| 1. Take 100% Responsibility for Your Life ? In a | | | | they take their profession. They strive to be the |
| society where people blame everything from their | | | | best at what they do, and do almost anything to |
| parents to the government for failure, those who | | | | improve. If someone followed you around all day with |
| don't buy into this mentality or succumb to the | | | | a video camera at your business, would it be a tape |
| ?victim? thinking succeed. To blame something or | | | | you'd be proud of or embarrassed about? Make the |
| somebody outside yourself is saying they have | | | | decision today to work at being the best in your field. |
| control of your life and not you. Someone else's | | | | How? By finding out what the ?best? in your field are |
| opinion of you doesn't have to become your reality. | | | | doing, and do what they do. |
| 2. Live Your Life On Purpose - What separates | | | | 6. Write Out a Plan for Achieving Your Goals - Write |
| motivational thinkers from the unsuccessful is that | | | | out an action plan/map for how you're going to |
| they believe they're doing what they were put her | | | | achieve your goals. Trying to reach your goals |
| to do. The difference between this and just living, is | | | | without a plan is like trying to drive from Los Angeles |
| that the latter is just getting through the week with | | | | to Chicago without a map. A goal that isn't written |
| the least problems. But when you live your life on | | | | down is merely a wish or fantasy. |
| purpose, your main concern is doing the job right. For | | | | 7. Never Give Up - Never, never, never give up. |
| the entrepreneur this means finding a cause you | | | | When you're fully committed to achieving your goal, |
| believe in and building your business around it. | | | | giving up is not an option. You must be willing do |
| 3. Be Willing to Pay the Price - Be willing to pay the | | | | whatever it takes to make it happen. The power of |
| price for your dreams. Wanting a big house, a luxury | | | | perseverance is an awesome force. As someone |
| car, and a million dollars in the bank is all very nice, | | | | once said, ?inch by inch it's a cinch?. Think of the |
| and everyone wants these things ? but are you | | | | lowly inchworm ? if it pondered the length of the trip |
| willing to pay the price to get them? This is one of | | | | from start to finish before it started, it probably |
| the major differences between the successful and | | | | would never move. To a worm's point-of-view, the |
| unsuccessful. | | | | garden path must look like a trip to Mars. Never give |
| 4. Stay Focused ? Every day we're bombarded with | | | | up! Keep on going like the Eveready battery bunny, |
| hundreds of tasks, phone calls, messages, and | | | | and pretty soon you're there. |
| everyone competing for our time. Focusing requires | | | | 8. Don't Delay - Nobody knows how much time they |
| giving up something in the present because you are | | | | have left to accomplish their dreams, and we must |
| investing your time in something that will pay off | | | | remember that we don't have forever. The clock is |
| big-time down the road. Jack Canfield and Mark | | | | ticking, and sooner or later your number comes up |
| Hanson were turned by 30 publishers when they | | | | and you're gone. Successful achievers know this too, |
| submitted the first ?Chicken Soup for the Soul? book. | | | | but they don't view it as a ?negative?. Achievers use |
| Instead of giving up, they stayed focused on their | | | | it to ?spur them on?. They go after what they want |
| goal and did four or five interviews per day for radio, | | | | as energetically and as passionately as possible, for |
| TV, and newspapers, for five days a week for a | | | | as long as they have. |
| whole year. Eventually, a small publisher decided to | | | | I had a friend who used to say, ?Today is a check ? |
| take a chance, and of course now it's a best-seller | | | | cash it! Yesterday is an I.O.U. ? forget it! Tomorrow is |
| that spawned an entire series that have sold more | | | | a promissory note, don't bank on it!? I think that's a |
| than 10 million copies. | | | | pretty good summation of life, so go out there and |
| 5. Become An Expert in Your Field One striking factor | | | | cash in on that ?today? check. |
| all successful people have in common is how seriously | | | | |