The secret to success is there is no secret!

I am a huge fan of personal development, positive mental attitude, and visualizations. I believe they are an essential component to the success equation; however, they are not the whole success equation. The law of attraction and positive mental attitude have become very popular with the release of movies such as The Secret but The Secret left out a very important component to the success equation. That vital element is hard work. Positive mental attitude not backed by hard work is a dream. Dreams are great but dreams alone will not create success. They must be backed by hard work. Dreams must be backed by a plan and action steps to bring those dreams to fruition. Success and achievement does not come to those lucky few who were in the right place at the right time. The people who succeed are in so many places so many times that they are making themselves available to attract and seek out great opportunities. Samuel Goldwyn, a film producer, once said, “The harder I work, the luckier I get.” Success does not come to the tired and weary. Success comes to those people who think big, dream big, and back up those dreams by an unwavering commitment and determination to work hard and do whatever it takes to see those dreams become a reality.

If you want to succeed in a big way, it is time to roll up your sleeves, put your shoes to the pavement, get out of your comfort zone, and do whatever it takes to make your dreams come true. Instead of just listening to personal development CDs, start teaching what you learn to other people. Read a book on networking and relationship building such as Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi and put action steps into place to immediately take what you learn to your community. You cannot just read a book on nutrition and expect to lose weight. You cannot just think about running a marathon and expect to do well. If you want to lose weight and run a marathon, you must back up what you know and what you think about with hard work, determination, and a steadfast commitment to excellence. I truly believe that success can be yours, however, are you willing to do whatever it takes? I am going to leave you with a quote by Lee Iacocca who is best known for his legendary revival of the Chrysler Corporation in the 1980s. “Apply yourself. Get all the education you can, but then, by God, do something. Don't just stand there, make it happen.”