7 Keys to Success

Introduction If I can do it, there is no excuse for anyone not being able to. I was set up for success from
the very beginning, as an only child I had everything. Beautiful home, two-parent family, great schools
and a gene pool that made me an incredible specimen of a man. Yet I made some very dumb choices,
that almost destroyed life.

When I was five years old my grandfather boldly proclaimed that I was the Key Man. My name is
KeJohnna Owens. And Key Man became the mantra that I live my life by. Grand Dad said that “from that
point forward, I would be the very best at whatever I endeavored”. Sports, education, anything I set my
mind to do I would be the best. Unfortunately, it took me many years and many tears to finally discover
my WHY.

This book is not meant to be a scholarly discourse on business or even success. It

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instead is meant to be a roadmap that anyone can use to find success if you're looking for it in life.
Success is a process, the relentless pursuit of a worthwhile goal.

If you are seeking success in any way shape or form, this blueprint is a sample strategic roadmap to
achieving it effortlessly and easily.

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SUCCESS

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Chapter 1: Start Now

The S in SUCCESS stands for Start Now. I learned early on that the start, is what creates the finish. All
too many people have dreams goals and desires, yet they never get started. There's always tomorrow
yet tomorrow never comes. Our dreams, New Year's resolutions, and all the other goals that are written
and or thought about, many times never manifest. The lack of manifestation is purely a result of the
hesitation to begin toward the finalization.

To start now, means to begin even when it seems everything is not lined up properly or perfectly. All too
often excuses, like the money is not right, the people are not in place, the support etc. etc. etc. all are
reasons for not beginning. And are the reasons you never win.

Just get started!

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God has already given us everything we need to succeed, in reality we want for nothing. The problem is
Perfection. You see perfection is an impossibility, yet everyone strives for it. Striving for perfection is a
never-ending quest that is unable to be achieved.

The “got to be perfect” syndrome is what causes most men to stay stuck and not move forward, toward
an avenue of excellence. We use convenient excuses like “I'm not worthy, I don't deserve to win, I'm not

capable”. We become timid about starting out, about reaching toward the vision that has been birthed
on the inside of us.

The all too pervasive They or Them becomes the reason that we don't begin. They keep most people
from winning, They, Them, the unseen. Those are the very reasons most people use to not get started
in the first place.

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The question is how come They have so much power in your life. It is unhealthy to give someone else
that much power over your success.

Without a vision the people perish.

The key is to know what you want to do, figure out how to do it, and find out who's doing it, someone
who is doing it how you want it done.

Success leaves clues. Follow the blueprint. It's not about looking for new ways to win. It's looking at the
different trends evident and the different wheels to get it rolling. There are many different versions of
victory available to choose from. Many of us feel that we must have a certain set of wheels turning in a
certain way in order for us to engage in the process of winning. That could not be farther from the truth.

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Tomorrow is a day that doesn't exist. Yet many of us look for tomorrow and use it as an excuse not to
begin today. Tomorrow will never manifest, today must be a continual work in progress. We must
design the outfits today that we want to wear evert day. The caveat is that if we don't design what we
want to wear, someone else will. We may not like or appreciate the outfit they design for us.

They may want us to wear different shoes, they want us to wear their uniform. No, those shoes, and
that uniform dictates what we do, when we go and how we appear was for them. Stop letting someone
else make the decisions for what you when you can choose your own outfit. If the outfit doesn't exist,
make it. The key is to get started. Not only get started but get started now. Too many lives have been
lost and not leveraged because the decision to begin on the vision was never made. Instead we find

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ourselves waiting. Waiting for the next opportunity, waiting for the perfect opportunity, just waiting.The
only stay thing we gain by waiting is more weight. It’s time to win the waiting game and JUST GET
STARTED NOW!

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Chapter 2: Use what you got

Getting started is just the first step. One of the major reasons people use for not getting started, is that
they don't think they have what it takes. The age-old adage of using what's in your hand is most
apropos. My granddaddy always said “use what you got, begin with what you have”. Taking that to
heart, means that you can start even if you have nothing. Maybe you have no business cards, no

materials, none of the trappings and necessary items required to successfully build a business. But
you’ve got to start, so use what you've got, that may be your passion, your drive, your “I'm sick and tired
of being sick and tired”. Sometimes the empty intangibles are more tangible than cash or the other
trappings that have people trapped into insignificance.

