What makes some people successful while others struggle?

Why is it that some people in an industry are millionaires and other people in the same industry are just getting by?

Why is it that Kate Moss is paid millions to be a model, while other models who are just as pretty get paid £300 a day?

Why is David Blaine a millionaire street magician when other magicians just make enough for their next meal, despite knowing all the same magic tricks?

Why is it that Jonathan Ive gets millions to design products at Apple and other designers make £60 an hour?

I have three answers to this riddle but, before I tell you the first reason, make a list of all the traits you think the successful people have that the others don't.

Make a list of all the things that you think separate the highly valued and highly paid people from those just getting by. What do you think are the mystery ingredients that got them where they are today?

NOTE: don't read on until you have listed your answers.

I hope you thought of a few things before reading on. In fact, if you haven't, please do so. You'll get more out of this book if you do.

If you are like most people, you will put down words like self-belief, determination, passion, character, leadership and decisiveness.

Great words, but they all have a bit of a problem. They are not mutually exclusive.

I can take all those sorts of words, put them down in a list and check them against the richest people on the planet and we would find that, sure enough, these words are quite relevant to them. These super-success stories have courage, determination, passion and all those things we mentioned.

The problem is, when I take those same traits and apply them to people who aren't so successful, I can find those qualities too. I can see determination in the eyes of the guy who works 70 hours a week; I can see belief in the network marketer who thrusts her sample pack into the hands of another unwilling contact; I can find plenty of passion in the engineer who arrives at work for another new challenge to tinker with.

It is the same list of traits, but some people are making it while others aren't.

So what are the real keys to success? What are the few things that set all the big-time people apart from the small-time strugglers? What are the things that, if the little guys had them, they would succeed? The things that all the big guys acknowledge and the little guys fail to think about?

There are three keys that all successful entrepreneurs need if they are going to make the most of their ideas, talents, opportunities and the times we're in.

Every entrepreneur will need:

1. Luck
2. Reputation
3. Vitality

In the sections ahead, I will explain the importance of each.

THE FIRST KEY: LUCK

You're probably thinking: ‘Luck… you mean I read all this stuff to arrive at the first big key to success and it's LUCK!’

Sorry guys and gals, but luck is going to play a part in your life whether you like it or not. Hard work is not going to be your unique selling proposition, you simply couldn't work hard enough.

Your big break isn't going to come through more belief in yourself – just watch American Idol and you will see plenty of people with belief, passion and courage who get turned down. Yep, the bad news is that all successful people have been wildly lucky!

The good news is that you were already born lucky. If you are reading this book, you had an education, you have money to buy books, you have time to read.

The other piece of good news is that you can cultivate luck. There are lucky places and unlucky places. There are lucky people to associate with and unlucky people you should avoid.

You might also not even see just how much luck is already showing up for you and has been showing up for you since the moment you were born.

The first key to luck is that you learn to recognise luck. If you can't even see how lucky you are already, you will be blind to any good fortune that shows up in the future.

Here's how I discovered my luck.

I had just finished giving a talk over breakfast to about 100 wealthy Indian business owners at one of the most luxurious hotels in Mumbai, India.

Afterwards, the organiser asked me if I wanted to meet her friend, who ran a school in the slum area of Mumbai, and I enthusiastically accepted the offer not really knowing what I was in store for.

We caught a cab into the heart of the slum area. This wasn't just a few people doing it tough, this was millions of people living on top of each other; each person desperately seeking a better life, each struggling for survival without what I would consider the basics of clean water, electricity and a solid roof to sleep under.

I ventured into the school and met with a class of 40 vibrant students. The tin-shed classroom was a sweltering sauna. Yet the kids were so eager to learn. They scribed out their alphabets with broken chalk on their slate. They listened enthusiastically to their teacher and they graciously accepted me being in their class.

Their clothes were little more than rags, probably thrown out by someone in the West for having a small rip or stain; now they were the only set of clothes these kids had.

As my day of touring ended, I got back into a taxi and headed to my next hotel. My cab crawled along in peak traffic and, with no air conditioning, the sweat rolled down my face. I sat for two hours, staring at scene after scene of poverty.

At one point, the cab passed an aid agency dumping barrels of clean water on the road, and dozens of people swarmed in to fill their drinking containers. One little boy, who must have been barely five years old, pushed a rusty tin can under the stream and gladly drank from it. It broke my heart to watch.

Then, after what seemed like hours in the cab, we rounded a corner to my five-star hotel, where the guards waved us through the gates.

On the other side were beautiful water features. Innumerable gallons of clean, drinkable water flowed from fountains and statues, sprinklers kept the pristine gardens green and a waterfall churned down an artificial rock face into the pools.

Although it was nothing I hadn't seen before, on this day I felt my heart tearing up just looking at it.

Emotional and overheated, I checked into the hotel. The receptionist recognised I was a speaker at the conference and offered me an upgrade. I was ushered to a ‘superior room’ that was about four times the size of the school I'd just been in.

This was all becoming too much. I figured I'd better shower and cool off. As I turned the shower on, four water jets came to life and so did my eyes.

