You know, the themes of succeeding and success have been around as long as mankind. Current definitions have endured for at least three generations, namely for ourselves, for our parents, and for our grandparents. Three key points appear to emerge.

First of all, being successful means different things to different people and in different scenarios. Making a fortune is not the only definition. Success may be simply doing one’s best and making the most of one’s own abilities, whatever they may be.

It may be about making the most of your life. Not only for yourself, but also in terms of your impact on the lives of others. It may mean a combination of success in work life, family life, social life, and in life at various stages from birth through to maturity.

We are only blessed with a single life. Therefore, we need to look at life success in the broadest possible way. This means perceiving it in its totality, in which the work part of our lives, naturally forms a critical component, since we all have to earn an income, to live.

Secondly, success in life usually doesn’t happen by chance (although it can occur accidentally). Success is more usually as a result of a deliberate attempt to make it happen. So this means that success, whatever way people choose to define it, is invariably targeted and pursued.

In my research audience of 100 world famous successful people, 85% were ambitious or driven self starters when they were young people. For them, success was more about something that was intended. It did not just happen by accident.

Thirdly, life success has been considered in a similar way for three generations. So grandparents, parents and young people have comparable notions when it comes to thinking about success in life. Accordingly, influence by the family, particularly parents, is likely to be a critical aspect, at the heart of developing success in life.

Indeed, 65% of the successful people I studied, benefited from positive family influence when they were young people. This was in the form of their parents acting as role models. It was also through their specific advice.

Now comes the crunch time. Try to define life success for yourself. Obviously, your definition will cover how you make a living. But also, it will need to relate to your whole life, not just the work part of it.

If you want to find out more about Success, then visit Peter Stephenson’s site to find the most effective Career Advice to meet your needs.

Everyone tells you that you should write a book, right? Well, it’s not quite as simple as that, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Writing the book is actually the easy part, it’s putting the required proposal together than often stumps the would-be author. Here are the basic elements to get you started:

1. The Overview: Why is your book concept, or ‘hook’, different from what’s already on the shelves? Does it offer a unique voice or methodology? Has something happened in the world or is there a trend that’s emerging that demands a new book on the subject?

2. The Table of Contents and Chapter Outline. Often the most difficult part of the entire process, putting together the table of contents proves to yourself (and ultimately, publishers) that you have enough ‘meat’ to flesh out your topic. Can you cover ten different chapters? Are the headlines for each chapter engaging? Do they give the reader a good idea of what their reading experience will be like? Once you are happy with your chapters and titles, write a lead paragraph for each. This will be your only chance to demonstrate your writing style or ‘voice’ until the actual writing is done.

3. The Introduction. Take a little time to look over this section in existing non-fiction books to get a feel for the purpose of the Introduction. They vary, but in general this is where the author explains what he or she is setting out to do in the chapters that follow. This is also where you can announce any caveats that may exist. For example, “My advice here can’t replace medical attention from a vet, but my twenty years of training stray dogs has taught me that”

4. Target Markets. This is where the preliminary work on the book itself is done and where you prove to publishers that you understand your intended audience. Convince publishers that there are 2.5 million dog owners in the United States and that most of them wish that their pets behaved better. Tell them that pet owners spend about $1000 a year on caring for their pets and that 2% of them are avid readers. Dig around to build a case for the publication of your book!

5. Competitive Titles. There are undoubtedly already several published titles on a similar subject to yours. Find them and write a paragraph or two about them. Then, explain how your book’s ‘hook’ offers something completely different to the shared audience.

6. Author Background. By this point in your proposal, you’ve done a great job of selling your concept, but why are you the person to write the book? Do you have a built-in audience? Generally publishers consider a first-time book by a non-published author a success if they sell 10,000 copies. If you have a large family, but your connections stop there, you might have a tough go of it. However, if you are writing a book for young women and were the president of your college sorority, that’s a built-in audience with an alumni magazine that might publish an excerpt. Do you have endorsements (direct quotes) from readers of your work in another format? Can you offer a unique perspective of the subject? This is where you position yourself as the only author who can bring this book to market and why.

7. Promotions. The days of book tours and marketing departments are all but gone for anyone but best sellers. As such, publishers want to know if the author has any ideas on how to get the word out about their book. Would you print up book marks for your cookbook and ask local supermarkets to put them in their shopping bags? Get creative here and let the publisher know that you will do your part to make the book a success after they publish it.