What does it take for success to smile upon you?

Success is a peculiar achievement. Everyone has their own way of gauging whether or not they were successful. For me, one type of financial success is being financially independent meaning: I have more passive income than I do monthly expenses. Which means I really don't need to go out and work that month, per se. I will admit I have not reached that point in my career but I'm working at it.

Now, I was speaking with a friend of mine and I mentioned that I had 'risked everything' to be where I am today. And I sat there and thought..."was this a wise choice or a foolish one?" For me, I want it so bad that I am willing to push it to the limits in order to accomplish what I desire...I have to! I then thought "if this totally falls apart and if I don't achieve what I want; what will I do?" There is nothing else I want to do right now. There is no point in me slowing down or looking back. I do what I know best and that is keep pushing and pushing.

What's funny is that in today's society we typically don't come across the celebrities, athletes or business owners until they have reaped a certain level of success in their career. And we think, "Well that was easy for them...why does success smile upon them so quickly and not me?" But what we don't know is what they were doing in the trenches of pre-success, day in day out.

So, are you willing to risk everything to be successful? What is it going to take? It can be mentally & emotionally draining to get there, I will promise you that. Is it worth it and are you willing to do it?

Back in March of this year (2008) I was posed with a predicament. To stay afloat financially that month I needed to make a sacrifice and sell my Toyota Tacoma truck. Which meant: we would be a one car family-very inconvenient and I lost my truck manhood-very depressing. But I weighed the options in my head, "Do I want to give up this truck for $10,000 now to continue to pursue my dreams and then be able to buy any car I want or do I keep it so I can appear to be keeping up with the Jones's?" I sold it and my wife did it in less than 24 hours on craigslist.org

Anyhow, right after I sold the truck I found myself carless and I called my wife to see if she could pick me up? She said, "Why don't you just drive home?" So, to buy myself time while I waited for her to come pick me up, I walked over to the grocery store and picked up Men's Journal for the first time (which is a pretty darn good magazine if you are a man) and came across this story on Dwayne Johnson "The Rock". To be honest I have really enjoyed the films he has been in, so I read the story from beginning to end (because I had the time and I wasn't going anywhere any time soon).

My point, Dwayne Johnson traveled his tough road to be where he is now. He was a fighter in high school. They were evicted from their apartment, their car was repossessed, parents split and they ate chicken McNuggets for dinner. He messed up his shoulder playing college football, then it was his back. His intentions were to play NFL, he didn't get drafted and ended up back at home with his parents pulling weeds for $10 a hour. You will need to read his story - its incredible!

The secret ingredient for the recipe of success is Persistence & Tenacity. I urge you to never give up, stay focused and go get your dreams.