People are always posting articles about the secrets to success, but many of these blogs suffer from a lack of common sense. All those tips for “quick and easy” success are pandering to a segment of the population that wants to do well without having to work for it. Unfortunately, the writers of these blogs are perpetrating a common yet dangerous myth.

Only a tiny proportion of the population is super lucky and everything happens to come easily to them. For the vast majority of us, the first secret to success is that if we want to do well, it’s going to take work.

Here’s my 2018 list of the seven secrets for real and lasting success. Follow these tips and you’ll be well on your way to being your best self and living your best life!

Put in the time and effort.  We wish it weren’t the case but there’s no short-cut to success. Even those who are extremely talented will still need to put in the work in order to achieve their goals. The good news is that the more we do, the more skilled we become, so over time we’re bound to perfect our craft, whatever it is. Plus, when things come too easily, we miss out on that feeling of pride and accomplishment. Instead we feel, deep down, like we cheated so we can’t fully enjoy our success. But, when we’ve worked hard for it, success tastes sweet. We feel like we’re put in our best effort and it has paid off. We can enjoy and appreciate the results of all our hard work.

There’s no substitute for self-discipline. Successful people do the work, even when they’re tired, not in the mood, or would rather do just about anything else. This quality really separates the successful people from the not-so-successful ones. Consistent effort over time is what counts; not doing the work only when we’re in the mood to work. When we can buckle down and get it done, even when we’re tired or it isn’t fun, we’re going to reap the greatest rewards.

Silence the inner critic. For many people there’s a voice in our head that’s always ready to put us down, undermine our confidence, criticize our efforts or tell us that nothing short of perfection is acceptable. Unfortunately, that “inner critic” won’t help us succeed. On the contrary; it can demoralize us or even paralyze our efforts. Any successful person will tell you that they don’t have or don’t listen to the negative self-talk. If you want to succeed, you absolutely must do the same.

Always work toward a positive; never away from a negative. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say, “I can’t mess up,” or “I can’t fail.” What they need to say instead is “I will succeed,” or “I can do it.” When we try to avoid a negative outcome, we become focused on the negative instead of putting our energy into creating a positive outcome. When we focus on the negative, we inadvertently create the negative. Success is only possible if we focus on the positive.

Attitude is everything. An overly-entitled, spoiled brat who expects everything to be handed to them on a silver platter is not going to get much out of life. The energy we put in is the energy we get out of all our endeavors. A lazy or unmotivated person will never achieve great things. We’ve got to have the right attitude, which is a willingness to sometimes make sacrifices and give up a bit of fun in order to succeed. With our eyes on the prize, we’ll reap the rewards. If all we want to do is party, the only reward will be a hangover and possibly a set of bad habits.

Persevere. Sometimes, there are setbacks. Sometimes, the challenges can seem overwhelming. We need to keep pushing through, no matter how hard it gets. The difference between the successful entrepreneur and the mediocre one is perseverance. The difference between the successful artist and the unsuccessful one is very often perseverance. We can have all the talent and ability in the world but if we give up when the going gets rough, real success will always elude us.

Resilience is key. We can’t allow the difficulties and challenges, failures or losses to stop us in our tracks. We must learn to bounce back from adversity or we’ll never achieve real success. We need to heed the old saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” When we mess up, we can use it as a learning opportunity. When we fail, we can use it as an opportunity for growth. Instead of letting the hard times stop us in our tracks we must get up, wipe ourselves off, and keep going forward no matter what.

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