The people who know me outside the blogosphere would be surprised to know that I was once a very shy and timid kid. I was the quiet one, rarely speaking until spoken to. In school, I dreaded speaking in front of the class or raising my hand to answer questions. I never initiated conversation with strangers, or anyone for that matter.

For whatever reason, my shyness was rooted in a sense of fear. I was afraid of embarrassment and ridicule. Why? I don’t exactly know…

There was an advantage to being the quiet one. I spent a lot of time observing people (no, not in a creepy way); recognizing their unique characteristics and behavior. I was especially curious about the popular, more outgoing kids. How did they do it?

At some point during my middle school years, a disturbing truth was realized. If I continue my behavior as the quiet kid, I may be doomed to a life of mediocrity. This was to be a self fulfilling prophecy of which I was wholly responsible.

From what I could observe, all of the successful CEO’s and leaders of our world have a similar personality. They’re outgoing, professional, articulate, and more. These were traits that I did not possess as the quiet one. Throughout my youth, I dreamed of achieving fame and wealth… like many other kids.

Within my middle school world, I believed the popular kids were the ones that would become future leaders. I wanted to be like them. And so, I changed.

Overtime, I became much more talkative… able to create small talk with anyone willing. I became more comfortable when speaking in front of a group and was no longer afraid of embarrassment. I developed a self-deprecating sense of humor, which many people enjoyed =) . In sum, I changed. The introvert became an extrovert.

Kind of. I still consider myself a shy/quiet person. This is probably why I navigate toward the quiet people in a crowd. I understand them! I guess I’m more of an extroverted introvert… just pretending to be the outgoing type haha.

I wanted to share this story because it has had a profound impact on my life. I’m not saying that being shy and quiet is a bad thing. Rather, this was something I didn’t want for myself. By overcoming my personal fear of embarrassment, I developed a personal courage. Like some tiny voice in my head that told me to never quit… forcing me to overcome the obstacles that I placed in front of myself.

The point of this story is for you to realize that you are the master of your own fate. Often, we are our own worst enemies, creating a sense of fear that can dominate our lives… forcing us to wonder “what if?” When you overcome this obstacle, a window of amazing opportunity appears. Take life into your own hands and live it how you choose… happiness will follow =) .

Success comes to those who prepare for it. I am a firm believer that if you truly want something, and are willing to work hard to get it, then you will eventually realize your goals.

So how exactly do you prepare for success? Well, this may sound a bit strange, but I believe that to prepare for success, you must prepare for failure. Yup, prepare to fail!

To succeed, you must first realize that you will fail at something. Long ago, I’ve accepted the fact that failure is inevitable; it is unavoidable.

To determine what it means to fail, I suggest establishing clear goals at the beginning of a project. These goals should be incremental (one month, three months, 6 months, one year) and will allow you to track your project’s progress. If after 6 months you still have not achieved what you set out to do in the first month, then obviously it’s time to reconsider your project. Of course, all of this is dependent on you establishing reachable goals, not some lofty dream of success.

Another thing you can do is to develop a tolerance for failure. It’s almost like developing a tolerance for alcohol, the more you drink, the more you can hold… haha (just kidding). Really though, tolerating a failure involves recognizing the benefits you can gain from failing. You shouldn’t view failure as the end of a particular project. Rather use it as an opportunity to learn from your mistakes and avoid making them again.

It’s simple: Failure provides you with the opportunity to succeed. That’s my motto.

Personally, I have failed several times in my attempts to make money online. I’ve started blogs, forums, wikis and e-commerce sites that have done nothing but consume my precious time. Yet despite these failures, I still continue to start new projects and test my ideas. If I gave up long ago, One Greek Store and Pro Money Blog would have never existed.