In 2012 I made a decision to attend a conference that I had no money to attend. It

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was my desire to go to the FraserNet conference hosted by Dr. George Fraser. Forbes magazine called it
one of the five must attend conferences in the US. I looked at the reality of my situation and realized
that I had no business cards, no source materials, nothing to support the fact that I was attending with
the intention of building a business. I didn't have the necessary funds to attend the workshops or take
advantage of the opportunity. And yet I decided to go anyway. I took what I had, I used what I had.
What I had was confidence, courage, and conviction. Confidence, that no matter what, I would be able
to rub shoulders as a peer with all of those that were there. Courage, that despite my lack, I would
move forward on the attack. And conviction, that my cause and my purpose was greater than the fact
that I had little to nothing else.

That courage, conviction and confidence opened doors I was not even aware were

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closed. I was able to hobnob with millionaires and multimillionaires. I attended workshops that had a
price tag of $900 on three separate occasions with nothing in my pocket. I presented to and had lunch
with and met and greeted giants in the industry, because I had the courage to move despite my
shortcomings. All too often we allow the fact of our lack to prevent us from moving forward in a positive
attack.

Nothing is impossible to him who believes.

Lack of having what you think you need is just another excuse to fail. No one to help you, is another
reason to fail, yet we create excuses and reasons every day, in an effort to make ourselves feel justified
in not playing full out. I went there with nothing, yet left with everything I needed to proceed to my
vision of building my business. I used what I had and it was more than enough. What I had was

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the key to open doors that were placed before me that had been locked before. I acted with confidence
and was able to attend sessions for free that cost the rest of the attendees $500-$1000 and I acted as if I
belonged in the room.

So, the next question is, what if people laugh at your lack? Of all the tactics that can be used to thwart
your success, laughter is perhaps the most derisive and dangerous. Laughter will cause the strongman to
sit down, and will cause the weak man to bend. Laughter is what makes people afraid to step forward
and try anything. The possibility that someone that you look up to, respect, consider of value, would
laugh at you, that is the lowest blow. Laughter says you are not worthy, you don't deserve to be here,
what were you thinking. Laughter will level the playing field.

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One of the primary reasons people have such tremendous fear of speaking in public is the possibility
that their peers or the audience may laugh. Someone may ridicule the presentation. They may think that
you are not worthy to be on the stage. Currently Public Speaking is more feared than death by a great
many people. The laughter of others makes people realize or think that they may not have what they
need in knowledge and resources that they shouldn't proceed. Laughter has destroyed the strongest
and best of us.

Grand Dad told me that winners and overcomers leave clues as they walk along the path of life. The first
clue is that Until you get in the room you never know what will happen in there. Stop just sitting outside
contemplating what could or should happen, you’ll never know if it will until you venture in. But you can
be sure of one thing happening if you if don't go in… Nothing. You never will be able to reach that
dream,

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you’ll never be able to know what could've happened if you don’t find the courage to at least go in and
TRY.

People talk, people will judge and ridicule. That's just the nature of people. But if you're going to win the
game of life, it requires that you step up, step out and even if you don't have what you think you need,
you still need to proceed. You see people are going to find fault with you if you succeed or if you fail.
They are going to laugh at you if you’re rich or if you’re poor, it doesn't matter. That's just the nature of
people. If they can't do it or if they did do it, they will use judgment and ridicule to prevent you from
doing it. Go figure.

That is why there are so few leaders and so many followers. The followers are those who didn't have the
courage or conviction to step up and do what they feel they could or should.

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Followers feel undeserving, they feel unworthy, they feel as if they don't merit or they have not earned
the right to be really warranted. This leads way to slackers. My granddaddy said the thing that pissed
him off more than anything, was a slacker. That's a person who does just enough to get by and
sometimes not even enough and then complains about the result. You get what you earn, not what you
deserve.

My favorite way to focus in life and achieve success that I want can be found in the 3P’s. They are:
Passion plus Purpose plus Persistency equals Profit. When you adopt this as your life mantra things
begin to happen for your greater good. When you have Passion, something that you wake up and
dream about, and you couple that with Purpose, something that makes you feel like winning and
working for, and Persistency, the ability to work rentlentlessly

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toward a dream or goal, the end result is Profit. Profit isn’t always about money, sometimes it’s merit,
sometimes it’s significance, sometimes it's just appreciation. And all those currencies can be cashed.

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Chapter 3: Control What You Know

Which leads us to the next letter in SUCCESS which is the C for Control What You Know. You have no
control over what you don’t know. I think that the most important thing is to know what you don't
know. If you don't know how to do your accounting, if you don't know how to build a website, if you
don't know how to write and publish a book, staff that weakness. Knowing what you know is the key
that will open the door that will take you further, faster than anything you can imagine.

