Roa d Trip: Direc tions for Driving to

Suc c ess
 
Subject: Success, Motivation, Overcoming Failure, Adversity, Planning

Fear of success is as powerful if not more, than the fear of failure. When we fear either one,
our subconscious mind works to prevent what we fear.

People fear success because of low self-esteem. They don’t truly believe they deserve
success. People have a fear of failure because they don’t want anyone else to find out they
don’t deserve success. In either case, the logic is faulty.

If you feel you don’t deserve success, well, you’re right. If you feel success is within you’re
reach, well, you’re right. What you think and how you act, determine who you will be.

To deserve success is to think that there are some people who are entitle to it and other
who are not. Wrong! Success, as Earl Nightingale once said, plays no favorites. Success is
color-blind, gender-blind, agnostic and/or indifferent to the individual. Success only favors
those who take the chances and never give up.

When you drive to a new location and get lost, we are thankful for traffic signs that tell us:
“One Way, Wrong Way, Slow Down, Passing Zone and so on. These signs are there to keep
us safe and guide and deliver us to our destination. Failure is just another traffic sign
indicating what it will take to reach your goal or destination.

For example, selling services or products requires a certain skill set and in order to succeed
you have to learn that “One Way”. When a plan fails, maybe you need to ‘Slow Down’ and
observe what the market needs or what your competitors are doing. Or if we have a lot of
competition maybe we should enter a “NO PASS ZONE” and concentrate on business our
competitors are passing up. If you’ve lost your way in business or life, failure tells you
“Wrong Way” and you need turnaround and find a better way.   When we lose our way, it’s
typically because we’ve not done the following:
1) Clearly define our destination (goal) and our purpose (why are we going there)

2) What do we need to make the trip successful (products or services)

 
3) Create a map on how to get there (strategy, business plan)
 
4) Maps can change over time; constantly ask for directions along the way (find role models
in similar business who can guide you) to make sure you still moving in the right direction
 
5) If you still get lost, don’t be afraid to ask for directions (i.e., help)
 
6) Last tip, make sure you have enough gas (money) for the trip
As individuals we don’t fear planning a trip. We don’t even fear the ‘not knowing’ what to
expect. We simply plan to the best of our ability and hope that when we get there it’s
everything we imagined it would be.

And do things always work out the way we ‘planned’ them? Of course not! Life and business
planning are no different. Sometimes no matter how much pre-planning was done, the trip
turned out to be a dud. Then there are other times when little went into the planning and
the trip turned out better than planned. In either case, you never know until you try it. The
former needed more planning; the latter was laden with luck. I’d rather plan instead of
depending on luck.

If we were all afraid of bad trips or vacations, we’d never leave the house. In life, if we want
new experiences and adventures, we have to leave our house and its security and venture
out into unfamiliar (and somewhat scary) territory. But that’s what makes life exciting and
worth living. Never fear doing, fear not doing and regretting it.

Lastly, failing does not mean you have to surrender your driver’s license. It simply means
you need better directions in order to get to your intended destination.
 
Please forward this article; share it with a friend who may need a few words of inspiration.
 
 
Victor Antonio G., a top motivational speaker and author of “The LOGIC of Success”.  
 
Copyright © 2004 by Victor Antonio G.   All rights reserved.  This article MAY be reproduced in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, as long as the author’s name, website and email address
are included as part of the article’s body.  All inquiries, including information on electronic licensing, should be
directed to Victor Antonio G., 

Torpedoi ng Your Suc c ess

 
Subject: Focus, Planning, Passion, Changing Directions, Finding Success

 
One of my first internship jobs as a college student was working for a defense company
who, at the time, developed a highly sophisticated torpedo for hunting down submarines
and destroying them. 
 
The operation of the torpedo was pretty fascinating.  The torpedo was launched from the
deck of a ship or dropped from a helicopter into the water.  It would then turn on and
initiate a search mode, where it would make circular patterns while constantly “pinging.” 
Pinging is the sound the sonar device makes when it wants to bounce sound waves off
objects underwater. 
 
The torpedo had what was called an underwater signature recognizer, a device that
compares the echo outlines of each incoming sound wave with a database of other outlines. 
The goal, find a submarine outline.
 
Once it detected something that “might” be a submarine, the torpedo would then go after
the target.  As the torpedo got closer to its potential target, it would continue pinging and
comparing each echo (outline) in order to be sure the object was indeed a submarine.   The
closer the torpedo got, the better the definition of the echo. 
 
The torpedo would break off its “attack mode” if, as it got closer to the acquired target, it
realized the silhouette did not match; if the object was a false alarm, it would steer off
course.  For example, the torpedo was able to discern a submarine from let’s say a whale, a
school of fish or an underwater rock formation. 
 
So, as the torpedo got closer and discovered the object wasn’t a submarine, it would break
off and terminate its attack mode.  It would then begin a new search pattern all over again
in another area.
 
