I’m almost reluctant to write a post about ‘How to be successful’ when I consider myself far from achieving my financial goals. (Please understand that for the purposes of this article, I’m defining ‘success’ through monetary terms; as the evolved know, success may easily, and probably better, be defined by other parameters.) But I’m going in the right direction towards financial independence and sometimes its best to learn from someone who has been going through struggle, and now sees the proverbial flickering light.

It is my fervent hope that by detailing certain mindset and other life-affirming strategies that you’ll soon see and witness universal abundance. Now this information is not a ‘how-to’ on specific money-making strategies. (This will be part of my site, but that topic is not the focus here.)

But in order to be successful in life, your thoughts have to be congruent to your financial goals. In other words, you have to cultivate a ‘success mindset’ before you can implement any particular make money online method.

Life-Altering How to be Successful Tactics

Here are 7 sound strategies to become more mindful about what you really want in life, and how to have the courage to achieve your dreams, and the serenity to accept intermittent defeats along the way:

'In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.' - Bill CosbyClick To Tweet

1) Release the Fear – Whether you desire to be a successful student, business leader, rising entrepreneur, or super affiliate, you have to release fear.

How many times have you uttered the words, “I’m so worried.” When we feel the pressure to achieve, we become so invested in the outcome and lose sight of the process. Our entire identity and ego becomes infused with the end result. When we’re so obsessed, concerned, and fearful that our dreams won’t manifest, our ingenuity, creativity, and clear-mindedness becomes stifled, often preventing us from doing our best.

Striving to achieve may feel like a life or death struggle. We catastrophize events if failure manifests, and we become failures in our own eyes. Perhaps others inadvertently (or purposely) support that theory, and we start questioning our worth. We begin to form a belief in ‘lack’ or that somehow our imperfections are so great as to make any attempt to better our condition meaningless.

‘What ifs’ come to the forefront and we bombard ourselves with worse case scenarios. Failure weighs heavily on our consciousness, and the fear can be enveloping.

It’s time to put your negative experiences in perspective. You must realize there will be twists and turns in life, but the road you travel does not necessarily have to become a downward spiral. In fact, you may be much closer to manifesting your dreams than you think, and one fortuitous event can change a seeming bleak situation into one of promise.

However, don’t wait for a ‘lucky break,’ which is often the culmination of hard work anyway. Use focus, determination, persistence, stick-to-itiveness, diligence, and confidence to propel you forward. Constructive action is the recipe of success, and can dispel fear simultaneously.

Try not to be obsessed with what your efforts produce. Yes, I understand and I’m not totally discounting the fear of having no money or little resources. But perseverating over this concern will not alter your situation.

You have to transcend fear, and simply becoming a thoughtful observer. You’ll tweak your methods as you progress, or even regress, and just do the best you can.

Fear must give way to unconditional love. Remind yourself that you’re deserving of the abundance of the universe, and that you are whole and complete, and can easily co-create the experiences you wish to manifest.

'Don't aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally.' - David FrostClick To Tweet

2) Beat to Your Own Drum – We’re so conditioned to walk a certain path. School, religion, family, and so many other institutions provide us with enough ‘shoulds’ to last a lifetime. We often label ourselves early in life because others ascribe to us certain labels during our formative years.

I use to be a school guidance counselor, and I got to know many elementary school-aged children who already seemed defeated by life, believing themselves incapable or inferior. They embraced the ‘I can’t’ mentality because certain teachers and even parents unintentionally reinforced the idea that they were not capable.

We go through life with the same limitations, believing that others have the answers. We feel that we must listen to others’ voices about our career direction, for example, because they know better than us.

A pillar of how to be successful is trusting your own judgment and views, listening to your own inner voice. You may receive the message that you should not become an entrepreneur and get a ‘safe job’ (does that even exist anymore?). However, if you long to be your own boss and strive to learn and master those money making methods, you owe it to yourself to pursue that path.

You have to break the barriers preventing you from success. Yes, it may be those messages that we hear from others. Still, others’ viewpoints may be worthwhile and certainly need to be reflected on and weighed. Ultimately, however, you have to decide the course of your future and pursue what you love to do.

With that realization, the only one who is really preventing your successful life is you.

