Succeed with & through other successful people ...

Whatever your idea of success, conduct a sanity check throughout the process of reaching your goal.

This should be done with someone you trust and who is themselves successful. Ask them to provide honest feedback about your success and as you move through different milestones, bounce concerns or new ideas off them to help keep you on the right track.

Find a successful mentor

If you have a goal of being a best-selling author, find friends and mentors who either have achieved that same goal or are also pursuing a successful writing career.

• It is important to surround yourself with people that can associate with your goal and passion, people who understand the burning desire to succeed and can encourage when you meet with disappointments.

• Understanding that others have also met with difficulties and overcome obstacles in their path to success, and still managed to reach their success dream, will inspire and motivate you to do the same.

• When you need to call upon the successes and inspiration of others, remember the life of Ludwig van Beethoven. When he was 30 years of age, he was forced to acknowledge that he had an incurable hearing condition which ultimately resulted in total deafness.

• At one point he was so deep in despair, that he wrote a suicide note that he never sent.

Through perseverance, dedication and commitment to what he believed in, he continued to write music for another 28 years until his death in 1856.

The importance of success networking

More than likely, you will reach various times when you do not have the appropriate expertise to accomplish something. This is the time collaboration and/or networking is valuable. These relationships can help you answer questions, provide guidance, and provide the ongoing support and encouragement you will need.

To succeed, you need to learn how to listen first. Pay attention to other people who have enjoyed successes in their life, attend seminars given by people that can motivate and encourage, or be open to hearing that a particular idea is not a good one.

Good listening takes time to learn but in the end, it will be your greatest tool.