We all want success. We just don't know how to get there from here. We are looking at our present situation and saying that this is not what we want. We have a spouse who is not cooperative enough (or maybe no spouse at all), kids who aren't appreciative enough, a house that isn't big enough, a car that's not fancy enough, friends that aren't available enough etc. We are jealous of the all the expensive things our neighbor has. We blame our situation, the weather, the economy, our boss etc for our failure. Why can't we get that we want?

The first mistake we are making is that we are focusing on the things that we don't want. If we are always noticing about how our kids aren't appreciative enough, our kids will know that we expect them to be unappreciative and will live up to those expectations and just get more and more unappreciative. This principle applies to everything. The world in general will live up to our expectations. If we are always noticing how small our house is, it will seem to become smaller and smaller in our minds. If we are jealous that someone else has something we want, then we are focusing on the fact that we don't have it, and we will continue to not have it. If we blame the economy for our lack of success, then not only are we focusing on the fact that we are failing, we are giving up control of that situation. We are letting the economy control whether we get what we want. We are becoming a powerless victim. That's not where we would want to be. The first and foremost factor in creating success is taking responsibility for what happens in our lives. We must also notice what is good in our lives and expect more of it.

Our second problem is that our opinion of ourselves is not good. The number one thing that prevents most people from succeeding is fear. We are afraid that we will fail, or we are afraid that if we are successful then we won't be able to handle it. What it boils down to is that we have a lack of self confidence. We don't trust in our abilities. We don't have faith that we can succeed and that we can handle it when it happens. We don't have faith that we can handle any problems that will come up. Because of this, people procrastinate and try to figure out how to solve every possible thing that could go wrong before they start, so they never get started in time to catch the window of opportunity. Successful people have faith in themselves and the self-confidence to know that they will be able to deal with problems as they arise.

In terms of achieving the things we want, we are often our own worst enemy. When we are unhappy with everything we have and when we don't think we have what it takes to be successful, then we are stuck. Your mind is full of negative, unhappy, unsupportive thoughts, and so it stops you from getting from what you want, and often from even trying. Achieving success is mostly a matter of retraining your mind to be appreciative, positive, and supportive.