Principle number one for becoming a successful  person is “You must become a strong person in order to become a successful person”. Yesterday I identified a cluster of five character traits that strong people have, diligence, endurance, faithfulness, self-control, and toughness. The obvious question is, where do you get those? They are not a prize in a cereal box or something you can order from Amazon or eBay. Many think we are born with them, that is, they are in our genes. Many do get them from their parents, but it is the quality of the training that they receive growing up from their parents that gives them positive character traits. Patty and I targeted certain character traits when we raised our 8 kids and the one at the top was that our kids would be strong. So if I am 68 years old and sitting in my recliner reading this blog and I come to the conclusion that I am a wimp, what can I do to change that? Principle number two is “those whom God blesses will be successful, those who He does not bless will not be successful”. A major component of God’s blessing is His strength and also the fact that things turn out well most of the time when God blesses. Who does God choose to bless? Is it arbitrary? An unknowable mystery? The fact is that God has set conditions that if we meet them He will bless us. So we have this balance in our walk with God, “Apart from Him we can do nothing, but He will do nothing if we don’t do what He says.” It is like walking a tight rope between two skyscrapers, get out of balance and down you go.