I’m sorry. That headline was a bit sleazy, I guess. There really aren’t five invisible secrets to success. (Sorry.) The truth is, there aren’t ANY invisible secrets to success, because the “secrets” that lead to success are always visible — hidden in plain sight — if you know what to look for.
Of course, there will be some who PREFER to believe otherwise. Dan Kennedy says,
“Virtually all secrets are visible. But people prefer belief in invisible secrets to the harsh reality of personal responsibility, to the visible explanation for success and for failure.”
Essentially, we tend to warmly welcome all of the “it’s not your fault” condolences when we lose big time… in business, in life, in marriage. They feel good for the moment… when the sting of failure is still raw. But, they don’t serve us.
Because we WILL get back into the ring again, ready to fight, ready for a new challenge, ready to win. And if we believe the secrets to winning — in ANY area of life — are hidden from us, then it’s not our fault when we lose… and of course, there’s nothing we can learn from losing.
Let me be frank. This is B.S. YOU are creating your life, your business, your marriage. Every day, with the choices you make. As for invisible secrets… let’s dig in and see what’s REALLY invisible.
Maybe it’s MINDSET you say…. After all, you can’t see someone’s mindset, Right? And mindset is CRITICAL to your success.
Many people mistake me for an optimist. (EVEN those who know me really well…. but it’s a false assumption.) I am not an optimist. I work very hard to be a REALIST. I want a mindset that is committed to both DREAMING BIG and ACCURATE THINKING. I want this mindset because I KNOW that the highest achieving entrepreneurs in the world have it… and I want to be one of them.
Is this a secret? NO. Is it visible? Yep. It’s visible because no one is born with it… therefore the mindset of a REALIST is something that must be deliberately created and maintained. This “secret” becomes very visible when you consider the books littering the office and coffee table of multi-millionaires. It becomes visible when you observe what they are reading, listening to, and watching… and it is even MORE visible when you consider what they’re NOT reading, listening to, and watching. Mindset is visible because it must be built and the tools and habits used to build it are very, very visible.
What about FAITH? You’re a woman of faith, right? Yes, I am. And no, maybe you can’t see my “faith,” but my God says that Faith without WORKS is dead. Useless. So, my faith (should) show up in my words, my actions, my habits, my worship. If it is of any use to me at all, it will be visible. (Same is true for people of ANY faith or belief system.)
Here are some more “invisible” secrets hidden in plain sight, but often ignored:
Personal Responsibility. When I win, I am proud of me. When I lose, I know who to blame: me. When I am the problem, I can be the solution. But as long as I make YOU the problem, there’s nothing I can do to change things. The MOST successful among us are intolerant of such impotence. A successful person adopts THIS mantra: There’s always something that can be done. By me. Today. (Period.) Is it visible? YOU BET. It’s visible in the lack of blaming. It’s visible in the hustle of your day… as if it all depends on you. (It does.)
Rational Decision Making. Success is built QUICKEST when you do not allow your emotions to run things. Emotions are AWFUL at decision making! I remember laughing (he has a really dry, but hilarious sense of humor!) when I heard Steve Chandler talking about this fact. He said, and I’m paraphrasing,
“You can’t afford to go around taking your emotional temperature all day, wondering: Do I FEEL like doing this or not?”
Emotional temperature. I think that’s funny… because — like ALL great comedy — it is SO SO true. You see it everyday. People who do what they FEEL like doing instead of what they NEED to do. This leads to a life and business of mediocrity.
Trump isn’t calling in “depressed” when he has a deal to close. He goes anyway. Oprah’s not wondering if she “feels” like taping another show today… she just shows up. Tyra Banks — who actually RUNS her own company (actively) and is a super super savvy entrepreneur WORTH your study — doesn’t ONLY do what she feels like doing. She does what has to be done to get a very specific result. Is this visible? Yep. It’s visible in the LACK of excuses, the LACK of missed appointments and missed deadlines.
Commitment. Unwavering “whatever it takes” commitment. THIS is obvious and visible. Because setbacks for the uber-successful aren’t deal breakers… or even time wasters… they are only worthy of a SLIGHT change in direction. It’s visible in the fact that these achievers do not give up.
Bottom line: the SECRETS to being rich, thin and happy aren’t reserved for a lucky few… and hidden from the rest of us. They are visible for those pursuing them.
The only question left is this: WHICH do you PREFER? The easy-on-the-ego excuse of invisible secrets or the harsh reality that it is — when all is said and done — up to you?
Oh my goodness, Michelle — personal responsibility is such a good point to bring out. I’ve had a string of encounters lately with some who take NO responsibility, and it’s amazing. I love that you’re calling BS on the idea of invisible secrets and opening eyes to the fact that we create our own realities.
We really do have to make a choice in life that we are going to create the things we want and not just wait for them to happen to us. Fear can be such a barrier and it’s great at creating excuses; but you’re right, you have to be a person of action and if you are, the results will come.
Yes maam…you are one of my favorite truth-tellers always and forever. And it’s so true about doing what needs to be done whether we “feel” like it or not.. so easy to fall into that trap when working from home, when really we have no business (pun intended) using that as a measure for anything in our working life if we want to be profitable or successful. So much of what we need to do to succeed in anything is inherently uncomfortable, at least initially.. so we will rarely “feel” like it.. Thanks for reminding me.
Love you..
Lisa
http://www.Intuitivebody.com
Simple Sacred Solutions For Living Beautifully In Your Body
“There’s always something that can be done. By me. Today.” Interesting that while taking responsibility for both the good and bad results we produce, we can also free ourselves from outside factors that we cannot control. In my blog post, I said, “DO what you can.” It certainly applies here.
I like that you pointed out what successful people are NOT reading. Such an important point, to eliminate the things that are not serving us. You article was interesting to read and very bold, I found myself flinching and will have to do the work to find out if that is b/c I found those statements true for myself or untrue. Regardless, being uniquely bold in your voice is something I admire greatly, thank you for being that.
“rational decision making” hit home for me…. I always seem to talk myself out of things because of fear… I am sure. Great post!