I found myself moving and shaking, making things happen. I was closing high-end deals and high-end
clients and I didn't even know what I knew. Those around me were benefiting from my skills and my
passion and putting me on the back shelf. I looked up one day and realized that I was making them rich
and I still was struggling myself. You must know what you know, you must know your

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worth, you must know your value. I had to realize that what I was doing for free, other people were
making money and not compensating me. People enjoyed my presence and how I made them feel. I was
financially empowering them. My goal was always to develop people and businesses.

The key is focus. Dr. George Fraser said if he took a 50-gallon tub of water and heated it up, it would
dissipate as steam. But if you took that same 50-gallon drum of water and focused it through a
waterhose, you can erode, erase and remove mountains because of the pressure and the focus. When
you know what you know, you're able to move mountains and create circumstances that are beneficial
to you.

You know a person can do something well for so long that they think it’s normal and it has no value.
People will take that from you for free and offer you no compensation. If you

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don't know the value of your work, chances are you'll never get compensated.

That was always difficult for me I didn't know what I didn't know. You see you able to get in a door with
limited skills, but you’ll get kicked out of the door and the room if you're not able to perform. Those in
the room may be more skilled than you. When you get in and realize that they are, you start shaking
and faking. The result is that oftentimes you will bring the temperature in the room down to your level
of incompetence. You need to be comfortable with learning and realize what you don't know and grow
so that you can know more.

You know, ridicule prevents most people from trying or they act as if they already know what needs to
be known. They don’t know what they don't know, they try to break

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it down to their level and they beat you up with experience. Many times, in school situations
unprepared students engage in antics to disrupt the learning process. When you lower standards, then
you lower value. The bully is upset when he finds out that you're avoiding him. He will create dissension
around you ,without you even being there, because you spoiled his opportunity to engage in mayhem at
your expense. When you know what you know then you're able to grow and learn more. You can defeat
the bully and the best when you know what you know and employ that knowledge.

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Chapter 4: Complete what you start

The first S in SUCCESS stands for Complete what you Start. It's possible to have multiple visions and be a
multitasker. But that can lead to both blessings and curses. If you are blessed to have more than one
vision, you need to apply it. But if you have more than one vision and they are scattered and distracted
and you don't complete any, it becomes a curse. One of the most important ways of completing a task
is to have it written down and know which order the completion must take place. When you have
written goals, tasks, dreams or resolutions, you have a much better chance at accomplishing them.
What is before you, is what you will focus on and attempt. The Key is to develop discipline to complete
the task at hand.

When we put it on a vision board or sticky note it’s in front of us and becomes a priority.

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In my effort to accomplish the things that I have on my to-do task board it must be written and looked
at it daily. My goal is to reach $1 million in revenue and I'm looking for that first $2000 day. But it all
begins with the mindset to complete what I set out to do. Success is accomplished in increments. You

can't eat an elephant in one bite, and you can't complete an accomplishment at one take. It requires
that you tackle each incremental aspect on a consistent basis, the end result being the completed task.

If you attempt to get a contract to perform services, and you don't have an EIN or the basic
requirements that are necessary to complete the task, then you fail by default. In order to complete the
task, you must know the requirements of the task. I'm reminded of the movie the Karate Kid where he
practiced repeatedly and was tired, Mr. Miyagi said “again, again, again”.

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Proper Prior Practice Produces Perfect Performance. It is in doing the repetitive incremental tasks that
the end result is brought about.

I spent several years in the automobile business and was very successful. I was successful because I
completed each step that was required on the road to the sale. It began with what is called the meet
and greet and ended with a proper delivery. There were eight steps in all and if either one of those eight
steps was missed, the sale would not to happen. Management was required to make sure that every
step was followed. Each completion of each step took us closer to the finish line which was a sale that
resulted in revenue. Completing a task and completing what you start is more than a moniker, it is the
secret of success in life. In life people have began many tasks and stopped, in search for the next shiny
object.

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The shiny object syndrome is something that distracts, delays and destroys people on their quest for
success. We are creatures of focus and when we see something that catches our focus will gravitate
toward it. I'm reminded of children at Christmas time with too many presents. As they go through and
open each one, they are so excited about the next one they can inadvertently lose or destroy the
previous one. In the process of opening the pervious one parts get lost. When the time came to play
with the first gift they discover that parts are missing, they are now unable to enjoy it because they
never completed the initial task of opening and enjoying it. It was “on to the bike, on to the next shiny

object”. You must complete what you start before you go to the next task, otherwise when you need it,
if is not completed you’re defeated.

