"Success is not so much what we have as it is what we are." Jim Rohn

Success means different things to different folks. Through personal development, I have come to understand success as the achievement of desired outcomes in all areas of life.

In other words, having great relationships and no money to enjoy activities with family and friends is not success. Being spiritual but being sick and broke is not success. Having money and abundant material goods, yet not getting along with others is not success.

Success is a complete package, which includes:

• being in joy, while pursuing what one loves to do, which renders service to others.

• being in good physical health; feeling vibrant and alive.

• having the financial resources to be able to experience the choices in life, one desires.

• enjoying richly rewarding relationships.

• experiencing a spiritual connection.

• feeling joyous, satisfied and fulfilled.

• being able to experience freedom.

• being able to design one's life rather than live it by default.

The secret to attaining this overall success lies in personal growth and development. It is in the formation of good habits practiced daily. At first we form our habits and then our habits form us. Habits like submarines run deep and silent.

Most people have achieved some measure of success in one or more areas of life, however few are those who have achieved overall success and reached a high level of satisfaction and fulfillment.

It is important to understand that every necessary characteristic of the successful man is latent in your nature and can be brought out by development. If you have not yet attained your desired success, it is that you have not yet done your utmost with the best that is in you.

This is usually due to the lack of knowledge on how to apply simple yet effective strategies. Perhaps you have not yet awakened the desire within you to become all you can be or maybe you feel the effort required is too great.

A burning desire, a strong will, and an alert intelligence are three essential qualities for success. Fortunately, any quality that is lacking can be developed.

Desire is the first of the essential qualities for success, that is necessary to get us to change and move forward. Desire is to self-development and increased success what gas is to a motor. It is desire that stimulates to action. An animal or human's desire for food, for drink, for association with its kind, for shelter, and so on is what propels it/him or her to action and the result is the development of strength, skill, and intelligence.

Driven forward by desire one develops, among other qualities, courage, patience, and endurance.

As activity satisfies the original desire, a new desire replaces the old and propels man to further exertion. With each goal reached and the prize grasped, man realizes that the real prize is not in the material good, though that is certainly enjoyed. But rather, the real prize is in who he has become along the way. The real prize is in the new powers within that he has developed. He will retain these powers for further use. Without desire progress is impossible.

It is important to remember that the purpose of acquiring these powers is to increase one's ability to serve others.

The second of the essential qualities for success is a firm will. Whether you want to succeed in business, to become an expert in your career field, to master an art, all require a strong will, along with perseverance and determination. Once the will is aroused, obstacles will become stepping-stones or simply cast aside completely.

One way to find out if you have the necessary will to accomplish what you have set forth to do is to ask yourself, " Am I doing what I set forth to do today and am I being on purpose; or have I let myself be distracted and taken out by small obstacles?"

The third of the essential qualities for success is a keen intelligence. Like any other latent power, it can be developed. Just like we gain muscle strength by exercising, we can gain mental strength by putting the mind to work. The mind should be exercised in original thinking.

Unfortunately many folks have been brought up to believe that success was for others and not for them. Many have internalized false beliefs about success, such as: successful people have taken advantage of others to get where they are; successful people spend so much time working they have poor relationships. All that these erroneous beliefs have done are hold people back, and in many instances built resentment and anger.

Know that you can let go of false beliefs that have impaired your progress towards your desired success, and you can replace them with new ones.

" Every great success is an accumulation of thousands of ordinary efforts that no one sees or appreciates." Brian Tracy