Never let yourself think you’re incapable. Parents, never tell your children «they will never amount to anything». The shirt of luck is dimensionless, so everyone can wear it. Having desire is enough for it. I really liked the statement of the world-famous basketball player Michael Jordan, the standard for the winners, and I believe that the words I quoted above can serve as a guide for the young on their way to winning.

      At the beginning of his sports career, this man complained of having bad luck. Having mobilized all his strength, determination and, most importantly, self-confidence, he could later become the best defender in basketball history, two-time Olympic champion and six-time NBA champion. He plays a huge role in promoting this sport around the world. Imagine that in 1984, Nike manufactured a custom sports shoe for Michael named Air Jordan. Currently, this company operates as a well-known brand with a large volume of trade. Today, this person is the head of Oakley Inc. and the owner of the Charlotte Hornets basketball club. They even made a movie about him, as well as a monument in the city of Chicago. That's what you can achieve when you have confidence in yourself!

      Don’t think successful people are granted with luck. They all passed a thorny path. The road to success is by no means dotted with roses.

      Albert Einstein, the famous author of the theory of relativity, could not speak until the age of 4. He could not read until he was 8. When the ingenious Sigmund Freud first began to tell scientists about his theory, he was pushed out of the scene. Winston Churchill, the brilliant political leader of the twentieth century, took up his position when he was 65. Only then did he become prime minister. Davis Cup winner Sten Smith was called clumsy as a child and was not honored to even carry balls at tennis games. Bruno Mars, American pop star, could not declare himself and was considered mediocre. Together with his family, he lived in a house without floor and ceiling. Henry Ford, a giant of the global auto industry, tried to test his strength in farming first. His attempt failed, and he was then known as a loser. Seid Mirbabaev, a famous Baku millionaire, was a singer and lived in poverty for many years. The world famous Russian writer Leo Tolstoy was expelled from the university for poor performance. Franz Kafka and philosopher Vasily Rozanov were not recognized during their lifetime and died in poverty from a serious illness. These people received a worthy rating only after death. Their works went from hand to hand.

      All these stories of success are very different, but in all of them there are two components that pass from beginning to end: faith and determination.

      No wonder I began this chapter with Michael Jordan’s epigraph. It sounds beautiful: «The secret of leadership is self-confidence to the last, even when no one believes you». I myself started everything from scratch. It was a time when I had no idea about the rules of conduct, nor about conducting business negotiations, nor about how to take the first steps. I started with an empty wallet and the desire to be independent and free and not depend on anyone. Most importantly, I believed in myself and was determined.

      You should be decisive too. Then you will succeed, and success will find you!

      06. The Formula of Success

      We now have a general understanding of what success is. According to a university graduate, luck or success means to find a good job. For an entrepreneur it means to launch a project that will bring good income, success for a writer is a popular bestseller, for lovers it means to connect with each other, for a soldier success means to become a general, for a patient it means to recover. Shoemakers, hatters, firemen, astronauts, in a word, everyone has their own object of success.

      Everyone wants to succeed. Having succeeded, people share their secrets about the ways to achieve it. Speakers write books on this topic. Over the years, more and more formulas for success appear. As long as humanity exists, similar formulas will be born.

      If, figuratively speaking, we make an extract from all these formulas, we will get something like this:

      Formula for success = desire – set a goal – plan – prepare – take action – achieve results.

      You simply need to desire and strive for a goal, waiting for life to present a chance. It may not turn up that soon, but it doesn’t mean you should abandon your efforts. Being successful means being happy. It’s a state of mind in which a person can enjoy the harmony of life.

      Don’t think that wealth is the measure of happiness. I know a man who owns millions and has a successful career, but is experiencing serious problems and is unhappy in family life. I also know someone who owns kilograms of gold and enormous wealth sufficient for all his descendants, but suffers from an incurable disease and therefore walks like a ghost. Money gives a lot, but cannot solve everything. The happiest person is a person who has his favorite job, normal living conditions, a good family, good health, and who knows how to hit the target and succeed