In order for your life not to feel like “work”—or like you're running on a hamster wheel—you must think in terms of the right volumes. Omnipresence—the goal of being everywhere at all times and at the same time—is exactly the kind of massive thinking that is missing from most people's expectations of themselves and their dreams.
You must first make a vow to have your brand, idea, concept, company, product, or service make a footprint on the planet. To do so, you have to get involved with your community, school system, neighborhood, and local politics. You have to attend and be seen at events, write in the local paper, and get connected to the players in your community. Once involved do everything possible to stay active, have people see you, read you, hear you, and think about you. Say yes to every opportunity to get your word out. Write about it, talk about it, give lectures on what you do, and even bark on the street corners if you have to. Commit to omnipresence!
I didn't learn this incredibly important lesson myself until I was under major attack by people who didn't want to see me doing well and I had to figure out how to counter it. My gut reaction was to retaliate immediately by way of inflicting physical harm (which I felt in a fleeting moment of insanity). However, my wife reminded me of my own saying: “The best revenge is massive success.” She advised me to move forward with such great momentum and so much of a presence that every time these people woke up, turned the TV on, or made a business move, they would see my face—and be reminded of how well I was doing. Hearing the truth from my sane and positive wife immediately put me at ease—and made it clear to me that the best payback possible was not force of any kind but simply amassing more success.
Rather than spending energy on retaliating, I spent all my energy, resources, and creativity on becoming omnipresent and expanding my footprint. This is a much better investment in energy than chasing someone else down. Consider how you can use this illustration to figure out how you can be in more places at the same time. Immediately after this attack, I got very busy making sure I was seen everywhere all the time. I wrote my first book and followed it up with another one three months later. I then finished my third book, and members of my group spent months doing everything possible to make it a New York Times best-seller—which they did!
The goal was to do everything we could to get my information and material disseminated. We started using YouTube and Flickr to provide motivational videos, sales tips, and business strategies to our clients—and asked people to pass them on to their friends. I personally recorded more than 200 videos, wrote 150 blogs and articles, and did 700 radio interviews in 18 months. I then began getting national TV exposure with the networks and cable TV. Fox, CNBC, MSNBC, CNN radio, WSJ radio, and more all started having me on their shows. In the same period, I personally wrote more than 2,000 posts on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. All of this was in addition to what my office was diligently doing to get my name out. My face, name, voice, articles, methodologies, and videos began showing up everywhere—many at the same time. People with whom I had never done business started saying to us, “I see your name everywhere!” I was completely focused on expanding my footprint and making myself known to the rest of the world rather than worrying about a small group of critics.
My business blew up on every front. Opportunities started to flow in daily. We started getting attention not just from those we had been focused on but from people all over the world. As a result of this campaign, my books are being translated into Chinese and German. Now inquires from France, Mexico, South Africa, and other countries are flowing in with interest in our sales training programs and books. We have people calling us from both here in the United States and overseas who are interested in TV programs and doing magazine articles. I am not bragging here but showing you what can happen for you when you take the right actions at the right levels and start thinking in the right size.
All powerful companies, ideas, products, and people are omnipresent. They can be found everywhere. They dominate their sector and become synonymous with that which they represent. Real success is measured by longevity. So if you want to be excited and passionate for the long haul, then make omnipresence your constant goal. Your name, brand, and reputation are your most valuable assets only if enough people know of them and use them. And remember, the best way to even the score against those who have it in for you is to make yourself so well known that every time they look up—each morning when they wake and right before they go to sleep at night—they see evidence of you and your success.
Chapter 21
Excuses
This is about the time we should look at the excuses you are likely going to use to avoid making any of this happen. Everyone uses excuses. Most people actually have favorites that they employ over and over. I am certain that yours are starting to emerge by now—so rather than ignore them, let's just go ahead and confront the little monsters so that they don't distract you later.
An “excuse” is a justification for doing—or not doing—something. I think the dictionary implies that it's a “reason.” However, in reality, an excuse usually turns out to be something other than the real reason that motivates your actions (or lack thereof). For example, let's say that your excuse for being late to work is due to traffic. Well, that's not truly the reason you didn't make it to work on time. The reason you were late is because you left your home without enough time to allow for traffic. Excuses are never the reason for why you did or didn't do something. They're just a revision of the facts that you make up in order to help yourself feel better about what happened (or didn't). Making excuses won't change your situation; only getting to the real reason behind it can do this. Excuses are for people who refuse to take responsibility for their life and how it turns out. Slaves and victims make excuses—and will forever be destined to having leftovers and others' scraps.
