Do You Have the Glands to Succeed

New business owners often wonder what it takes to be successful. My first response is always, "What do you mean by ’success’?" Have you asked yourself that question? The definition is often a personal one. For me, it’s spelled with four letters: T-I-M-E. For the purposes of this column, let’s assume that we’re talking about getting your business to run virtually on auto-pilot, with stable residual income. Let's start there.Based upon my own successes and failures I certainly have plenty of silage to wade through and waffle up a response about the secret to success. However, my favorite answer is associated with one of my favorite Motivation and Success authors, Zig Ziglar. He writes, "Success is dependent upon the glands -- sweat glands."Zig’s quote is far from original. (I just appreciate his ‘eloquence’.) After all, Thomas Edison -- you know, the light bulb guy -- is quoted as saying, "Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration." Isn’t that a kick to the butt of all the Network Marketing, over-night-success claims? The big shocker is in how applicable these statements are to all aspects of our personal and professional lives. Stay with me. All is not lost.I Have To Work For It?Think about it. EVERY thriving business owner, CEO, and network marketer will admit that HARD WORK is at the core to their success. Marriage counselors will tell you that a successful marriage takes work. If you ask your favorite professional athlete the secret to their success, they'll attribute it to a great Motorcycle Apparel coach and A LOT of hard work. You’ll also learn that success does not come overnight. This is a universal truth! Through brief gaps in the fog of my college days I remember that ‘Work’ is always associated with Effort and Duration. (OK, before you Physics buffs jump on me -- Force x Time. Allow me some literary license, here.)So, How Can I Accelerate Success?When it comes to business, most successful people are extremely talented at leveraging the efforts of others. They distribute the work load and multiply the benefits in a very short time. As you begin to leverage more and more assets (people, tools, technology), you’ll notice your personal time grow. Once you’re up and running, you can begin to approach the idyllic success of my friend, Tim Ferriss’ "The 4-Hour Work Week." (Truth be known, he ‘works’ more than four hours, but that’s because he’s constantly looking for new solutions.)Great, I Have Good Income. How Do I Take It To The Next Level?Let’s say that you’ve achieved some level of success...What then? How do you take it to the next level? "Work harder," you say? Well, yes and no. Work alone will get you only so far. You can spend day after day raking horse hair across cat gut and never get your violin to sing at Carnegie Hall. Sports Watches At some point you have to take lessons and apply yourself. Invest in YOU, and by doing so, improve your business. You must continue to LEARN and increase your personal value to your market! Fortunately, unlike Thomas Edison, much of what you’re trying to achieve has been forged by others. This is the Internet age...Google it! What I’m trying to tell you is, READ!!!Now That We’ve Warmed Up And Whet Your ‘Glands,’ Let’s Recap.1.Success begins with hard work.2.Growth is accelerated by leveraging the effort and talents of others.3.Persistent achievement occurs with continuous learning.Remember, success, while it can come fast, usually takes effort and time. If someone (or some company) tells you, "Just do what I do and you’ll be an overnight success," get a tight hold on your wallet and head for the door, fast!In a subsequent column I’ll disclose the #1 PROVEN strategy for personal and/or business growth. In the mean time (I’m sure there’s some reading that you need to catch up on).Here’s a preview of the second segment in this series:Exercising Your Glands (redux)"Sure, there are probably thousands of books and gurus claiming to hold the secrets. How do you know which oyster holds the pearl which will catapult you on the next phase in your growth? If you don’t know where to start, here’s the #1 proven method to..."