The Success Addict

There are a number of addictions that we all can admit to or deny.  Some of these addictions are visible while some others are covert and very hard to detect to those on the outside and even to the addict themselves. One of these addictions is success.

Now of course there is nothing wrong with success but there is something wrong with the addiction to success.  Every addiction has at least three things in common: an addict, a supplier and the supply.  In the addiction the addict can be you or I, the supply is “success” and the supplier varies based on what our goals are.  Therefore success can look differently for two different people.  Success for one could be a debt free life, a nice moderate home, good marriage and a few children.  While success for another could be a multi million dollar home, homes in other parts of the world and a huge bank account.

Success addicts feed into what the popular model of success is and do everything they can to obtain that model.  In many cases if you are reaching for a model that you did not really imagine on your own then you probably are going to have a lot of stress getting there.  You might even lose your family or your life trying to attain this model.

The danger in this is that no person can sell you the model of what success is.  In fact you are the only one who can determine what success is for you.  Others can stress the borders of your imagination but only with your permission.  Here is your challenge. Pick up a dictionary and look up the word success to see what you come up with.

Set measurable goals, plan aggressively and work passionately to accomplish these goals. Don’t be a success addict but focus on what success means for you and your family and then do it – be successful!

The Eye of the Storm

The eye of a storm is the middle of the storm. It is believed to be the calmest part of the storm. As a youngster I remember a hurricane hitting the city I lived in. The beginning of the storm brought a lot of rain, hail and high wind. This part of the storm continued for about three to four hours. At some point, the sun came out and the rain and wind ceased. This was my first introduction to the term, "the eye of the storm."  The weather report on television warned people to stay indoors even if the storm appeared to be over. The report confirmed that the storm would start again at some point within the next three hours.


Financially, we have witnessed part one of the storm. This consisted of the government take over of Fannie and Freddie, the Wall Street bailout, the departure of Arthur Anderson, Washington Mutual and other various companies. In addition, the first half of the storm was accented by sub prime home lending, stimulus packages, rising rates of unemployment and corporate scandals at giant corporations such as Enron and WorldCom.


Currently we are in the “eye of the storm”. Things appear to be "stabilizing" in this supposed "recovery." However, in actuality we are not recovering. We are in the “eye of the storm". Wall Street gurus and DC politicians are attempting to comfort the public by using this “recovery language”. Do not be deceived, we are simply in the “eye of the storm”. What should you do in the eye of the storm? You simply realign or establish your financial goals, seek and execute investment opportunities and read to be as financial literate as you can and then gear up for part two of the storm.


What can we anticipate for part two of the storm? That is a good and scary question at the same time. It is quite possible that another super power can arise in the second half the storm. It is also possible that we will see many world governments financially fail, people sleeping in tents, an increase in the levels of unemployment, hyper-inflation and the rise of a single world wide bank.