This quote by Mr. Andretti sums up the messages that can be found in most books on motivation, success or achievement. They are very powerful words that carry an essential message about the science and art of success. However in that quote and in most works treating the subject of achievement one element is blatantly missing.

The teachings of self-improvement focus intensively on attitude but it is sorely lacking on character building. Even with the best attitude in the world, true success is not attainable if there is a character flaw. It would be wrong to say that successful people share the same character traits as those who are still struggling.

To be truly effective, any work done on self-improvement should concentrate more on character building than on attitude, techniques or methods. Before it is possible to achieve, a person has to be the kind of person that can do the type of things that needs to be done in order to get whatever the person is after.

Success is more attracted than pursued. If we ask successful people how they managed to acquire their success, the answer is invariably the same. They will say that it was easy. They cannot even understand why anyone else could not do it. The reason for that is simple. These people were already successes before they became successful.

How can you be a success before you become successful? Success is above all a state of mind. A person who feel like a success will think and act like a successful person and reap the rewards. A person who simply would like to become a success probably won’t achieve more that stay at the level of an “I-would-like-to-be-a-success.”

Maxwell Maltz of psycho-cybernetic fame says, “Self-image sets the boundaries of individual accomplishment” To get the things that we want the most, the first thing that need to be done it to change the self-image. In order to do that, a fundamental change in character is required.

If we want to change the results that we get in any area of endeavor, the first thing that must be done is a change in self-image and the only way that a true change in self-image can be affected is by changing our character.

According to Stephen Covey, our character is basically a composite of our habits. So, to changes character and thus change the self-image, we must change our habits; especially change the habitual way that we perceive ourselves.

A new thinking pattern has to be created regarding the self-image. The negative self-views have to be erased from the mind and be replaced by the image of the vibrant, effective and successful person that we basically are. We were born successes; at age three we were the most important person in the world.

Sadly, as time flew by, we experienced setbacks. Instead of experiencing those setbacks as learning experiences, they were viewed as evidences of personal flaws. In many cases, the self-image suffered permanent damages.

Anyone who is serious about a life of success and achievement has to restore that winning self-image. Until that is accomplished, the best intentions and the best techniques on self-improvement are not much more than vague and ephemeral theories. We have to be… before we can do… before we can have.

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Motivation under pressure is a question of character and courage. Any soldier can feel and look good during a parade. It’s when that same soldier faces fire that he finds out that he’s made off. Same story for the any of us on the motivational front.

First it must be said that motivation has one best friend and two worst enemies. It has one enabler and two killers. Its best friend and enabler is action. Its enemies and destroyers are apathy and procrastination.

No one can stay motivated and enthusiastic for a long time while staring at a blank wall. On the other hand, movement and action will stimulate the production of adrenaline and endorphin. Two very powerful natural drugs that generate energy and induce a sense of wellbeing and serenity.

Deliberate action monopolizes the muscular system, which in turn sends a powerful signal to the brain to the effect that the body is in control of the situation and that matters are being taken care off. Action is the antithesis of indifference and apathy.

Deliberate and focused action will also shift the center of attention from whatever is going wrong in someone’s life to a more productive line of thinking. That alone may not be enough to change a negative and unmotivated mindset into a positive and motivated one but it’s a step forward.

If motivation has two deadly enemies, it also has a principal cause and that is frustration. Few things are as demoralizing as crushed hopes and unmet expectations – that is, if we are not prepared.

Being prepared does not mean being a firm believer in Murphy’s Law that says, “If anything can go wrong, it will.” That’s inaccurate and negative thinking. Being prepared means, “Hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.”

Hoping for the best and being prepared for the worst is rational and wise reasoning in its purest form. That’s is what strategists do and that what all-great leaders also do. That line of thinking will ward off against the worst consequences of deception and keep the motivation at a working level.

Finally, motivation can always be preserved by keeping an attitude of gratitude. When we focus on all the bounties that have been given us, we have many reasons to be grateful and motivated. Motivation is like money in the bank. When we have an ample supply of either of those, we are not thrown off by a few setbacks. However, when the supply is low, the slightest bump in the road of life will throw us off course.

Winston Churchill said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” Those are excellent words to live by and an excellent mantra to use in rough times. Without being overly pessimistic, we can says without the shadow of a doubts that there will be times when dark shadows hover over us. Those are the days that will define us.

It is in our darkest days that we find our true worth and what we are made off. A man of valor will find the wherewithal to reach down in his soul and reignite the flame of enthusiasm and motivation. A lesser person will take on the victim stance and blame faith for all his problems. We have free will. The choice is ours.

