My mission with this blog entry is to reduce the complex concept of success down to its essence.  Make the whole idea simple, if you will...get to the heart of what it takes to succeed.

There really are only three keys to the heart of achieving success in life.  The first key is what is in your heart.  By that I really mean your motivation level.  Is your heart on fire to achieve? 

The subject of raising your level of motivation is a complete topic in itself.  Suffice it to say, for our purposes here, your motivation is driven by specific, written goals to which you have a burning, heartfelt commitment.  Adding to that thought, what’s scary about well conceived goals is they can actually get us what we want!   

I want you to think about your motivation level and its relationship to goal-setting by using an old truism.  You’ve probably heard the saying, “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.”  True.  However, the extension of that thought is but you sure as heck can make it thirsty!

Clearly defined, written goals for which you have a compelling reason to achieve them make you thirsty.  They make you taste the full flavor of your opportunities in life so you can maximize your success.

The next of those critical keys to success is the level of knowledge that you bring to the effort.  There is no denying the old adage that knowledge is power. 

With that in mind, I want to share with you the knowledge of my formula for success.  The formula is:  You – Fear = Greater Success.

As human beings we all avoid what we fear.  We fear the unknown.  Therefore, we avoid the unknown.  I don’t know who first expressed those thoughts but I do know they are as accurate and relevant today as when first spoken. 

What is stupid about our fear of the unknown is, by definition, we don’t even know what we fear!  We say things like, “Oh.  I’m afraid to do that.  I just know it won’t work."  How do we know that?  Do we have some kind of Harry Potter level of wizardry that tells us that in advance of the actual experience?  What a terrible spell to be under! 

The anecdote to that spell is this:  Your level of knowledge.  The less you know the more you fear.  Conversely, the more you know the less you fear.  Continuously and consistently develop your level of knowledge throughout your life and you reduce the opportunities for fear to stop you moving ahead.

If the first two keys, your motivation and knowledge, are critical to getting to the heart of what it takes to succeed in life, the third one is heart-stopping if it doesn’t exist between you and other people.  That key is TRUST. 

Nobody can achieve success at anything without having help along the way.  But, people are not willing to provide that help if they don't feel there is a mutual feeling of trust.  If you can't be trusted, you will not achieve enduring success.  Do what's right...always...and trust is inevitable.

There you have it…the three keys to the heart of achieving success in life.  They are your level of motivation, your knowledge and your ability to build trust. 

It’s like a noted athletic coach once said:  “The will to succeed is important, but what’s even more important is the will to prepare.”  Prepare yourself using those three keys and you open the heart to your success .

I offer you heartfelt good wishes in doing just that.