'Money is neither my god nor my devil. It is a form of energy that tends to make us more of who we already are, whether it's greedy or loving.' - Dan MillmanClick To Tweet

3. Monitor and Refine Your Own Thoughts About Money – Any how to achieve success in life discourse must revolve around your own thoughts about money. Of course, you have to feel that your energy attracts the energy of money (yes, I think of money as energy). Again, you envision that you’re a worthy and deserving individual where funds naturally flow to you.

Simultaneously, you’re giving up the notion that you have to ‘slave to save’ or that the only way to make a lot of money is to work for someone else. If that is what you want to do – land a prestigious job where you can climb up the corporate ladder – I’m rooting for you.

But many of us dream to be autonomous and independent, and look towards entrepreneurship as a means to a great financial end. If that’s the case, see your work producing incessantly flowing reserves of money that continuously fatten your wallet.

And as you become successful in life and financially independent, realize you’re still the thoughtful, generous, and altruistic person that you’ve always been. I’m mentioning this because so many of us have been inculcated with the message that rich people are often greedy, self-serving, egotistical, and selfish. Who wants these kinds of attributes ascribed to them?

In a similar vein, we may have unwittingly embraced the notion that money is indeed, ‘The root of all evil.’ If so, we subconsciously become averse to receiving it, sabotaging our efforts. On one level, we desperately want it, and yet on another level, feel that it may debase us in some way.

I’m starting to cultivate the idea that money is a powerful, positive force and energy that has the ability to improve my life. And as I realize greater profit and commission, I then get to a better position to help others, and try to enhance their lives.

Success in life is also measured by how you can help other people.

'The amount of courage and hard work it takes for you to succeed is the exact same amount it takes to be broke!' - Anwesh RathClick To Tweet

4. Take Massive Action – I mentioned this success principle earlier but it needs to be underscored. Sure, we hear platitudes about ‘Working smart, not hard,’ but most of the time its exactly that hard work and unwavering effort that can lead us towards a financial breakthrough.

I should use my own life as a cautionary tale. I’ve wanted to become an affiliate marketer for so long and I came to this realization in 2007. But for 7 long years, I waited on the sidelines, taking absolutely no action.

I rationalized that I was not ready. I needed to learn more before initiating any campaign. How could I possibly compete against seasoned and successful marketers who know so much more than I do?

Here’s the truth: I was really afraid to fail. If I took action and made no sales, my affiliate marketing dream would appear more elusive, if not impossible. Inaction enabled me to hold on to the possibility that affiliate marketing would be my salvation.

So it took me years to realize that the thought of success was not as important as achieving it. I made a New Year’s resolution in 2014 to take action and I have not looked back or regretted that decision.

Success begins with commitment. If it requires extra practice, do it. If it requires some sacrifice, do it. If it requires you to go out of your comfort zone at times, do it.

Action (without distraction) can then lead towards success.  Yes, continue to learn as much as possible about your chosen field but consistently implement those acquired strategies and methods.  Leverage your skills, network with others, and change your life!

'The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.' - George Bernard Shaw' Click To Tweet

5. Find Purpose and Passion – So you know it’s important to take action. But if you want to really be successful and rich, you must feel passion and purpose. After all, half-hearted action, clouded by thoughts of ‘What’s the use,’ will not produce the dividends you wish.

Do the soul-searching necessary to know what career or entrepreneurial direction you wish to take. If you experience a sense of unbridled excitement and zeal for a certain type of work, you know that it’s meant to be.

It almost has to feel that work is not work, or at least laborious work. You will maximize benefits if you can wake up in the morning, enthusiastic about the day ahead. In this way, the passion and motivation will drive you towards figuring out how to overcome work-related obstacles and handle sporadic setbacks. This passion will also help you thwart any ideas of giving up.

Your effort will also be sustained if you know your ‘Why.’ Specifically, it’s the reason or reasons why you’re dreaming in the first place. So you want to become an entrepreneur? Why? Is it freedom you seek? Is it about determining your own worth? Does it center on the fact that you can be more creative and risk-taking than you can with a standard job?

Are there any personal reasons that are guiding your choices? In my circumstance, my youngest son is on the autism spectrum, and I must have the flexibility to pick him up from school, tutor him, and play/interact with him to ensure that he reaches his full potential. My son is my ‘Why’ and you should find yours.

