As I’ve made the holiday social circuit this year I’ve noticed a few things that keep popping up in conversation:

1) The people who keep using words and phrases like, “aren’t you worried?”, “I’m just concerned that”, and “I just can’t bring myself to…” are the same people who are in the same place they were when I saw them last year at this time. They’ve taken zero risk and therefore are in the same or even worse place than last year. They’ve made no progress toward their success goals. If you always operate from a place of fear, you will rarely, if ever, see the kind of success you dream of.

2) A few people have noticed some of my wins this year and chalked them up to “luck” and said that I’m an “overnight success”. Interesting. In my eyes, “luck” is when preparation meets opportunity. If you don’t prepare, the opportunities still present themselves, but since you aren’t prepared you don’t even notice them. And preparing means more than just reading a book or two; you have to invest in yourself, which brings me to my third point…

3) If you won’t invest in yourself, how can you expect others to invest in you? In the last few years I’ve invested thousands and thousands of dollars and weeks of travel in my own personal development, and it’s all starting to pay huge dividends. I don’t share this to impress you, but to impress upon you that you must invest in yourself and your business to see success; it doesn’t happen overnight and it’s not magic. If it is a priority for you, it should show up in your datebook and your checkbook.

So, as you are making your plans and setting your goals for the year keep these things in mind so you too can achieve the success you envision.