Truly believe what Augustine said is true, and if you look at history, you'll know it's true. There are so many people in the world with amazing talent, yet they only realize a fraction of their potential. We all know people who live this truth. We also know those epic stories, those modern legends that surround the early failures of super successful people like Michael Jordan and Bill Gates. We can trace it all the way back to Albert Einstein and even Abraham Lincoln. What made these people so successful? Motivation. We know this instinctively, but what can we do about it? How can we motivate ourselves? One of the most difficult aspects of achieving success is staying motivated over the long term. Motivation almost always triumphs over mere talent.

Motivation is not accidental, nor can it be given to you by others - you are the only one who has the power to motivate you. Motivation cannot be an external force, it must come from within and is a natural product of your desire to achieve your goals and your belief in your ability to achieve them. Positive pleasure-oriented goals are more motivating than negative fear-oriented goals. While each approach succeeds individually, the right combination of the two is the most powerful motivator known to man.

The first thing to remember about success is that it's a process - no more, no less. There's really nothing magical about it, and it's not just reserved for a few. So success really has nothing to do with luck, coincidence, or fate. It really comes down to understanding the steps in the process, and then executing those steps. But one thing is for sure.

Success is actually not that hard. In North America, there is a significant percentage of people who actually want and need success to be tough! Why? So when things don't go their way, they have an internal excuse! It's pretty bad, to say the least. For those who are serious about having more, doing more, giving more, and becoming more, success is achievable with some knowledge of what to do, some discipline in planning and executing these plans, and the belief that you can achieve your desires.