There is ONE Secret to Success

There is ONE Secret to Success

I'm back from my week in Maine and I was a bit saddened to see three emails promising the five or more steps to "success" and "riches".

I've interviewed a lot of people who have taken the leap and built something amazing in the world. And there is one thing they all had in common. In fact, there is only ONE secret to success and it's not all that glamorous.

It's Grit and Determination.

The people who succeed are the people who never gave up. They are the people that brushed themselves off after every failure and went back to working hard on their dreams.

Building something takes compromise. And it takes a level of grit that can be hard to muster on some days.

This is why I recommend two things in this video.

First, make sure that the ends justify the means. Is this journey worth the work involved? I hate to break anyone's bubble, but if your goal is money or "being rich" then I can pretty much guarantee that the journey will not be worth it, in the end. You are going to make a lot of sacrifices. Less time with loved ones. Children who grow old so fast and you risk missing so many moments. Stop and make sure that the path you are on is worth the investment of time and effort. If it is, then go all out.

Second, I find it difficult to always muster the grit to get up and work hard at something every single day when it can take years sometimes to get even close to where I want to be. That is why I recommend putting ourselves into service of something larger. This could be working towards a better world, supporting a cause or even taking on one of the wicked problems of the world. This takes a lot of guts to do, but it gives you something larger to fuel you and help you get up every day and continue to fight for what you are called to do.

I hope you find this video helpful.

Here are a couple resources I've written along these same lines: