If you have been following this series on How to make a Million Dollars, you will have come across Step One as being passion and Step Two as hard work. And at the time I wrote those I could not decide which one should be number one as they are both equally important. Hard work with no passion, and passion with no hard work is not going to get you that coveted Million Dollars into your bank account.

What then is Step Three. For me Step Three is perseverance. There are many examples of passion, hard work and perseverance and one of my favourites is the story of Michelangelo and the painting of the Sistine Chapel which took four years of back breaking labour. Imagine lying on your back on a wobbly scaffold with hot candle wax dripping on you intermittently while you are painting. The result is of course extraordinary. And I saw it before it was cleaned up!

A further example of people manifesting passion, hard work and perseverance is for instance Lance Armstrong, the cyclist. What a come-back from cancer, to go on to win the Tour de France seven times. Oprah Winfrey is another who took a fair time to put together her passion, hard work and perseverance. She started her broadcasting career ten years before she finally had her own show The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1986. And she has become a legend since then. What about Ronald Reagan who persevered after loosing the presidential race in 1976, and ended up becoming a much loved and successful president of the States, winning re-election.

Then there is the story of Steve Jobs and Apple Computers. He and his partner Woz started Apple in Steve's parent's garage when he was 20 years old. They worked hard and it took 10 years for them to start becoming successful, and then he got fired at 30 from the company which he had started. It took a while for him to recover from that set back, but then he started Pixar, and most of us know the wonderful movies such as Toy Story that production studio has produced since then. Then he started NeXT which ironically was bought by Apple, and Steve Jobs ended up back at the helm of his old company. That is called passion, hard work and perseverance.

I'm sure you have a success story to tell, that you have experienced or observed. And these three components are present each time. Passion for the subject whether it's computers, stamp collection, answering the phone or making cookies. A huge amount of hard work to make the computer company, stamp collector, receptionist or baker get off the ground and make it and perseverance to steer that enterprise through its hard times, set-backs, mistakes and achievements.

You have patiently read this far. And how do you feel now? Do you think you are still with the program? Can you see yourself making that first million dollar? That is always the hardest to do. Additional million dollars tend to follow a lot easier. Most of us have all the enthusiasm in the world to get going immediately on the task we set ourselves. But we tend not to get too far because old habits stop us from moving from our very comfortable, but unsuccessful path. You need help. So get it from http://www.anjamerret.blogspot.com. All of the above makes sense, doesn't it? And you have known this all along, but you have laboured on in your own little way not wanting to leave and take the plunge. With help you can do it. Help is only a click away.

Anja Merret lives in Brighton, UK. She has recently started a blog and writes on issues that interest her from self-improvement, wealth generation, motivational thinking and anything else that amuses her. You are invited to follow her journey on http://www.anjamerret.com And for inspiration and help find it at http://www.anjamerret.blogspot.com

She now looks after the business interests of her daughter who is a Flash and Accessibility expert at http://www.niquimerret.com