Success Leaves Clues – Tips from the Tops

Success leaves clues! Let’s take a sneak peek into the lives of these mega successful entrepreneurs and see what you can take away and adapt into your pursuit for the dream.

Gordon Ramsey, the internationally renowned Scottish celebrity chef behind Hell’s Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, and MasterChef has more restaurants and Michelin stars to his name than the Orion constellation. With an estimated net worth of $80 million dollars, everybody wants to know what is his secret ingredient for success? It is Humility. Remembering where he has come from.

The achievement of success is maintained and fueled on the back of thankfulness and remembrance of where one has come from! Gordon Ramsey is known for turning down free first class flight upgrades for his entire family, preferring to fly economy. When asked why, Ramsay explains that he not only wants to be treated the same way as others, but also that he wants to teach his children the lesson that they need to work for things rather than receive them on a silver platter. Growing up in a broken family and with the failure of a professional soccer career, he is thankful for where he is at and has not forgotten where he has come from. This has been a key motivation for his ongoing success.

As you step out and pursue your dreams, reflect on how far you have already come! Think about previous successes you have already accomplished. Celebrate and use that celebration to spur you on and give you the confidence that you can and will succeed at this next venture.

“Kitchens are hard environments and they form incredibly strong characters.” – Gordon Ramsay.

Oprah Winfrey | Talk Show Queen | Est. Net Worth: $2.6 Billion

Oprah Winfrey, the billionaire talk show queen who needs no introduction does not start her action packed days without going through her daily morning ritual. Oprah has created a space; a sanctuary inside her home where she stops and spends time every single morning before she heads out the door. In one of her episodes she gives the world a unique look into what this room looks like…a beautiful square table sits in the middle, adorned with three tall candles, and a collection of spiritual books. Oprah tells us that before the sun rises and she steps out that door, she will stop in that meditation space, light the candles, giving a word of prayer to God, recognizing and surrendering herself to the greater power. She then spends some time reading through one of her spiritual books and then again makes a request to God that she does not want to be alone as she navigates through her busy day.

Do you have a daily ritual? More importantly, how is that daily ritual setting the course for the rest of your day? Setting up a positive and reflective morning ritual will set the course of the rest of your day; it will have the power to turn your day from good to great. Perhaps read some quotes, listen to some uplifting music, spend time writing down your goals or reading through a daily devotional book.

“The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.” – Oprah Winfrey.

Ralph Lauren, the man behind the billion dollar global Polo Ralph Lauren clothing brand is often pictured reclining on a rocking chair at his beautiful ranch in Colorado. It was at the age of 26 that Ralph entered into the fashion world which he would eventually dominate. What can the Wantrepreneur learn from Ralph Lauren? Simply…Start! Work with what you have got! It has been well documented that Lauren started making ties out of old rags and selling them out of a drawer in the Empire State Building. He had a vision, an idea, but rather than gathering more formal education in the fashion industry, or waiting until he was more adept or financially secure, he took some rags, created the European-style wide tie that he envisioned, and began selling them out of a drawer! He simple worked with what he had immediate access to!

What is the vision that you have? What are you waiting for? What action can you take today to put some wheels on that dream and get it into motion? There is something that you have access to right now that you can implement into the start up of your vision. It may be a relationship, or it may be some phone calls you need to make, it may be some business cards you need to put together, perhaps it is some writing you need to churn out, an item you need to buy. Whatever it is, do it today! Work with what you have got!

“People ask how can a Jewish kid from the Bronx do preppy clothes? Does it have to do with class and money? It has to do with dreams.” – Ralph Lauren.

Joel Osteen, Mega-Church Pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, along with five New York Times Bestselling books is worth over $40 million dollars. The pivotal moment for Joel that sparked off his massive success came with a huge step outside his comfort zone. Pastor Joel spent 17 years behind the cameras producing the church’s televised services and shares that he not only had no desire to be in front of the camera but was quite terrified about the idea. Even with his very first sermon he describes himself rushing through the message, speaking fast, holding onto the podium as his mouth went very dry. When asked how he managed to get through the experience, he reveals a great tool that we can all put into our toolbox- Self-Talk. He would re-assure himself that he could do it; he would quote scriptures out of the Bible- “You can do all things through Christ.” To quote Pastor Joel, “If you don’t talk to yourself the right way- I’m talking about your inner dialogue– you will talk yourself out of things. I basically talked myself into it.

Don’t let the simplicity of Positive Self-Talk cause you to miss out on such a key practice to implement into your life. Begin to analyze your own inner dialogue, what are you saying about yourself, what do you believe is possible? You need to begin to talk yourself into the success that you want to achieve!

“You must make a decision that you are going to move on. It won’t happen automatically. You will have to rise up and say, ‘I don’t care how hard this is, I don’t care how disappointed I am, I’m not going to let this get the best of me. I’m moving on with my life.” – Joel Osteen.