Success does not belong to an elite few, or the lucky.  Success belongs to the individual who is not willing to live without it.

If you can handle living without success, then you will live without success.  But if you are unwilling to accept failure as your fate, then this article is for you.

To succeed you must follow the principles and concepts of success, and today I want to discuss five of those primary principles, or keys to success.

5 Keys to Success

1. Ambition and Energy

“At least eighty percent of millionaires are self-made. That is, they started with nothing but ambition and energy, the same way most of us start.” ~Brian Tracy

Ambition and energy are what you’ll need!  The question is, do you have them?  You don’t need a $3 million dollar loan to succeed; you don’t need a rich uncle or relative.  You need ambition and energy, and guess what?  They’re both free.  Anyone can make excuses as to why they’re not succeeding, but those excuses do not excuse them.

Why you’re saying something can’t be done, somebody is doing it, and all they’re using is ambition and energy.  Do you have ambition, do you have energy?

2. Follow Through

“When you get right down to the root of the meaning of the word “succeed,” you find that it simply means to follow through.” ~F. W. Nichol

You may have the greatest plan for success in the world, but if you never follow through, then your plan is as useless as a three-fingered glove.

You have to follow through, you have to follow through daily, you have to follow through consistently, and you have to follow through until you succeed.  Success is following through until you arrive at your intended destination.  Are you following through?

3. Determination

“People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don’t know when to quit. Most men succeed because they are determined to.” ~George E. Allen

Do you have determination?  Determined people don’t quit!  They push, and push, and push, until something happens, they push until they change; they push until they rearrange their circumstances.

They push until they get what they seek.  Are you determined?

4. Persistence

“When I thought I couldn’t go on, I forced myself to keep going. My success is based on persistence, not luck. ~Estee Lauder

Through perseverance the turtle reached the ark.  Through perseverance you’ll reach your goal.  If success was easy, if it was a “cake walk,” then everyone would be doing it.  That sounds like a cliché, but it’s true.  Success, real success, requires persistence in the face of obstacles, persistence in the face of closed doors, and persistence in the face of failure.

You must persist!

5. Sacrifice

“The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what we want most for what we want at the moment.” ~Unknown

No one succeeds without sacrifice, but in the end “the sacrifice” is a small price to pay for success.  As the quote goes, no journey is too great when one finds what he seeks.  You have to sacrifice your time, your energy, and your efforts, but when you do this consistently, your dream becomes your reality.

In Closing

To succeed you need ambition and energy, you need “follow-through,” you need determination, persistence, and you’ll have to make sacrifices.  But wait, we’re forgetting one thing, before all of these things, you need one more thing…you need a dream with a deadline.  Raja Akhtar said, “When you put a date on your dream, it becomes a goal. When you aim for the goal, it becomes a challenge. When you beat the challenge, the reward is success. To have success… you need a dream…”

Do you have a dream?  Are you ready to go for it?

Please tweet or stumble to motivate someone else!

Mr. Self Development is an author who teaches a motivational and practical guide to success. Please visit him at Mr. Self Development.com.