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Chapter 5: Execution

The E in SUCCESS stands for Execution. Execution versus information. When I first saw that, I didn't
understand the correlation. As I've gotten more focused and understand the success cycle, that is the
most brilliant piece of knowledge out there. We live in an information age. A time where there is more
information available in the palm of our hands than was available to put the man on the moon.
Technology has exploded access to information. We can Google, we can Yahoo, we can YouTube, any
information we want is at our fingertips 24/7. Yet information not implemented is useless. Execution is
the key to success. Distractions cause us to not execute.

When cleaning the house we’re often distracted by the television or the vacuum. When distracted by
the telephone and we

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have a laundry that doesn't get completed at the end of the day the house does not get cleaned. We
failed to execute. Completion is result of execution. Execution begins as an internal motive, push or
drive. It ends with an external experience that results in tasks completed. There are many reasons for
not executing. And it's funny all of them sound good to the person giving them. The reasons have been
shifted to the point where there is no longer a valid, urgent reason to do what needs to be done. The
execution timeframe still must work. If it is not implemented, it will not be executed and information
will remain useless.

TD Jakes said in a sermon that “execution is the next step to the harvest”. Fields are ripe and ready to be
harvested. But there are not enough workers and no one puts forth the effort or executes what is
required to take the crop from the field and harvest it.

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People that are counting on you don't care about excuses, all they want to see is execution. When you
engage as a businessperson with an individual, if you fail to execute, you lose the client. They probably
are not coming back. They don't care about your excuses, your situations or anything, they hired you to
complete, to execute the order. Your failure to do so causes them to lose trust and respect for you.
Execution shows that you are accountable to yourself and the integrity displayed on the outside was
built on the inside.

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Chapter 6: Share your success The next S in SUCCESS is Share your Success The number one reason
success must be shared is, it's like a conduit of water. If it’s all coming in and nothing is going out the
body of water becomes stagnant and useless. Shared success is the secret to more success. The Bible
tells us to give and it shall be given to us, good measure, pressed down, and overflowing. The selfish
mindset says that I need to Can all I can get and get all I can. It says one must keep it and save it and not

give it away, because giving it away means I now have less If you understand the laws of success, giving
is the primary principle. Everything is about giving. When you help enough other people attain and
achieve their goals and dreams, yours comes automatically

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When you have employed all the principles I've already spoken of and executed them, the end result
becomes harvest, you must be prepared to share some of that with those less fortunate or those that
are in need. By doing so you open up an avenue that allows you to receive even more. It's a principal
that operates whether you believe it or not. Those who willingly and cheerfully give, find doors opening
for them that they didn't even have a key for.

Selfishness is the ruin of people. As stated earlier it is a principle that encourages stagnation and
prevents growth. You benefit when you help others to help themselves. Your help comes from an
altogether different source, one that you didn't even consider. Once you help another person, someone
else will help you at a most unexpected but necessary time. Success means creating solutions. The most
successful people became that way by giving and that generosity opens the door to earn and

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receive more. The principle of giving is not just for helping the poor. No, it’s a door for you to receive
more. It's a philosophy of life that you must learn to live by. Giving indicates integrity, worth and it helps
to fuel your WHY. By putting others first, it puts you out front. Others win and benefit from your efforts,
in the long haul who you are is not what you have, but what has you.

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Chapter 7: Stand for something The last S in SUCCESS means “Stand For Something” Success is nothing
without someone to share with. And if you don't stand for something you fall for anything. When you
have integrity, you do the right thing even when no one is looking, then you have arrived. Your success is
predicated on how people perceive you. When you stand for something it gives people a chance to
know who you are and what you're about. What you do is done by default and it doesn't matter if you
drive a Mercury or Mitsubishi or Mercedes, your true worth will shine forth. When you stand for
something people will appreciate you.

Self-enrichment, self-aggrandizement, is not something to be sought after. Your practices expose you.

More money doesn't mean that you're better, it just exposes exactly who you are. For many

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people, more money means that they can to do more good and bless more people. For others, it means
they'll be more selfish and try to take even more because they are in a position to do so.

If you stand for the right thing the wrong things tend to be pushed away. When you have a strong
foundation, one built on respect, accountability, principles, and standards, they will protect you and
your name. When you stand for something and someone tries to smear or slander you, those that know
what you stand for will defend you and you won't have to do it on your own. People know that the
negative things spoken about you are not true if you stand for something that is positive and right. But if

you stand for nothing and are willing to do anything to get what you want, everything said about you
will be believed and will be magnified. Don't stand for anything except the right thing.

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Epilogue If you will follow the seven keys to SUCCESS, doors will be unlocked that will lead you to the
riches that you desire and deserve.

As I recap, I want to share exactly how this can benefit your life right now. number one start now
number two use what you have number three control what you know number four complete what you
start number five execute always number six shale success and number seven stand for something
everything will work itself out in your behalf.