There are many issues you will have to face within the privacy of your mind, but here are some which are the most important.

First, determine if you really want success. Is it your choice, or that of someone else? Have you taken the trouble to define success in a way that would appeal to you, knowing what you do now about your motivators? What motivates others may not charge you up. If you have a burning desire for success, perhaps theirs is something wrong with how you have defined it.

Success has to mirror your passions. It has to reflect the very deepest and most abiding parts of who you are and who you want to become. Otherwise, the wisest part of you will deflect any goal that is inconsistent with these internal forces. It will redirect your energies in order to get your attention. It will hold it until you have chosen a target worthy of your efforts.

The overwhelming majority of those who have sought success and failed have never searched within for any of these answers. They assumed that the answers were outside of themselves. So they charged out into the world, brandishing their enthusiasm like a weapon high over their heads. Since they really did not know what they were looking for, they had no sense of direction and had not developed any standards for determining what success is. They expected success to be there, somewhere, but they never found it. Their energy level dropped and their enthusiasm faded. Their vague definitions of success became even more elusive. Ironic, isn't it, that people who do not have time for a personal inventory have enough time to waste the rest of their lives.

Clearly there are a number of components to success. No one book could ever hope to do them justice. But we can examine some of the more important ingredients. These involve self-discovery and self-knowledge.

A crucial aspect of any successful attitude is a combination of focus and a positive emphasis. You must be able to get clear on what success is for you. You should know what it feels like when you have achieved it and what the steps are between it and you.

Clarity brings with it power while lack of clarity weakens your intentions. It saps your energies and generates barriers. You need to know in detail exactly what success will be for you. Only in this way will you be able to summon the passion required to send you to your goal. Like an arrow shot from a powerful bow, you will be propelled forward by clarity of thought.

If you are vague, you do not have a chance to realize your goals. If you are afraid to look at your goals, how can they guide your actions? How can it give your enthusiasm a boost when it needs it? How can it provide you with that extra burst it takes to overcome disappointment, to side-step anxiety and keep you plowing ahead?

But clarity alone is not the answer. You must have a positive twist. You must clearly visualize what success is for you and then genuinely feel good about attaining it. If you have not pictured success in a way which is right for you, take the time to do it before you take one more step. This is part of the intelligent planning any successful person had to engage in. After which, it is time to act. Put into operation all those glowing ideals and sparkling dreams. The person intent upon real success eagerly looks forward to this phase of the process.

This will prove just how good your ideas are in the real world. Are you ready to look truth eyeball to eyeball?

In the process of cultivating a positive mental attitude you must also do something, which sounds contradictory at first. You need to deliberately stimulate you own dissatisfaction. This is not a cynical dissatisfaction, but a focused one. It is one that will make you discontent with compromise and a sloppy thought process, inaccurate words and misdirected deeds. It is one that will encourage you to no longer accept second best anything in your life.

As you learn to see things in a more positive light, you will be able to feel better about your abilities and intelligence to solve your problems. You will achieve a self-knowledge each step of the way and it will provide energy beyond anything you have experienced before. When you have chosen a goal, it will pull you on like a huge magnet.

Another word for such knowledge is faith. This faith does not dribble out from you, rather it gushes forth! Doubts about your worth are left behind. You are proving yourself every minute. Each victory makes the next one more likely. Even defeats are temporary. They are like grist for the mill, which will be ground up in eventual victory.

By welcoming each new discovery about yourself, you greet each day with a different attitude. Now you cannot wait to see what comes next and what is waiting around the next corner. Dread is replaced by anticipation, fear is replaced by confidence, and a brave spirit replaces timidity.
This is a result of your coming into touch with who you really are. Doubts are replaced by a balanced, flexible and realistic self-confidence. You are still open to learn, you are not plagued by uncertainly, cloudy intentions, or vaguely defined goals. You know what you are looking for, and you have defined ways of determining when you have found them.

You do not offend those who offer advice, but you do not allow them to divert you from what you know to be the correct course. They may think of you as a heretic for not following their advice, but you know you are right. By overcoming your fear of self, you have taken a giant step on the road to success. Now, no matter what happens, you will be ready to take your experience and profit from it. You can get up and dust yourself off when that bucking bronco throws you off. You are better off for it because you no longer feel that disappointment will set you back or undermine your confidence. You will plunge ahead without fear of serious defeats. You will be ready for the future, regardless of what it brings.

Bad habits need to be deranged and healthy new ones put in their place. You especially need to place an emphasis on being as positive as you are realistic. Speak with affirmation. Substitute gloom with hopes; closed-minded cynicism with openness and curiosity. Rather than saying, "It's impossible," say. "It has never been tried, I have an opportunity to break new ground."
If you have to suggest changes in plans, always emphasize the good points first. Search out the best features in your colleagues. On some level, they probably know what their bad qualities are, but they may not know a quality or two that are underdeveloped.

