Success is a challenge.

Its not easy. Its not easy at all.

And that is why most people simply do not have it.

Its fine to learn from successful people, follow their principles, and try and emulate their example, a process called modeling, but there is always a gap between what we perceive and what we experience.

What we dont grasp or perhaps cant grasp after reading the success literature and visiting seminars is what others have really done to achieve their level of success.

You see, it is the invisible element that defines success.

You dont see the late hours, the bouts of self-questioning, the dark night of the soul that everybody who quests for greatness has to experience.

You dont see the intuitions, the inspirations, the insights.

You dont see the failures, one after another, piling on top of each other that strengthens the successful person.

What you see is the finished product, the easy lifestyle, the flawless charm, and the eloquent expression of success principles.

You see the charisma, but not the struggle that brought it out of darkness and obscurity into the light.

You see the displays of wealth and power, but you dont see the pain the person once went through to overcome poverty, inertia, and utter confusion.

You arent privy to the struggle and while you may hear about it your awareness cant fully engage it.

Success is a challenge because it is not easy.

If it were easy most people would have attained it by now.

Instead only a few do.

When you strive to rise from one level to another, your greatest enemy is yourself.

Everything inside you craves the comfort of the old, useless, life-force robbing ways. It craves the companionship of those who entertain stagnant energy and fixed ideas.

Your mind quickly tires from too much study, and your body from too much labor, and your heart from too much isolation.

Yet study, labor, and doing things on your own are part of the price that you have to pay for success.

Success is not easy.

Its not easy at all.

There is a huge price to pay for it.

Yet it is the most rewarding thing of all. What can be better than looking at yourself in the mirror one day and saying, I am the now the person that I always wanted to be.