Certainly, it isn’t because the successful have more hours in a day. Are the greats gifted or lucky?

Do you believe this to be true?

Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan were obsessed with developing their skills. Abraham Lincoln lost nearly every election he entered — nine in all. Winston Churchill was an outcast for most of his political career — twenty years from 1922 to 1942.

There are rules of success that help define greatness and can be applied to any endeavor, if we dare.

We are each responsible for our actions. Those who live in the “blame game” waste precious time from their day, from their life. Blamers turn what could be productive time into nonproductive thought ripping life’s energy from themselves and others around them.

Those who persist are winners; winners accept responsibility and never stop after failure. They regroup, learn, and press on.

Dream stealers asked Thomas Edison why after a thousand failed attempts at inventing the light bulb he kept going. His reply, “I haven’t failed a thousand times, I’ve just discovered a thousand ways that do not work.”

You have to fail often to succeed only once.

During a press conference following the capture of Saddam Hussein, Maj. Gen. Ray Odierno stated that many times before, their leads, searches and efforts were unsuccessful.

Richard Flint, a top personal development speaker and trainer states it quite simply, “Behavior never lies.”

“We become what we think,” the great secret in life as explained in Freedom from Fear by Mark Matteson. Self-talk is the most powerful talk of all and it is a habit. Good habits do not come easily but are extremely positive and help you grow; bad habits form easily and are extremely destructive. Changing a bad habit into a good one is work but the rewards are worth it.

What do you say to yourself when things go wrong — when the world appears against you? Are you able to find the good in every situation or do you focus on the bad?

A principle of Colin Powell addressed in The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell, by Oren Harari, is, “Make optimism the fuel for bold and disciplined action. Optimism is not just rah-rah cheerleading. Its real value is in spurring concrete decisions and behaviors that help us develop creative paths to achieve exceptional goals.”

Where do you see yourself five years from now? Does family, rank, leadership or lifestyle define it?

The concept of those able to attain their goals is actually simple. Your aspirations are achievable with proper focus. Be careful of the Electronic Income Reducer (TV). Each hour you allow to pass that does not improve yourself is precious time you can never get back.

Focus requires persistent, productive activity toward your goals. Leaders are readers. Having the ability to read and not reading is like not being able to read at all. Spend just 30 minutes a day reading in your career field and you will shortly become an expert.

Author Napoleon Hill studied 500 of the most successful businessmen in the country over a twenty year period and then wrote a book from his findings. The knowledge contained in his classic Think and Grow Rich is endless and applicable to any endeavor, military or civilian.

Twenty-four hours in a day — everyone, whether successful or not, has the same amount of time per day. Some are able to take control of their destiny, their journey in life, while others prod along and take whatever life throws at them.

Associate with those who are headed in the direction you would like to go or are already there.

As Matteson writes, “Only two things define your future, the books you read and the people you associate with.”

Everything in life is a choice — and the course of your life is your choice.