The first thing to know about excuses is that they never improve your situation. The second thing to know is which ones you use on a regular basis. Do any of the following sound familiar? I don't have the money, I have kids, I don't have kids, I am married, I am not married, I have to find balance in my life, I am overworked, I am underworked, too many people work here, we don't have enough people, my manager sucks/doesn't help me/won't leave me alone/is negative/is too jacked up, I don't like reading, I don't have time to study, I don't have time for anything, our prices are too high, our prices are too low, the customer won't call me back, the customer cancelled the appointment, people don't tell me the truth, they don't have the money, the economy is bad, the banks aren't lending, my owner is cheap, we don't have/can't find the right people, no one is motivated, people have bad attitudes, no one told me, it was someone else's fault, they keep changing their minds, I am tired, I need a vacation, the people I work with are losers, I'm depressed, I'm sick, my mom is sick, traffic is terrible, the competition is giving its product away, I have such bad luck . . . .
Bored yet? I know I am! I had to really reach deep into the recesses of my mind just to come up with some of those. How many of these have you used? Go back and circle every statement you've ever heard come out of your mouth. Now ask yourself, will any of these excuses ever improve your condition? I doubt it.
So why, then, do so many people make them so often? Does it even matter? An excuse is just an alteration of reality; nothing about it will move you to a better situation. The fact that “the customer doesn't have the money” will not help you close your deal. The fact that you “only have bad luck” is not going to improve the conditions of your life or change your luck. In fact, if you keep telling yourself that long enough, you'll start to expect it—thereby ensuring that things will continue to be bad.
You have to start understanding the differences between making excuses and providing actual, sound reasons for events. This book focuses on the many differences between the successful and the unsuccessful—and a very distinct dissimilarity is that successful people simply don't make excuses. They are actually quite unreasonable when it comes to p
roviding reasons—at least for failure—as well. I'll never ask myself (or anyone else, for that matter) why I was unable to bring my product to market, raise enough money, or make enough sales because as far as I'm concerned, no answer will do. There are no justifications that will change these facts or situations—and any reasons I might provide are only opportunities yet to be handled. Any rationale you give yourself just gives someone else the chance to find a solution. Remember what I've said time and again throughout this book: “Nothing happens to you; it happens because of you.” Excuses are just another component of this—and a major differentiator between whether you will succeed or not.
If you make success an option, then it won't be an option for you—simple. No excuse exists that can or will make you successful. Engaging in self-pity and excuse making are signs that someone has an extremely minimal degree of responsibility. “He didn't buy from me because the bank wouldn't make the loan.” No, he didn't buy from you because you were unable to secure proper financing for a potential customer. The first statement assumes no responsibility for the event, while the other does—and identifies a solution. Once you adopt a more advanced sense of responsibility—and refuse to make any more excuses—then you can go out and search for a solution. And as an added bonus, you will avoid such situations in the future.
The quality of being rare is what makes something valuable. So anything that is plentiful has very little worth. Excuses are one item that people seem to have an almost endless supply of. Because they are so plentiful, they have no value. Because they do not forward your desire to create more success for yourself, they are worthless uses of your energy. If you are going to approach success as you've been taught throughout this book—not as an option but as your duty, obligation, and responsibility—then you must commit to never using excuses for anything! You cannot allow yourself, your team, your family, or anyone in your organization to use another excuse as a reason why something didn't come to fruition. As the old saying goes, “If it is to be, it is up to me.”
Chapter 22
Successful or Unsuccessful?
I have been studying successful people most of my life and have found the differences between them and the people who accomplish less worth noting—and its not what you might expect. The distinctions between these two groups have nothing to do with economics, education, or demographics. Although these experiences and events certainly influenced them and their viewpoints, they are not ultimately the determining factors in their lives. I can show you people with no education, who were reared by broken families in terrible surroundings, but still managed to grow their successes to stratospheric levels.
Successful people talk, think, and approach situations, challenges, and problems differently than most people—and they definitely think about money differently. Listed in this chapter are the commonly found qualities, personality traits, and habits that make successful people the way they are. Each item is followed by a few of my thoughts on what each category means. This will allow you to become more aware of the kinds of habits and characteristics you should be developing—and encouraging your employees and colleagues to develop as well. The only way to be successful is to take the same actions that successful people take. Success is no different than any other skill. Duplicate the actions and mind-sets of successful people, and you will create success for yourself.
The following list of ways you should act in order to be successful is based on what I have discovered about successful people and the way they do things.