Emphasize up-beat thoughts, inspiring stories and energy-giving anecdotes and parables. Refuse to spread gossip and negative rumors. Praise every good quality of others. Remember to thank, compliment, and acknowledge every positive feature you see and experience. A waitress could use a compliment and so could the bellhop and the co-worker and the well-meaning neighbor. Examine your reading habits, even with a newspaper. Read the comics first one in a while.

Save those reports of crime and war for later. What do you watch on television? If you get dragged down by some sensational program, do not watch it. Maybe a good conversation with your family or curling up with a good book is preferable to many programs on the boob tube.
The main thing is to maintain your perspective and balance in a world that often loses it. Keep your fresh outlook and your sense of humor. Collect jokes and funny stories. Clip out cartoons and comic strips, which are personally relevant. Look at them regularly and share them.

Laughter is good for the body and soul. It restores the famished by giving comfort to the troubled mind. Humor is always valuable when teamed with imagination. Without a good dose of humor at regular intervals, it may not be possible to maintain a balanced sense of courage. Courage without humor is grim. You will take yourself too seriously, making your problems more difficult than they are.

Occasionally, direct humor at yourself to keep humble. Humor can insure that you do not get a swollen head and bloated ego. If you have not had a good laugh lately, something's wrong with your life-style. If you have not tickled a baby, played with a child, petted a dog or cat, or noticed a pretty girl or handsome man, you better do some soul-searching. At this rate, you would not be able to recognize success if it bit you on the gluteus maximus.

Be careful of your vocabulary. It affects you and those around you.

Substitute positive expressions for negative ones.

Do not allow failures and disappointments of a therapist to block your forward progress.

Build on your errors and make them building blocks for a better future.

If you need to know something to be successful, search for the answers and learn.

Use your fear of anxiety in a positive way. It is just telling you something is new.

Cultivate your taste for the novel and stimulate your passion for the new.

Have the courage to move through the envelope formed by your comfort zone.

Say, "I believe," more than "I don't believe."

It is not impossible. Don't put thing, ideas, or thoughts off!

If you have lost your passion and zest for life, success becomes a hollow word. If you cannot get a kick out of your personal and professional victories, what is the point? If what you call success is incompatible with a happy outlook; you should re-evaluate your life right now.

Your statements about what you believe should be extended as widely as appropriate. They should include your abilities, your plans, and especially your goals, since the well-defined goals which you now aim for are the beacons toward success. Drop expressions like, "if only..." because they perform no function on your life-style. Rather than pointing toward corrective action and wiser decision-making in the future, such words only indicate a longing for what did not happen and probably won't. Say "If..." and then fill in the appropriate behavior. This encourages you to get into gear and do what needs to be done right now.

Drop words like "maybe" since they have the same negative effect on your motivation. Be suspicious of that seemingly innocent little word, "try." Get involved, committed, and busy. Speak not of trying, but doing. Any word or expression which stops you in your tracks, needs to be replaced. Find your way of speaking, and develop your vocabulary. What is necessary is to find a style that fits you. Let it be affirmative and action-oriented which fits with this new success-driven style of living.

Be suspicious of any tendency to procrastinate. In large enough doses, this will put your life on hold. Develop an attitude, which welcomes problem-solving and which looks forward to making decisions and then carrying them out. Once you do, the idea of procrastinating will have no appeal. After all, it was never intended for the courageous. You have got places to go and things to do. You have to meet a great person and enjoy him - Yourself!

Be sure you develop a positive attitude towards budgets. You will need to allocate time for important projects and plans, re-arrange things for lack of waste. You can make time for whatever matters most to you, but only if you take the trouble to shift your priorities. Do not forget the importance in your time and energy budget for fun, humor and passion. There is always time for them. If you cut out wasted time, you will find plenty of time and energy for everything that really matters. There will be more time for friends and family, for laughter and simply relaxing, when you have really earned it.

Once you have found some positive words and expressions, which work for you, polish them and use them consistently. Pepper your thoughts and spice your conversations with them. Keep up the positive flow to your subconscious mind, since it feeds on all of your vocabulary and will hold what you say against you, unless you are careful to give it little cause. Develop positive habits of thought, word and deed.

Take the time to cultivate a more affirmative attitude toward other people, including family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. Share with them your time, energy and wisdom. Most important of all, give of yourself. No one else can. Among the qualities you will have to nurture are prudence, fortitude, and discipline. Prudence means the ability to hold back when appropriate, to show strength of character when it is most necessary.

Fortitude involves sticking to the task at hand until it is done. Do not give in to those flabby excuses anymore. It also involves the strength of will. You may have to endure some rather disturbing feelings of fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. You will have to experience loneliness when the decisions you reach have to be made by you alone. Develop the traits of temperance, in thought or deed.

The ancient Greeks called this the "Golden Mean" and it was a fundamental principal of all interaction for them. Do not allow your passions to rule you. Control them, harnessing their energy to accomplish your projects and arrive at your self-defined goals.