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These four words represent an entire philosophy for a successful life. They mean that, if we want a successful, rewarding and interesting life, we should be in the parade and not watching the parade go by.

The only constant in life is change. Nothing stands still. Life is dynamic and not static. Yet there are those of us who, through an exercise in futility, will seek to find security in an inexistent status quo.

The, don’t make waves, don’t try anything and keep a low profile attitude is a recipe for boredom in the best case scenario and for disaster in the worst cases. Trying to stand still in life is an impossibility and can only result in frustration, regression and ultimate failure.

It is a proven fact that a ship that remains in port will rust and wear out faster than one who travels the high sea. The expression of life is action and action is the generator of life. That’s a lesson that was not lost by the happiest and most successful among us.

If we read the biographies of great men and women, we soon find out that they were creature of action. They were involved, they were engaged, they had causes, objectives, projects and goals. They were determined. They found meaningfulness, satisfaction and validation in their work and accomplishments.

Successful living, in its true sense of the word, means implication and dedication to a cause, an ideal or an objective. In order to accomplish that, uncharted roads must be traveled, dragons have to be slain and calculated chances must be taken.

As someone so wisely said, “Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming… Dang, What a ride.”

Now, that could be exaggerating a little but it does express the essence of the concept. Successful living is not about watching the parade go by. It’s not even about joining the parade. Successful living is about leading the parade.

That’s what Steve Jobs was taking about in front of those newly graduates. He wanted to give these young minds the best possible advice that he could so that they would, not only commence their adult life on the right foot, but stay on the right path for the rest of their life.

To do that, he left those students with four unforgettable words, “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.” Nothing else was needed. The message was concise, clear and unforgettable. A giant had spoken. Who could forget, Stay hungry. Stay foolish?

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First it must be understood that the personal image is not primarily addressed to the left brain logic but to the right brain emotions. We feel a person’s image much more than we coldly analyze it. A person is “seen” with the heart and not with the brain.

It must also be remembered that our interpretation of a personal images is determined by what is called an “a priori.” An a priori is a deduction made from past observations and conclusion. In other words, we evaluate what a person’s image means to us by automatically comparing it to our previous experience of similar images.

As and example, most people would see a chubby person as being jovial and easy going. Such a conclusion is not based on facts but on previous experience and popular notions. An image is exactly what it says, it’s an image and not a reality so it can be rebuilt, modified and enhanced to our advantage.

When working on the personal image, the first consideration must be the target of the intended image. What will appeal to teenagers will be vastly different than if the business or professional world is targeted. The rock star image will go quite well with teenagers while Donald Trump will be more fitting in the business or professional world.

The image presented will be perceived mostly by the senses and it must appeal to what’s needed and wanted by your targeted community. That is, if you are a businessman, you must look like a prosperous businessman who does not have a care in the world, talk the part and walk it. However, if you are in the community service you cannot afford to go around in a Rolls Royce wearing $3,000 suits. The image must fit the community.

The best role models for the personal image are the people who are successful in your field. These people should be studied, copied and emulated as much as possible.

The personal image is the tribune upon which a person stands to deliver his message. It is the lens through which a person is judged, cataloged and perceived. It is the “you” that the world see, accept, reject or ignore. It is your personal brand for all to see. A lot of your successes and failures depend on it. So, treat it well, improve it as much as possible but don’t get bent out of shape if it happens to be rejected by some.

You can’t please everyone every time. So, don’t overlook the positive many for the negative few. Create the best possible personal image and wear it proudly. It’s your personal trademark for all to see so make it a good one.

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Selling is done through persuasion. Most selling that we do everyday is easy because the “buyers” are already ready and disposed to accept. Everyday we must “sell” ourselves to our spouse, our family, our friends – but that’s easy to do because they are already disposed to be sold. In other situations though, the selling, or persuasion needs more skill and more work.

That is where Newton’s first law of physic comes into play. That law states that, “an object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.” As far as we are concerned, the important part of that law is the last part which says, “object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction.’

That is true with an object in motion and it’s also true with our psyche. When a train of thoughts leads in one direction it becomes harder and harder to switch it around. If a person agrees with you and agrees with you for a length of time it becomes harder and harder to change position and start disagreeing with you.

So, if we want to convince someone of something that may prove to be difficult to accept the best course of action is to start asking question that we are almost certain will illicit a “yes” response.

Questions like, “Would you like to solve this problem?” Followed by, “You would like to pay as little as possible for that service don’t you?” Those questions will illicit a “yes” response and after awhile a pattern is set up. The “yes” responses become natural and easier and easier to give.

That is when the time for the clincher comes. Time to ask, do you want to buy my product, proposition, idea or suggestion? If there is any chance that whatever it is that you are proposing will be accepted, chances are very good that it will be at that point.

