Everyone knows that success takes time. You can achieve success in a few years or work your whole life before you achieve it. You’ve heard of overnight success stories but they may not have truly been overnight. Many people work for several years on various endeavors but then when one hits and grows quickly, it appears that it was their first shot and grew in an instant.

We would all probably like to have success as quickly as possible, whether it’s because we want to get out of our current circumstances or we’re just eager to get going on life. But we need patience, persistence, and some ideas to speed up the process.

Create Opportunities For Yourself

You may be waiting for opportunity to come knocking on your door but you should be bursting through that door and creating opportunities for yourself. The more you get out there the more doors you can open.

Be Observant

I think this is one of the most essential factors to success and entrepreneurship. You have to be aware of your surroundings. By being observant you can find new trends in culture, find niches in markets, find an emerging product or business, and help create opportunities for yourself. This awareness can help you launch a new venture, find a new career, bring your company into a new direction, and bring more money to you. If you’re not observant, you could walk right past the path that will bring you straight to success.

Stay Away From Negativity

Staying away from negative people and situations is one of the quickest ways to achieving success. Too many people get trapped in the worst part of life for much too long. When you’re a drug addict or alcoholic, you’re going no where fast, you’re stuck. It certainly not going to do anything for you. Even if you do drugs once and awhile or just like to party, what is that doing for you? I haven’t heard of any stories where people find a new career while being drunk.

Staying away from negative people is another crucial part of success. Even if you’re a positive person, their negativity will rub off on you. It will starve your creativity and achievements.

Always Work Towards Your Goal

If you aren’t doing something that’ll help with your goals, you won’t get anywhere. Always do something. Even if you’re sick or on vacation, take at least five minutes each day to do something that will benefit you and your goal. It could be reading a book or magazine related to your endeavors or it could be a relaxing walk to get you’re mind and creativity flowing.

Reevaluate

Reevaluate yourself and/or your endeavor often, maybe every few weeks or months. See where you are and where you’re going. If it’s not in the best direction, correct it early. It’s never good to quit, but some things may never work. Finding that out can help you move onto something bigger and better.

Photo by fabbio

Felix Dennis is a very well known entrepreneur in Great Britain. But many people in America and the rest of the world may not have heard of him. He made his name in the publishing world with popular magazines such as Maxim. He began his career in publishing at a very young age, helping to create Oz magazine. The magazine became very successful but Felix ran into some trouble. In 1971, Oz was prosecuted for obscenity, the three editors were found guilty. They received jail time and forced to hard labor. However, Felix received a lighter sentence because the judge considered Felix “less intelligent” than the other editors.

This angered Felix and instead of getting revenge, he decided to show the judge that he was very wrong. So Felix began building a publishing empire. He saw opportunities in both comics and Kung Fu films, launching magazines that catered to that demographic. He found immense success with his publishing company and now has a net worth reportedly of $1.5 billion. Felix hasn’t forgotten where he came from and has become a great philanthropist.

Photo from FelixDennis.com, visit here for more information on Mr. Dennis. Also be sure to read Felix’s 10 Commandments For Getting Rich here.

Many individuals dream of being rich or want to be rich, while others believe being rich is a negative thing and want nothing to do with it. Yes, it’s true that the majority of those who want to be rich want material possessions. But this overshadows the people who want to be rich so they can live freely and change the world.

That’s all they want, a large enough sum of money that will cover all the bills and expenses that come with life. And they want this without having to work 9 to 5. They rather have 9-5 for their family, friends, to travel, or to donate that time to others. Being rich enables you to never miss a family event and enjoy all the small things that make such an impact on our lives. This positive mindset towards wanting to be rich usually comes from those who had to struggle the most in life. They want basic things, like staying warm in the winter and eating healthy meals. So what’s wrong with that?

One of the greatest philanthropists and greatest investors of all time, Warren Buffett always wanted to be rich, since he was a child. He certainly achieved it, being worth $55 billion, but he has never lived extravagantly, still living in the house he bought in 1958. He decided to donate about $30 billion dollars of his own money to charity. This money will go towards disease prevention and to save lives. If Warren never wanted to be rich these lives would probably be lost.

If people buy a big house, a Ferrari, and the latest gadgets when they become rich, there’s nothing wrong with that. They must have worked hard and deserve a reward. But they must be happy whether they have a large bank account or not.

Photo by Rob Lee

People always want to know the secrets of success but there’s really no such thing, there’s no secrets. However there are traits that everyone can follow to become successful.

Richard St. John looks like an average Joe but he has become extremely successful in business with a marketing company and has become extremely successful in life. Over the years Richard has interviewed hundreds of successful people to find out what it took each of them to make it where they are. You can watch an excellent presentation given by him at TEDTalks here. Also below are Richard’s list of 8 things that will lead to success:

1. Have Passion
2. Work Hard
3. Improving Yourself
4. Focusing
5. Pushing Yourself
6. Serve Others
7. Have Ideas
8. Have Persistence

If you would like to learn more about Richard St. John please visit his website here.

Photo by jez.atkinson

Tamir Sapir immigrated to the US in 1973 and started out as a taxi cab driver in New York. Tamir worked hard and eventually saved enough money to purchase a cab of his own. Then he borrowed money to start his own electronics store. Knowing that it would be tough to compete against the large electronics retailer, Tamir decided to find a niche within the market. He found the niche within himself, a Russian immigrant. He catered to other Russian immigrants. The store became successful and helped him gain contacts in the business world, especially in Russia. He seized this opportunity and traded electronics for oil contracts. Then after selling the contracts to other companies he began investing in New York real estate. He found bargains in the 90’s recession and acquired properties to only sell them later for three times what he bought them for or even more. In about 30 years with hard work and with the ability to create amazing opportunities for himself, Tamir made a $2 billion fortune.

There are countless rags to riches stories like Tamir’s which shows that where you are does not determine where you can go.