Three Simple Secrets of Success

Three Simple Secrets of Success:
Set Your Course, Keep Correcting It,
and Don’t Dream Too Small

Great success is the result of a great many steps,
all moving toward a clearly defined goal.
That is the secret of manifestation.

When we dare to dream, when we set a goal, we set a course for ourselves. If that goal is expansive — if we dare to dream about the most wonderful kind of life we can first imagine and then create for ourselves — doubts and fears will inevitably come up.

The two most important things we can do is (1) set our course, and (2) deal with the doubts and fears that arise.

Once we have set a goal, the journey of our lives becomes like the flight of an airplane: A plane is off course over 95 percent of the time, but the pilot keeps correcting, over and over, until the destination is reached.

How do we make this course correction during all the activities of our daily lives? In many, many cases it can just take remembering one phrase. The essence, the essential teachings, of so many books and seminars and mentors can be summed up in one phrase. And it just takes that one phrase — and sometimes just one word — to remind us of what we know.

When we’re frustrated, depressed, confused, upset, sad, or angry we have wandered off course again. We get off course, over and over, and need to reset our course. How can we do this? It can be as easy as picking a phrase, almost at random, and repeating that phrase over and over.

Pick a phrase, any phrase that works for you. Here’s a great one from James Allen you’ve probably heard me spout before, for I say it often:

You will be what you will to be….

When spirit rises and commands,

the gods are ready to obey.

When you dare to dream, and dare to make a clear, focused goal, the creative energy of the Universe rushes in to support that dream. Spout one phrase like that and you’re back on course.

Go to any book that inspires you, or grab your audio player, and read and listen until you find the right phrase, the phrase that will get you back on course. I put these phrases up in big type on my wall, and keep them there until they’re indelibly etched in my mind.

I pondered this phrase for months:

To offer no resistance to life

is to be in a state of grace, ease, and lightness.

— Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now

Just quietly repeating those words fills you with grace, ease, and lightness — and you’re back on course, able to focus on your dream, your goal, and take the next obvious little step toward it.

All kinds of things can get us back on course. Remember some book you’ve read or course you’ve taken that inspired you. What was it that you learned? Remember it, again.

We all know this.

We all know the keys to success;

they’re not complicated; they’re simple.

We just keep forgetting them, over and over,

and need to be reminded of them, over and over.

Listen to a talk by Eckhart Tolle, or to anyone who inspires you at the moment. It might just be one phrase you take with you through the rest of the day that keeps you on course.

Great art gets us back on course, showing us that all of creation (including us!) is a miracle. Music gets us back on course, reminding us that life is extraordinary. Rebecca West gave us a great key here:

“You are allowed to read the newspapers now.

I hope you will not attach too much importance to them.

They give you a picture of an ordinary world that does not exist.

You must always believe that life is as extraordinary as music says it is.”

— Rebecca West, The Fountain Overflows

A sunset… an infant’s shining eyes… a dog or a cat… a flower springing through a crack in the sidewalk… a tree in the wind… a bird on the wing… these words right now: It all reminds us of the wonder if what is.

And we’re back on course; we remember again that we’re phenomenal beings, each gifted in our own ways, and filled with the gift of life. We have something special to share with the world. We have a dream, and we’re taking the next steps in front of us that lead us to realize that dream. One small step at a time is all we need to take.

One small affirmation is all we need at times. Find the words that inspire you and repeat them, like a prayer or a mantra. Words like this:

In an easy and relaxed manner,

a healthy and positive way,

in its own perfect time, for the highest good of all,

I am now living the life of my dreams.

Keep repeating words like that and see what happens.


Remember: we can be off course over ninety-five percent of the time and still reach our destination. We just need to keep correcting our course, over and over. Many, many times the only thing we need to do to correct our course again is just to remember one phrase.


What words inspire you at this moment? What do you want to keep reminding yourself throughout the day?

A close friend of mine once met a wealthy man at a party on his yacht. He was strolling around, having a drink, dressed very casually in his bathrobe. My friend is one of those people who can make a conversation memorable, and take it into meaningful places. She went up to him and asked, “What’s the secret of success?”

He told her one of those too-simple phrases, one of those obvious things that your subconscious mind at first completely rejects. He just said:

“Don’t dream too small.”

That’s obvious, right? It’s simple. Your subconscious mind may blow it off, thinking it’s way too simple. But it’s also brilliant; it’s a great piece of advice that I’ve taken to heart.

It’s all a matter of persuading your subconscious mind to work with you rather than against you. It involves changing old, limiting conditioning deep in your subconscious mind. Our subconscious minds have no limits, other than those we impose upon ourselves through our own limiting beliefs.

Dare to dream — maybe even an impossible dream — and go for it. You’ll never regret it.

Focus on your dream.

Your focus becomes your reality.

If you could create the life of your dreams,

what would it look like?

Think about it. Maybe even put your answer in writing. Then see what happens. It will be extraordinary, if you dare dream expansively.

First imagine how you can create your base of support, where you live abundantly, and then dream even more expansively to see how you can help make the world a better place for all.

This is the Great Work ahead of us.

-Marc Allen