Success - Reprise

Still stinging from the cold hard reality of what it takes to be successful? Smarting from the realization that there are no pills, creams or magic spells that will bring you instant success?
Good. I want you to be agitated. I want you to be angry. I want you to say "He's a jerk. What makes him such an authority?"
I may not be an authority but I do have experience. Need more than that? Okay.
I used to be out of shape. I exercise daily, now I am in shape. I can run a mile easily and thanks to Yoga I can bend myself in ways that would make a pretzel jealous. There was a time I didn't know music theory. I learned music theory and now I can play guitar, drums a little bass and a little keyboards. I'm in a band with a great group of people for Church as well as for fun and gigs on the side. I thought I understood money and finances. I began reading books about money and finances and realized I knew very little about how to manage money and finances. Now my wife and I have very specific goals in place for reducing our debt, cutting out needless spending and investing our money in multiple retirement and savings accounts. It's called a budget.
All of these examples are the results of a willingness to learn more and to do more. Nothing ever gets better until YOU get better. But you have to be willing to get better.
Again, none of this stuff is complicated or new. It's all very much common sense coupled with hard work. Your lack of success is your fault. If you are willing to do whatever it takes to improve your circumstances, you will improve your circumstances. If you want to keep getting what you're getting then you'll keep doing what you're doing. You'll say you don't have the time or the energy to learn anything new because it's too hard and takes too long. That's fine. That's your decision. But please, do the rest of us who are working hard and taking control of our circumstances a favor and stop whining to us about your poor, miserable life. Nobody wants to hear a capable, able bodied adult complaining about the cold cruel world we live in while so many others with circumstances even more difficult than yours are achieving great success.
Believe me, there is a part of me that would love to come up with something new and exciting in the realm of obtaining instant success but it would only breed more laziness, neglect and disregard from the recipient. Nothing worth having is free. The harder you work for it the more you appreciate and value what you have earned.
So let me ask one more time; are you ready to be more successful? Are you WILLING to be more successful? Are you able to be more successful?
Great! Now let's get to work.