The title question has been asked for hundreds, probably thousands of years.

The simple truth of the matter is that you have the power. You are in control of whether or not you are successful. Most of it has to do with your thought process.

Zig Ziglar said: “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.”

Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”

These two men were giants in the business world and knew the power of positive thinking.

So it’s easy to see that what you think has tremendous power over you and what you can achieve.

But how do you change your thought process?

The solution

To get on the right track, you have to stop making excuses and play the ‘woe is me’ card. Stop thinking and saying, “I can’t do it.”

No matter what your circumstances, you have the ability to learn what you need to learn to do what you need to do to be successful.

Maybe you want to be a freelance writer who actually gets jobs and makes a good living.

Perhaps you want to author an award-winning book and earn money from that book, or use it to earn money from the opportunities that come from writing a great book.

Maybe you want to have a successful business with 5, 10, 100, or 1,000 employees.

Whatever you REALLY want to do… whatever you REALLY want to do, it’s possible to do.

But, there is a second part to the success process.

The German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said: “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.”

AHA!

Do the lights flash and the bells ring?

You can wake up every morning and say I’m going to make $500 today, but if you don’t work towards that goal, you won’t make a dime.

It is your thoughts in collaboration with your actions that will give you the ability to succeed.

Below is the two-part success process broken down into eight small steps.

8 steps to success

1. Decide what you will really become or do.

2. Find out what it takes to get what you want.

3. Believe that you can do it.

4. Learn everything you need to learn to get started and keep going.

5. Go a step further and become an expert in a particular niche or industry.

6. Prepare a detailed business plan with short-term and long-term goals, along with practical steps to achieve those goals.

7. Work, work, work.

8. If you need help, get it.

Start your success journey today and take your positive thoughts into the NEW year with you.