Here are seven essential keys to success. Use these ideas to find ways to stretch your beliefs about what is possible. Break free of self-imposed limits. Follow these principles and you will realize your dream.

The first key is self-confidence. Choose to be self-confident. Believe in your dream, in the evidence of things not seen. Grasp the big picture and color in the details as you go along.

The second key is persistence. Choose to be persistent. When things go wrong, as they inevitably will, persist. Don't turn back when you hit an obstacle, go over, under, around, or through it.

Persist in the face of severe setbacks. These setbacks may be enough to dissuade anyone. You can even back down without losing face. But don't. Persist even when you can't think of a single reason why you should carry on. In any endeavor there comes a dark night, when all seems lost, when distractions seem rampant, when your dream does not seem significant anymore. Just persist through it all, and you will see, when you're on the other side, that it was all a test of your mettle.

The third key is purpose. Choose to act with purpose. Start out with a purpose and when things get difficult, hold on to your purpose. Let your purpose empower creative ideas and breakthroughs. Set yourself up with a big goal, something beyond your current reach. Your goal should excite and scare you. It should be something that magnifies the value of your life when you achieve it. It should be so big that when it is accomplished your life will never be the same again.

Before you meet this goal, set out to achieve smaller ones. Meet one sub-goal after another--relentlessly. Don't display aimlessness. Don't slip into helplessness. Hold to your purpose and creative ideas will move you from one step to the next. Never allow yourself to feel that you are "going nowhere."

The fourth key is recognizing that success is based on the law of averages. Choose to play the battle of averages. It doesn't matter how many times you fail; you just need that one success to break through to a new level. For example, it doesn't matter if you get turned down by a number of employers; you just need one job to be employed. Success is not all of one piece. You will not succeed every day. Often it may seem that you are not able to succeed at all. But behind every obstacle there is a way around.

The fifth key is the willingness to pay the price of success. Choose to pay the price of success. When you choose to be successful, there is a price that is required. It may be risk-taking, money, time, effort, anxiety. Be willing to pay the price before you even start. You must be willing to rely on speculation. You must be willing to expand your resources. You must be willing to pay the price of success by taking on risk and by working smart to make those risks pay off.

The sixth key is to enjoy the experience. Choose to enjoy the experience. Any new undertaking is an adventure. Immerse yourself in the movie of your own life; enjoy the twists and turns of the plot. Since you are both interested and involved in the venture, enthusiastically commit to resolving whatever issues arise.

The seventh key is to be willing to be original. Choose to be original. Create ideas from scratch. Sometimes there really are no other successful models you can imitate. Even if your idea is not new, try and find a new angle to it; make your idea special, exceptional in some way.

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Saleem Rana got his Masters degree in psychotherapy from California Lutheran University. His articles on the internet have inspired over ten thousand people from around the world. Discover how to create a remarkable life

Copyright 2004 Saleem Rana. Please feel free to pass this article on to your friends, or use it in your ezine or newsletter. It's a shareware article.