Be-Do-Have: The Three-Step Success Formula

Last year I read the book The One Minute Millionaire by Mark Victor Hanson and Robert Allen. One of the book's prosperity principles is stated simply as "Be-Do-Have" -- an approach to life that too few people take.

The best way to explain this formula is to show you how most creative people (and humans in general) do things: backwards. They set a material goal, such as "I want to write a best-selling book." Then they think, "If I could only HAVE a best-selling book, then I could DO the things a best-selling author does, then I would BE the successful author I want to be." You can easily insert "in-demand artist," "Grammy-winning songwriter" and more into this misguided Have-Do-Be equation.

Unfortunately, these people are working contrary to the laws of success and prosperity. First, you must BE the "successful artist" you want to be. And you must believe it and "know" it to the core. Success is not something you go and get; it's not a destination you reach. It's something that resides inside of you -- a quality you bring to everything you do.

If you want to be a songwriter, BE a songwriter. If you want to be an actor, BE an actor ... first. Then with that inner compass as a guide, DO the things that a successful songwriter (or artist, actor, etc.) does. BE and DO those things long enough and you will eventually HAVE (or manifest) the material symbols of success you desire.

This might sound like New Age babble to some, but I believe it's a solid philosophy -- one that's helped propel most of my accomplishments in life.

Try this: Close your eyes and project yourself five years into the future. Imagine that your ideal artistic career has unfolded and that you've reached a stage that you consider extremely successful. Really visualize that you've arrived at this point.

If this high level of success was your reality, how would you act? How would you carry yourself? How would you treat others? How much energy would you pour into creating more art and satisfying your large and growing fan base? How confident would you be contacting other successful artists, producers, etc.? How much would you go out of your way to help good up-and-coming creative people? How content would you feel?

Now let me ask you: How does that vision compare to the way you act, feel and carry yourself now? If there's a drastic difference, look inward and realize that you're made of the same stuff as every successful person. You have as much right as anyone to embrace your own dreams.

So take that feeling of success you would feel five years from now and bring it to the present. Start having that sense of success now. Play the part, develop that all-important sense of knowing, BE who you are.

And ... before you DO any more, and certainly before you HAVE what you want, focus on BEing the type of successful creative person you know you're destined to be!