Before I start - there's a specific reason for the title. There is no 'secret' to success. There never has been and never will be.
My guess is that you saw the title and thought 'what a load of rubbish, let me read this and realise how full of shit this fella is.'.
Well. Now that's out of the way, onto the (not so) secret of success.
The worlds most successful people
I could write a massive list of some inspirational, wealthy and powerful individuals here. Take Alex Ferguson (I'm a Liverpool fan so this hurts to admit). He's recognised as one of the most inspirational and successful football managers in history.
Then there's Bill & Melinda Gates (Microsoft & Bill & Melinda Gates foundation), Angela Merkel (German Chancellor), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Oprah Winfrey (Entrepreneur & TV Personality), Elon Musk (SpaceX, Tesla, Boring, PayPal), Beyonce Knowles (Musician), Steve Jobs (Apple), Mary Barra (CEO of General Motors), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) and many more...
They're all famous, wealthy and successful in their fields. And if you ask any of them, they'll all tell you the same thing about you about the 'secret' to success.
First, success isn't the same for everyone. Take money for example. I'd love to be wealthy and I'm sure you would too. It would reduce a lot of pressures we face day-to-day (and introduce new ones).
What about fame? I couldn't imagine anything worse than being famous. The impact this has on your life is something I would hate - but for some people this is what success means.
What about owning property? Owning a business? All great measures of success.
Maybe it's none of that. And for you success is all about looking in the mirror and knowing you've done your best today.
Or it could even be that today, success for you simply meant getting showered and dressed.
So here's the first (not so) secret about success...
YOU define success. What anyone else things about it means nothing. It is, in this case, all about YOU!
It's too late to be successful
Let me use our bunch of famous people. Some of them reached the height of their success in their 20s. Some in their 30s. Others in their 40s. The bottom line? There's no time limit to success. Remember Captain Tom Moore? Raising millions at 100 years old for the NHS?
You can bet he never thought at 50, 60 or 70 that he had that up his sleeve!
Each and every successful person in the world knows that it just doesn't 'happen'. It takes time, it takes effort and it takes a lot of learning about yourself, those around you and how you can improve.
So whether you're 21 and seeing the world at your feet, mid 30s and in the middle of a crisis of confidence or reaching retirement age.
Here's the second (not so) secret to success.
YOU choose when success happens through your actions, effort and focus!
But really successful people have a leg up...
First things first, if you still think this go back to the start. You've clearly not been paying attention. Because YOU define success.
And yeah, some of the people you see in the world as successful did have a leg up. They had wealthy parents, a private education or something similar. But not all of them.
Take Fergie (Alex Ferguson). Thought of as one of the greatest football managers in history and an incredible leader. He wasn't born into the job. He worked in a shipyard before football became his life.
Then there's Oprah Winfrey. She was born into a poor family but worked hard to become the incredible woman she is today.
There are hundreds of other examples - like J.K. Rowling, The CEO of Starbucks and more.
To put it simply, if you want to be successful it's nothing to do with where you are now. It's about where you want to be.
So here's another (not so) secret of success.
If YOU are prepared to put in the effort, develop a limit-free mindset and open yourself up to opportunities to succeed you can and will achieve anything!
But how do I do it? These people must have something special.
The only difference between you and the people you see as successful is that they knew these things weren't 'Secrets'. They knew they could achieve anything. And they put it into practice.
They also knew that even if you have defined your success you can only reach it after you've taken every step towards it.
And you can't take step 2 before you've taken step 1.
And step 1 for you might just be finishing this blog. It might be making a phone-call. Or it could even be having a shit, shower and shave before you get on with being successful.
So the next (not so) secret to success is this
The next step is the most important. And always will be. Because until you've taken that step, the rest don't even matter.
Yeah but these successful people had all sorts of resources they could get to. I don't.
Fair point, well made. You know what all these resources gave them? A nudge along the way. All of the money in the world won't guarantee success. A quick Google of failed investments will show you that.
The number of failed investments both by big businesses and individuals every day is proof alone that money, connections and a private education don't guarantee success.
One thing these successful people had was a support network to give them advice, share the struggles and help make success a reality.
So when you succeed it's going to be because you know what you're going to do about it. Because you've taken action and because you've accepted help. Whether this is friends, family, or people like me (helping people succeed is kind of what I'm about), having the right support shares the load, helps you smash through challenges and helps you be better every day.
So the final (not so) secret to success I'll share with you is this...
Success happens when you have a plan. When you take action and when you build the support network to help you make it happen.
Final note
As I said at the start of this post I told you there is no 'secret' to success. There never has been and never will be. The things that will bring you ANY success you want are:
YOU define success
YOU choose when it happens
YOU create the results you get
The NEXT STEP is the most important
YOUR PLAN is your route to success
YOU are the one who takes action to make it happen
HELP is available and you should use it to your benefit
So when you're ready to succeed or simply want more info, give me a shout.
Email me: andy@alscoaching.com
Book a free call: https://www.alscoaching.com/book-online
Find me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ALSFreeCoaching
Check out these Self-Help guides: https://www.alscoaching.com/selfhelp
In the meantime don't go buying any bullshit you see on social media that promises secret tips for guaranteed results. Because there's no such thing.