<< PERSISTENCE >>

You have just done this long enough. How long is long enough? Well, it will take 10 years. I have asked hundreds of accomplished photographers, writers, filmmakers, painters and musician how long it took before they felt they were able to speak from a source within. Ten years was been their unanimous answer.
If it takes 10 years, then how do you spend the time wisely? It will take at least two years to acquire 70 percent of the craft you will need to work in your medium. It will take another eight years to acquire the next 20 percent of your craft. At 90 percent, you will have mastered your craft, but there is that 10 percent that will take a lifetime to acquire. In the meantime, while working to master your craft (the technical skills and processes for working in your medium) you will also be learning and acquiring a personal vision, your ability to see, to observe, to create and discover things. This is difficult at first, but the older you get the wiser and more aware you become. Craft and vision are your tools for inner exploration.
Persistence takes discipline. Discipline is simply doing what you know you need to do, even though you don't feel like doing it. The first thing is knowing what to do. Most people do not know. You are reading this, so you are interested in finding out what to do. Make a list. Next, find the willpower to do what's on the list. This is the most difficult part of all the keys - finding the positive willpower to do what you know you need to do. We all wrestle with discipline for it does not come easily, not even for the most successful.

<< ABILITY TO ACCEPT A RISK >>

I do not know anyone who has succeeded who has not been able to assess and take a risk and then live with the consequence - success or failure. Risk avoidance is a sure way to remain mediocre; being safe does not promote personal growth. Failure or making a mistake is not a bad thing; it's proof you were exploring new ways to do something, and that's better than safe success. We learn from our mistakes, not our successes. Really creative people embrace risk. They can sustain a high level of ambiguity; they do not need to know where they are. They do not mind being lost, for they call it just taking the longer, more interesting way around.

<< PASSION >>

Passion is that "demonic compulsiveness" that John Gardner talks about in his book, "On Becoming a Novelist." It's what fires any creative person, something that gets you angry, or something you love and want to share. It's ambition, a vision for your future, dim though it may be. That vision leads to setting goals, long-term goals (I want to be a photographer) and short-term goals, (what camera do I buy?). I ask everyone I interview, have you written down your goals? Most people have not. Have you? Do you know where you'd like to be in five years? I do. I have written it down, so that at year's end, or on some quiet evening, I can look at what I've written and reflect on where I've been, and where I'm going … how far along the path I've come and how far I've got to go. Often, I realize I've reached my goals and need to be dreaming about new horizons, new challenges and new goals. Write down your goals. They will tell you what to do for the short-term goals … what books to buy, skills to develop, workshops to take, exercises to do to get better.

<< AIM TO BE THE BST IN THE WORLD >>

This is something that many people never think of. Even if they think about it, many of them eventually forget it when the journey get tough. The fact is most people are satisfied with being good enough.But there is a good reason why you should be the best in the world: the market rewards the winners and reward them handsomely. The difference between number 1 and number 2 in a market is often huge.It reminds me of a saying:Good is the worst enemy of best.Why is good the worst enemy of best? Because many people stop trying to get the best when they already get the good. Since the difference between best and good is huge, you can see how much they have lost.

<< ALWAYS CONCENTRATE TO YOUR WORK >>

You must be 100 percent concentrated in your business and your work. Focus in your goals until you achieve it. This is a key that you will need if you desire for success. For you, your business is the most important thing in your life. You don’t need to care what had happened to other businesses out there. It is your own business that is making you richer, not others. So always focus in your work.

You will feel the flow of energy if you concentrate in your company and in your products. Have you ever gone to any seminar before? And if you have, I’m sure the organizer will ask you to switch off your hand phone. Why? This is because they want you to 100 percent concentrate in the seminar. Only with 100% of work you will achieve great results.

Let me gives you a few more examples of concentrating in your work and your company. Have you ever seen any babies crying? When babies are hungry, they will cry. And they cry with 100 percent of their energy! Sometimes they even cry until their whole face turns red and without any voice coming out. So you see, we were born in such a way that we do things with 100 percent concentration. However, during the time we grow up, we’ve been influenced by the surrounding, we start to loosen ourselves. All the negative effects have been instill in our mind and influences our behaviors.

