I recently heard a story about a man called Bob who worked for a company but was known to be extremely lazy. Despite this, whenever a new project came up that needed to be systemized, his employer would give him the project to do. One day, Bob plucked up the courage to ask why he was assigned all the new projects. His employer smiled and said to him,

"Bob, it's because I know that you'll find the simplest, fastest and most effective way to do it and in that way I can develop a successful system for doing such tasks in the future."

Usually, you hear that you should build your strengths and manage your weaknesses but, if you're strategic, you can turn your weaknesses to your advantage. In this case, Bob's employer was astute enough to recognise that Bob's laziness actually made him very efficient at what he did. It also made him a master at using his time effectively. He found ways to do tasks quickly so that he could spend more time doing what he enjoyed.

Another person who has turned his laziness to his advantage is author, publisher and small business expert, Marc Allen. He has a fascinating life story which I won't go into detail here but, when he turned 30, he took a long, hard look at his life. It had been fun and enriching without making him wealthy. So he visualised what his ideal life would look like. He realised that he wanted to write books and music, start a company that would publish his material successfully and, most important of all, he wanted to achieve his goals in an easy and relaxed manner and in a healthy and positive way.

One of the authors that really inspired Marc Allen was James Allen who wrote in his book "As a Man Thinketh" that:

"You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration."

Marc's vision consumed his imagination and he went from being a penniless, California dreamer to becoming a multi-millionaire through his publishing empire.

However, Marc is not one of those entrepreneurs who works long hours. His style is much more laid back and relaxed. He epitomises what financial freedom can do for you. He works when he chooses, is seldom in his office before noon and spends ample time with his family and doing activities that he loves. He became a multi-millionaire doing things his way.

One of the reasons his publishing company is so successful is because he is adept at presenting material in different formats, for different niches so that anyone will find the material to be accessible and practical.

But here's the thing. When Marc started out he knew nothing about the publishing business but remember the book "As a Man Thinketh"? Well, he decided to republish this rare book and this act became one of the corner stones of his multi-million publishing empire though he did not know it would become so at the time.

There are several lessons to be learnt here including:

1. You don't need to know how you're going to achieve your goal

You just need to identify what it is you want and then start taking steps towards achieving that goal. In particular, when you have an inspired thought or a gut instinct to do something - TAKE ACTION!

2. You become what you think about

What are your most dominant thoughts? Are they positive? Are they moving you in the direction of your goals or are they debilitating you? You can either learn to master your thoughts or you can allow your thoughts to master you. Your thoughts are powerful. Learn how to be empowered by your thoughts if you want to achieve MASSIVE SUCCESS.

3. Success can be achieved in a healthy and positive way.

Many people achieve a measure of success but in a manner that is not balanced. This is not true success and the cost is often way too high. Heath and family relationships are often casualties. Evaluate your lifestyle so that you can achieve success in all areas of your life and have fun while doing so.

4. Your weaknesses can be hidden strengths

Objectively examine your weaknesses and see how they might be used to your advantage. For instance, being lazy can result in you finding easy ways to complete tasks thereby increasing your efficiency. Alternatively, it can help you to find ways of generating sufficient income so that you can pay someone else to do the things you don't enjoy doing. Now isn't that everyone's ideal lifestyle?