The Habit of Success

I have learned both personally and from study that success doesn't result from luck or random chance. Success never just “happens to the fortunate few.” Instead, achievers make their own opportunities in business and in life by doing more than daydreaming or vaguely desiring.

They possess a “Do it now!” attitude that motivates them to take actions required to soar above the rest and bridge the gap between their dreams and reality.

Through the ages, philosophers, heads of state, commanding generals, athletes, and businesspeople - leaders and go-getters of all types – have tried to kindle the flame of imagination and light the fire of enthusiasm so that the people can glimpse the heights they might reach, the richness of rewards they might savor, and the happiness they might enjoy.

The early Greek philosopher Plato said that if people would move the world, they must first move themselves. This statement

Halftime: Re-evaluating Yearly Goals!

In a sporting event, the players are given a break at the half in order to refresh themselves, look at how they played in the first half, and set strategy for the second half. So as you approach halftime, here are some thoughts.

Do you have a vacation planned in the next two months that will give you the needed break and refreshment? If not, schedule one this week! How did you "play" in the first half of this year? Have you met your goals that you established at the beginning of the year? Here are a few ideas to evaluate where

The problem with waiting until tomorrow is that when it finally arrives, it is called today. Today is yesterday's tomorrow. The question is what did we do with its opportunity? All too often we will waste tomorrow as we wasted yesterday, and as we are wasting today. All that could have been accomplished can easily elude us, despite our intentions, until we inevitably discover that the things that might have been have slipped from our embrace a single, one unused day at a time.

 Each of us must pause frequently to remind ourselves that the clock is ticking. The same clock that began to tick from the moment

I was hired to do some training for a sales team from one of the largest companies in America. There were 16 people on this team. This year their sales (for the 16 of them) will be 250 million - that's right, a quarter of a billion - dollars!

Needless to say, it was an excellent and fascinating time. I decided to learn a little bit myself so I watched them closely to see what kind of people they were and to see what common denominators they shared. Below is what I found. I think you will find the elements applicable to your own life.

The first thing I noticed about this successful sales team was that they had a sense of humor! They simply weren't a terribly serious bunch of people.

Any day we wish; we can discipline ourselves to change it all.

Any day we wish; we can open the book that will open our mind to new knowledge. Any day we wish; we can start a new activity. Any day we wish; we can start the process of life change. We can do it immediately, or next week, or next month, or next year.

We can also do nothing. We can pretend rather than perform.

And if the idea of having to change ourselves makes us uncomfortable, we can remain as we are. We can choose rest over