Another thing that often makes a lot of people unable to achieve success in their life is that they try to success. There is no try to success in this world. Success never comes automatically; you will need to pay for it with your time and effort. If you want to try for something, then don’t do it. If you decide to do it, then don’t try, go for 100 percent, go all out! Only then you will achieve greater results. You know what, if you go all out and even if you fail to achieve your goals, you will still feel delighted because it is not your fault or mistake, because you’ve went all out. But of course, if you go 100 percent all out, you will definitely achieve your goals and success in the end.

So now you know that how important of putting 100% concentration and effort are. Always, do your work with 100 percent effort; don’t worry that you will fail. If you put on 100% effort, I’m sure that success will eventually be yours.

Just like if you are in network marketing, you have to stay focused in just one company. However, a lot of people do not follow this rule, they joined company A today, and found that company B is much better, so then joined company B the next day. A few days later, they found that company C has a better marketing plan, and they hop into company C. If you are doing this, it will be impossible for you to achieve what you want in your life. You are diverging your energy; instead, you should stay focused and put 100 percent of your energy in just one company.

Having 100 percent focuses in what you do is very important, as it will concentrate your work and leads you to better results. The more focuses you are, the better the results you can achieve.

This is exactly the same in real life. When I tell you about Donald Trump, the first thing that comes into your mind is that he is a real-estate billionaire. And the moment I talk about Tiger Woods, you will straight away think of the Prince of Golf. What makes you think like this? This is because they are the pros in their field. Take the example of Tiger Woods, he is the pro in golf because he focuses 100 percent in golfing and that is what makes him the pro. Try and challenge Tiger Woods with basketball, I bet that he will lose.

So you see, if you want to be successful, you will need to focus in something, preferably in something that you like and have interested in. The more you focus, the better you can be in that particular field. Look at Michael Jordan; he is great in basketball because he trains almost every single day. And that is why he can be successful in basketball. What I want to say here is that, if you want to be successful, then you have to put in 100 percent focuses in what you do.

<< I AM TALENTED >>

Now, this is another key you will require if you want to be successful. You need to believe that you are talented! You must have the confident to overcome every obstacle that you face in your journey to success. Scientists claim that we human only use approximately 10-15% of our brain in our life. And the rest, we never used it.

Albert Einstein, one of the most famous scientists of our time is so talented, that after he died, other scientists break up his head and check on his brain. And what do you think that they’ve found? They’ve found that his brain is bigger than normal people? No, this is not true. His brain is exactly the same as yours and mine.

So what makes him so clever and such a genius? It is because Albert Einstein used up 20% of his brain, his IQ. So you see, he only uses 20% of his brain and yet he became the most famous scientist, nobody understands the theory he explained, he is a genius. Therefore now you can see, we humans are very talented. We already have the resources that we need to succeed.

Look at yourself. From your head until your toes. You are a miracle. God already created the most amazing creature in this world, which will be us, humans. Why did I say so? Human is the most perfect animal in this world. We can walk, run, swim; we can communicate with each other. We are perfect. So far scientist still cannot create a computer which is as powerful as your brain. Even if scientist can create such a computer, but I tell you, it will not be as small as your brain.

Hence you must make use of your brain to the fullest. In fact, you already have all the internal resources you need in order to be successful. We basically have the same internal resources, what I mean here is, the same bio-computer. But then why there are some people who are so talented, they can sing so well, why are there people who can solve mathematical equations so well?

To discover the answer, you need to understand how your brain works. Your brain which consists of more than 1,000 billion neurons, each capable of processing information at a speed greater than a P4 personal computer.

Your talents, our skills all are determined by your brain, which will be how your neurons are connecting. So, if someone who is very talented in mathematics, it is because he has a richer neuro-connection in the area of mathematical-logical thinking. Your neuro-system will develop once you were born, and after that you will get influenced by role model around you. You can be very talented in singing, but you may have less talent in calculus.

Just like what I said in my blog, the best investment is to invest in yourself, in your brain, your mindset. If you invest in yourself, you are not going to make ten percent of return like in mutual funds, or even twenty percent of return like in stock. You are looking at a thousand percent returns from the investment of your brain.

All the knowledge and skills that you acquired with your brain will stay forever with you. There was once a person asked Henry Ford this question before, “What if I take away all of your money and assets?” And did you know what did Henry Ford answered? He said that, “Well give me 3 years, and I will be back at current wealth position”.

