What does it take in our everyday lives to be successful? In order to evaluate this question it is first necessary to understand what "success" is and what all successful people have in common. It is probably safe to assume that anyone reading this article wants to be successful. However, only 5% of the population will ever reach their potential for all activities, 95% of the people will never truly be successful. By definition, success is the realization of a worthy deal. Success is different for every individual. For some people, an annual income of $25,000 would be a success, for another it may be $125,000. Whatever it may be for you, there are 5 characteristics that you must have in common with other successful people in order to achieve true success.

Goals are the single most important factor in achieving success. Without a realistic goal, how will you ever know when you have reached your success level. All successful people set goals. All goals must be realistic, short term, measurable and obtainable within the bounds of your own perception. As time passes, your goals can always be adjusted upward to reach your ultimate goal of success. However, if your initial goal is to be worth $1,000,000 by the year end and you are currently only worth $100,000 with an annual income of $50,000 a year and this is November, you most likely will never be able to reach it and therefore, it is unrealistic. Biting off a job in small portions makes the eventual achievement of the total task seem easier and manageable. All successful people constantly set goals, re-evaluate their goals and scale them upward toward even greater accomplishments.

A positive attitude is the second factor that successful people have in common. I have never met a truly successful person who I would consider a "self made" success that did not have a positive attitude. These people relate to the world on a positive basis. They always look for the "can do" not the "can not do" side of every situation. "If you think you can or if you think you can't, you're right." All successful people truly believe not only in themselves, but in the reality of their goals. A positive attitude is contagious and when it is sincere, the people with whom you come in contact will relate to you and your activities with a vitality and positive attitude that causes a winning, successful environment.

The truth is always best to deal with for several reasons, not the least important of which is that it is always the easiest to remember. If you are going to be successful, you will not have time, energy and ability to remember untruths, or lies that you have told people. This consumes valuable energy and detracts from the power needed to run a successful life. The truth is easy to remember and generally, in the long term, easier to deal with. True winners are always ready to face the truth in situations and handle things as they deal with them on a timely basis and then proceed to get on with the business of running a successful, prosperous life. Never having to back track to cover up problem areas.

Research and Development in today's society have become extremely important to all major corporations. This is where all new products and ideas evolve. Successful individuals have always understood this principal on a personal level and they constantly strive to improve their own abilities through such methods as formal educational systems, seminars, reading books, listening to ideas the thoughts of others, and in any manner that presents itself to them. Successful people truly believe they can improve themselves and constantly strive to seek methods and means that will help them accomplish this task. They also know that there is a price to pay for this success and the return on investment is sometimes great and sometimes small, but that the return without the investment is always the same "0".

"Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason why so few engage in it." -Henry Ford

Man's ability over all other creatures on this Earth is the ability to think. All successful people use this talent to improve their lives and control their own destiny. Only you can take the initial step toward the unleashing of the power within your own mind. The power is awesome and at times can be frightening. However, man has abilities of the mind that many people can not or would not believe. Anthony Robbins has recently written a book entitled "Unlimited Power" which explains in simple terms the theories of Neuro Linguistic Programming, the power of the mind and how to gain control and use it. NLP was originally developed by John Grinder and Richard Bandler as a communication system using the central nervous system. Through this system Mr. Robbins has put forth a complete outline on how to unleash your "performance power" and achieve goals that before you probably felt were impossible.

The first step in using your true mental abilities is understanding what Mr. Robbins refers to as the seven triggering mechanisms that is sure success.

1. Passion - All truly successful people such as Lee Iacocca have a driving force within them that sets them apart from others. A desire, an energy that gives them the fuel to reach their true potential. This force is a part of them 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It never subsides. Their total existence is sustained for the fulfillment of their goals. The passion within this individual to achieve has been so deeply implanted, that their mental power is driven by this force and will not let them do anything other than achieve.

2. Belief - "They can because they think they can"-Virgil. You will only make $100,000 this year if you first believe you can. If you do not believe you can you are telling yourself you want it, but it is truly not obtainable. The truth of life is that man's limits are self imposed by what the mind is given to believe. If you expand your belief of your own abilities, you will also expand your true realm of accomplishment. A man of whom all are aware, lived his life with adversity, but he constantly believed he could achieve.

Failed in business at age 31

Was defeated in a legislative race at age 32

Failed again in business at age 34

Overcome death of sweetheart at age 35

Had a nervous breakdown at age 36

Lost an election at age 38

Lost a congressional race at age 43

Lost a congressional race at age 46

Lost a congressional race at age 48

Lost a Senatorial race at age 55

Failed to become Vice President at age 56

Lost a Senatorial race at age 58

Was elected President of the United States at age 60

With all the adversity that faced him, President Abraham Lincoln had no reason to continually try other than the fact that he believed it was his destiny and measure of success to accomplish this task.

"Man is what he believes" -Anton Checkhov

3. Strategy - A strategy is your game plan of life. The road map you will use to accomplish your goals, ambitions and desires. Just to believe you can earn $100,000 a year is not enough, you must design a strategy that gives your life direction and navigates you toward success. The key to strategy is to design a proper strategy to achieve your success without the detours of life, to find the shortest distance between two points.

4. Clarity of Values - Man must first determine which things in life are most valuable to him. He must determine his feeling about such things as patriotism, pride, love, freedom, excellence, ownership and tolerance. These are values in society, the moral, ethical and fundamental judgements that we, as individuals, deem important. Without a clear system of values for ourselves, it is impossible to believe in something with a passion that has no value to us. Once we have established our individual value system we are then able to determine how we can achieve success based on our priority of values. What must we five up in one hand to accomplish what we desire on the other. Without a value system we can never move forward for we may be trading without increasing our potential for success.

5. Energy - Without the physical vitality to take action, nothing would ever come of our system to this point. The passion could build, our belief of accomplishment could be overwhelming, we could have the best strategy or map to achieve the ultimate value for our own life, but if not for taking the first step, nothing could ever be accomplished. Great success cannot be separated from physical, spiritual and mental energy that allows us, compels us, to accomplish the most with what we have to work with. Physical energy comes from the strength of the body itself fueled by our intake of nourishment. It is therefore important that we fuel our engine with premium fuel (good eating habits), not low grade regular (junk food). Our spiritual and intellectual energy evolves from our environment and it is therefore important that we assess our own personal environment to maximize the energy that we can obtain.

6. Bonding Power - We have all known people that have exhibited the ability to get along with anyone and everyone. The ability to be a chameleon is truly the ability to connect with and bond with others. The ability to build rapport. Being able to deal with others as Mr. Robbins says "To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others." To be able to understand the...

7. Mastery of Communication - To take charge and run your own mind. To learn the techniques of NLP and no longer allow our mind to run our lives, but rather take charge of our own mental abilities and cause them to work for our own accomplishment of success.

"There is only one Success - to be able to spend your life in your own way." - Christopher Morley