achieving both, but this will help you to determine which of the two should be ranked higher on your list.

Remember, this is a way of defining your success, so if making a difference is more important then rate it higher than money, if not rate money higher.

Go through each one until you have them in a 1-7 order, again allowing 10-15 minutes to complete this exercise.

You are close to the final stage; you are now going to create your definition of success as a sentence. You do not have to keep the 7 in the order you just ranked them, they can go in any order, but I recommend your top three are mentioned first if they are your most important ones.

Now spend 10-15 minutes creating a one or two sentence phrase that will sum up your very own definition of success. So as an example if my key success words were:

1.peace
2.money
3.freedom
4.flexibility
5.making a difference
6.leaving a legacy
7.time for me

My sentence may say something along the lines of:

Success for me is about having the peace, freedom and flexibility to earn money while making a difference, leaving a legacy and finding time for me.

Now you know that as long as you provide this for yourself you are successful. No more measuring you according to what “they” say! Whether you are a business professional or a stay at home mom you are both successful. Your definition of success may be radically different, but no matter, you can both experience success in your own right because you determine what success is. Even if you do not end up earning a six figure income or becoming a “guru”, you are still successful in your own eyes. And they are the only eyes that really matter!

YOU WILL NEVER BE HAPPY WITH WHAT YOU HAVE, UNTIL YOU ARE HAPPY WITH WHO YOU ARE
Zig Ziglar

Learn How to Apply a Simple Equation for Success in Your Life

Posted on 01. Apr, 2010 by admin in Success

I get sick of hearing the comments; ‘I don’t have enough energy to be successful.’

Or, ‘you are more successful because you have more energy than me.’

How much energy do you need to aim for success?

Energy can be defined as ‘the capacity for vigorous activity; available power; the capacity to do the work.’

Success can be defined as ‘a favorable outcome; the gaining of wealth and fame.’

My definition of success is ‘using your available power to achieve your desired outcome (success).’

If your desired outcome is failure you will need the same energy to be a successful failure, than you will need to be a successful successor!

In mathematical terms,

Success = (energy applied + desired success related outcomes).

Failure = (energy applied + desired failure related outcomes).

Focusing on the negative takes as much energy as focusing on the positive.

Being depressed about your failures takes the same energy as being elated with your successes.

So if the level of energy used to be miserable is the same as what is needed to be successful why is it that some will and some won’t be successful when both expand the same amount of energy?

There are the group who will comment that success is all based on how lucky you are, or that you were in the right place at the right time, or that you shop or business was in the right position for your good fortune to just happen. Well for the majority of successful people, luck has never played a role and the other two suggestions are the result of planning and applying the success equation.

‘The Secret’ movie has created incredible interest worldwide, with inputs in the movie from successful and wealthy people, who all followed the same map. Media commentaries and news headlines have emerged relating to those who have (allegedly) ripped off as many systems as they could to gain success, at the same time reportedly using the concepts portrayed in the movie; to the group who have supposedly followed the flow and dreamed up their success only to still be a failure. Let’s not forget those who continue to whine that they just hate all this fluffy stuff that is going on around them.

‘The Secret’did its job, it created success for the journalistic producer, whether you like it or not and the secret or the science behind ‘the Secret’ has been making people successful for a very long time, also whether you believe it or not, the concepts will continue to lead people to success for a very long time to come.

Why is it, that globally, there are a group of successful people who have previously been ’street people’, drug users, school dropouts and English or Math failures or ex janitors with limited education? What is it that this group of people has, or what is it that they have developed to be so successful and living the life of their desires?

Part of the answer is to get a mentor, no matter what areas you want to add improvement to in your life, common sense, or your inner gut feeling, will tell you this, go and find yourself a mentor or a coach.

But, and there is a big but and this is where the majority come to the brick wall. This is the total crux of the matter and it doesn’t matter how many books, programs, DVD’s, seminars you attend or business ventures you get involved in, until you totally understand and take a grip of what rules you, governs your behavior, what controls your thinking, what controls the system that you have filed deep within your brain cells nothing will change.

You will continue to try to use the equation of success as previously mentioned, but without the real science, success will continue to evade you.

Success is a science, numerous books have been written on how the science works and there are variables (obstacles) that just pop up in people’s lives that need to be negotiated if a success outcome is to be achieved. I always find it so interesting how one can lead their life obstacle free, until the time comes to change their life!

As success requires a little bit more than just your ordinary energy and a strong desire, I developed my equation for success believing that if you live by it each and every day (that is the big ask) you will achieve your goals. By studying the great minds of our past century and those that are successful, no matter what we set out to do requires a blueprint, or a roadmap, but it also requires the ingredient that inspires the momentum – a shift in conscious thinking – a shift in your mindset.

Having worked with children with disabilities, including blind children, (most don’t regard themselves as having disability) I have had the gratification of learning the following amazing success equations;

SELF DETERMINATION = (knowledge – pity) + (skills x confidence) + blind role models

SUCCESS =self-determination + (talent x perseverance)

The equation that leads these children to be successful in life led me to develop my equation, an equation that has led me to my success; my suggestion is to put a blindfold on for at least one full day and you will get the secret ingredient necessary for success, the change in mindset, the most important secret ingredient to your success.