The point of the thread is that, just as an object in motion tends to stay in motion, a person who has been saying yes, yes, yes… will find it harder to say no. Not impossible, but harder.

So, whenever you are trying to convince anyone of anything, get the person in a positive mood, get them to say yes or accept propositions that they cannot refuse and then come up with the proposition that you wanted to have accepted in the first place.

Life is selling and in order to get ahead we need to know the tricks of the trade. That was one of them.

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It’s also an insurance against unforeseen incidents.

Life is full of unexpected events and sometimes something happens that will shed a bad light on us even if we never intended to do anything wrong. When that happens, if we have a good reputation and a good amount of goodwill, chance are that we will be give the benefit of the doubt, however, if our reputation is shaky and our goodwill reserve is low, that small event might be the straw that will break the camel’s back.

How many times do we hear stories about people who have been in a situation where someone did not live up to their expectation but the person was forgiven because, as they will say, “He’s such a nice man.”

Many times, we are judged on who we are and not on what we do. A friend will get away with murder but a foe’s slightest mistake will be pounced upon as if a murder had been committed.

We build goodwill by being nice to people. Simple as that. Simple, yet it’s one of the best investment that we can make. We cannot get anywhere in life without the contribution of others. That’s where goodwill comes in. People value cordial acquaintances. It’s in our genes. It’s the need to belong, to be part of the pack. By nature, we are gregarious. We want to belong, to be accepted and the medium of exchange for acceptance is goodwill.

Goodwill is so important that it can be added to the accounting value of a business. The reputation or goodwill of a company is worth solid cash. So is the capital value of a man’s overall goodwill.

Goodwill is also the foundation upon which networking is built. If I do a favor for someone or help someone, chances are very high that, at the first opportunity, that good deed will be repaid.

Goodwill is the cousin of friendship. Both are acquired by using the same method which consist of a mixture of respect, acceptance, trust and most of all, of a sincere desire to help and to be of assistance.

In order to succeed in life we need the help of others. No one will dispute that and the best way to get the cooperation needed is by building a solid account of goodwill. If people like and accept you, they will go to hell and back for you. If not, you’re on your own… and that can be a very awkward and lonesome place to be.

Ludwig Borne said, “Goodwill is the one and only asset that competition cannot undersell or destroy.” That’s true in business and it’s also true in the area of human relationship. Nothing and no one can rob you of your goodwill and it’s the one medium of exchange that pays the highest dividends.

Don’t let a day go by where you don’t add to your reserve of goodwill. It’s the only capital that keeps on giving.

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To put it in other words, being rich does not mean having resources it means having resourcefulness.

We can always lose our resources but, so long as we are healthy, no one can rob us of our resourcefulness.

I had a brother who, at one time, was worth upward of twenty million dollars but he had the poverty mindset and, no matter how well he would do financially, he always felt insecure about money or about his own survival for that matter. That feeling got so bad that he started having panic attacks.

The problem was that he was identifying with his bank account and not with his resourcefulness. First and foremost, we are who we are and not what we have. A fundamental belief based on false premises cannot withstand the tides of time. Sooner or later the truth has to emerge and the edifice supported by false beliefs will crumble.

Two years ago, I lost my beloved brother. Cancer took him away. I felt a strong sense of loss but what hurt the most was knowing that he had not been able to find peace and happiness throughout his adult years. That was the great tragedy.

Money is a tool and nothing else, and like any other tool, it can help or hurt us depending on how we use it. Whether we believe it or not, money can be a friend or a foe. It all depends on how we look at it.

First, it must be understood that we do not “own” money. We cannot go to the bank and ask a teller to “see our money.” Such a request would probably be cause to question our sanity. We do not “own” money but we have the permission and the right to manage the amount of money that is indicated in our bank account.

A small but all important distinction. If we can manage money we can affect its flow inward or outward but we are at no risk of losing what is not “ours” in the first place. That small distinction takes all the stress out money matters.

Being rich means being free from monetary worries and monetary considerations. It means understanding that money is like air. There is enough for everyone and all that we have to do is to place ourselves in a situation where we will have access to that resource.

Money plays a very important role in our lives yet the concept of money is greatly misunderstood. Money is a tool and as with any other tool, it not the amount of any specific tool that we have that really matters, but how well we understand that tool and how well we can manipulate it that makes all the difference.

Having large amount of money will never make us feel rich but having ample supply of resourcefulness will. So, let us not concentrate on gathering money if security is high on our priority list but let us work on who and what we are because that is what will increase our level of resourcefulness and that’s what being rich and secure is all about.

