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"Whoever told you the process of success was quick, easy or even fun, lied to you." - Darren Hardy, CEO Success Magazine "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no point in being a damn fool about it." - W. C. Fields The Success Process This applies strictly to those of us who have previously gone through the inner-success process. Meaning we have done the hard work of improving ourselves holistically to the point where we are strong and wise enough to make it through the outer-Success Process if we just know how it works. Let's begin. The Success Process starts with the Imagination Phase. We have an idea, vision or dream of some sort. It could be a new business, a novel project within an existing business, a different career path or a work of art of some sort. It's something that resonates deep within us and generates excitement. It's bigger or different than anything we've done in the past, but we believe we can do it. We believe this because we have the perfect combination of high hopes, fantastically high levels of self-confidence and complete ignorance as to what exactly we're getting ourselves in to and just how excruciatingly painful it will be. So far so good. If whatever goal we're trying to achieve is something outside our expertise, the process moves in to the Preparation Phase. Here we learn everything we can in every way we can about this new thing. We seek out a mentor, read books, go to seminars - the whole shebang. We immerse ourselves in this new world. If we don't get overwhelmed and drown in the ocean of knowledge we get to move on. Next we proceed to the Action Phase where we take concrete action toward our goal. This inevitably requires us to overcome a fear of some sort. If nothing else, a fear of the unknown. If our goal is to start a new business we begin creating the product. If our goal is to write a book, we begin writing. And so on. Once we've gone out on a limb and taken somewhat of a blind step of faith, something genuinely amazing tends to happen: we have some sort of immediate success. It might be big; it might be small. Whatever it is, it's always significant. If we're working on a new business, maybe the product just effortlessly comes together and it's mind blowing. Or we score a big deal of some sort right out the gate. If we're writing a book, possibly the first chapter quickly flows out of us and shocks us to death with its profundity and wit. If we're acting, we get an immediate opportunity to exchange sexual favors for a supporting role in a reverse mortgage commercial. We're always pleasantly surprised, but we shouldn't be because it's just a part of the process. Life is rewarding us for taking a step of faith and saying, "keep going." Without this immediate success the next part of the process would be simply unbearable. We're getting a taste of the dream to whet our appetite and provide the motivation necessary to make it through what I call "This Part Of The Success Process Sucks Big Hairy Knuckles." But before we get to that, let me just say this: you may be sitting there thinking to yourself, "Wait a minute. I've tried things in the past and didn't get that immediate success. What the heck? You are a LIAR, Preston. I'm going to continue to read and buy every single thing you put online, but you are a LIAR, sir." If that's you then, first of all, screw you for calling me names, man - that's messed up. But here is what happened; it's one of two things… 1. You attempted something without first going through the inner-success process, in which case nothing you do will ever succeed. 2. You weren't supposed to keep going. You were on the wrong track. Be grateful for that so-called failure and look for the hidden lesson. So we've tasted sweet success and have arrived. "It's going to be this easy forever," we think. Unbeknownst to us we have just unwittingly arrived at something akin to a Navy SEAL tryout. One hundred people show up … maybe three live to tell the story and strap on a navy snorkel for duty. Everything up to this point has been a mere pre-screening process. It's like someone has handed us an MPK5 machine gun to use on a target dummy, we experience the joy of violence, and then they take the gun back and say, "Ok, see how fun that was? Now sign up for this thing over here. I know, I know - it says 'Hell Week.' Hahaha. Never mind that. It's just a funny name for it. You'll survive most likely." Enter the Hairy Knuckle Sucking Phase. Pause. Have you ever sucked on a big hairy knuckle? It. Is. Horrible. Our job during this phase is merely to stay alive and don't stop trying to breathe. The ease with which our initial success came? Replaced with resistance. We may as well be trying to bench press two planets connected together with a plutonium barbell for all we can tell. And we cannot do that in case I'm not being clear. The initial excitement about our dream? Converted to torment. As the reality of what it really takes to succeed in our chosen endeavor sets in and the true level of our abilities are exposed, the bliss of ignorance is promptly transformed into the pain of reality. The ideas stop flowing. The money stops coming. We stop smiling. At the climax of this apparently sick cosmic joke we hit what appears to be an invisible wall. It's like an invisible ceiling except for all races and genders equally. Things stop working. What made so much sense in the beginning now seems like utter nonsense. The things that appeared so easy are now almost unbearably difficult. Whereas previously we were prancing freely and joyfully across a field of wheat like Laura Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie, we are now marching painfully and miserably through what appears to a mixture of boiling hot tar and quick sand. And this, my friend, is the defining moment. "When a defining moment comes along, you can do one of two things. Define the moment, or let the moment define you." - Kevin Cosner, Tin Cup What are we going to do? Are we going to keep plowing forward despite the pain and lack of results? Or are we going to quit? Contrary to what you may be thinking, either way is equally noble depending on the circumstances. But before I explain why, let's answer this question: Why does the Hairy Knuckle Sucking Phase (HKSP) exist in the first place? Why Ask Why? I want you to start a new habit. Pretend you're four years old, and start asking "why?" again. Ask it about everything. There is a reason things happen. There is a reason people do and say things. Don't just assume the worst - or the best - out of ignorance. Ask "why?". Look for the reality behind things. Become a truth seeker. Not doing this would be like going your entire adult life with a guy in a big red Tickle Me Elmo suit following you around and Russian leg sweeping you every 5 minutes and hating it but never really wondering "why is this happening?" It's not an exact analogy, but it's pretty close. If we find the motivation within us to plow through this point of no return and break through the HKSP barrier, we then enter the final phase. I call it Heaven On Planet Earth (HOPE). HOPE is where you've always dreamed of being but have refused to pay the price of admission. HOPE is what you feel deep down in your bones life is supposed to be like but can't figure out how to make happen. HOPE is what you were made for; so expect to be miserable until you get here. The HOPE phase brings us back full circle to when everything was easy and exciting but with one small difference: it's a thousand times easier and more exciting. And it doesn't go away for a really long time. We stop seeking for opportunities. Opportunities begin seeking us. We cease striving for money. We may as well be printing it in our living rooms it comes so easily. We no longer chase after people. People chase us. (The only time it goes away is when it is time to move on to something even greater and more intimately aligned with your ultimate life's mission. Expect to repeat the entire Success Process at that point only on a much more intense level.) We have paid our dues and have arrived. Preston Ely is a successful real estate investor, information marketer, serial entrepreneur, author, speaker, life coach, and philanthropist. He has also produced a dozen home study courses & membership sites on personal development, creative wealth building, & more. Go to http://WakeWealthy.com to read more & get on the track to finanical freedom today!
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