What drives you for success?

Have your achievements been equal to your full potential?

I had the pleasure to listen to a recording of a speech by Brian Tracy given to the Million Dollar Round Table in 1989 titled “Success is a Journey”, where Brian shared an remarkable life story where he, as a young man, set out on an amazing journey to trek from Canada, cross the sea to London, and travel south to Africa. At age 18, in 1963, Brian and a few friends set out to “see the world.” – A journey of about 8,000 miles!

What Brian learned on this journey changed his life forever. Please find below my highlights and notes from his talk.

Set a goal and stay with it until you achieve success. Nothing succeeds like success. You become naturally programed to achieve it. Alternatively, quitting is dangerous. Once you do it, it becomes a habit.

Below are Brian’s learnings from the 500 mile Sahara Desert Crossing, during the ~8,000 mile journey!

1.     Decide upon your goal and then launch. Get Started. Take Action. Do Something. Move. A 12 year study at Babson College concluded the act of taking the first step is what separates the winners from the losers.

2.     Never consider the possibility of failure. Always forward, never backward. Refuse to quit. Your ability to persist in the face of setbacks and disappointments is vital to all great achievement, and it’s always a decision that you make. It’s not the external environment, it’s always the internal environment.

3.     The biggest goal in the world can be accomplished if you just take it one barrel at a time. (Reference to the 500 mile journey across the Sahara Desert where barrels are placed every 5km on the road for directional visibility). Do what lies clearly ahead. The only time you will ever have is NOW. Live every day, every hour the best you can.

4.     Watch out for the naysayers, the negative people around you. Get around positive people, winners. Fly with the eagles and refuse to listen to objections and reasons why you can’t succeed.

5.     Welcome obstacles and difficulties as valuable and inevitable steps on the ladder of success. The difficulties come not to obstruct, but to instruct. They are the price you pay for success. And no success is possible without them.

6.     Be clear about your goal and be flexible about the process of achieving it. Be willing to change, try something new. Keep your mind open and fluid. Be willing to accept feedback and adjust your course. It’s not what you have, it’s what you do with what you do have that separates winners from losers. It’s not what happens to you but how you respond to what happens to you that counts.

7.     Nobody does it alone. People help with resources, and especially, warmth, kindness, and generosity. When life is over, it will be the people that we live, laugh, and love with will be what we remember and cherish more than anything else. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, it’s a mark of strength, courage, and character. And give generously of yourself to others. It’s a mark of caring, compassion, and personal greatness.

Brian kept this poem by Robert William Service front of mind during his long journey!

Carry On! Poem by Robert William Service

It's easy to fight when everything's right,

And you're mad with the thrill and the glory;

It's easy to cheer when victory's near,

And wallow in fields that are gory.

It's a different song when everything's wrong,

When you're feeling infernally mortal;

When it's ten against one, and hope there is none,

Buck up, little soldier, and chortle:

Carry on! Carry on!

There isn't much punch in your blow.

You're glaring and staring and hitting out blind;

You're muddy and bloody, but never you mind.

Carry on! Carry on!

You haven't the ghost of a show.

It's looking like death, but while you've a breath,

Carry on, my son! Carry on!

And so in the strife of the battle of life

It's easy to fight when you're winning;

It's easy to slave, and starve and be brave,

When the dawn of success is beginning.

But the man who can meet despair and defeat

With a cheer, there's the man of God's choosing;

The man who can fight to Heaven's own height

Is the man who can fight when he's losing.

Carry on! Carry on!

Things never were looming so black.

But show that you haven't a cowardly streak,

And though you're unlucky you never are weak.

Carry on! Carry on!

Brace up for another attack.

It's looking like hell, but -- you never can tell:

Carry on, old man! Carry on!

There are some who drift out in the deserts of doubt,

And some who in brutishness wallow;

There are others, I know, who in piety go

Because of a Heaven to follow.

But to labour with zest, and to give of your best,

For the sweetness and joy of the giving;

To help folks along with a hand and a song;

Why, there's the real sunshine of living.

Carry on! Carry on!

Fight the good fight and true;

Believe in your mission, greet life with a cheer;

There's big work to do, and that's why you are here.

Carry on! Carry on!

Let the world be the better for you;

And at last when you die, let this be your cry:

Carry on, my soul! Carry on!

Please enjoy hearing about this directly from Brian at the following links and learn more about what Brian is doing today!

Never give up and Never Settle!