Tracy - Flight plan: the real secret of success

To my wonderful daughter Christina,
a fine young woman, a devoted mother, and
wife to Damon. You are the inspiration
for this book, a wise counselor
and collaborator, and a
role model for all of us.

A journey of a thousand leagues
begins with a single step.

CONFUCIUS

This is a wonderful time to be alive. It has never been more possible for more people to accomplish more of their goals in all of human history. And if anything, it is only going to get better in the months and years ahead. Your job is to fully participate in what economists are calling the golden age of mankind.

In our world, everyone wants to be happy, healthy, thin, and richpreferably, as quickly and as easily as possible. Throughout history, in response to this almost universal demand for immediate gratification, countless people and organizations have offered enticing formulas, special techniques, esoteric strategies, and secrets for achieving success and happiness without effort.

Every year or two, someone comes along with a book like The Secret, suggesting that there is a quick and easy way to be happy and make a lot of money. According to The Secret, all you have to do is to think and visualize positive thoughts and you will attract into your life all the good things you want. This idea appeals to people who are unwilling to do the hard work that is necessary to achieve anything worthwhile.

The real secret of success, however, is that there are no secrets. There are only universal principles and timeless truths that have been discovered and rediscovered throughout the ages. Happiness, health, and prosperity do not occur by accident. They are the result of deliberate design and are subject to the iron Law of Cause and Effect.

This law says, For every cause, there is an effect. It also says, For every effect, there is a cause or causes. This means that if you do certain things, you get certain results. The Bible says, Whatsoever you sow, that also shall you reap. Sir Isaac Newton wrote, For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Here is a simple rule: If you do what other successful people do, over and over again, nothing can stop you from eventually getting the same results that they do. Conversely, if you dont do what other successful people do, nothing can help you. Success is not an accident. It is not a matter of luck but of design. It is simply a matter of cause and effect.

Perhaps the greatest discovery in human historythe foundation principle of religion, philosophy, metaphysics, and psychologyis that thoughts are causes, and conditions are effects. This means that your thoughts create your reality. You do not see the world as it is but rather as you are. Everywhere you look, you see yourself. In a larger sense, your outer world is a mirror of your inner world. Whatever you think on the inside will be reflected back to you on the outside. If you want to know what is going on inside a person, just look at what is happening to him or her on the outside.

This Law of CorrespondenceYour outer world corresponds to your inner worldis inviolable, at least over time. You can never acquire and hold something on the outside, for the long term, that you have not prepared for and earned on the inside.

You have heard it said that to succeed, you must have what it takes. Well, what it takes is the mental equivalent on the inside for what you want to acquire or experience on the outside. For you to change your outer world, you must change your inner world. As Goethe said, To have more, you must first be more.

In other words, to create a different life, in any area, you must become a different person. You must learn and grow and have the necessary experiences that give you the wisdom and insights to live a wonderful life. And there are no shortcuts.

This brings me to a metaphor for success that I have shared with thousands of people all over the world for many years. When I describe this metaphor, every successful person I have ever spoken to has said, That is exactly the reason that I am successful today.

Over the years, I have flown back and forth across the country and around the world many times. One day I learned a remarkable fact: when you fly in any airplane headed for any destination, you will be off course 99 percent of the time! Because of unavoidable conditions such as updrafts, downdrafts, crosswinds, turbulence, storms, lightning, and the earths magnetism, the plane will be off course throughout the journey.