If you really want to become successful,….if you really have a burning desire to get to where you really want to go and make it all the way up the ladder of success,…then you need to know and employ the general rule for all successful people. Here it is: SUCCESS IS A JOURNEY. IT IS A PROCESS. In order for you to succeed, you must first DO WHAT SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE DO!
How many people do you know who would wantonly depart on a trip, be it short or long-term in nature, who had no idea of where they were headed, which route they would travel, what means of transportation they would use, or how long they would be gone?
With so many unknowns to be resolved, it doesn’t take too much common sense to conclude that trouble lies in wait for this traveler somewhere in the journey ahead.
Well, most folks, I would venture to guess, would never depart on such a hypothetical journey without first, at least, knowin’ where they are goin.’
What always amazes me, as I work with people who really do desire to move ahead in life, who really want to improve their financial position, who truly do want and expect to one day become totally successful,…..is how little forethought or planning they first put into what they are going to do,….where they are wanting to go,….and how they are going to get there.
Success is not an accident. It is not a side benefit to random acts of ignorance or happenstance. Oh No….SUCCESS IS A PLANNED EVENT. The more planning and scheduling you do for the how’s, when’s, what’s, where’s, and why’s, the greater will be the chances of you actually achieving what it is that you are desiring to accomplish.
Life is filled with distractions, emergencies, unplanned and unwanted surprises, and all kinds of other things, people, and events that interrupt, tip-over, or otherwise destroy even the best of plans. If you truly do want to become successful, PREPARATION is an absolute must. In fact, the more proper planning you do before departing on your journey to success, the more chance there is for you to succeed.
The means of travel is one of the easy-to-choose variables. Pick the one that gets you where you want to go in a time frame that fits your own schedule. You must decide your own pace of travel.
It is the first choice that hangs most folks up. It is the WHERE do you want to go that is always the toughest choice. There are just so many travelers who have no idea where they really want to go, but who just pull out on the very first road they can take and hope that it leads to success. Such a situation is like a person going to the airport ticket counter and asking the agent for a ticket. The agent says, “where do you want to go?” and the person replies… “I don’t really know, just give me the first ticket in the stack of tickets that you have.” What do you think the chances are that that person will be happy with where they wind up?….Probably not very good, right?
Now I will define Success, for the purposes of this discussion, as follows:
Success is the progressive realization of a worthwhile dream or goal.
So if you, the traveler, want to be successful, it falls upon your own shoulders to first determine where it is that you want to wind up,….where you want to finish or complete your journey to success. No one can make that decision for you because Success is always relative. Success has as many definitions as there are people who decide to become successful. That is exactly why you must first decide where it is that you are headed. (1) You must know precisely where you are really going!
The next most important decision that you must make by yourself is
(2) When…the exact date…do you want to reach your chosen destination?
Dreams and goals set without a fixed date of completion are “if” goals and they never get accomplished, i.e. they are never reached. You see, without a set date of expected achievement, you will never know when you get there,….when you reach your destination,….consequently you never will get there.
If you have not determined exactly the answers to these first two questions, then there is really very little, if any, chance of you achieving your planned successful accomplishment. It is imperative that you get and keep First Things First.
Now comes along a third great issue to be resolved. You must decide on the price you are willing to pay in order for you to reach your desired defined success. In other words, you must (3) Determine what You Will Give Up In Order To Get What It Is That You Really Want!
That little task it would seem would not be so terribly difficult, but you will discover that it can be. God tells us in The Bible that we are to “count the cost” (See Luke 14:28-30 NKJV), before we begin to build anything or to perform any significant task. In other words, we are not to begin a project without first knowing for certain that we have sufficient funds and resources that will enable us to complete the project or to perform the task through to completion.
At this point, the toughest requirement needed to finish your journey all the way to the actual accomplishment of your success comes into play. Success is too great to be achieved alone,…all by yourself. Success is a real team effort. You are going to need to create a team. So the fourth requirement to be successful is that you need (4) To Associate With Other Successful People Who Can And Who Will Assist You In Completing Your Journey And In Becoming Successful.
These “other successful people” are going to have to be found. They are not just lying around everywhere waiting for you to show up. You will have to begin your journey alone using only that which you have,… just as you are. Now as you use your talents and abilities to the maximum and as best you are able, then God will bring these “other successful people” into your life. You must be actively using your abilities to the best of your capabilities in order to provide a pathway for God to do His Part! You cannot just lie around doing nothing and wait for God to bring all of these required assistants into your life. Your own initial efforts and investment of your own blood, sweat, and tears as well as your own time, money and effort is what will attract “other successful people” to start showing up in your life. Remember, the more consistent and persistent you are in using your own talents and abilities in working toward the achieving your own success, the more you will attract these “other successful people” into assisting you in accomplishing your own success. Make certain YOUR FINE EXAMPLE is always showing as you work everyday towards achieving your chosen destination.
From this point forward all that you must continue to do is (5) Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan. Day in and day out you must insure that you are doing your own very best to achieve your dreams and goals. From then on to the completion of your journey, you just need to stay actively involved in doing the necessary work until God chooses the correct time for you to accomplish your mission and be rewarded with your own success. Just stay calm and stay steady in doing the work. God will take it all from there.
From here on out, all that you must continue to do is to be consistent and persistent with your work ethic. WORK IN COMPLETE FAITH. Follow the instructions of the “other successful people” with whom you are working and stay at work for as long as it takes. Do this and you will eventually achieve that which you are passionately pursuing.
It all begins with a Dream,…with a Dream so big, and so clear and so critically important to you that it arrests your mental attention. A Dream so big that it will sustain you through all of the negative distractions that will come against you as you begin your uphill climb to the top of your mountain of success.
Keep in mind at all times, that when you reach the top of the mountain of success, the view is the same for all who get there. All of the same benefits and blessings that have been earned by others who have gone before you, will all be available to you when you get to the top of the mountain!…..Trust me.
Going Up ?
Peace and love to all of you, Poppa Bear