THE late US motivational speaker Earl Nightingale spent years travelling the world, looking for the secret to success, and when he found it he summed it up in six words: We become what we think about.

Here are some other thoughts of his: 

*  People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going.

* Picture yourself in your mind’s eye as having already achieved this goal.

* See yourself doing the things you’ll be doing. Then you’ve reached your goal.

* The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea, buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us along the path to its fulfilment.

I am in the south west of France at the moment (remember a few weeks ago I told you to take a holiday).

I’m in a place called Brizambourg, and have just spent the afternoon talking to the woman who owns the gîte we are staying in.

Her story is an interesting one, and inspiring too. She and her husband bought an old farmhouse and turned it into four beautiful cottages.

They sold their threebedroom detached home in Norfolk, took the money, closed their eyes and jumped. Why?

Because they had a dream. And they turned this dream into a goal. Sara and Darren thought about what they wanted, and made it happen.

So what does their life look like now they live in France and not Norfolk?

Their two children, aged eight and five, speak two languages, play in a swimming pool all day in the summer and make new friends every week when new families arrive.

Darren was a carpenter when he was in the UK. He is now a builder, and he learned how to be one while renovating the farmhouse.

Sara looks after the day to day running of the gîtes and is on hand to talk to us if we need her. She is healthy, happy and has an amazing house and life.

The reason I am telling you this story is because this couple turned a dream into a goal, and then took action. Make a list of what you need to achieve the dream and your goals.

People with goals succeed because they know where they are going.

Where are you going, and what do you think about?