I have been asked when the next installment is coming. Since they go hand in hand I decided to list the topics that will be part of the blog series, which happen to match up to the FActors for Success that I test for in The Benefactor in coming weeks.
1. Time is more valuable than money
You have to learn how to use time wWorisely and be productive. how wisely you use your time will have far more impact on your life and success than any amount of money
2. Random Acts of Kindness
Being successful entails being able to not only get along with people, but also give something back. No one gets to the top on their own, and I believe we all should be able to make those around us smile
3. No Balls , No Babies
This is something a blackjack dealer once told me when I asked him if i should hit or stick. It is also my favorite line and probably the thing i tell myself the most. Once you are prepared, and you think you have every angle of preperation covered. then you have to go for it. No balls, no babies.
4. Work Hard Play Hard
I went 7 years without a vacation, but I sure managed to have fun. YOu have to find ways to blow off steam so you dont blow a gasket.
5. Fear Failure
You can use fear and failure as a roadblock or as motivation. There is always going to be someone who is competing with you, and they are going to win sometimes. Rather than not doing something for fear of losing, take on the challenge and if you fail, get back up and go for it again. I have been fired from more jobs than most people have had ! In the search for success, you can fail any number of times, but you only have to get it right one time.
6. Expect the unexpected, and always be ready
You dont wake up in the morning with someone telling you that “everyone is going to be selling lemonade” so whoever sells the most wins. Its the exact opposite. You never know when an opportunity will open or close. YOu have to realize this and always know that the game is on. Whatever your are striving to acheive isnt waiting in one static place fo you to find it. Its the opposite. Everyone has inside of them what it takes to be successful. You just have to be ready to unleash it when the opportunity presents itself.
7. Its ok to yell and be yelled at.
One of the rules I have is that I dont mind if people raise their voice and even yell a little bit. At MicroSolutions, my partner and I martin would have some knockdown dragouts. They were always short bursts. They didnt happen alot. When they did, I knew, and he knew that this was an issue we were passionate about.
As my businesses grew, it happened less often because people deferred to me more often. I hated that. If someone believed strongly enough in something and I was being passionate about something, I wanted them to match my level of passion if they felt that strongly about it.
SO i told people that if they thought it was the only way to get through to me, to go for it. This may not work for you in corporate America, but anyone in a family business, or in a private business of any size with a partner or two, knows exactly what I am talking about !
8. EVeryone gets down, the key is how soon you get back up.
I cant count how many times I have gotten up in the morning dreading the day. I wasnt motivated, I was tired. I just wanted to crawl back in bed. Othertimes, I had lost a deal, we had lost a game, something wasnt working. I just wanted to crawl under a rock and disappear.
EVERYONE goes through those moments. The key is how you fight through them. Knowing that everyone has those days, the people who truly will be successful are those that fight through the quickest and come back stronger and smarter
9. Its not if the glass is half empty, or half full, its who is pouring the water.
This is one of my favorites. They key in business and success at any endeavor is doing your best to control your destiny. You cant always do it, but you have to take every opportunity you can to be as prepared and ahead of the competition as you possibly can be. Take the lead, and you can control your own destiny
10. Its not in the dreaming, its in the doing.
Everyone has it in them to be successful. EVERYONE. Most people only dream about what they do if they were successful, or how they might get there. Anyone can dream. Anyone and everyone does have ideas about how they might be successful. It doesnt matter if your definition of success is being a great parent, being an athlete, a businessperson, whatever.
When I catch myself daydreaming about how Im going to do this or that, I always try to wake up and ask myself just how Im going to get from where I am, to where I want to be. What EXACTLY is it going to take to do it, rather than dream about it.
These are some of the things I use to guide myself in different situations. Maybe they apply to your situation, maybe they dont, thats up to you to decide. They are also the foundation for many of the tests and challenges , and the spirit of what I tried to do in The Benefactor
