The 7 P's of Success

Success isn't as difficult as we make it out to be. It essentially boils down to following some basic principles. If you study any professional athlete, entrepreneur or motivational speaker they all have some common traits.

So what are they?

PURPOSE: This is your why. Why are you doing this? If you don't know the answer to this you're not going to make it very far because as soon as the pain hits or the opposition comes you're going to naturally default back to the path of least resistance. It's just our nature. So knowing your purpose for doing something keeps you on track when you want to quit.

Your why is your mission statement. And if you want to take it to a deeper spiritual level, it's your whole reason why you were born. This is your mission on earth. It's your vision to achieve your destiny.

PASSION: This is basically your vision on steroids. When you stay up until 2 a.m. and have to get back up at 5 a.m.; when you've spent every lost dollar on your dream, the credit cards are maxed and the repo man is coming for your car; when your family thinks your crazy, looks at you with that "now what are you doing?" look, and you've run out of people to lend you money cause you "failed" again - passion will keep you going when everyone else would run back to their day job.

PERSISTENCE: Persistence will outdo talent any day. Many a talented men and women have been surpassed by a less talented person because they were relentless in the pursuit of their passion.

I was at the gym one day when I was talking to someone whose son plays professional basketball. Referring to his son he said, "Growing up he wasn't the most gifted in basketball, but he was committed to outworking everybody else. When all the other kids were shooting 1,000 shots over the summer, he would shoot 3,000."

I've said it myself time and again, "I'd rather have a committed person any day over a talented uncommitted person." You can have all the talent in the world, but if you're not committed people can't depend on you to get the job done.

Successful people are relentless in their pursuit to succeed.

PAIN: "Embrace the suck," as David Goggins would say. A former Navy Seal and dubbed the "world's toughest athlete" has said he used his terrible childhood, which involved abuse from his father, low self-esteem, bullying and racism to teach him to use his pain as fuel. "I'm not the fastest or the best, but I'm able to take a lot of pain," he says.

The pain that is going to come from disappointments, closed doors, rejection and jealousy from people who you thought would support you is inevitable, but the question is what are you going to do with the pain?

The difference between elite athletes and good athletes is their tolerance for pain. Elite athletes are able to push beyond the level of pain where most people stop. You've got to learn to use your pain as leverage to succeed and usurp the average, not as an excuse to quit.

PERSPECTIVE: This one is key. It separates success from failure. People who succeed and those who don't see "failure" two totally different ways. People who succeed see their "failures" as a learning process. They don't see it as an end all to their story. They look at each "failure" as building blocks to better prepare them for when the door finally opens.

They see these "failures" as divine interruptions to make them better and stronger. They look for purpose in every fallen step and perceive themselves to be one step closer every time they fall. Whereas quitters look at "failure" as reasons why they can't succeed.

PAYOFF: Just know this - there IS a reward for those who are persistent. But you've got to keep this at the forefront of your mind. On those days when you are tired and weary from enduring the pain and the process, remind yourself that a reward is on the other side of climbing over your wall. This is something successful people do daily. They go back to their why and remain focused on the finish line.

PRIDE: Never forget that before a great fall comes pride. When you finally make it, remain humble. Don't forget where you came from and why you started this journey in the first place. It's not all about you.

If what you are chasing after isn't directly or indirectly helping people in some way, you must ask yourself the question, "Why am I doing this?" Because in the end, it's all about people. That's why we're here - to help others.