The Secret to Success

What if I told you that the first step in experiencing real success does not require any painstaking effort at all? That’s right; the first step in the process only requires a little exploration of your curiosity. Webster defines curiosity as “a strong desire to know or learn something.” I know it sounds too good to be good to be true, but honestly, the day my luck and my life changed for the better had absolutely nothing to do with effort. Before I left home, I was minding my own business, living life the best way I knew how to live it when all of a sudden, I found myself sleeping in abandoned buildings, eating out of trashcans, and stealing food from the local grocery stores. I remember thinking to myself, “I don’t know how I got here, and I damn sure don’t know how to get myself out.” In my distress, a thought popped in my head, “What would have to happen in order for you to get out of this mess?” I spent the next few days thinking just that, trying to figure out in my mind what it would take to get from this point in my life to where I knew I was destined to be.

Follow the story carefully, it was curiosity and curiosity alone that drove that scared, angry young man toward the beautiful bottle, and it was the exploration of that desire that caused him to rub it. As a result, the genie was set free and the scared, angry, young man was thrust into his new season. Pay attention to the initial exchange between the young man and the genie. Nowhere in the story does the genie ask for a large sum of money or even a small down payment to activate the change process. Let’s be honest, that is not our experience. Everything costs money. You need money to buy the home you have been dreaming about. It will take money as well to drive that car that you have been wanting off the lot. All the genie asked of him was to make a wish. The genie’s job was not to paint a picture of what the young man’s life should look like for him. The genie understood that the young man’s destiny was already inside of him. He didn’t need a handout; he needed someone to challenge him—to get out of him that which was already inside of him. Everything you need, to get everywhere you need to be, is already inside of you. But without a strong desire, and I stress a strong desire, to know or learn something we will never experience the change we so desperately say we want!

Principle 6: You have to saddle your dreams before you can ride them.

I got so excited I sort of gave away the next point, which is my favorite. Ask—ask for anything you desire and your wish is my command. This principle is one of my favorite success principles because it single handedly placed me in a position of greatness. Through this principle I was able to go from rock bottom; sleeping in abandoned buildings and eating out of trashcans to making all my dreams become a reality. The thing I love most about this principle is that all it requires is a healthy imagination. You don’t have to be a genius or intellectually advanced to experience change. In fact, when I began this process over 25 years ago, it was the worst academic year of my life. Remember what I shared? Change requires desire. Once you get to a place in your life where you really want change to take place, guess what? “BOOM!” your genie will appear and say, “Ask of me anything and your wish is my command.”

And that’s exactly what I did; I made a wish. I remember that day like it was yesterday. Without a dime in my pocket or a place to go, I just sat there and used my imagination. I imagined what my life would be like and what type of things I would have. And even today, I recall those moments as some of the most amazing moments of my life. In those few precious minutes I was no longer homeless. Instead, I lived in a beautiful ranch style home with a loving family, a red picket fence, and it was near a gorgeous body of water. I couldn’t figure out what I was doing professionally, but in some capacity I was helping people help themselves. My life was peaceful and drama free.

With desire and imagination alone you can begin to live the life you have dreamt of living. Let me explain how the concept works. Your imagination is like a GPS system. In order for a GPS to work, you must first power it on. I don’t care how basic of a model or complex your GPS system is; it does not work if you don’ turn the power switch to the on position. Once you have powered it up; get ready, get ready, get ready. The only thing left to do before your GPS takes you where your heart desires, is to select a POI (Point of Interest) or provide an address. Bottom line, I used my imagination to rewrite the script of my life and began heading in a new direction.