In the process, keep your eye on the need for justice. This includes fairness, balance, and integrity. These all point to the same central core. When you give your word, keep it. When you make a threat or a promise, follow through. When you are asked for the truth, give it. Be reliable and trusted with important things and even the trivial.

Next come Faith, Hope and Charity. There are not just scriptural words; they have a place in your quest for success. We have discussed faith and hope, so let's look at charity. It is compassion, a consideration for the values, feelings, expectations, and perceptions of others. It is a comical responsibility which will become more important as you begin to experience more financial success. Your decision will have the power to impact the lives of more people.

State your goals with clarity and determination. This is not the place to be wimpy and timid. Visualize them with all the details it takes to engage your passion, curiosity and imagination. If your goals are not clear enough to motivate you yet, re-state them until they are. Your passion is still there, but you need to find something worth attaining before it will move you in the direction. Passion tied to your goals is the best friend you will ever have. It is the most powerful motivator you are ever likely to experience first-hand.

If your vision of your goals seems to fade, re-state and re-fashion it. You may have evolved enough so that the goals of this week will not be quite right next week. Keep shaping them and re-shaping them in your image. Make them your own. You will then move closer to success. Pride yourself in being a visionary, even if others ridicule you for it. That is the price you pay for seeing over their heads and trying to bring about revolutionary changes. The majority is always wrong. This is especially true about formulas for success. Do not even bother to ask them for their endorsement. If you get such support, it can only mean one thing; you have goofed somewhere. If you are rejected, suspected and gossiped about, consider this a victory. It is an endorsement of your wisdom and insight.

Finally, Cultivate Integrity.

Although the importance of integrity has been discussed, it should be mentioned here at the last. Without a sense of integrity, you cannot hope for success. In fact, if you fail to develop this wonderful trait, pray that you do not accidentally stumble on success in some form. You would pollute and destroy it without integrity anyway.

First of all, be in touch with the real you. Know how you really feel. Know what motivates you. What are your real values? I do not mean those you publicly profess, but those that you will treasure when the lights go out. Integrity reveals self-knowledge and strengthens the courage to act.

So, we have come full circle, haven't we? What a better place to end our journey together. From here on, you are on your own. But what truly motivated, self-aware and courageous person would have it any other way?

Good luck, and may the success you find be everything you always hoped it could be.

1. What do you want from your business?

2. At what level are you now?

3. At what level do you want to be?

4. Levels by dates. Where do you want to be?

Level Date
1 _________________
2 _________________
3 _________________
4 _________________

5. How are you going to do it?

I,     _________________________ pledge myself to do the following goals:

1. My income will be $ ______________
Date: _______________

2. I will live in a ______________ sq.ft. home in a _________________
style with a value of $ ________________
Date: ________________

3. I now drive a ____________________ but in three years I will own the following:
Mall car for shopping: ________________________
Meeting car: ________________________________
Spouce's FUN car: ___________________________
My FUN car: ________________________________
Date: ________________

4. After paying all the charge accounts and all other loans and debts that nag me,
I will have $ ___________ in my bank accounts.
Date: _________________

5. My total NET WORTH will be $ _______________
Date: __________________

6. My special dream is ________________________________________________

7. Freedom Date: _________________________

Checking Your Distributorship

1. Do I have the skills to share and retail a product or the program?
2.    Do I have the skills to invite someone to a meeting?
3.    Am I doing it?
4.    Am I making sales?
5.    Am I signing up people?
6.    Are the people making a commitment?
7.    Are the people getting product or program sold?
8.    Have I become a good teacher?

The world needs men and women who cannot not be bought, whose word is their bond, who put character above wealth, who possess opinions and a will, who are larger than their vocations, who do not hesitate to take chances, who will not lose their individuality in a crowd, who will be honest in small things as in great, who will make no compromise, who will say, "I'll do it" because they believe, not simply because the crowd does it.

The world needs men and women who are true to their friends, who take time for work - it's the price of success, take time to play - it's the secret of youth, take time to read - it's the foundation of wisdom, take time to be friendly - it's the road to happiness, take time to dream - it's hitching your wagon to a star, take time to love - it's the highest joy of life, and who take time to laugh - it's the music of the soul. THE WORLD NEEDS YOU!

What did I do to make money in my business today?

1. Did I sell any memberships?
2. Did I share the opportunity?
3. Did I train someone?
4. Did I sponsor someone?
5. Did they order products or services?
6. Did I help my organization do one of the above?

Success involves being able to accept yourself. Success involves knowing you are on the winning team. Success involves winning daily victories. Success involves getting along with others. Success involves achieving the maximum that can be achieved with your God-given talent. Success is like a ladder: each victory is like a rung of the ladder. With each victory you grow in wisdom, stature, and experience. You succeed and become a better person each time you meet a challenge, tackle it and conquer it.

My definition of success is this: "The power to acquire whatever one demands of life without violating the rights of others."

Thomas F Gregg II

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