The famous age-old question is: “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” As you know, the answer is “practice.” Well, the same answer holds for anything whether it is playing the piano in front of thousands, selling a copy machine to a business prospect, or amicably resolving conflicts in a relationship. You must practice.

Of course, you already know this. In fact, everyone knows that you must practice in order to be successful. However, very few people realize that you must also practice success. In other words, it’s not enough to merely practice the skills that will make you successful, but you must also practice being successful in and of itself.

Now, you may be thinking, “Why do I have to practice being successful? Won’t that take care of itself?” Sadly, the answer is “No.” Take it from me. There’s more to success than just being able to slam dunk a basketball, run a company, or get elected to high office. You must also learn to be the kind of person who can handle the pressures and responsibilities that come with success.

I learned this lesson the hard way. As you may know, I was “successful” very early in life. Before the age of 30, I had amassed a very considerable fortune. In just a few years, I had acquired everything a person could ever need, except the maturity, integrity and discipline required to handle my success. As a result, within an equally short time, I found myself amassing all of the troubles that anyone could ever want to avoid.

In the end, I had three long years to think about where I went wrong. And the answer is that I never practiced success. I didn’t take the time to plan in advance how I would handle the money and the notoriety that came with success.

My hope is that you learn from my mistake. Many of you are the cusp of massive success. All of your hard work is about to pay off in ways that you can’t imagine. You are going to have more money, success, acclaim, privilege, power and status than you’ve dreamed possible. That’s why I implore you to take some time to practice for your new success.

How do you practice success? It’s simple. Just start acting like the successful person that you will soon become. For example, if you imagine that you will be a consistent and systematic investor when you have the money, then start practicing with the money you have now. Likewise, if you imagine that you will be a generous giver when you are rich, then start practicing by giving what you can now. After all, if you can’t keep your finances in order when the numbers are small, you won’t stand a chance when the numbers start to grow.

And you don’t need to just practice with money. You need to practice in all areas of your life – your family life, your spiritual life and your health. If you want to maintain good relationships with your family after the success arrives, then you must practice setting aside time for them now. Think about it. If you can’t make time for your family now, you’ll never be able to make the time when you become a “big shot” and everyone wants a piece of you. In the same way, you have to make taking care of yourself a priority now. If you don’t have the time to exercise and eat right now, you’ll never have the time.

Most importantly, you have to practice being true to your spiritual values. Trust me on this one. Success will bring you into contact with many different temptations. That’s why it’s essential that you set firm limits as to what you will and will not do. And, obviously, the time to set those boundaries is now. You can’t wait until you get into the situation to decide (at least, if you want to be assured of making the right decision). Therefore, you must practice doing the right thing now; even in small matters.

If you’re the kind of person whose willing to take tiny short cuts to your goal, heaven help you when the success comes, because there will be many people offering to show you big short cuts. I know this from first hand experience.

Therefore, learn from my mistakes and practice being successful before the success happens. Practice in this area will be the difference between merely have a good one or two years and having a good life.