Welcome to the Inspirational Living Podcast.

Today's reading was edited and adapted from The Secret of Success by Frank Everett Mitchell, published in 1894.

True success is not the result of luck, guess, or chance.

It is the ripened fruit of persistent industry, wedded to intelligent conception.

And the reason why so few of those who try succeed is not that they set the standard too

high, or that they have not the ability to reach it,

but because they lose heart on the road, relax their effort, yield to discouragements,

and thus become careless or indifferent.

They lose sight of the end they had in view, and allow themselves to drift with the current,

resting on their oars, waiting for something to turn up.

What the world needs is people with pluck, grit, sand, and that indomitable willpower

that causes a person to ride roughshod over all obstacles.

I believe that most people have one or more of these elements in their makeup,

and if I can but succeed in arousing this indwelling dormant power into action, in any of you,

it will have fulfilled the mission upon which I was sent.

Imagine you are an explorer. You're about to embark upon a voyage of discovery to some unexplored

land. Think how solicitous you would be about your equipment. How thoroughly you would study all your routes,

and how earnestly you would reflect upon the difficulties and dangers you might encounter.

No detail would be too trivial for consideration. Then once started, you would bend every effort

toward the accomplishment of your goal.

Your vigilance would be steadfast until success had crowned your purpose.

How much more important then is the necessity of careful preparation towards making this voyage

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