The Ten Times Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure

Chapter 3
What Is Success?
I know I've already used the term success several times, but let's clarify what it
actually is. It probably means something different to you than it does to me. The
definition really depends on where a person is in life or what has his or her

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attention. Success in early childhood might mean receiving an allowance for the
first time or getting to stay up past one's bedtime. But that would no longer be of
interest just a few years later, when success in the teen years might mean getting
one's own bedroom, cell phone, or a later curfew. Success in your early 20s
might mean furnishing your first apartment and getting your first promotion.
Later on, it might be marriage, kids, more promotions, travel, more money. As
you age and conditions change, the ways in which you define success will
transform yet again. When you're much older, you're likely to find success in
good health, family, grandchildren, your legacy, and how you will be
remembered. Where you are in life, the conditions you're facing, and the
situations, events, and people on which your attention is most focused will
influence your definition of success. Success can be found in any number of
realms—financial, spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, philanthropic,
communal, or familial. However, wherever you find it, the most crucial things to
know about success—in order to have it and keep it— are the following:
1.
Success is important.
2.
Success is your duty.
3.
There is no shortage of success.
I will discuss the first point in this chapter, and the other two in subsequent
chapters.
Success Is Important
Regardless of their culture, race, religion, economic background, or social group,
most people would agree that success is vital to the well-being of the individual,
the family unit, and the group—and certainly to the future survival of all of these
things. Success provides confidence, security, a sense of comfort, the ability to
contribute at a greater level, and hope and leadership for others in terms of what
is possible. Without it, you; your group, company, goals and dreams; and even
the entire civilization would cease to survive and thrive.
Think of success in terms of expansion. Without continued growth, any entity
—be it a corporation, dream, or even an entire race—would cease to exist.
History is full of examples that support the notion that disaster occurs when
expansion doesn't continue. We can include the Vikings, Ancient Rome and
Greece, Communist Russia, and an endless list of companies and products.
Success is needed in order to perpetuate people, places, and things.
You must never reduce success in your mind or in a conversation to something

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that doesn't matter; on the contrary, it is 
vital
! Anyone who minimizes the
importance of success to your future has given up on his or her own chances of
accomplishment and is spending his or her life trying to convince others to do
the same. Individuals and groups must actively accomplish their goals and
targets in order to carry on. If not, they will either cease to exist or be consumed
and become part of something else. Companies and industries that wish to
maintain their status must successfully create products; get those products to the
market; keep clients, employees, and investors happy; and repeat that cycle over
and over.
There are far too many “cute” sayings that seem to dismiss the importance of
success, like “Success is a journey, not a destination.” Please! When terrible
economic contractions occur, everyone quickly realizes they can't eat or make
house payments with cute little sayings. The economic events of the past several
years should have made it obvious how badly we all underestimated the
importance of success—and how essential it actually is to our survival. It is not
enough just to play the game; it is vital that you learn to win at it. Winning—
over and over again—at everything in which you involve yourself ensures that
you will be able to further expand. And it guarantees that both you 
and
your
ideas will survive into the future.
Success is equally important to a person's sense of self. It promotes
confidence, imagination, and a sense of security and emphasizes the significance
of making a contribution. People who are unable to provide for their families and
their future put themselves and their families at risk. People who aren't
successful can't buy goods and services. This can cause an economy to slow
down and taxes to diminish, which will then negatively impact funds for schools,
hospitals, and public services. About this time, some will say, “But success is not
everything,” and of course, it 
isn't
everything. Yet I always wonder what point
people are trying to make with this statement. When someone in my seminars
says this to me, I often respond by asking something along the lines of, “Are you
trying to diminish the importance of something you haven't been able to attain?”
Get real! Regardless of whatever goals you are trying to attain—success 
is
absolutely critical. If you quit caring, then you quit winning; quit winning long
enough, and you will just plain 
quit
! Do kids benefit when they see their moms
and dads losing or quitting? Does anyone benefit when you can't get your art
sold or that great book published or that great idea that will improve everything
across? No one will benefit from your failure. However, if you were able to
reverse it and attain the goals and dreams you set for yourself—now, that would
be something.

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