Anyone in good health and of reasonable intelligence, provided they utterly commit themselves to the journey, can succeed on the narrow road. The commitment is vital.

Tunnel vision helps. Being a bit of shit helps. A thick skin helps. Stamina is crucial, as is the capacity to work so hard that your best friends mock you, your lovers despair, and your rivals and acquaintances watch furtively from the sidelines, half in awe and a half in contempt.

Self-confidence helps but can be simulated or acquired along the way. Tenacity is an absolute requirement. Luck helps - but only if you do not waste time seeking it. The belief that you have a great idea is not worth a cuckoo-spit. Thoughts are ten pence while the ability to execute counts for a great deal more.

The answer to "Who is likely to succeed?", perhaps then, is this: not those who want to and not those who need to or those who deserve to, but those who utterly determined to, whatever the cost to themselves and those around them.

The Rules of Life by Richard Templar