You know when somethings good, when you find yourself nodding in agreement to many of the points being made by a successful business operator as they run though their points on what made them successful.

It was the points being raised on a recent TV current affairs program that had me sitting up paying attention, and I was in AWE of the results achieved by a relativley young couple (early 30’s) that had gone from zero to HERO in a few short years. (To me it doesn’t matter if it takes a few years for a “few more years” as long as the results are there.

I appreciate that some of you may be dismissive and say “Yeah yeah we’ve heard it all before… Blah blah, BLAH..” Why do business people go on about being rich… or having passive income, or building wealth? Really its quite simple, the quality of life you may enjoy now may be under threat in the future as the cost of living goes up, average wages rise, and as you decide to retire you find there is not enough cash to sustain you. Anyhow, rich in comparison to who or what?

For me this is enough of a driving force to say “How much will I need to ensure I can live equal too or better when I retire?” So here’s the list… How many of these points can you connect with, and how many of the points do you need to work on some more?

1. Do your homework – Know that knowledge is power, and when knowledge is put into action, then wisdom is the result. Find out the things you need to know to get into top gear.

2. Be a developer – Of business, property and shares, know that these are the main ways the affluent get to the top, so know about them and utilise this knowledge.

3. Have a go – Use the “try angle” at the end you can at least say, “I gave it a go, and now I know… Next time I might do it differently…” Know that getting results requires effort, observing is not doing (but can be a starting point!) and remember mistakes = learning opportunities.

4. Avoid discouragement – See the glass as half full, not half empty… When you get results, reward yourself, it may be minor at the time but its still a useful milestone to recall. Focus on your success; failure and a sense of not moving forward can cause a whole lot of damage, so be careful.

5. Use your equity – Equity is the bit you own (theoretically), if the asset was sold it’s the amount you would end up with. Using this to your advantage is called leverage; it’s the use of this leverage that can lead to enhanced results.

6. Focus on your goals – Begin with the end in mind then fill in the gaps to get there. Goals are a powerful device to lure us to great outcomes.

7. Compounding is good value! – The compound effect is the interest earned on top of what is invested, re investing this (often small amount) adds to the capital to make it work harder for you. One percent now might seem insignificant, but over time added together the results can be stunning.

In all, this is about achieving success, and here’s Wayne Berry’s definition of success, “Working towards any worthwhile goal” I love that as a definition and love its far reaching impact. I even ask groups of people which do they would prefer?, success or a failure? They choose success every time.

So check the list carefully, set some goals, make your business do more, be more and have more, so your future can be all it wants to be!

Stumble it!