Last week we started talking about success.  Did you think about it?  Did you come up with your own definition?  If so, then I have one more question for you:

Do you want to be successful?

Seems like an odd question, right?  Who WOULDN'T want to be successful?  Everyone wants success, right?  So then why aren't there more successful people in the world?  Maybe the question needs to change:

Do you NEED to be successful?

I bet that decreases the number a bit, doesn't it?  What does it mean to need something?  It means that you cannot go on without that thing, whatever it is.  We need air, food, water, and shelter.  We need acceptance, love, and meaning in our lives.  Without these things, we wouldn't survive.  So, once more, I ask you:  do you NEED to be successful?  Do you know how to be successful?

Please remember that success is highly individualized and therefore looks different to different people.  Success can be running a marathon - or a single mile.  It could be speaking in front of a coliseum - or in a meeting with your boss.  It could be losing 100 pounds - or just one.  It could be making your first million - or first dollar.  It could be feeding 5,000 people - or just your own child.  All of these things are successes.  And all of these things have certain things in common.

1. There is a clear, defined goal.  In order to measure success, there must be something to compare it to.  What do you want to achieve?  By when?  Be specific, as specific as possible.  
2. There is a cost associated with every goal.  Successful people are aware of the cost of their desires, and are willing to pay it.  They count the cost, but because they NEED to succeed, they accept it as necessary.
3. There is a step-by-step plan.  Along with counting the cost, the successful person has developed or found a way to make it happen.  They have broken the larger goal into many smaller goals.
4. The successful person is consistent and perseveres through any and every situation.  Everyone has excuses.  I'm not going to pretend that you don't.  Some are even valid excuses.  The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people, though?  Successful people do not allow their excuses - even valid ones - to stop them.  They acknowledge them, address them if needed, and then move past them.  They ALWAYS move past them.  Regardless of excuses or results, success comes when you keep going.
5. They take risks.  Period.
   
6. Successful people work hard.  They put in long hours and give up things that aren't necessary.  They work outside their comfort zone.  But the also reap amazing rewards.

So I ask you one more time:  

Do you NEED to be successful? 

Then what are you doing about it?