Can you see that wealth is just some kind of financial knowledge? Once you acquire them, they will be with you forever. Just like Henry Ford, if you take all his money, he still can create another wealth empire. Money is just the product of your hard work; it is nothing but the score to keep you going.

You already have all the resources that you need to succeed. Success is all about mindset and beliefs. If you think that you can do it, then you can. And if you think that it is impossible or hard, then it will be exactly just like what you think. Our mind plays an important role in shaping the man that we can be. Success require no secret, all you need are just hard work and determination.

Having said all that, you must believe in yourself that you are talented in everything you do. You must first have the confident then only the route to success will be easier. Keep this key with you, always have confident with yourself.

<< YOU MUST HAVE A PLAN >>

Well, right, to succeed, you must have a plan. Make sure that you come out with a plan after finished reading this. Only when you have a plan, you will know where you are heading, and what you should do to achieve them. It is useless if you have great dreams and great goals, but you don’t have a plan which will lead you there.

What if you don’t have a plan? You will end up in other people’s plan. Yes, indeed, if you don’t have a plan, then you will end up becoming part of people’s plan. If you don’t have a plan, then it will be the same as you’ve arrived to a new city and don’t know where to head to. You will end up in nowhere. Having a plan is equally important as having a clear goal. A goal without a plan is just a dream.

Everything you do in your life must have a plan. Just like if you want to go to A from B, there are a lot of ways you can get there. You can take a plan, train, or by car. If you don’t have a plan, then maybe you will end up listening to your friend’s advice by taking a train to A. So you see, you will end up in other people’s plan. It is the same here if you want to make more money online. You can choose to make more money using eBay, affiliate marketing, or create your own products.

It is very dangerous if you don’t have a plan. Taking back making more money online as example, if you don’t have a plan, what will you do? Maybe you will try each method. And none of them will work for you. Why? Because you did not concentrate. First maybe you will try to sell something through eBay, and then you find that it was hard, and you change to affiliate marketing. After that you say that it is better to sell your own products since you are already doing selling through internet. Therefore you see, you’ve wasted lots of time and energy just because you don’t have a clear plan.

Look around your house, do you think that without proper planning, you will end up with a building that you can stay inside. Of course not, planning is crucial. The architects will need to decide every area and dimension of your house, and then engineers are going to design for your house which can stand all the loads. A great plan will lead you to great success. Although all the process may consume a lot of time. But slowly, day by day, you will move nearer towards your goals.

My lecturer once told me this before, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail!” Now, this is true, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Nothing in our life happens automatically, everything needs a plan. Every successful people know this, if they want to succeed, they will need to have a plan which leads them there. Don’t believe in me? Read this…

One classic example is investor Warren Buffet. Does his ability to come about by chance? Absolutely not. From a very early age young Buffett was obsessed with making money and had a very clear dream of becoming the world’s greatest investor. Born during the depression when his father was close to bankruptcy, Warren learnt about the value of money and the importance of being financially secure at an early age. Even before his teens, Warren knew that he wanted to be rich.

As early as elementary school and later on in high school, he would tell his classmates that he wanted to become a millionaire before the age of 35 (when he turned 35, his net worth exceeded $6 million). It was because of his goal that he constantly thought of ways to make money, while most other kids his age would be spending their parents’ money. He even memorized a book called ‘A Thousand Ways to Make $1,000′. At the age of six, he started buying coke bottles at 25-cents per six-pack and selling them at 5-cents a bottle, giving him a 16% gross profit, as he would tell himself.

At the age of 13, he got a job delivering newspapers and through innovative marketing and distribution strategies, he served five hundred customers a day. At the age of 11, he took all his savings and started investing in the stock market. His first investment was three shares in a company called ‘City Service’. While most kids at his age were reading comic books, Warren spent his time reading company annual reports.

By the age of 14, he started a pinball business and was earning $175 a week, as much as the average 25-year old was earning in 1944. Would he have taken all those actions if he never set a goal to be rich in the first place? Of course not. Obviously, it is because of his focus of energy and actions that allowed him to become the best in what he does.

Warren Buffet did not achieve all his wealth by luck; he achieved all his wealth by designing his own life. He knows exactly what he should do if he wants to be rich, he designs his life to success, and that is how he came up with a plan of making money through investing in stocks. If you study the life stories of successful people, they all have a very specific goal, they know exactly what they want to achieve in their life. They dare to dream and then let their dreams guide their actions until they achieve success.