My life, as lived by Kutcher's Law—By: Melissa Van Hoorne

I awake every morning and repeat Audrey Hepburn's quote as a quiet mantra: “Nothing is impossible: the word itself says I'm possible!”, otherwise, my day isn't quite the same. I created my magazine, This Freelancer Life (Shameless plug – thisfreelancerlife.com), because it is a life full of possibilities and, to my surprise, expressing these possibilities has become very popular with other freelancers! I can't say I'm surprised at the success due to the lack of content in the marketplace relating to the everyday freelancer, but I remain humbled by it nonetheless. I never, ever take anything for granted.

The path of successful people might look alike one forged from luck, but in Ashton Kutcher's surprisingly motivating and profound speech, he said “Success looks like hard work.” (I now call this Kutcher's Law). In my situation, my daily task restrictions due to fibromyalgia necessitates that I peel an extra layer of the onion off to get to the core of success. Yet I would certainly consider myself successful despite numerous roles I fill and the responsibilities that go with them, as my work ethic dictates that I aim for nothing less than my full potential.

Skinner and Pavlov showed the world that one could train any skill, so this remains no different when it comes to learning the skills I deem necessary for success. Learn these skills and, coupled with perhaps a little luck, say hello to success.

Remember always to remain vigilant in the face of adversity, or no amount of skills can save you from failure and embarrassment (no pressure or anything!).

Work Ethic

During my early days in high school, work became an integral part of my life; more so, entrepreneurship became an integral part of my life. The quest for financial and personal independence originated at 15, when my creative talents found an outlet in painting ceramic figurines of a fantasy and tribal nature. For a 15 year-old, grossing $3,000 during a summer equates to getting an internship on Wall Street. The 12 to 16-hour painting days probably murdered my eyesight in the end, but I never regret this decision, as it taught me the limitless rewards of a good work ethic. Since 15, I held various jobs, but I always came back to some business idea in hopes that this one would jump-start my success.  The point is I kept trying things until something stuck much as Italians do in order to determine al dente spaghetti. Eventually, with enough perseverance, something will stick.

Passion

I used to say all the time, “If you don't have a passion for something, then you might as well be dead.” Although perhaps that's a bit drastic, you get the idea. Passion spreads like infection, albeit the good kind, affecting everything around it in a profound way. Your passion for your project will influence the motivation of others, and inspire them to work with you towards a common goal. Only we allow ourselves to lose our passion – it cannot be taken from us; therefore, when you may think you have lost everything, you truly have not.

Empathy

I recently wrote an article about this topic, but I continue to talk about it all the time. In my opinion, empathy ranks high up there for the most important skill to learn in the workplace. The ability to effectively recognize emotional cues from others, and place yourself in their position puts you at a substantial advantage in positions of leadership. Not only do you build a powerful rapport with your employees, but also your employees build a powerful rapport with each other. This perpetuates a cycle of mutual respect that infuses the team with life and leads to heightened creativity and productivity.

Humility

I proudly say that my friend, LinkedIn Diva and online marketing thought leader Lori Ruff, wins the prize for the most humble person I've ever met. She has achieved a substantial amount of success, but her focus has been and always will be the value of that one-on-one interaction with someone on an equal level. Her relationship marketing proclaims a message of personal interaction to a degree that is often unheard of in the world of social media, more specifically from someone so successful. Regardless of what you may think, people do want to know who they do business with, so don't hesitate to put your personality out there; however, do it in a way that makes you an equal and not a superior to them. Ultimately, your success is because of your fans.

Tenacity

Visualize yourself as The Little Engine That Could: “I think I can, I think I can....” The ability to vault over or circumvent obstacles is critical to success. Tenacious people view every failure as a step closer to success, and a chance to learn along the way. Tenacious individuals also accomplish their goals because they accept nothing less. Motivational speaker and coach Anthony Robbins uses tenacity as the main tenet for his definition of success, and it has helped thousands of people become more fulfilled individuals. If you persevere, you will achieve.

These skills merely scrape the surface when it comes to indicators of success, but I feel these are the most vital ones. With time and practice, one can hone them like with any other skill; however, it takes an exceptional amount of work to do so. Master these skills, and you'll surely be able to achieve success in the face of any adversity.