Sunday, December 16, 2012

There Is No "Secret" To Success

I don't know why I keep falling for this stuff. I'm a sucker for putting in my email address to get every "free special report" on the newest "hidden wealth system".

"Success" authors have gotten a lot of mileage out of the meme of "There is a hidden secret to unlimited wealth and sexual prowess! But it's been kept hidden from you by (insert secretive, don't-want-you-to-succeed group here)! Kevin Trudeau got in on the act, and still has his own pyramid scheme secret society.

Even though I love to study things like the Illuminati, Bilderberg, Council on Foreign Relations, Freemasons, and other such groups and the power plays that go on behind the scenes, I don't think this one fits.

Chances are, "The Illuminati" don't have to hide secrets for success from you. You are doing a great job keeping them hidden from yourself. It's much easier to stick with the status quo and complain than it is to change your thinking and habits, start reading books and finding successful people to hang out with and learn from.

"Success" isn't all that difficult. Yeah, it's hard work. It takes a lot of planning. And it's probably easier to just go with the flow.

If you want to be "successful", here's an easy to comprehend list:

  1. Identify what success actually means to you. We're all different. What motivates me won't motivate you. I believe Dr. Stephen Covey said it's a shame to spend your life climbing a ladder only to discover it's leaning against the wrong wall.
  2. Once you figure out what success means to you, go for it! Make the changes you need in your life. Learn the skills you need to get there. 
  3. Take responsibility, and accept failure.
  4. Stop periodically and reevalute. Your definition of success will change from time to time.
Really, that's the "secret" to success. It's not hidden from you by some Bilderberg plot.You're hiding it from yourself.

I'm not saying it won't be hard work. I'm not saying you won't get discouraged. I'm not even saying you won't miss the target entirely. But everything you need to know about success is out in the open.

Here are some resources to get you started:

Michael Hyatt has a free ebook on creating your personal life plan. It took me a LOOOOOOOOOOONG time to get a life plan put together, but I'm glad I did. I managed to talk a friend into reading the free book with me and we worked together to put life plans together and hold each other accountable.

John Maxwell's book "Put Your Dream To the Test" is really good.

For a comprehensive, no BS overview of all the areas of life you need to consider in your quest to be successful, nothing comes close to John T. Reed's book, Succeeding. It's worth every penny.

Earl Nightengale's "The Strangest Secret" is a classic. I listen to it from time to time to recalibrate. Mark Victor Hansen's mp3 of it is about 45 minutes long. Just over 20 minutes on 2x speed.

Finding information on being successful is the easy part. Actually BEING successful is where things get tough. This is where you can't even begin until you sit down and wrestle with the issues. Are the goals you're chasing after even yours, or were they imposed upon you and don't inspire you?

And the thinking change part is hard too. Roosh had a great post on his Return of Kings site about how Frugality is harmful to you in the long run. And of course, Ramit Sethi beats that drum all the time.

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