Heading into the New Year, I’m constantly thinking whether a success formula exists, and if so, are there any key variables that form that equation. My friend gave a wonderful gift for Christmas, which is a book called Three Feet from Gold by Sharon Lechter and Greg Reid. A century ago, Napoleon Hill began his research for his bestseller Think and Grow Rich, which contained principles of self-motivation, leadership, service and achievement. He derived these principles through countless interviews with successful people during his day. Three Feet from Gold is a story about a young entrepreneur who faced adversity when his life seemed to fall apart. However, he rose to the occasion by following the principles taught by Napoleon Hill and ended up becoming very successful.

It was a quick read, and I highly recommend reading the book. What I’d like to share is the most powerful message I got from the book, which is the success formula. The formula, along with its key variables, is simply

((P+T)) x A x A) + F = success.  That means combine your Passion with Talent. You then multiply it by the right Association, which includes successful people, along with Action, which include the concrete steps you can take toward your goal. Then you add Faith, which is the unwavering belief in yourself.

Here’s how you can apply the success formula, and I suggest writing them down in a journal:

Passion – Write down a list of ten things that you are passionate about. Consider things like, what do you enjoy doing and what are willing to do it for free?

Talent – Write down a list of ten things you are really good at. What are your key skills and strengths?

When looking at passion and talent, involve your family and friends who know you well, and ask them to remove one item that least describes you from each list. Repeat the process until you have one item remaining on each list. You should narrow it down until you have one remaining item on each list. By doing so, you would now know the Passion and Talent variables in the equation.

Association – these are the key people that are part of your life. As the saying goes, you are the average of the five people you surround yourself with. Think of the five people you surround yourself the most. Are they supportive of you? Do you feel you can learn from them? Ask yourself if they are role models of the type of people you want to become.

Action – Ask yourself every day whether or not you are moving in the right direction towards your goals. Re-evaluate your actions, and determine if you need to make adjustments whether you’re heading in the right path.

Now add Faith to the mix, and start moving towards your goal. There you go, I suggest you write your own success equation as you’re heading to the New Year. Remember, this is not an overnight formula to success. It takes time to build.

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