You will often hear it said that things come in threes. My Grandma used to say, “Good news, bad news, and blind mice all come in threes.” Well, she was right, and, over the years, I have discovered the three most important things needed to be successful.

I’ve found that Motivation, Belief, and Action (M.B.A.) are three factors that go hand-in-hand and are all needed to succeed with anything you do in life, including doing business online. To accomplish anything, you must not only be Motivated by your dream, but you must Believe you can accomplish it, and then you must Act.

Motivation

Motivation begins with a dream or a desire. It may be for better working conditions, more money, a better house in a better neighborhood, a desire to travel and see the world, play a musical instrument, learn a foreign language, prepare a fabulous feast, or whatever else your imagination can conjure up. Motivation is usually accompanied by enthusiasm. It sets your blood tingling, puts that fervent look in your eye and a smile on your face.

The old saying, “when the student is ready, the teacher appears” is often true when keen motivation is present. You suddenly become aware of things you were not aware of before. It seems everything you need is made available to you. Opportunity knocks, so to speak. When you are motivated, your enthusiasm leads to passion. You become passionate about your dream, and you can think of nothing else. That is what leads to the second factor…

Belief

When you are passionate about your dream, you feel a strong belief in your heart that you will accomplish it. There exists a “knowing” that cannot be explained – you just know you will succeed. No one will be able to tell you otherwise. They may even think you’re a little loony. This is a good indication that you’re on the right track.

When I think about this level of belief, I am reminded of the time I interviewed for a job for which I had no background or experience. I was motivated by the fact that I needed to make more money and I hated the job I was doing at the time. I really wanted the job and believed that I could do it and that I’d be good at it. On the interview, I portrayed such passion about the position and my deep desire to do the work that I was hired on the spot. I “believed” my way into it.

Without Belief, you may as well forget about doing whatever you’ve set out to do. As soon as you DON’T think you can achieve something, you will not achieve it. Remember another old saying, “you experience what you believe, unless you believe you won’t, in which case you don’t, which means you did!” We’ve all been told the mind is a powerful thing. Do not doubt the validity of that statement. If you focus your mind on believing you can accomplish something, your mind will believe you!

Action

With the strong adherents of Motivation and Belief as partners, Action, the remainder of the trio, falls into place. Naturally, if you are motivated about your dream and believe you can accomplish it, you will be anxious to take action. Would there be a more logical next step than to answer the door when opportunity knocks? You will be ready to take action, even if it means taking risks. The benefits of taking action far outweigh the risks when you are motivated and you believe. I am, once again, reminded of an old saying, “In life, as in basketball, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”