You don’t have to be brilliant at math to master the success equation just apply it;

SUCCESS = (mindset + knowledge) + (action x perseverance) + mentor.

How to Connect Successes and Build Success Momentum

Posted on 31. Mar, 2010 by admin in Success

Do you know why “Success breeds success?” Success is accumulative and attractive.

Besides the money, recognition, and feeling of accomplishment, every success experience serves two purposes. It adds to our sum total of success just as interest compounds within a growing nest egg. Each success adds success and then some. It’s the “and then some” that accumulates and dramatically builds momentum for future successes.

Also, every success experience acts as a magnet. It attracts all that is necessary for future success experiences. Taken together, the accumulative and attractive functions of success build success momentum.

Here is a technique I designed that harnesses your success experiences and builds success momentum. This empowers you to leap forward to greater and greater success.

Take a deep breath. Elevate your gaze as if looking at an imaginary point just above a distant horizon.

Call to mind a success experience. Let your creative mind find one and see it in your inner field of vision.

See the scene of this experience as if through you own eyes. View this success experience from the point of view just behind your eyes.

This success experience can be from any time of your life and about any subject. As long at it makes you feel successful, it works!

Using that feeling of success as a guide, let your mind recall another time in your life when you felt the same feeling of success as you did in this experience. Again, see the scene of this experience as if through your own eyes. And let the mind draw any success experience to you without regard for your age or the subject matter.

Notice the feeling of success that this experience generates in you. With this enhanced feeling of success as a guide, repeat the process.

By now, your creative mind has recalled three mental images of success. In you mind’s eye, see each one again as if seeing them in a slide series. Now run the slides faster. And run them faster still.

Notice how the feelings of success blend together and expand mightily. Run this success sequence a few times at high speed. Remember that your mind can do this much faster than you can read these words.

What you feel is success momentum.

So what are you waiting for? You’ve got success momentum going for you!

Go do something that’s even more successful!

Who Else Wants a Successful Man?

Posted on 29. Mar, 2010 by admin in Success

Online dating sites are filled with women who list “successful” as one of the traits she’s looking for in a man. Today, when someone is considered “successful,” it’s usually because they appear to meet some broad criteria that fits the label. It’s all part of judging a book by its cover and we all do it. But what IS success really? When a woman says she wants a successful man, what does that success mean and is it the same for every woman? Success is different to every woman. Some women ARE very possession oriented and for them money or access to money equals success. To other women success is being able to pay your bills and still have the time, money and energy to spend a fun-filled weekend together doing the ordinary things in life.

For every woman who says she’s seeking a successful man, remember that it’s only her OPINION of what is successful.

This is very important. If you are with a woman who thinks you aren’t a success if you don’t have money and expensive things – lose her. You will never be good enough or rich enough or have enough things because there will always be someone with more than you have.

While I admit that there is nothing wrong at all with external symbols of success like money, jobs and things – that they equate to success is ONLY an opinion. A Ferrari is just a car. A Rolex watch is just a watch. The vice-presidency of a bank is just a title. A large bank account is just a bunch of numbers. And a gold medal is only a moment in time. These things do not constitute true success. They are opinions or external measurements of success.

Consider giving a mansion to a monk and notice that he’s not impressed. That would NOT be success to him!

The same goes for the opinions you hold. If owning an expensive watch means a lot to you, do you think, “That watch is success” or “buying that watch will make me successful?” Of course not. What you are truly saying, though, is that the watch represents success or that it symbolizes success, affluence, or whatever.

The problem, however, is that the watch is not only a personal symbol but also a symbol one wishes to project to the outside world. Besides only being a watch, it doesn’t have any value in itself except for the value that it has been given — by others as well as by you. This is where the ego often gets in the way. If you owned one, more than likely you are trying to show how successful you are rather than just “being” successful.

An expensive watch doesn’t have any intrinsic worth. To make it valuable, you must give it value — and that’s your value. And your value is what you want other people to notice. So, it all boils down to self-esteem. And this goes for anything in the material or physical world. Your goals, your achievements, or your performance are infallibly tied not only to how you feel about them but how you want others to feel about you.

This is the reason why all external forms of success are merely constituted of opinions. Success represents different things to different people, and a symbol is only an expression of a feeling about success and does not constitute this true success I am referring to. Therefore, success is but an illusion and this illusion is the cause of so much frustration, anger, pain, and lack we see in the world today.

The point I’m trying to make here is that you can find women who feel that success is not what happens on the outside, because the things you possess are merely symbols of an opinion. Find the woman who knows you have real value and you won’t need to possess so many trappings of success to prove your value.

If you want to really become a success in the true sense of the word, understand how valuable you are just because you’re alive. Look inside yourself and get connected with the you that believes in yourself. You’ll find more and more people attracted to you because they truly enjoy being with you. That’s the most satisfying relationship of all. If you rely on things to prove your success you will always need more and more visible “things” to keep the proof rolling on.