Tears streamed down my face. I had felt so closely connected to the children in the school, so welcomed and so happy to be with them. Now I was set in a scene that would be beyond their wildest dreams.

What's worse is that this wasn't a new scene for me. It was just another five-star hotel, cut and pasted like any other I'd stayed in on my travels.

In that moment, I discovered my luck. For the first time ever my eyes were open to how, every moment of my life, I had been living one of the luckiest lives in the history of humanity.

It suddenly hit me: I have water, education, food, housing and a free mind.

I have film makers spending millions to create entertainment for me on the off chance I might watch it. I have airlines running fleets of planes around the world on the off chance I want to fly. I have farmers preparing their best produce and sending it minutes from my front door.

I live in such a lucky time in history! Never before could people get their questions answered in seconds. Never in history could people communicate their ideas with so many others. Never has there been more finance, more resources, more exciting conversations.

Whichever way I look at it, I'm living a life more extravagant than the royal families throughout the ages. King Louis XIV would sit talking to me with his jaw open in amazement at what I have access to in my day-to-day life.

When all that really hit me I truly got it. ‘I'm so lucky!’

And so are you.

If you can't start with that, you will miss the luck that shows up next. The ability to acknowledge how lucky you already are, and to be grateful for it, allows you to see opportunities more clearly.

THE SECOND KEY: REPUTATION

We are moving into a time when everyone and everything is connected. In the Entrepreneur Revolution your most prized asset is your personal brand and reputation.

When somebody Googles your name, the first page of results is a clear indication of how the world sees you.

Is it clear what you do? Is it clear what you are good at? Can people see a photo or a video of you? Can they find testimonials? This is important stuff.

In a world where the most cutting-edge technology has been designed to leverage your message, you must build a profile and guard your reputation.

We live in a world where your reputation will follow you around for life. One seriously stupid decision will be available for the world to see for a very long time if the story hits the internet.

Losing his reputation cost Tiger Woods over $25m in lost contracts in the short term. The long-term effects of his lost reputation have been north of $100m. It's an extreme example. However, it illustrates a point that's relevant at all levels of business.

On the flip side, a great reputation will pick you up when you're down or even rescue your business. Richard Branson's reputation is so strong, his involvement in failing businesses can turn them around.

He says: ‘Your reputation is all you have in life – your personal reputation and the reputation of your brand. And if you do anything that damages that reputation, you can destroy your company.’

In my first book, Key Person of Influence, I discussed how I witnessed certain people become go-to people in their industry. These people then earned more money, had more fun and attracted more opportunity.

My first book became a best-seller. As a result, I was featured in the media and was offered considerable amounts of money to just turn up and speak at events around the world. Often, I would get paid more money for a 45-minute talk than most people earn in a month.

I've been offered shares in other people's businesses because of my reputation and my profile.

As a result of my reputation and profile, I was approached by a major publisher to write the book you have in your hands.

So, a reputation and a profile are valuable assets that pay regular dividends. People who have a reputation receive inbound opportunities. Their inbox is flooded every day with perfect projects. They don't have to chase constantly for their next pay cheque, the money comes and finds them.

By far your most prized asset must be your reputation. It's an asset that will pay you well in life. Guard it, nurture it, make decisions with your reputation in mind, because great entrepreneurs believe that money comes and goes but your reputation is permanent. Reputation is a powerful multiplier of your luck – people who have a good reputation seem to always have lucky breaks coming their way.

Consider all the people you know who make great money, live exciting lives and have influence and success in abundance. Unless they inherited it, I can guarantee you that they are well known in their field.

Their names come up in conversation, they hear about opportunities first, they earn more and they have more fun doing it – they have made a name for themselves in their industry and the rewards show up in volumes.

If you do the things that impact your reputation in a positive way, you will attract more opportunities. These opportunities create wealth and success.

There are five ways to position yourself as a Key Person of Influence in your field:

• Pitch. Take the time to prepare how you answer the question: ‘What do you do?’ Choose for yourself a ‘micro-niche’ and own that space rather than being another generalist. If you get into a conversation with someone, you must engage their imagination, be memorable, credible, clear and believable. People who have made a name for themselves are very clear on how they add value and they can explain it to others.
• Publish. Write down your key ideas, create articles, blogs and even a book about what you do. With few exceptions, it's nearly impossible to make a name for yourself if you aren't publishing your ideas somewhere.
• Products. You will get known by the products you create or associate yourself with. Make sure you only align with products and services that are an authentic expression of who you are and you feel proud to be associated with.
• Profile. Raise your profile online and in the media. Make sure you dominate the front page of Google when someone searches for you. Get featured in the press and post it online. If search engines like Google can't find you, your reputation is in serious trouble.
• Partnerships. You don't have enough time in the day to do everything yourself. If you put your time into creating a brilliant product, partner with someone who has wide-reaching distribution. If you have a great brand, partner with someone who has highly developed products. Network, connect and partner with the key people in your industry.

Never has there been a better time in history to make a name for yourself. New technology and the widespread sharing of resources make it easier than ever to do all five of the steps listed above.