'Successful design is not the achievement of perfection but the minimization and accommodation of imperfection.' - Henry PetroskiClick To Tweet

6. Stop Looking for Perfection and Go Past Your Comfort Zone – Waiting is a dangerous game. I’m not suggesting that you launch a business without any preparation. You have to have a business plan (it’s best if it’s written but should at least be in your mind’s eye) to capitalize on any opportunity.

Once you have set the preliminary foundation, you’re ready to execute. And it’s perfectly fine to make mistakes along the way. These will be considered learning moments.

Case in point: Famous inventor Thomas Edison. He made thousands of unsuccessful attempts along the road towards inventing the incandescent light bulb. He learned from each attempt, and this brought him closer to victory.

As I mentioned above, I waited 7 years to launch my first campaign. I’m making progress in the last 2+ years, but I really feel that I would have found my affiliate promised land had I started to take action when I conjured up that first thought to become a marketer.

Sadly, I felt that my knowledge had to be vast and that I needed to have a perfect vision, knowing exactly what to do and when to do it. But that understanding comes from experience which I was solely lacking.

Moreover, I doubted my innate abilities. Imperfect Me did not think that I could compete against savvy and smart veterans in the field.

Perfect equals procrastination. Discard notions of perfection and go for the gold now.

To transcend obstacles or to even carve out your place in the world, you may also have to take chances, and go beyond your comfort zone. This entire site is borne from that realization. For example, Yours Truly, a shy and introverted guy, has already interviewed several successful marketers, including a millionaire. I never thought that I would be comfortable in front of a camera speaking with others, but I summoned my inner thespian, and I’m now more at ease with each passing interview.

Successful people discard the notion of perfection and (self-imposed) limitations. Are you ready to do so?

'“Everything we encounter can have a positive influence in shaping our life when we adopt a lens of Gratitude.” - Rob MartinClick To Tweet

7. Acknowledge small successes and be grateful – We must see ourselves as magnets of money and success. Our magnetic power intensifies when we acknowledge even so-called minor triumphs.

For instance, if you have a day of only one sale for less than $10, try not to lament your circumstances. Do the opposite. Congratulate yourself that someone is interested in what you’re marketing, and that soon other folks will be as well. Your fine-tuning what works but in the interim, incremental progress is being made.

In the scenario where you receive no commission for days, you must tell yourself that success is right around the corner. Heck, it’s already here and perhaps you’re not even recognizing its existence.

You’re blessed to live in a house, have food on the table, own a computer and/or mobile device, and get the chance to even fulfill your work-related dreams. (There are places in the world where folks don’t have such blessings.)

It’s important to count yours, be receptive to the abundance of the universe, and realize your power to manifest your dreams.

All the aforementioned suggestions should help you on the journey towards success. Without implementing them, this journey will be in the wrong direction.

But before signing off, I should mention that while I entitled my directives as “secrets,” perhaps this is a misnomer.

The secret is that there is no secret. It all starts with you and ends with you. Success will materialize when you become enlightened to the fact that you control your destiny, your worthy of an amazing life, and that includes the accumulation of wealth.

A belief in yourself, a confidence and conviction that you can achieve, unrelenting effort with the refusal to wave the white flag of surrender, and lifelong learning (particularly in your field) will spell victory.

The methods to do this may include positive affirmations, mind reprogramming (envisioning success), hypnosis, exercise, music … well anything that is life-affirming for you. And while your changing your habits, activities, and thoughts, your moving closer to your authentic self, your connection with the infinite universe, and your dreams.

Here is the truth: How to be successful can only be determined, measured, and fostered by you.

'If you count all your assets, you always show a profit.' - Robert QuillenClick To Tweet

Here’s a short acronym to remember how to be successful:

W	Widen your circle of influence by networking with others in your field.
E	Educate yourself about your niche, and continue to learn all the intricacies about it.
A	Actively take massive action with passion and purpose, putting those developing skills into play.
L	LOVE what you do and your work, well, won't seem like work.
T	Transform yourself by releasing fear, and have the confidence and faith in yourself that success is imminent.
H	Handle setbacks with equanimity, and understand that they provide teachable moments.