read it and write  things to implement Do What You
Love to Do
When you start doing what you
really love to do, you’ll never work
another day in your life.
—BRIAN TRACY
DOING WHAT YOU love to do is one of the great secrets of
financial success. One of your primary responsibil-ities in life is
to find out what you really enjoy doing, what you have a
natural talent for, and then to throw your whole heart into
doing that particular work very, very well.
Self-made millionaires are those who have found a field where
their natural strengths and abilities are exactly what is required
to do the job and achieve the results desired. Most self-made
millionaires say that 16
D o W h a t Yo u L ove t o D o 17
they “never worked a day in their life.” You must find a
field in which you can be totally absorbed—a job or area of
endeavor that completely fascinates you, that holds your
attention, that is a natural expression of your special talents
and abilities.
When you are doing what you love to do, you seem to have
a continuous flow of excitement, energy, and ideas to do what
you do even better. Here is a question for you: If you won a
million dollars, tax free, tomorrow, would you continue to do
what you are currently doing?
This is a great question. It simply asks you what you would do
if you had all the time and money you needed and you were
free to choose your occupation.
Self-made millionaires, if they won a million dollars cash, would
continue doing what they are doing.
They would only do it differently or better or at a higher level.
But they love their work so much that they wouldn’t even
think of leaving it or retiring.
Perhaps the greatest responsibility of adult life, when you are
surrounded by so many different choices of occupation and
career, is for you to find out what you really love doing and
then dedicate yourself to that field. And no one else can do
this for you.
18
The 2 1 S u cce s s S e c re t s o f S e l f - M a d e M i
l l i o n a i re s
◆
ACTION EXERCISE
Identify the type of work that you
enjoy the most. What activities have been most responsible
for your success in life to date? If you could do any job at
all and be successful at it, what would you choose? Set it
as a
goal, make a plan, and begin moving
in that direction today.
◆
SUCCESS
5
SECRET
Commit to
Excellence
The quality of your life will be
determined by the depth of your
commitment to excellence, no matter
what your chosen field.
—VINCE LOMBARDI
RESOLVE TODAY TO be the very best at what you do. Set a
goal for yourself to join the top 10 percent of your field,
whatever it is. This decision, to become very, very good at
what you do, can be the turning point in your life. Virtually all
successful people are recog-nized as being extremely competent
in their chosen fields.
Remember that no one is better than you, and no one is
smarter than you. And everyone who is in 19
20
The 2 1 S u cce s s S e c re t s o f S e l f - M a d e M i
l l i o n a i re s the top 10 percent today started off in the
bottom 10 percent. Everyone who is doing well was once doing
poorly. Everyone who is at the top of his or her field was at
one time in another field altogether. And what countless others
have done, you can do as well.
Here is a great rule for success: Your life only gets better
when you get better. And since there is no limit to how
much better you can become, there is no limit to how much
better you can make your life.
Your decision to become excellent at what you do, to join the
top 10 percent in your field, is the turning point in your life. It
is the key to great success. It is also the foundation of high
levels of self-esteem, self-respect, and personal pride. When you
are really good at what you do, you feel wonderful about
yourself.
Being excellent affects your whole personality and all your
relationships with other people. You feel happy and proud
when you know you are at the top of your field.
Here is one of the most important questions you will ever ask
and answer, for the rest of your career: What one skill, if I
developed and did it in an excellent fashion, would have the
greatest positive impact on my life?
You cannot become good at everything right away, but you
can identify the one skill that can help you the most and then
throw your whole heart into developing that skill. Set it as a
goal. Write it down. Set a dead-
C o m m i t t o E xce l l e n ce 21
line. Make a plan. And work on becoming better in that area
every single day. You will be absolutely amazed at the
difference this commitment to excellence will make in your life.
This commitment alone can make you a self-made millionaire in
the course of your career.
◆
ACTION EXERCISE
Identify your key result areas in your current job. What
are the parts of
your work that you must absolutely,
positively perform in an excellent
fashion to move to the top of your
field? Where are you strong and where are you weak?
Make a plan today to
get better in the one skill area where improvement can help
you the most.