There is no need to look for some special secret to wealth. The secret is: you are already standing on a mountain of value but you need to let the world know about it. After you've made a name for yourself, expect to see more opportunity, more fun, more inbound enquiries and even a lot more money.

If you put more focus into building your reputation, enhancing your brand and making a name for yourself in your industry, you'll always have a valuable asset.

It can take 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.

Warren Buffet

THE THIRD KEY: VITALITY

Coming from a space of vitality rather than functionality is a characteristic at the heart of every great leader, adventurer, author, actor or entrepreneur.

Functionality is defined as performing a set of tasks or processes efficiently. It's a given that you need to be proficient at what you do. However, alone it won't get you closer to success in the Entrepreneur Revolution.

There are two literal definitions of the word ‘vital’ – the first is ‘irreplaceable’ and the second is ‘life force’.

Money, wealth, power and influence move towards people who are the ‘irreplaceable life force’ in their domain.

The people who aren't easy to get rid of, the ones who can't be forgotten; these are the people who truly make it.

There are countless books and seminars available today that focus on automating and systemising what you do. They tell you to avoid putting your personality into your business because you will get stuck in that business. They say you shouldn't get too known in your field or else people will want to deal with you personally. They say you should build the business so it doesn't need you.

I don't agree with this approach in its entirety.

I agree that you should not be doing functional tasks that could be automated or systemised. However, I believe the purpose of getting these tasks taken care of is so you can become even more vital to your business.

Your goal is to move to higher and greater levels of irreplaceability.

People who are functional end up being replaced; people who are vital end up with ownership. They stay true to their centre and they own their space. Often, this results in them owning their marketplace, their business and their niche too.

Vital people have a sense of curiosity, a spark, a contagious energy and a genuine desire to serve at a new, higher standard.

Recently, I watched a documentary about the legendary hair stylist Vidal Sassoon. Everyone he met described him as a true artist. He cared about hair; he wasn't satisfied unless he gave it his all.

He studied architecture for inspiration. He danced around the person in the chair as he styled them. You could never tell him the haircut you wanted. Instead, he would study your face and tell you what haircut he would do for you.

Vidal Sassoon became a very, very rich man. He didn't try to retire from hairdressing, he tried to find ways to impact even more people and to get into it deeper than anyone else. He was vital.

My friend Cathy Burke served as the CEO of the Hunger Project Australia. She brought so much life to that organisation that people couldn't help but get involved. Under her commitment it grew from annual revenues of a few hundred thousand dollars into millions; and it's still climbing. She put in place lots of systems and best practices, but only for one reason – so all the boring stuff is taken care of and her team can spend more time and energy being engaged with the cause. Cathy wrote a powerful book, Unlikely Leaders, which shared stories of resourcefulness and leadership that she witnessed in villages around the world. This book and her talks attracted a dynamic leadership team to the Hunger Project, and Cathy realised she could step out of the CEO role to have even more impact across a portfolio of projects that are changing the world.

Great entrepreneurs don't use systems, technology and best practices to get out of their business. They use them to get in deeper.

Vital people don't dream of retiring some day. In fact, they think about ways that they can keep doing more of what they love for as long as possible.

Rupert Murdoch is a billionaire and he is in his 80s; he hasn't retired yet. Warren Buffet is the second richest guy in the world; he's also in his 80s and he hasn't retired either.

I could make a list of almost every billionaire in the world who is in ‘retirement age’ and almost every single one of them still shows up to work!

But, of course, it isn't work. When it feels like work you want to retire, you want to knock off early, you need other hobbies to keep you sane and you are dreaming of going on holidays.

What you are actually dreaming of is being in a space of vitality. You are dreaming of what it would be like to wake up excited about what the day could offer you and doing things that make you feel even more invigorated than when you started. You yearn to be the life force.

Well, here is the amazingly good news. You live in a world where you have vast options and can do almost anything your heart desires!

You can create things, you can be a public speaker, you can trade things, you can invent things, you can bring people together; and any of that stuff could make you wealthy and fulfil your dreams.

Before you read on, do you agree or not? Every day, isn't the world showing you fresh new examples of people who are fully embracing life and making millions?

Are you seeing examples of people who hate their boring, replaceable life but at least they get paid fortunes? I'm not. I only see people who are leaning into their lives and getting the real rewards.

The truth about retirement is that you will spend your days reminiscing about the days when you were most engaged in life's meaningful work, or you will wish you had been.

Talk to any elderly person and they will tell you to quit trying to do something you hate for the money. They will tell you to go out and do something that inspires you while you still have time to do something great.

If you were in a vital space when you were creating your income, wouldn't you certainly make more income? People would notice you more and want to do business with you more. It's time to give up on the dream of ‘passive income’, ‘easy wins’ and a ‘comfortable retirement’. It's time to say: ‘I will only do things I never want to retire from and I will do these things in a way that adds value to others and provides tangible rewards.’

Wealth flows to vital people, not functional people. Wealth flows to people who build a reputation and a profile. Wealth flows to people who acknowledge their luck and go out to create more of it.

When you are ready for the next steps to becoming more vital, known and lucky, please turn the page. We're about to turn your passion into a meaningful, profitable empire that helps other people.