There are a lot of people who define success as having a lot of money or achieving some significant milestone or station in life. For others, it might be succeeding in the world of business by becoming good, effective organizational managers.

Most people may think becoming a business manager is an impossibility, but that’s if they’re looking at this as being a position rather than a function. I’d like to suggest that it’s far more important to succeed at the latter. It's more important to be a good "functional" manager, no matter what your personal or professional situation is, if you want to be successful.

Why do I say that? Well, here's a laundry list of a few things you should be able to manage effectively if you want to lead a productive, successful life: You have to manage ideas, money, time, opportunities, talent, training, energy, risk, decisions, problems and your imagination.

You see, failure is not the result of a lack of organizational position, money, time, or connections. You can have a lot of wealth and position but lose everything if you don't manage it wisely. And failure has little to do with problems, risks, frustrations, or difficulties, either.

You don't succeed because of what you have, you succeed because of who you are. If you're a good manager, whether in business or your personal life, you control your resources so that you maximize your chances of achieving your goals.

Chances are you never learned to do this in school, and most people don't learn from their parents, either. The school of hard knocks may teach you a few things, but in that school, the lessons are painful. But…it doesn't have to be that way. The key to success is knowing how to think effectively.

For about a half century, I've been mentoring and teaching people how to do this, and I know you can do it, too. Learn to manage your mind, and you'll be well on your way to success!

Think about it…