1. Have a “Can Do” Attitude
People with a “can do” attitude approach every situation with the outlook that no matter what, it can be done. They consistently use phrases like “We can do it,” “Let's make it happen,” “Let's work it out”—and they always maintain that a solution exists. These people talk in terms of explanations and resolving issues and consistently communicate challenges with a positive outlook. They respond to even the most daunting or seemingly impossible situation in a “can do” manner. This attitude is more valuable than a superior product and a lower price and is one of the only ways you'll be able to accomplish 10X massive actions. If you are not willing to approach everything with the attitude that it can be done, then you won't truly be thinking in 10X. You must believe and convey to others that a solution does indeed exist—even if you're going to have to work a little harder to find it. Incorporate this kind of “can do” outlook into your language, thoughts, actions, and responses to everyone you know. Help your entire company develop this kind of attitude by drilling it into them on a daily basis. Take even the most impossible request and figure out how you can answer with a “can do” attitude. Get yourself and your colleagues to the point where responses like “Can do, no problem—we will handle it!” become the norm—and nothing else is even accepted.
2. Believe That “I Will Figure It Out”
This outlook goes hand in hand with the “can do” attitude. Again, it refers to the individual who is always looking to be responsible and solve a problem. Even if you're not sure how to do something, the best answer is “I will figure it out”—not “I don't know.” No one values a person who not only doesn't have the information but doesn't want to know the information.This response does nothing for your credibility or competence. I don't agree with the claim that you should tell people if you don't know something. How does this help the situation? Do you really want to brag about your inability or think that the marketplace—or your customers—value honesty so much that they want you to admit they are wasting their time with you? You can admit that you're unfamiliar with something—as long as you immediately follow that admission up with the promise that you will figure it out or find someone who will. Throwing up your hands at a task will not move things forward. Communicate to yourself and others that you are willing to do what is necessary to figure it out! An alternative response to “I don't know” is “Great question. Let me check into that and figure it out.” You are still being honest, but you're inciting a solution instead of implying ineptitude.
3. Focus on Opportunity
Successful people see all situations—even problems and complaints—as opportunities. Where others see difficulty, successful individuals know that problems solved equal new products, services, customers—and probably financial success. Remember: Success is overcoming a challenge. Therefore, you can't succeed without some kind of difficulty. It doesn't really matter what the challenge is; as long as you handle it adequately, you'll be rewarded. And the bigger the problem is, the bigger the opportunity as well. When a problem exists for the entire market and all the people in it, it becomes an equalizer. The only person who stands out is the opportunity-focused individual who sees those problems as openings for success. These people are able to use the issue at hand to separate themselves and dominate the marketplace. There are countless situations that most people tend to see as setbacks and nothing else: recessions, unemployment, housing predicaments, conflict, customer complaints, and company shutdowns, to name a few. If you can learn to see these as prospects instead of problems, you'll continually come out on top.
4. Love Challenges
Whereas many people loathe challenges—and use them as reasons to sink further into indifference—highly successful individuals are compelled and invigorated by challenges. The idea of being overwhelmed, I believe, is the result of never taking enough action to generate enough winning. Success begets more success, and losses increase your chances of more losses. Challenges are the experiences that sharpen successful people's abilities. To achieve your goals, you have to get to a place where every challenge becomes fuel for you. Life can be quite brutal, and people can incur a fair amount of losses over time. Many get to a point where every new challenge they face automatically equals a loss in their mind. There are ways to rehabilitate yourself, however, so that the hardships you've experienced throughout your life no longer rob you of the chance to approach new challenges with gusto and excitement.
When yo
u are able to develop a more positive outlook, you begin to see a challenge as stimulation to engage—rather than as an excuse to avoid something. You have to reeducate yourself on the notion of this thing called a “challenge”—and know that every challenge provides an opportunity to win. And don't kid yourself—winning in life is vital. Every minute of every day, your mind is automatically keeping a running tab on your wins, losses, and ties—and is doing so based on what you know to be your full potential. The more you win in life, the higher your potential will be—and the more you will grow to love challenges.
5. Seek to Solve Problems
Successful individuals love to seek out problems because they know that almost every problem is universal in some way or another. Some industries actually create problems so that they can “solve” them by way of selling their products to you. (Think of all the things you've purchased over the years because you “needed” them. Did you really? Or were you convinced that they would solve some problem you may or may not have had?) Flu shots are a great example. Many people think they are necessary, but medical opinion is divided on this matter. Problems for the successful are like a meal to the hungry. Give me a problem—any problem—and when I solve it, I will be rewarded and I may become a hero. The bigger the problems—and the more people who benefit from the solution—the more powerful your success will be. You get yourself on the successful list by seeking problems to solve—for your company, employees, customers, the government—whatever they may be and wherever they might exist. The world is filled with people who have—and who unfortunately, cause—problems. One of the fastest and best ways to separate yourself from the masses is to establish yourself as someone who makes situations better, not worse.
The Ten Times Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure Page 14
