Here are the 4 basic steps I have observed about the real world (see if you've found these to be true, too):

The Fog
Treadmilling
Feel Like a Failure
Try again

While you may not have realized it, these are the four steps you and I have been going through most of our lives.

In the first step, we don't really know what we want… or we don't know what we really want… or…

Get the idea? We have a FOG.

In the second step, we are doing what I call Treadmilling. Have you ever been on a treadmill? You're working really, really hard and getting… nowhere! The scenery sure looks familiar, but look at my to-do list! I'm busy busy busy… man, this view sure looks the same!
Now we get to the critical step – the third step, Feel Like a Failure. Please notice something here. There is an amazing parallel between what they're teaching us in traditional success programs, and what we find in the real world…

In traditional success programs, they tell you to set your goals. Well, we don't really know what we want, so we've got a Fog.

Then they tell you to do something to move in the direction of your goals. Well, we're really really busy, aren't we? So we're Treadmilling.

Then they tell you to evaluate or assess your progress toward your goals. Well, what's our subconscious evaluation of our own progress? You got it – we feel like a failure. We feel like "everyone else" is doing better than we are. We wonder why we've spent all that time and money on self-help programs and yet we're still stuck.

Boy, did I spend years of my life in this step. I don't want you to spend one more minute there.

And yet, even with all that… even with all the years of frustration and thousands of dollars we've spent with not much to show for it…

Even with all that, we still do step four, and Try again.

You see, you ARE motivated. You DO want to succeed. You HAVE kept trying and trying, even though you may have "failed" in the past.

You really deserve a medal for continuing to press on, even in the face of not getting the results you've always wanted… even though you've never been given the right tool to do the job!

Author's Bio: 

On the night of October 20, 1997, a 30-year-old religious studies major named Noah St. John had an epiphany that changed his life. While attending a seminar, he suddenly realized the real, hidden reason so many smart, talented, motivated people stop themselves from success – and saw it had nothing to do with goal-setting, "motivation" or anything being taught in traditional success literature. That very night, with no formal education in business, Noah decided to form a company to teach people around the world the simple steps that remove the hidden barriers to success. Find out more at www.successclinic.com.