Do you know what one of the key secrets of success is - what makes people successful in business, sport or any other aspect of their lives? Let me come back to that in a minute.

Ever since I discovered that I wasn't invincible and that my body would fall apart over time, I've been a member of a gym. I've attended regularly over the past fifteen years and my body deterioration is almost being kept in check.

However I've always noticed a lot of new faces at the gym, some of which seem to disappear over a short period of time. Most gyms and health clubs have a high turnover of members or "churn" as the marketing people like to call it. One club I know of loses around fifty members a month and has to work hard to sign up that number just for the business to stand still.

It's not that these gyms offer a poor service, on the contrary - it's because the members - "give up."

New members join to lose weight or to get fit. They then torture themselves on the rowing machines and all the other instruments of agony. If, after a few weeks of sweat and pain, they don't see any visible result - they give up.

You're probably away ahead of me on this; because the key secret of success that I mentioned earlier is this - NEVER EVER GIVE UP. This is what separates the winners from the losers in business, in sport and in life - this is what success is all about.

If you have a mountain to climb either literally or figuratively and you reach an obstacle - don't give up. Find another way round - even go back a short distance and come at the situation from another direction.

Whatever it is you're trying to achieve, whatever success you want - never give up! Make mistakes - fall down - get up - fall down - but get up and try again.

So there you have it - If you want success remember what Winston Churchill once said - "Never - Never - Never give up!"