Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals. Success isn’t complicated. But like financially illiterate individuals can’t understand how to become wealthy, or health-illiterate individuals can’t understand how to lose weight, success can look impossible to achieve.

But success — true, lasting success — is within your grasp. It is possible. It is available, to every person, at this moment.

Most people say that their biggest desire is to achieve success in their careers and personal lives. But, what is success? Do you really know what it means? The definition of success is not a fixed one. It changes according to each person’s perspective. That’s why it is up to each one of us to define the concept of a successful professional, and individual, to make the necessary effort to reach these objectives.

Whatever your idea of success, know from the start that it is not possible to achieve it without hard work.

With that in mind, we researched what foremost authors, inventors, and entrepreneurs consider success to be.