How do I become successful?

"How do I become successful?" The question is frequently asked by those who don't consider themselves successful to those considered more successful.

And the most common answer?

"Just go ahead and do it!"

Unfortunately, it doesn't always help much.

There's not enough detail. We maybe have the mechanics - the nuts and bolts of the method - but not the emotional support, the re-assurance, the conviction.

We look for the sure-fire methodology, the guaranteed system that makes us feel good, with positive expectation throughout.

We get the opportunity to risk the action but not the absolute certainty of success.

Listen. Here's some inside info:

Human evolution, human history and the tale of each human being are made up of experiments. There is no certainty.

Just, trial and error.

Some things work, and some things don't.

That's it.

It applies to successful people, and to those still seeking success.

Get used to the idea.

Successful people are different in one respect. They consistently get results from their experiments that lead them to their success.

To consistently get those results, we need to look for the common life themes in the thoughts, disposition and activities of those successful people. Then if we experiment by using those same "themes" in our own lives, we may just get the results we also seek.

To discover the themes of those successful people, there are whole libraries of biographies and self-help books, and shelves of self-help courses. I recommend some of them. The key though isn't just in reading them, or taking the courses, but in applying the lessons in your own life. Conduct your own experiments, keep conducting them and sooner or later you'll get the results you want.

There's no guarantee that doing this that it will work first time. Remember, it's an experiment. You don't know the results of an experiment until you've completed it. So, remember, it's an experiment. Review the results, tweak the methodology, and try again. Then, if needs be, review again, tweak again, experiment again. Then again, and again, and again until you've got the result you want.

The alternative is to give up.

Now, for those of you who want something a bit more prescriptive, there's a quick answer to the question, "How do I become successful?" in the article "10 Principles of Success".