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Simon says, “Resources are internal; opportunities are external.”

At a recent success seminar, one of the world’s most renowned success gurus illustrated success by telling a story about a young man who made it big. The point was he took a chance on himself: certainly an important success principle. This enterprising entrepreneur invested $120,000 to manufacture and market an invention he came up with in college. The specifics are not important but a couple of points are. The cash was “part” of a gift he received from his uncle. The gift was given to him when he received his business degree from Harvard. Now isn’t that just dandy? If you have a business degree from Harvard and a rich uncle, you can make it big. If your uncle is rich enough, you may not even need the degree.

It is easy to hear this story and miss the most important point. The young man’s primary resources, the genesis of his invention, are internal. A degree from Harvard and his uncle’s gift were simply opportunities to be capitalized on. If these external opportunities were taken away, the potential of his internal resources would in no way be diminished. The power of his mind, his imagination, his creativity, his persistence  would all still be there for him.

Like the young entrepreneur, you can only start from where you are with what you have. Yes, a rich uncle and a degree from Harvard would come in handy; and if you happen to have either, do not miss the opportunity they afford to you. Whether you have such convenient opportunities or not, though, do not confuse your external opportunities with your internal resources.

•Everything you need to succeed is already between your ears.

If you do not succeed, the most likely reason is you do not fully appreciate the power of your mind, the potential of the internal resources you already have. That truth aside, simply valuing your gifts is not enough. Your internal resources, no matter how impressive, only lead to success when they are carefully cultivated and nurtured until they develop into services the world needs, wants, or would want if they were available.

You do not succeed just because you are smart, creative, talented, good-hearted, or just because you have a nice personality, have a positive attitude, or get along well with everyone. You succeed because you are able to convert your internal resources into services the world wants more of than it already has. The simple conclusion is obvious but too often overlooked. You only succeed with those services you develop through expanding and enhancing your internal resources.

Inventory your internal resources and then formulate a plan to expand and enhance them. At the same time, be clear about the services you can offer and those you want to offer as your internal resources expand and get stronger. You are building a services array other people can take advantage of, offered as an opportunity for others to succeed. Once your services line is in-place and available to other people, you become an important link in the chain of success.

•You link into the services of others to expand and enhance your internal resources in ways enabling you to offer services other people link with to expand and enhance their internal resources to offer services still other people link to. . . .

Carefully cultivate your internal resources and your unique service line. They are your most valuable assets.

Be clear about why anyone might care about the services you offer. When all is said and done, they only care to the extent they believe your services significantly contribute to their personal success chain and are not more readily available to them elsewhere.

You are self-employed, the President and CEO of your personal success business, your own Director of Marketing, the world’s best authority on your services. Your success is riding on how well you;

•Appreciate and cultivate your internal resources,

•Effectively link to those external opportunities available to you,

•Develop a quality services line people need/want to link with,

•Market your services to the world,

•Add to the chain of success for other people.

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