Tenacity and such...

Ibrahim, one of our members at Wealthy Affiliate, sent me, along with others, a private email pointing me to a post he'd written asking me for my perspective regarding mixed feelings he was having about his performance on WA. Like a lot of us, I think he was struggling with the concept of success as it pertains to his efforts here. I wanted to share my response, as I believe it is a common question we all entertain to some degree at some point it time.

At times I know I can be a little blunt, and I hope I come off encouraging, or at least motivating instead of sounding like a cranky old man, and hope he, and you, will take this in the manor it was meant... to help and not to harm. That said, is my response to the comments and question Ibrahim posted here...

Ibrahim...

I've never been accused of being a smart guy. Intelligence has never been the cornerstone of any success I've enjoyed in life thus far. If I had to put my finger on one single trait, the one thing that has constantly produced fruit in my life, it is tenacity. In my opinion tenacity trumps, intelligence, money, talent, luck, work ethic... even good looks and charm. It's the grit that see's a person through and lands him squarely on success.
Wealthy Affiliate is nothing more than a tool. It doesn't dictate who you are or make you successful. You're either successful or you're not. Wealthy affiliate is just a vehicle you chose to create success. It just as well could be real estate, insurance, carpet cleaning or banking. Are you going to be the bank teller, the bank janitor, the bank loan officer or do you have the balls to be the bank CEO?
I did not choose Wealthy Affiliate because I thought it would provide me with success. I am a success on my own. I came to Wealthy Affiliate because I want to be able to earn an income with my laptop, on my own time, anywhere in the world, and because the billions of people online will allow me to scale my efforts almost to infinity, and potentially benefit the lives of many people . Wealthy Affiliate offers that kind of experience. Beyond that, there's no magic pill here.
Every person I interviewed in my due diligence process that enjoys a high level of success in internet marketing, took years to get there... years, Ibrahim. I did not talk to one single person that made money early in the game. They worked hard, they were often frustrated, but they persevered, they were relentless... they were tenacious.
Now, if you will allow me to be harsh, quit worrying about who likes you on facebook or if you have to put quotes around something to find it or not. Just get your shit together and go to work. Your success isn't going to happen by itself. Wealthy Affiliate isn't going to give you success on a silver platter. If you enjoy success at Wealthy affiliate, or in any other adventure for that matter, it will happen because you took a risk, rolled up you sleeves, went to work, and had the tenacity to see your endeavor through come hell or high water.
Don't aim at success Ibrahim... be success.
All the best to you buddy...
R