When you see someone who’s fantastic at what they do, you just can’t ignore them.

They operate at what is commonly called “highest level.” Their every thought, action, and word is in reach of mastery.

But, as contrary to what most people believe, especially those who dedicate their lives to just watching mastery on a TV screen all day long, the desire for greatness resides in all of us. We all have this innate desire to work hard in order to become great at what we do.

Unfortunately, most people give up on this feeling in order to watch someone else be that good. That’s why we watch sports, or movies, or those auditions on Whatever Country’s Got Talent.

We want to be reminded that some people can hold the world on their shoulders, but we don’t want to hold the damn thing ourselves.

As I often say, everybody wants to eat, but few are willing to hunt.

Well…. today I am going to share with you four rules of success that the successful among us rarely share, four rules that are going to help you on your quest for mastery and greatness.

1. You have to use rock-bottom to your advantage.

“I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”

J.K. Rowling

September 2012. I was becoming more and more popular as a blogger, but I had yet to earn any money.

Everyone told me that I should give up on my little blog and do something with my life: I was unemployed, single, broke, and sick.

I remember this one time that my mother threw me some money on the floor… she was this disappointed in me.

I had hit rock-bottom. That was the moment. There were more naysayers and haters around me than ever before. There were a lot of folks who’d belittle my ambitions on a daily basis.

I swore that I’d never, ever be in that situation again. That I’d work 15-16 hours a day, so I could prove everyone wrong.

Two months later I was earning about $100 per day from my blog.

You see, successful people tend to romanticize rock-bottom, and in a sense, they’re right. It was the place that set them free. It was everyone telling them they couldn’t do something that motivated them.

Most people? When they’re told they can’t do something, they whine and quit.

Not the successful among us. No.

Having a massive chip on your shoulder ensures that you do not give up, no matter what.

Usually, society expects very little of you. Of course, they all want you to be who they want you to be. Your family, friends, colleagues, all of them don’t want you to be more than they are, because once someone shows you that the world can be held upon one’s shoulders, someone you grew up with or joked around with, it acts as a spotlight for your own insecurities and laziness. And nobody wants that.

People will tell you, over and over again, that you can’t do something. And you must prove them wrong. Every single day.

Prove them wrong.

They say massive success is the best revenge. And having a chip on your shoulder can act as fuel for that fire within you. Right or wrong, feelings of anger and frustration have always motivated me to do more.

Remember that one time that my mother threw me some money on the floor, and I had to pick it up so I could eat that day? She forgot all about it. I didn’t.