We have all heard stories about successful people who managed to achieve success even though they started from scratch. While the fields that those people succeeded in were so different, there was a common thread between them all. Successful people have a mentality and set of beliefs that guide every decision they make and every action they take.

A solid belief system can take you a long way. Success has its own belief system and when you can master such a system, there is very little that can stop the inevitable: Great achievements.

Take a look at these eight beliefs that can take your success to greater heights:

Belief #1: Everything happens for a reason. Most successful people believe that there is a purpose behind every event or situation. Thus, they make lemonade out of a lemon. Instead of beating yourself down if something does not go your way, focus on the good that can come out of it. Sometimes things don’t go as planned, but knowing that everything happens for a reason can help you carve a new path toward new goals and new successes.

Belief #2: Failure does not exist. There are only learning experiences. Once you submerge yourself into a culture that does not see failure, but only experiences and results, you take away an enormous chunk of negative energy out of your life. If you want to achieve highly successful outcomes, you need to alter your view of failures into something constructive that keeps you going until you get the results you desire.

Belief #3: Take full responsibility. It’s very easy to play the blame game whenever a difficult situation arises, but the true leaders are the ones that will take full responsibility, whether it’s positive or negative. You may be tempted to deflect blame onto others, but there is something empowering about accepting responsibility. It shows maturity, as well as a coherent belief system. It’s a symbol of personal power, which is necessary to become highly successful.

Belief #4: You don’t need to know everything. You may notice that most successful people are well versed in many different subjects, but do not have full mastery of them. They know what’s essential without getting into all the minute details of it all. Successful people aren’t the most knowledgeable people, but they can see the big picture. For example, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs may not have been the most skilled programmers or computer engineers, but they were both effective as gifted visionaries and aggressive competitors.

Belief #5: Your biggest resource is your people. You should know that you cannot climb the ladder of success all alone. The ones that climb further and higher than the rest are the ones that treat their people the best. A sense of team unity and respect is totally necessary in order to create the proper culture from which you can harvest adequate success. When you have a successful team working together, success comes easier. Care for those relationships because the more positive and enlightening they are, the further along you will get.

Belief #6: Work should be play. Do you know anyone that’s ever succeeded doing something they absolutely hate? Me neither! An important key to success is combining what you do with what you love. We all do our best to find work that invigorates us and makes us excited. Sometimes that just doesn’t happen. So, we can bring about at work many of the aspects of what we love to do. You have to make “your vocation your vacation” as Mark Twain so eloquently said. If you view work as nothing more than a way to make money, then it will be nothing more than that. It needs to spark your creativity, make you smile, and inspire you.

Belief #7: There is no success without commitment. Some people are dreamers. They keep talking about their big plans without ever starting on any of them. Successful people are doers and they hardly procrastinate. To achieve great things, you need a great commitment. A great example that comes to mind is Wayne Gretzky. He was never the biggest or fastest player with the most powerful shot. However, he was the most committed who practiced hardest and wanted success the most. That is why he became the greatest hockey player the sport has ever seen. Success comes with a price.

Belief #8: Never give up. When you read about the success stories of successful people, you will find that most of them didn’t succeed before lots of failed attempts. All successful people believe in themselves and that’s why they keep trying even though they fail. Thomas Edison failed 999 times before he managed to invent the light bulb! The founder of KFC traveled to four different states trying to sell his secret recipe, which was rejected hundreds of times before he managed to find someone to accept it.

So, how can we become successful? In simple words, change our belief system so that it reflects the tested belief systems of successful people. Making these mind-set changes can make all the difference in developing the habits that will ensure our own successful future.

Brad Larsen is a life coach and corporate consultant from Northern Utah. He can be reached at bradlarsen@dailymasterpieces.com.