If you are someone in your thirties or older, and perhaps western, then you, like me, may have read enough adventure stories or seen enough Walt Disney to have been heartened by stories of ugly guys, like beast in Beauty and Beast, winning beauty, Belle. I don’t know about you, but that story gave me hope!

And maybe you relate to heroics of Robin Hood who stood no nonsense, not even from baddies in charge while King Richard crusaded. And Robin, in between robbing rich and dishing it out to poor, still had time to get his work-life balance right. In between robbing rich and dishing it out to poor he still had time to party with his mates and date fairest maiden in land. The old rogue!

Maybe you loved never-grow-old attitude of Pan, willed Hercules to conquer all and craved day that you could leave school and set off through forest of life, whistling and singing as merrily as one of Seven Dwarfs, as you headed your way to a job that made your heart sing with joy!

And maybe, like me, now you’ve grown up, you realise that world is not quite way you imagined it in your youth: Cinderella has not pulled up outside your home in her pumpkin carriage, nor is Snow White cooking dinner for you when you get home from office after a day working for a guy who would find himself in steaming hot water if he had a nose like Pinocchio.

Well I don’t know about you, but I felt a little disgruntled and let down with way life turned out after such a romantic, adventurous childhood heavily laden with dreams.

Why does research show that over 80% of people break their New Year's resolutions? Why do most attempts to lose weight, quit smoking and start businesses fail?

Of course, there are many possible answers. Some people look for easy way out, and just don't want to make effort. Others use ineffective or simplistic strategies for change, such as affirmations, rather than more effective science-based techniques that we discuss in our newsletter and web site.

But biggest barrier to success is this: True success requires strong performance in five key areas of life, but unfortunately, four-out-of-five isn't good enough. These five elements are:

- Vision: Have a clear sense of what you want from life - Strategy: Goals and plans for moving toward your Vision - Belief: Confidence that you can make changes and succeed - Persistence: Working hard, and rebounding after setbacks - Learning: Identifying when course corrections are needed

True success is rare because of how these elements work together. The ultimate formula for success is *not* these five elements added together. Instead, formula is these five *multiplied* together.

The difference is subtle but crucial. When numbers are multiplied, if any of them are zero, then whole equation becomes zero. Four-out-of-five just isn't good enough.