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Some things are important, these are the majors, others have little significance in our lives, they are the minors. Some things can be changed to improve the quality of our lives, those also are also the majors. Some things are beyond our reach and cannot be influenced no matter how much we try, they, again, are the minors

Successful living requires controlled focus, dynamic passion and a sharp sense of direction. None of these factors can be ignored or wasted on unproductive minor endeavors.

That is not to say that life should be all work and no play. But it does suggest that we should get our priorities straight. What’s important comes first and is given major consideration whereas what is only matter of interest should take the back seat and be relayed to secondary positions.

The problem with what has been proposed so far is the fact that what we have been qualifying as the majors, or to put it into other words, what is important in the quality of our life, demand work and efforts that are not considered compelling. They are not considered to be fun things to do.

They have not considered fun things to do because they have been initially undertaken without the proper preparations. No time or thoughts have been given to set up the optic from which those tasks will be viewed.

Shakespeare said, “Nothing is either good or bad but our thinking makes is so.” It can also be said, no job is either good or bad, fun or dull, but our thinking make it so.

Changing the lens with which we view our job or profession, which usually is the number one “major” that can affect the quality of our life, does require some imagination, it does require some thinking but it can always be done and it must be done.

It must be done if we want to see our life’s work as fun, exciting, and compelling so that we can be passionate about it and make it simple for us to major on what matters rather than wasting our time and majoring on the minor.

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Most people who have made it financially see the professional life as a game. They are out there to play hard and win and they know that you can’t win in the game of life by being interested in it. Winning requires passion, focus, dedication and perseverance.

Winners in life, as in sports, are totally involved in the game. No effort is spared. A game plan is needed. The passion to win is needed and the players are always willing to give it the second effort no matter what.

The professional athletes and the world class athletes all know that being good is not enough. Being excellent is not enough. They know that they have to be outstanding if they ever hope to make the podium. Victories are not won by a country mile but by a split second. So in sports, so in life.

Donald Trump claims that he has never taken more than a few three days vacation in the past twenty year. He says that more than three days away from business makes him lose his momentum and effectiveness.

Does that mean that Trump is not enjoying life? I hardly think so. He, and most of the world’s mover and shakers, have made their life’s work an exhilarating and fun game. Wild horses could not drag them away from the deep involvement of wheeling and dealing. They are not working. They are playing. They don’t see whatever they do as work but as a game… a sport if you will.

Want great success gurus? Read the biographies of Muhammad Ali, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Lance Armstrong. See how these guys did it. They are people like you and I. The way that they achieved great success is not esoteric or the results of secret formulas. They simply applied to basics and fundamental rules of success.

They had a vision or a goal, they believed in themselves, they were passionate, they were focused and determined. They did not let setbacks throw them off course. They persevered and they won. They, and many like them, have shown us the way. Now, all that we have to do is to emulate these guys. Plays the game according to the rules of success and reap the reward, the glory, the success and a rightful place on the podium.

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Every once in awhile a new painting that could be one of the grandmaster’s work is discovered. Curators, specialists and art connoisseur will spend months studying that painting to see if it is an original or not. A lot is at stake. If the painting is truly from one of the grandmasters, it’s worth millions. If not, it’s not worth the canvas that it was painted on.

What could make such a huge difference? It’s the same painting. Even experts find it very difficult to tell the difference between an original and a fake. The difference is in the perception and nothing else. If Degas painted it, it’s a work of art. If it’s the work of a budding artist trying to make a fast buck, it’s worthless.

The same rule that applies to art is also applied to most spheres in our lives. Perception is everything. If we see our job as important and meaningful, that’s what it is. If we see that same job as being inconsequential and demeaning, that’s also what it is.

The fact that perception is everything is not just another meaningless observation. It’s a reality that can literally transform our life.

Ask yourself these questions, how do I see my life? how do I see those who are near me? how do I see my mission in life? how important am I?

Perception is everything. How you answer these questions will determine the quality of your life and the level of your happiness.

The most wonderful aspect of perception is the fact that we get to decide what things and situations mean for us. Perceptions are purely subjective. We get to decide. We get to decide and we get to live with the consequences of those decisions.

That is the magic of being humans. We have this magic wand at our disposal and with it, we get to determine what things mean to us. We see love and beauty all around us. And that’s what we get. We see ugliness and despair, and that’s we also get.

Don’t be a fool. Don’t let others decide for you. Stand up and chose. It’s in your power. Don’t let yourself be carried with the flow. Chose and decide. By doing so, you can literally transform your life from a boring and painful experience into a wonderful and exhilarating experience.

We get to chose, we get to decide…

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