I was talking to a friend yesterday who said the reason he hasn’t succeeded is because he doesn’t have the money to start his own business. He said, if only he had a good friend who could lend him the money he could succeed (he may have been referring to me as that “good friend,” I don’t know). But the reality is, you don’t need lots of money to achieve success.

There are 4 things that you need to succeed, and they don’t cost anything:

1. The first thing you need is “Time”

With time you can climb mountains, develop a six-pack, break world records, write a bestseller, become rich, or anything else.

Time is far more valuable than money. You can exchange your time to get money, but you can’t exchange your money to get more time. Time is the first thing you need to succeed, and it’s free.

2. The second thing you need are “Ideas”

I think about the articles that I write; everything I write is just an “idea.”

There’s no limit to the number of ideas we can have.

I am inspired to write maybe five or six times a day, I have more inspirational thoughts than I can possibly write about.

Why is this? Because there is no shortage in this world; shortage is only a figment of the imagination.

You know, it’s an amazing thing; ideas that are “free” can actually make you rich. Randy Gage said, “You don’t have a money shortage, you have an idea shortage.”

If you wanted to write a bestselling book, all you would need is an “idea.” An idea of what to write about, an idea as to how you could make it unique, an idea as to how you could get a publisher, an idea as to the best way to market it, an idea on a catchy title, an idea on how to get the right person to foreword it. It’s all ideas. Success comes from ideas, not from money.

You need to tap into your limitless river of ideas.

3. The third thing you need is “Consistent Action”

This is where most people have trouble. Our society has so programmed us with “get rich quick schemes,” and “instant gratification fixes” that we don’t understand that some things require consistent action for many years.

Instead of us patiently cultivating the talents that we have, we sell our birthright of success and prosperity for a false hope; we sell it for fool’s gold, the false thinking that we can somehow get something for nothing. Let’s be clear, becoming a success and fulfilling what’s on the inside of you is going to take work! It’s going to take patience, persistence, faithfulness, faith, dedication, consistency, and determination, when it seems like nothing is working. But if you’re consistent, you will succeed.

4. The fourth thing you need is “Passion”

It’s critical that you pursue your passion.

Firstly because you’ll be willing to put in the time and dedication to make it a success, and secondly because your passion sparks your creativity and the flow of ideas; it sparks ideas that are unique, ideas that people will gladly pay to see manifested.

Just like a seed, you have everything you need on the inside of you to succeed, you just need to be planted in the right soil and cultivated. The soil represents being involved in activities that you’re passionate about; the cultivation means doing the hard work which causes success to come.

In conclusion, there are no excuses, everyone has the ability to succeed, so get started today!

Photo by Darcy McCarty