The Only 3 Things You’ll Ever Need to Succeed
Most people who succeed in life aren’t top-of-their-class geniuses, or who look like world class models, or who have movie star charm. Sure, those are the stories the media loves to grab on to and dangle in front of us. Those stories and personalities are hypey, sensational – and they sell. But most success is had by everyday people with average intelligence, average looks, and average skills.
The trick is:
Success isn’t handed out, it’s earned. And it’s not as complicated as most people think…Success is simple. And if you’re complicating it, it’s slowing you down, maybe even completely holding you back from where you want to be. No matter what your background, skills, looks, intelligence or anything else, here are the only 3 things you’ll ever need to succeed:
1) Inspiration
You’ve got to have an idea. Something that inspires you AND inspires others. It’s the reason you’re going to succeed. It’s the new thing you’re going to bring to the world. Call it your passion or whatever else – if you aren’t inspired, you won’t ever take the first real step to success. This is where everything starts. The more inspired you are, and the more your idea can inspire others, the farther you’ll get.
Where does inspiration come from?
Anywhere.
It’s what you jot down on the cocktail napkin after a few drinks. It’s the great idea you get in the shower. It’s that “Ah Ha!” you get from that book you’re reading. It’s when the light bulb goes in from listening to an expert speaker. Any time something goes “Click!” in your mind and it gets you excited – that’s inspiration. It’s GREAT inspiration when you share it with others and they get just as excited. That’s when you know it’s time to act! And the great thing is, it can strike at any time.
Will you be ready the next time inspiration strikes?
2) Motivation
Success is a choice. It’s a choice made every day, sometimes every hour, or maybe even every minute. It’s making the choice to do what needs to be done – even if you don’t really want to, know how to, or have time to. You need the motivation to get the job done. To make the hard decisions. To keep you on track when unexpected things pop up and throw all your plans into chaos.
Your motivation, your “reason why”, will push you through all of that and more. Without motivation that comes from within, you won’t see things through until you smell the sweet scent of victory. This is where a lot of people hold themselves back from success. The excitement from the initial inspiration will go up and down. Some days you’ll be just as excited when you first started and the tasks you need to do to act on it will flow smoothly. Some days, well… not so much. The motivation you have to see it through, no matter what. To act through thick and thin, that’s the key thing. When you lose your motivation, everything you do stops. The people supporting you will see it and feel it, and they’ll stop too.
And here’s the important thing…
No matter how pumped up you are right now, odds are pretty good that there will come a time when you’re not as excited. Maybe it’s an unexpected problem. Maybe life just throws you a personal curveball. Maybe it’s any one of a million different things. The question is: How will you respond? Are you clear enough on WHY you’re doing what you’re doing that it’s important enough and strong enough to help push you through the down times?
Plans rarely succeed as you first thought. There will be changes and challenges. And if you’re clear on your motivations, no matter what gets thrown at you, in the long term, it won’t matter – you WILL succeed.
3) Education
It doesn’t matter what kind of “formal” education you have. It’s not about having a degree from a college, or a certification from some training program. It’s not even if you graduated high school or not. It’s all about learning what you need for THIS idea. For you to take your idea from concept to creation.
After all, it’s common sense…No matter what you’re trying to do – you will run into things that you simply don’t know enough about. What you know today has gotten you this far, but to get farther tomorrow you’ll have to know more. Don’t get me wrong, experience alone is a great teacher, but if you have to rely on your own experience to learn everything, you’re literally learning everything the hard way. So take the time to learn from others.
Get educated.
Odds are pretty good that someone else has had the same problem you’re having. Or has industry knowledge you need. Or has simply gone down the road you’re just now travelling. So reach out. Explore. Network. Hit the bookstore. Search the web. Make some calls. Be open to learning from others in any form, in any way. It’s ok to admit you don’t know everything. The important thing is to be open to learning whatever you need to learn to move your idea forward to success.
Whether it’s books, blogs, coaches, mentors, events, webinars, magazines or whatever else – you’ll be able to beat the learning curve AND learn from others before making the same costly mistakes they made. Every day is a great day to learn something new, and take another step towards your own success.
That’s it…
The only 3 things you’ll need for your success. It’s not rocket science. There’s no huge barrier to entry when going after success. There aren’t limits based on age, or race, or IQ, or anything else. So the good news is, the only thing holding you back is – you! The bad news is, the only thing holding you back is – you!
By focusing on these 3 things, you will reach whatever you define as success, and at whatever level you want to achieve. Don’t get distracted, and don’t wait to jump in. Take action today in any one (or all 3!) of these areas right now and you’ll soon start to see that success you’ve been looking for.
About the Author: Ric Thompson, is co-founder of Healthy Wealthy nWise Digital Magazine, Internet Marketing TNT, and Small Business CEO magazines, as well as countless successful start-ups. He also owns Done For You Solutions, an innovative virtual outsourcing company.
Photo Source: Microsoft Clip Art http://office.microsoft.com/
