What is success to you?  Your definition is likely unique to you, just as its definition to your neighbor is unique to them.  What leads to success though?

The 4 P's:  Passion, Planning, Positioning, and Persistence.  All four carry a tremendous amount of weight on your path to success, and not one of them can function on its own.  You must have all four playing, integrating and operation in harmony.

This week we'll start with, Passion, and its effect on your definition of success.

Quite simply passion is the first critical key to your success.  Passion is the fire in your belly.  When your knocked down or feeling out of sorts, Passion is exactly the ingredient that will fuel your fire to get back in the game and keep persisting.  

Passion is a deep-seated love that's so strong you simply want to do more and more.  The challenge is most people don't work their passion.  They've settled for a life less than what they are destined for.  The status quo has taken over, and they basically are going through the motions day-after-day.

If you really want to be successful in life, on your terms, then you must find and work your passion.  What you'll discover is that your job is no longer a job.  It now is like playing everyday.  What would you rather do; work at a job or play everyday?

The answer is obvious, and by the way, you'll find the most successful people work and play within their passion.  Success isn't all about money, but when you play everyday and are paid to do so, isn't that a huge part of success?

Passion is the first critical element of the 4 P's to your success.  Find it, discover it and nurture it.  Life will reward you accordingly.  This leads too Planning, which I'll cover in detail next week.

Recently I was flying home from an event in Denver, and had an incredible experience with a fellow passenger.  Let's call her Ann, not her real name. 

Ann and I both noticed each other sitting at the gate. We were the only two dressed in suits, obviously she had just finished a business deal and I had just finished a training.  

We started talking, and I noticed a couple things immediately. Although professionally dressed, Ann's professionalism and A-game stopped there.  She reeked of booze and cigarettes and was obviously drunk. Still I wanted to hear why she was celebrating. 

Ann just pitched her services to a company and she felt they were going to make a decision soon. I was a bit perplexed why she was celebrating, but apparently it was her normal behavior.  Combine her current state with her constant bragging and one-upsmanship, and Ann was a volatile cocktail of disaster.  She had completely turned me and everyone around me off. 

To make matters worse, Ann spotted a high value prospect and was getting ready to approach him.  I was about to stop her from blowing an opportunity when someone else listening and observing her actually intervened and stopped her because of her current state of being. 

This begs the question, do you have your A-game on, and shouldn't it be on all the time.  While this was an extreme example, the answer is an absolute YES.  You never know where opportunity will strike, and who you will impact. So always, always have your A-game on.  

Don't be an Ann. Bring your A-game always, and in all ways!