Take a lesson from the torpedo’s behavior.  Right now, many of you are in the search mode
looking for your target.  You’re trying to find something—something that will fulfill you,
something to look forward to everyday. 
 
“In order to find success, we need to create search patterns.”
 
But a recent survey confirmed that 53% of people in the workforce are unhappy and over
75% would rather be doing something else. Unfortunately, many are afraid to search for
something new or have simply given up “pinging” for their true calling. 
 
Don’t be a statistic.  Continue pinging until you find what it is you truly love to do.  Only
then, will you be successful and more importantly, happy.  Remember, the toughest road to
success is the road back to you…the real you!
 
Please share this with a colleague or friend who may need some words of
inspiration.
 
Suc c ess Reloa ded
 
Subject: Success, Motivation

 
So the other day I’m watching the movie The Matrix, again.  For some reason I can’t get enough of
the great special effects.
 
Remember the part where is Neo (Keanu Reeves) is mentally tortured because he wants to find out
what the ‘matrix’ is and finally meets with Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne) who has the answer he’s
been seeking, “ What is the Matrix?”.
 
Morpheus makes Neo an interesting proposition.  He offers Neo two pills: a red and blue one.  He tells
Neo that if he takes the blue pill he’ll remember nothing and wake up the next morning in his bed as if
nothing had ever happened.  But, if he takes the red pill, the secret of the Matrix will be revealed to
him.
 
Neo decides to take the red pill (of course, it wouldn’t be much of a movie if he didn’t).   After taking
the pill Neo finds himself in this other reality, outside the Matrix, where he is free.  He realizes that he
was never really a successful businessman but in reality he had been asleep; a slave to the Matrix all
his life.  The Matrix is the hi-tech version of a man who wakes up after dreaming he’s a butterfly and
wonders if in reality he’s a butterfly dreaming he’s a man.   After taking the pill, Neo wakes up to his
‘real’ reality for the first time after being enslaved in the Matrix all his life.
 
When I go around the country speaking, I wish I could distribute such a red pill.  As a motivational
speaker my goal is always to awaken people from their sedated slumber, their numbness to reality.   I
strive to make my audience begin to think in terms of possibilities and not impossibilities.   To dream
beyond the social matrix of mediocrity.
 
Many of you hate your jobs, but everyday after work what do you do? You sit in front of the TV
watching someone else’s reality.  What do we do on the weekend?  Go watch a movie on a bigger
screen.  We watch the news and view alternate realities, usually worse then ours.    Why do we like the
news, especially when it’s negative?  Because it makes us feel better to know that things could be
worse.  Viewing someone else’s misfortunes on the news somehow quiets our desperation for success
and makes us feel better.
 
There is a blue pill most take on a daily basis called ‘compromise’.  Compromise comes about when
you simply choose to accept your role in life no matter how menial it may be.   Many of you feel that
there is nothing you can do to change your life or current situation, so you give up.   You settle.  You
settle in for the rest of your life never waking up to the reality of your potential, your possibilities.
 
In the end, Neo discovers when he wakes up to his real reality that he had been lied to all his life by
the Matrix.  All his experiences had been programmed and all his emotions had been fabricated.  I
want you to wake up from your zombie-like existence and believe that there is another reality, a
Success Matrix where you can have it all and be happy doing what you love.  You are more than what
you think you are. 
 
How do you plug into the Success Matrix?  First, you begin by believing that there is another
possible reality for you; a happy one at that.  You then start feeding your mind books or audio on
motivation, success, wealth, happiness, prosperity and so on.    These items are the real ‘pills’ that
can help you to find your way into the success matrix and begin to create an alternative reality.   One
where do what you love, and you love what you do.  Take the pills quick! 
 
People will say you can’t, you shouldn’t, don’t, it’s not possible.  Stop listening to the programming. 
These naysayers are part of the bad programming filling your head and trying to keep from
succeeding.  Don’t let it happen.  
 
Reload success by believing in a greater reality, filling your mind with positive information and
disassociating yourself from negative people.  Wake up to your new reality; a new possibility for your
life.  Wake up before it’s too late.
 
 
1 The Journey Is More Fun If You Know Where You're Going 1
KNOWING YOUR PURPOSE
2 Where Would I Like To Go? 23
3 How Far Can I Go? 47
4 How Do I Get There From Here? 71
GROWING TO YOUR MAXIMUM POTENTIAL
5 What Should I Pack In My Suitcase? 93
6 How Do I Handle the Detours? 117
7 Are We There Yet? 143
SOWING SEEDS THAT BENEFIT OTHERS
8 Is It a Family Trip? 165
9 Who Else Should I Take With Me? 185
10 What Should We Do Along the Way 205
Afterword: What Did You Like Best About the Trip? 225
Notes 229