Even though we have probably never have met, I don’t know anything about your life and I don’t spend all day staring into crystal balls whilst cackling manically, I still know.

And the reason I know what it is for you, is because it’s the same thing for everybody. It doesn’t matter what your upbringing was like, what nationality you are, how old you are, whether you are gay or straight, religious or atheist, democrat or republican, Coke or Pepsi, I still know.

There can only ever be one thing in your way if you think about it.

What do you think it is?

Now knowing your values maybe? How about lacking commitment? Not being lucky enough? Being too lazy? Having a terrible job that you just can’t leave because you need the money?

Of course it’s none of those things as I am sure you well know even though they all play their part to a greater or lesser extent.

The real reason you’re not as successful as you'd like to be is purely and simply because of your belief system.

I’m not totally sure which specific belief it is that stops you hitting the heights you'd like to achieve, but I do know for certain there is one lurking in the background, or in the some cases stomping around strutting its stuff in the foreground.

It maybe the belief that it’s simply not possible for somebody like you to be Rich and Happy or you don’t deserve it, or even that it’s too late in life to achieve your dreams. Or it could be you don't think your smart enough or brave enough or good looking enough?

You may not even know what it is, it may be squirreled away in a secret corner sabotaging your attempts to be successful in a multitude of ingenious ways.

Worse still, it will probably be in disguise. Shocking though it may seem, when you stop to question the little fella, he may even vehemently deny being a limiting belief.

He’ll sound incredibly plausible and have all the relevant paperwork documenting that he’s a ‘Fact’ and not a belief, but don’t trust him, he’s lying. He’s lying to you now, like he has always lied to you. He doesn’t even know how to tell the truth. In fact he can’t even remember what the truth sounds, looks or feels like.

Now before you take a baseball bat to him and bludgeon him into oblivion, let’s take a deep breath and a step back for a moment.

Consider this. Although he’s holding you back and stopping you living the life of your dreams, he’s not doing it because he hates you. In fact, it’s just the opposite. He’s doing it because he really, really loves you.

He’s there to protect you. He thinks if he convinces you to play things safe you’ll never be disappointed. After all, how can anybody be disappointed about not achieving something they never attempted in the first place?

You seldom hear people say, “Wow I’m so disappointed I didn’t get that job I never applied for” or “What a bummer I didn’t win that competition I never entered”

Those kinds of regrets are usually stored up until much later in life when it really is too late.

So how about you say thanks to him or her? How about you put your arm round his shoulder and tell him how appreciative you are? It's not him we want to attack, it's the belief itself.

Remember he is part of you and you can’t win an argument with yourself because part of you has to lose. This is a time for compromise, this is a time to talk things through and look for alternate ways to reach your dreams. So right here and right now, thank yourself. I'm serious, just say 'thanks' because you are doing the best you can.

A huge part of the Rich and Happy formula is to understand your beliefs are not facts. It is possibly THE biggest difference between Rich and Happy people and the rest of the population.

Successful people don’t adopt hand me down beliefs just because they can. They analyze each belief to see if it helps them. If it doesn’t they discard it and get a better one.

During the late 1950’s when the PGA wasn’t quite the force it is today, many golfers would room together at tournaments to save on cash. At the time the great South African golfer, Gary Player fell into the bracket of those sharing a room.

One day after a tournament in the north of the country in which he was doing really well, Player walked into his room and announced to his roomie “I absolutely love this northern Bent grass, it’s my favorite to putt on” His friend muttered something about not caring for it and Player went on to win the competition.

Two weeks later and the guys were playing in Florida and Player was once again performing well. After the third day with Player near the top of the leader board he strolled into his room and confidently announced “I absolutely love this Bermuda Grass, it’s my favorite to putt on”

“Wait a minute” said his friend “You can’t have it both ways, you said a while ago you preferred bentgrass”

“I can have it any way I want it” said Player, “I decide what I want to believe”

There are a great many people that would have thought he was being ridiculous and unrealistic. Unfortunately, we don’t know their names because they never hit the heights Player did because they were too busy clinging on to and defending their version of reality.

Make no mistake, that is what your beliefs are, your VERSION of reality, they're not reality itself.

YOU decide what you believe in and what is possible for you and you have two choices. You can let your belief system build by default, like the majority of people, or you can craft and design your beliefs to support you, a bit like Rich and Happy people do.

The Rich and Happy manual takes you through the process of how you do this, but you have to really want to take control and you have to put a bit of effort in. Neither myself, John nor anybody else can do this for you, only you can do this.

As  Johnny B Truant so brilliantly put it in this review of the book:

"You wouldn’t buy a book called How to Make a Pie, read it, declare, “That was interesting,” set it aside, and then get all mad the next morning when no pie appeared on your window sill. Most people understand that if you want pie, YOU HAVE TO ACTUALLY BAKE THE ####### PIE."

So what are you waiting for? It's time to get baking.