Grant Cardone in Island Sun Times

All people claim they want this thing called “success”, but most people approach it as an option. The best advice I can give you about success is to make being successful an ethical issue, not a material one. Approach it as just an option or a maybe, and I assure you that it will NEVER be yours.

Did you know that less than two percent of all American households made $250,000 last year? Why? Treating success as some- thing that may or may not happen is a major reason why more people don’t create success for themselves. Let’s face it, most people don’t even get close to creating the kind of life they want, and even fewer create the kind of life they have the potential to create. People claim they want a successful relationship, claim they want financial freedom, and a successful, solvent business – but how many really have it?

Ask yourself these questions:
1. Are you fulfilling your potential?
2. Do you approach success as a duty or an option?
3. Is your success vital to your well- being?

If you answered “No” to any of the above, your chances at success are in question and you have a small probability of achieving your goals. Quit approaching success as an option and your chances ofreaching your dreams will rise exponentially. I can assure you that if you don’t consider it your duty to live up to your potential, then you simply won’t. If success doesn’t become an ethical issue for you, an obsession and a must, then you won’t do what is necessary to attain it. Many suggest that success is a journey, not a destination. After building four businesses from scratch, I can tell you, the journey is filled with unexpected obstacles that attempt to stop you from reaching your successful destination.

One of the greatest turning points in my life occurred when I finally woke up to the fact that if I wanted to be successful, I had to make it a priority, not a prayer or a maybe. When I stopped casually thinking about success and decided that I was going to have a life that was EXACTLY as I wanted it, no matter what, I started to create success. When I started to approach it as a duty, obligation, and a responsibility, literally as a military mission, the obstacles became less of a barrier. I began to see that success wasn’t for others or “the lucky.” Even the most fortunate and well connected people among us must do something to put themselves in the right places, at the right times, in front of the right people. Luck is just a byproduct for those who take the most action. The reason that successful people seem lucky is because success naturally allows for more success. Unless you’re privy to the action, you don’t see or hear about the number of times the successful went for it and failed; after all, the world only pays attention when you’re winning. Don’t be confused by this. Luck doesn’t make people successful; people who completely commit themselves to success just appear to be getting lucky.

Success is not limited by education, religion, or race. I spent 17 years getting a formal education that was to prepare me for the world – and not one course was on success. Not once did anyone talk to me about the importance of success, much less what I had to do to get it. Amazing! Years of education, information, hundreds of books, time in class, and money spent, yet I was still missing the purpose.

You have to approach the notion of success the way a good parent approaches their duty to their child; it’s an honor, an obligation and a priority. A good parent will do whatever it takes to care for their children; get up in the middle of the night, work as hard as they have to in order to clothe, feed and fight for them, even put their lives at risk to protect them. This is the same way you must envision success.

Quit Lying to yourself
It’s fairly common for people who don’t get what they want to start to justify – and even lie to themselves – by minimizing how valuable success is to them. It’s easy to spot this trend in today’s society. You can read it in books, hear it in church and see it promoted in schools. For example, if a child can’t get what he/she wants, they’ll fight for a little while, cry for a bit and then convince him or herself that they never wanted in the first place. It is entirely okay to admit that you wanted something that didn’t come to fruition. In fact, this is the only thing that will help you eventually reach that goal – despite the obstacles you’ll encounter along the way.

And we can take this one step further:
if you’re able to repeatedly succeed, it becomes less of a “success” and more of a habit – almost “everyday life.” Successful people have even been described as having certain magnetism – some “x factor” or magical good luck charm that seems to surround and follow them. Why? Because successful individuals approach success as a duty, obligation and responsibility – and even as their right!

Success comes about as a result of mental and spiritual claim to own it, followed by taking necessary actions over time until acquired. If you approach it with any less gusto than your ethical and moral duty, obligation, responsibility to your family, your company and your future, you will most likely not create it — and have even more difficulty keeping it.

I guarantee that when you, your family and your company begin to consider success to be a responsibility and an ethical issue – then, everything immediately will start to shift. Most people would agree that being ethical is not necessarily limited to telling the truth or not stealing money from someone. Our definition of ethics can be expanded from that – perhaps even to include the notion that we are required to live up to the potential with which we’ve each been blessed. I suggest that failing to insist upon abundant success is somewhat unethical. To the degree that electing to do our personal best each and every day is ethical – then, failing to do so is a violation of ethics.

In order to demand success as your duty, obligation and responsibility you must take these steps:
1. Decide your success is a requirement – not an option!
2. Decide success is your obligation and ethical responsibility!
3. Take the massive amounts of actions followed by more actions!
4. Surround yourself with massive success thinkers!
5. Disregard the failures and barriers you encounter and fulfill your true potential!

Success is your duty, obligation and responsibility – and don’t forget it.

See Grant Cardone at IST’s Executive Trade Event in Chicago!

Grant Cardone is an International Sales Training Expert and NY Times Best Selling Author, whose books and programs have
positively affected hundreds of thousands of people and organizations worldwide. A regular contributor on Fox & Friends, Grant has also been covered on CNBC, CNN, The Wall Street Journal and over 700 radio shows nationwide. His unique, commonsense approach along with his humor, wit and infectious energy allow him to connect with any audience giving him the title of the “Entrepreneur of the 21st Century.”

Find more info, purchase Grant’s books and learn about his live events and virtual online training program at www.GrantCardone.com.

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