Author Michael Jeffreys personally interviewed 15 top motivational gurus in 1997 for his then upcoming book. After talking to gurus from Brian Tracy to Dr. Wayne Dyer, he distilled 8 Secrets to Success they all agreed upon. These secrets are still good today and are as follows:
1. Take 100% Responsibility for Your Life – In a society where people blame everything from their parents to the government for failure, those who don’t buy into this mentality or succumb to the “victim” thinking succeed. To blame something or somebody outside yourself is saying they have control of your life and not you. Someone else’s opinion of you doesn’t have to become your reality.
2. Live Your Life On Purpose – What separates motivational thinkers from the unsuccessful is that they believe they’re doing what they were put her to do. The difference between this and just living, is that the latter is just getting through the week with the least problems. But when you live your life on purpose, your main concern is doing the job right. For the entrepreneur this means finding a cause you believe in and building your business around it.
3. Be Willing to Pay the Price – Be willing to pay the price for your dreams. Wanting a big house, a luxury car, and a million dollars in the bank is all very nice, and everyone wants these things – but are you willing to pay the price to get them? This is one of the major differences between the successful and unsuccessful.
4. Stay Focused – Every day we’re bombarded with hundreds of tasks, phone calls, messages, and everyone competing for our time. Focusing requires giving up something in the present because you are investing your time in something that will pay off big-time down the road. Jack Canfield and Mark Hanson were turned by 30 publishers when they submitted the first “Chicken Soup for the Soul” book. Instead of giving up, they stayed focused on their goal and did four or five interviews per day for radio, TV, and newspapers, for five days a week for a whole year. Eventually, a small publisher decided to take a chance, and of course now it’s a best-seller that spawned an entire series that have sold more than 10 million copies.
5. Become An Expert in Your Field One striking factor all successful people have in common is how seriously they take their profession. They strive to be the best at what they do, and do almost anything to improve. If someone followed you around all day with a video camera at your business, would it be a tape you’d be proud of or embarrassed about? Make the decision today to work at being the best in your field. How? By finding out what the “best” in your field are doing, and do what they do.
6. Write Out a Plan for Achieving Your Goals – Write out an action plan/map for how you’re going to achieve your goals. Trying to reach your goals without a plan is like trying to drive from Los Angeles to Chicago without a map. A goal that isn’t written down is merely a wish or fantasy.
7. Never Give Up – Never, never, never give up. When you’re fully committed to achieving your goal, giving up is not an option. You must be willing do whatever it takes to make it happen. The power of perseverance is an awesome force. As someone once said, “inch by inch it’s a cinch”. Think of the lowly inchworm – if it pondered the length of the trip from start to finish before it started, it probably would never move. To a worm’s point-of-view, the garden path must look like a trip to Mars. Never give up! Keep on going like the Eveready battery bunny, and pretty soon you’re there.
8. Don’t Delay – Nobody knows how much time they have left to accomplish their dreams, and we must remember that we don’t have forever. The clock is ticking, and sooner or later your number comes up and you’re gone. Successful achievers know this too, but they don’t view it as a “negative”. Achievers use it to “spur them on”. They go after what they want as energetically and as passionately as possible, for as long as they have. I had a friend who used to say, “Today is a check – cash it! Yesterday is an I.O.U. – forget it! Tomorrow is a promissory note, don’t bank on it!” I think that’s a pretty good summation of life, so go out there and cash in on that “today” check.‘
附翻译：
作者迈克尔杰弗里斯亲自采访15顶部激励大师1997当时他即将出版的新书。在大师布瑞恩特雷西韦恩博士，他提炼8成功的秘密都同意。这些秘密至今仍然有效，如下：
1。100%人生的责任–社会中人们把一切归咎于他们的父母，政府失败，那些不相信这种心态或屈服于“受害者”的想法成功。责备某人或某事以外的自己，是说他们要控制你的生活，没有你。别人对你的看法不一定会变成现实。
2。住你的生活目的与动机–思想家从失败是因为他们相信他们做什么，他们让她做的。这之间的区别，只是生活，是后者是刚刚通过一周至少与问题。但当你住你的生活目的，你的主要关注的是把事情做对。对企业家来说这意味着找到一个使你相信它周围和建设您的业务。
3。愿意支付的价格–愿意支付的价格为您的梦想。想要大房子，豪华车，以及一百万美元的银行都是很好的，每个人都要这些东西–但你是愿意支付的价格买到吗？这是一个重大的差异之间的成功和不成功的。
4。专注–每天我们正在轰炸数百任务，电话，邮件，和每个人的时间竞争。聚焦需要放弃的东西，在现在因为你投资你的时间在这将还清大路边。杰克·汉森和标记了30出版时首次提出“心灵鸡汤”的书。而不是放弃，他们专注于自己的目标，四个或五个采访每一天广播，电视，报纸，每周五天，整整一年。最终，一个小出版商决定采取一个机会，当然现在的畅销书，催生了一整个系列，已售出超过10000000份。
5。成为你所在领域的专家，一个惊人的所有人共同拥有的是他们多么重视他们的职业。他们努力成为最好在他们做什么，和做几乎任何改善。如果有人跟踪你每天都在与摄像机在您的业务，它会带你骄傲或尴尬？今天就决定努力成为最好的你。怎么用？找出什么“最佳”在你的领域工作，做他们做了什么。
6。写了一个计划，为实现你的目标–写了一个行动计划/地图为您如何去实现你的目标。要达成你的目标没有计划，就像开车从洛杉机飞往芝加哥地图。一个目标，不写下来，只不过是希望或幻想。
7。永不放弃–从不，从不，决不放弃。当你充分致力于实现自己的目标，放弃不是一个选择。你必须愿意做任何事情让它发生。毅力的力量是一个可怕的力量。曾经有人说过，“一寸一寸的”。认为低尺蠖–如果考虑长度的行程，从开始到结束之前就开始了，它也不会动。一个蠕虫的角度来看，花园路径必须看起来像一个火星之旅。绝对不能放弃！要像永备电池兔子，并很快就有你。
8。不要延迟–没人知道他们有多少时间去实现他们的梦想，我们必须记住我们没有永远。时钟滴答作响，早晚你来了，你走了。成功的人知道这一点，但是他们不认为这是一个“负”。他们用它来“刺激”。他们去后，他们想要的东西，并尽可能大力热情，只要他们有。我有个朋友曾经说，“今天是–现金支票！昨天是一张欠条–忘记它！明天是一张期票，不要指望它！“我认为这是一个不错的总和，所以走出去和现金就在“今天”的检查。
