I HATE to burst your bubble but there’s no real secret to success. There is no stairway to heaven, no magic carpet ride to castles in the sky. Yet hoards of people are in search of some quick fix New Age secret. Enduring lives of quiet desperation, these people will latch onto anything and everything they think can release them from hard truth and harm’s way; hoping this magical thing (wooo... ooooo) will catapult them to life above and beyond. I don’t care to add to the illusion and cause of disillusionment of that kind of shallow thinking. I’m sorry but we can’t think ourselves rich or thin or healthy. Success in anything has one fundamental aspect — effort. Many attend workshop after workshop. Like in trance, they mouth cliches from various gurus. So, hypnotised by slogans and jargon, their analytical mind fails to question, “How exactly will this work?” That’s just it. They expect “it” to do the work. Few actually consider how they must work — to succeed.
I always ask, when the excitement dies down, what measure of value would you have gained, what would you now do differently, that if you did it consistently and repeatedly, would bring you the life you so desire? Sure — you can learn new things at any time in your life if you’re willing to be a beginner. If you learn to like being a beginner, the whole world opens up to you. Okay but when were you planning to achieve excellence and mastery? Aren’t you interested in going for gold? Ahh... so the dabbler’s real purpose is to wallow in mediocrity! That’s why so few persevere. They give up at the slightest challenge. These are the dreamers, great thinkers, and philosophers among us. Rather than to commit and do, they compare and complain... and miss that fast track to the finish line. Think of Olympic athletes — they focus and practice... and practice... and practice. And they achieve results beyond our wildest imagination. If you think you have to make huge changes and expend a ton of extra energy to achieve bigger and better results, consider this. At 99oC, water is very hot. At 100oC, it boils. With boiling water comes steam. And with steam, you can power a train. The key learning is this: Small things can make tremendous differences. Don’t quit.
Add a few hours each month to your self-development and you will have invested the equivalent of a full work-week in your most valuable asset — YOU. Make an extra contact each day. Follow-up with one customer, call a prospect, have an encouraging talk with a member of your team. With contact comes opportunity. In one year you’ll have opened more than 300 doors of possibility.
Eliminate half an hour of watching television each day and you’ll gain 182.5 hours (equivalent to four and a half weeks) each year to use elsewhere. Where else can you give a little more effort? What small changes can you make that will benefit you if done repeatedly and consistently? What can you do... what will you do... to enjoy the rewards that come from “turning up the heat” one extra degree? Find those opportunities — and seize them! Happy as you are? Think it’s not worth the trouble? There’s no hope anyway? Be careful, a chip on the shoulder is too heavy a piece of baggage to carry through life. Remember, the intention is to live our best life. We may not get perfect but we can get better. I’ve decided: Whatever is in my power to do, I will do. What about you? Winston Churchill said: “There comes a special moment in everyone’s life, a moment for which that person is born. That special opportunity, when he seizes it, will fulfill his mission — a mission for which he is uniquely qualified. In that moment, he finds greatness. It is his finest hour.” Just as I am powerful, I want to empower you to a life of courage, confidence, and freedom. I want to inspire the discovery of your personal definition of success so that you find your unique mission in the world. How wonderful life would be if we were all reconnected — through our greatness. This would mean we would have found our fulfillment, our reason for being.
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