Get off your arse.

That’s it. Probably not what you wanted to read but it’s the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

You may spell it ass, you may call it your butt, bum, backside, bottom or booty, but whatever you call it, if you want to succeed you’ve got to get off it<!–more–>.

The secret to success in life is as simple as that, whether your main focus is career, love, family, finances or the simple pursuit of happiness.

Just get off your arse. Put in an effort and you’ll reap the rewards.

The lies people sell

There are a few books that claim to hold secret information on how to get what you want out of life. The ‘secret’ idea seems to be that if you think about something it will come true.

It’s easy to see the appeal of this new age philosophy called ‘the law of attraction’, and clear why books about such ‘secrets’ are bestsellers. After all, wouldn’t it be great if we could just mediate daily, repeat our positive mantras and lo and behold they could come to pass?

Sadly, it’s not the case and the whole premise is flawed.

Two flaws in the law of attraction

1. Books about the power of attraction are a con. There’s no way that if someone sits around saying:

“I’m rich and successful,” that they’ll become rich and successful.

2. If you want to be rich and successful you’ve got to work at it. You’ll need to set up a business, work hard, make mistakes, persevere, save hard and spend your money wisely to begin with.

But on the other hand…

Even though I spurn the law of attraction I agree that negative thinking will harm you. If we allow ourselves to believe the little voices in our heads that say:

“You’re plain and boring. You’ll never amount to anything.”

Then we won’t get anywhere in life.

So there is something to be said for harnessing positive thinking to reprogram our brains and our way of thinking.

For example, if you want to give up smoking or you want to get fit I do think it helps to adopt a positive mantra such as, “I value my health and enjoy living a fit and healthy, ” and read, repeat or think about it often.

It pays to be positive

I think optimists get more out of life because if you were a pessimist well, why would you even bother…

So positive thinking can drown out those pesky negative voices but hard work, passion and perseverance are irreplaceable.

What are you waiting for?

Most people just accept their lot in life. They take what they’re given and put up with it, working for years in a job they don’t particularly like and self-medicating themselves for their boredom and despondency with things like television, food, alcohol or even more work.

So often in the past when I told friends and family I was off to Africa, South East Asia, Australasia, Central America or wherever it was that year, people would sigh and say:

“You’re so lucky, I’d do that too it only I weren’t so…”

The excuses are varied. Some people say they’re too old, others claim they’re too young. Some people are too poor and some too career and money driven. But really they’re all just the same thing. Excuses.

Not that old excuse again

No more excuses, please. To get what you want in life you need:

• Passion
• Desire
• Dreams
• Achievable goals
• Optimism
• Energy
• Inspiration
• Perseverance
• Bravado
• Faith

Have faith

You can do all the things you want to do.

You choose your life, you’re in control of it, you decide if you want to sail around the world, start your own business, spend more time with your kids or laugh more. Whatever it is you can do it.

You just need to decide what you want ^[1], get started with it and keep going ^[2].

Get out of your comfort zone

Here are a few truths some people try to hide about being successful and happy. There are no secrets. Go into it with your eyes open knowing that:

1. It will be an effort.

2. It will challenge your status quo.

3. It will be risky.

But even when you know and accept all that you’ve got to stop listening to negative voices – either your own inner beliefs or real comments from other people – saying you can’t do it or you shouldn’t do it because of one reason or another.

Then stop settling for life as it is and start getting angry with yourself for time you’ve wasted so far. Promise yourself it won’t happen again.

Success starts when you get in the hot spot

Just get off your arse and get going.

I am.

If you think I’m not, or catch me slacking, feel free to give me a kick up the arse. We all need someone to do that for us from time to time. And if my writing helps you get inspired, motivated and going then I’m ready to put the boot in on your behalf any time.

What can I do to help you? What would you like to read more about? Just leave a comment or question below. I promise to reply to all of you.

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Thanks for Reading

A warm welcome to all my new subscribers and welcome back to the old faithfuls – it’s great to connect with you. Many thanks also to Jeroen Bennick ^[5] for use of the photo.

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Other Self Development Articles

>> 5 Instructions For Better Writing and Life ^[6]

>> 10 Things To Be Grateful For and Why You Should Be ^[7]

>> 101 Ways To Feel Happier ^[8]

>> 5 Ways To Prevent Depression ^[9]

>> 10 Ways To Get The Life You Want ^[2]

>> 3 Keys To Living Our Dreams ^[10]