There Is No Secret

By Paul Kearley

“Let no one be discouraged by the belief there is nothing one person can do against the enormous array of the world's ills, misery, ignorance, and violence. Few will have the greatness to bend history, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. And in the total of all those acts will be written the history of a generation."

Robert Francis Kennedy

In my 20 years of personal development training and consulting, I have done a lot of searching and a lot of digging for one thing: What is the real secret to success, and how can I access it to help me and my clients achieve our goals? What I have discovered is that there IS no secret, but there are many theories.

Needless to say, there are thousands of “Success Guru’s” out there who are all willing to sell you their secret theory or concoction so that you can make a quick million, or have that home that you have been dreaming about and have it by Friday… if you act now.

Recently, as I was researching the segment of the real secret to success, I came across a sales website that claimed that they could, in one week make you a super salesperson and could double your sales. The key you ask? It was quite revolutionary really: Don’t make cold calls, but follow his system of sales. To find out how, you had to order his book, and along with the book, you received what he claimed was over $4000 worth of free gifts that you could download over the internet. I was curious, so I ordered the book, and then downloaded most of the “free” stuff. Actually, the words that the website used was “ethical bribe”. On the whole, I was very disappointed with the bribes, except for one audio message from Jeffery Gitomer (The Sales Bible, Little Red Book of Selling, The Patterson Principles of Selling, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless etc.). In that interview, the host asked Jeffery what he thought the key to being a successful salesperson was. Jeffery’s answer confirmed what I have believed for years. He said “The most successful salespeople are the ones who believe deeply that the product or service that they sell is the best, the company that they work for is the best, and they believe that they are the best. And once they combine that belief system with whatever it is that they have to study, their product knowledge, their sales skills, their personal development skills, then they can march to success. But if they only know the product, and they only know the sales skills, and they only know the presentation skills and they don’t have that deep belief, that passion, they’re going to lose.” So, if you don’t believe that you can achieve your MUST goals, don’t even bother to write one down, because you will be defeated before you start. But, if you have the courage to believe that you can be the best and achieve the best then you can have the best, but you have to believe.

There have been many times in history where success was achieved because someone believed so strongly that nothing could shake their belief:

- Walt Disney went bankrupt several times before he came across his formula for success, but he dared to “wish upon a star” and believed that he could achieve what he wished for… the rest is history.

- In the Old Testament in the Bible, Moses could never have parted the Red Sea if he didn’t believe that God was with him.

- In the 2000 Olympics, Kerri Strug, believing that her gymnastics teams only chance for a gold medal depended on the results of her second vault and with two torn ligaments in her ankle, sprinted down the runway and flung herself up and over the horse to land on only one good leg, and then collapsed in pain on her hands and knees… securing the gold medal.

As I continued researching the question “Just what is the true secret to success?” I became frustrated with what I was finding. Feeling discouraged that I would never find the secret to success, I packed up my computer, and went to bed.

As if someone was shaking me awake at 5 in the morning, I awoke with a start, my head full of ideas about success and progress. Fearing that I would lose the ideas, I got out my pencil and started to write my thoughts down on paper. Six pages later, I had, what I figured, discovered the true secret to success. Here is some of what I wrote in my journal:

“I have just had a mind shift. I am lying in bed, feeling overwhelmed with my inability to always achieve what I dream of and what I start out to do, because I keep missing out on key opportunities to move forward. I have been thinking about success, and I have been trying to plant the seeds of courage in me to be able to make the difficult decisions and to take the challenging actions, and I just awoke with what I consider to be a key element of success; If you truly believe that the seed of courage has been planted, then act as if you have it. Do what you fear and you will overcome it. Act out how you will overcome your fear and habits in your life and you will destroy them. Make decisions that challenge you and they will make you stronger. For acting on your belief is the true test of courage. If you believe that you can win, you can win, you have just to believe. You have within you the power to create with your words; you just have to have the courage to believe that you can. You say that you want to do something great? Then believe that you are worthy of doing something great, for that is where the real battle is fought; in you mind.

Make your actions match your beliefs. If you believe big, then you will achieve big. If you choose to believe that you are successful, then act as if you are successful, and keep on doing it until you are. If you don’t believe that you can achieve then you will be right, you won’t. Your actions should witness your beliefs.

- Before you can lose weight, you have to believe that you will lose weight

- Before you can change an action or a habit, you MUST believe that you can change it.

- Before you face a fear, you MUST first believe that you will survive and conquer it.

- Before you run a race, you MUST believe that you can win.

- Before you pray to your God, you MUST first believe that He exists and that he hears you and that he takes action on your behalf.

- Before any performance, you MUST know that you will sing in key

- Before you make any strategy or plan, you MUST believe that you can build what you create.

- Before you write your MUST strategy, you have to believe that you can achieve what you start out to do.

The problem with fear and our belief system is that if we believe that what we fear will happen, then that belief becomes so strong that it paralyzes us keeping us from taking an action that could move us out of the feeling of fear towards personal success.

If in some way we could change that pattern of thinking or acting from fear to certainty, we could dive headlong into the dark waters of fear and swim across our lake of doubts.

That is why picturing is so important. If we can picture what it is that we want so clearly that there is no doubt, right down to the colour of our socks, then we can always position ourselves for success.

So, when you set out to achieve something, picture your actions, picture your thoughts and picture your rewards. Resist the temptation to picture your fears, instead picture yourself as if you didn’t have them. Remember that as soon as you allow the image of your fears to enter your imagined picture, you will instantly feel them again, so don’t go there. The pictures that you create can become your reality, but you first must believe that you can achieve what you can conceive. Resist your fears… picture your successes and they will manifest into your life. After all, it is our doubts and fears that sink our dreams, only our belief in ourselves and in our abilities will keep us afloat. So believe big!

In her runaway best selling book and video entitled “The Secret”, Rhonda Byrne gives the three actions necessary for manifesting success:

First: Ask. Ask for what you want as clearly as possible.

Second: Believe. Believe that what you ask for will manifest.

Third: Receive. Maintain your thoughts of believing that what you want will manifest, and all that is left is to receive it.

This week, focus on what you do want, not what you don't, dare to believe that it is possible, and then put the actions into play that will move you forward. When you do, you will see that you have much more personal power than you once thought, and you will achieve what you once thought impossible.

For 22 years, Paul Kearley has thrived in the personal development and coaching business. As a Master Coach for the past 10 years, Paul’s passion is in developing and creating increased potential with both clients and other trainers. A columnist for two newspapers in Eastern Canada, and editor for his own weekly ezine, Paul writes articles that address the everyday challenges we all have and face in life and in business, and offers suggestions for success.

If you’d like to connect with Paul or subscribe to “E-Motion” his weekly ezine, simply goto the web site at http://www.mustfactor.com or by calling 506 433 4722.

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