What's Responsible for Your Success?
By John Wood

About twenty years ago, I bought motivational expert Tony Robbins' Personal Power series of cassette tapes.

After listening to each tape, I'd get pumped up and ready to take on the world.

But the feeling went away all too soon.

The same thing would happen when I’d read self-help books or go to seminars …

I'd get excited, be ready, eager, and willing to slay any dragons that stumbled onto my path, but the feeling would soon dissipate and I'd slip right back to where I started.

I remember thinking to myself, "These tapes and books are great, but their effect only lasts so long."

While I was listening to Dr. John Eliot's audio program The Maverick Mindset recently, Eliot hit on something that shed some light on this very subject.

He noted that what many people do is give up their responsibility and shift it to whatever product they invest in.

For instance, someone might sign up for a weight loss program and think by doing so, the responsibility for them losing weight has now shifted to the program.

When they don't lose weight, they blame the program.

Then they go out searching for another weight loss plan to once again shift their responsibility to it.

What's missing is a fundamental change in behavior.

And that means my "those tapes and books are great, but their effect only lasts so long" theory is flawed.

I had hoped that by investing in Personal Power tapes, I'd be more successful.

But the only effort I was willing to put in was listening to the tapes. I had shifted the responsibility totally to the tapes.

I wasn't prepared to make the changes he was recommending and incorporate his many success techniques into my life.

The bottom line is that you can buy the best programs, read excellent books, and attend great seminars, but it will be all for nothing if you aren't committed to doing what it takes to improve your life. In everything we do, we must take full responsibility for producing the desired outcome.

So here are five tips I’ve learned that will help keep you from shifting the responsibility for your success to somewhere other than yourself:

1. Accept that nothing good happens without effort– If your goal is to become thinner, stronger, smarter, richer, etc., there's no magic pill that will bring you the results you desire. Sure, you could get rich by winning the lottery, but what are the odds of that? For good things to happen to you in life, you have to put the effort in. Books and courses can play an important role, but ultimately you are responsible for bringing on the change you want.
2. Remember that often once is not enough – Don't read a self-help book or an educational program once and then forget about it. Read or listen to it as many times as necessary for the information to have an effect.
3. Take notes– If you're reading or listening to something, take notes. Keep a journal of anything you come across that's worth remembering. This will help you remember what you just learned and save you time when reviewing.
4. Partner up with someone– If you're trying to exercise more … eat better … or learn how to write an autoresponder series or a landing page (or whatever), find someone to accompany you on your journey. You'll help keep each other motivated and focused on the end goal.
5. Be persistent– Don't give up. Stick with something until it works or you find a better way.

Keep these tips in mind on your journey to living the writer’s life.

If you’ve already decided to take the copywriting path, then you know AWAI's Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting is where you need to start. Just remember, buying the program won’t be enough. Sure, it gives you everything you need to become a six-figure copywriter, but you still have to do the work.

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If so, self-made millionaire Gary Scott will take you step by step through becoming financially independent as a self-publisher in his program Self-Fulfilled: How to be a Writer and Publisher. Once again, your success will ultimately be your responsibility.