Wherever I go, I find people who have encountered failure after failure and wonder why.
“Is it possible for me to achieve success, given my level of talent and education?” they ask.
“You can if you want to,” I tell them.
Success is not a matter of luck, an accident of birth, or a reward for virtue. It is a 
matter of decision, commitment, planning, preparation, execution, and recommitment. Success doesn’t come to you; you must go to it. The trail is well-traveled and well marked. If you want to walk it, you can.
In my book, “Stairway to Success,” I described six steps to success. Here they are:
(1) Decide what you want in life. You do this by identifying the things you do well and that you enjoy doing. This will help you define the success you want.
(2) Create a vision of the success you want, and make a commitment to achieve it. A commitment is like your signature on a contract: It binds you to a course of action. When you make a deep commitment to a goal, powerful forces come into play, propelling you toward that goal.
(3) Draw up a plan for achieving your dream. Don’t ask, “Can I do it?” That’s a loser’s question. Losers are guided by what’s impossible. They see barriers and they stop in their tracks. The winner’s question is “How can I do it?” Winners are guided by what’s possible. They see possibilities and build upon them.
(4) Once you know where you want to go, prepare yourself for the journey. Acquire the physical, mental/emotional, social and spiritual balance you’ll need to keep yourself on course, and the motivation to provide you with the energy to carry it out.
(5) Execute your plan through three phases: action, learning and applying. Ask yourself what must be done next to achieve your goals. You’ll never know whether a specific action will be successful until you’ve tried it. Once you’ve tried it, observe the results. This will enable you to learn what works and what doesn’t. Use your mistakes as lessons, and apply what you learn in implementing the plan.
(6) When you’ve achieved the last goal in your action plan, create a new vision, make a new commitment, and start the process anew. Success builds upon success.
If you follow these six steps, you’ll succeed, not because there’s magic in the formula but because there’s power in you. If you want to, you can do it.
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Dr. Nido Qubein is an international speaker and accomplished author on sales, communication, and leadership. He is president of High Point University which has an enrollment of more than 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Nido serves on several national and local boards and is the recipient of numerous awards. He is also chairman of Great Harvest Bread Company with 220 stores in 41 states.
