In the Company of Greatness
I just got back from a 3 1/2 day conference. The speakers there were some of the most influential and powerful business people, in their respective specialties, in the world.
I learned 3 important and powerful lessons I wanted to share with you...
If you're not where you're at, financially, health- or fitness-wise, or relationships, those things you're longing for will not change by themselves.
I listened carefully to each and every one of the speakers this past week.
And one of the most important things I learned from them was that you need a blueprint, or plan, to work from EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THE WEEK.
This is the first powerful lesson I learned.
If you don't have or are following one, then chances are you'll never reach any of the goals you want out of your life.
I learned that what is meaningful and important for us just doesn't happen by itself, it takes planned action on our part. That ''some day'' will never arrive unless we make it happen ourselves, with conscious effort.
And If you're not setting daily goals, that are derived from weekly goals, that are derived from monthly goals, that are derived from yearly goals, that are derived from 5- or 10-year goals, that are derived from YOUR life goals, then you're fooling yourself if you think they will ever be accomplished.
Here's an example:
Let's say one of your life goals is to finally get in shape. You're now ready to do what it takes for you to lose 48 pounds of fat and get fit. How would you go about doing it?
First, determine when you want to reach that state of fitness.
Let's say 1 year from now.
Ok...so now we have a goal of losing 48 pounds of fat in 1 year.
This means we need to lose 4 pounds of fat every month (48 pounds divided by 12 months).
Next, this means we need to lose about 1 pound per week.
Finally, we need to lose 0.14 pounds (2.3 ounces) per day (1 pound divided by 7 days).
Step back and take a look at the big picture goal -- Losing 48 pounds of body fat in one year.
Seems pretty daunting, doesn't it?
Yet, when you break it down to a daily goal of only 2.3 ounces per day, it really doesn't seem that bad, does it?
Makes it feel very doable and easy to achieve, doesn't it.
And it is, provided you ARE CONSISTENT in your actions every single day to achieve it.
Just writing down your daily goals will not do it...doing them will.
And that's lesson 2, to take consistent action every single day of the week.
Finally, I learned you must be generous towards others.
I've always tried to practice generosity myself, not always as much as I would like, but I try.
Anyway, I was blown away just how giving the most successful business owners were.
They weren't just blowing smoke up our a_ _ es either, they gave us real life examples, such as setting people up in businesses that were direct competitors with them.
Yet they did this freely and willingly.
Here's another story of generosity:
A vitamin manufacturer recalled to us a story of how one of his suppliers came to him with an offer. The supplier had just started a new manufacturing night shift.
The supplier only wanted to cover his expenses during this night shift he was experimenting with.
And he offered the vitamin manufacturer significantly reduced prices for picking up the extra manufacturing shift andordering more at the reduced prices.
The vitamin manufacturer did the numbers and realized that this break in pricing would significantly increase his profitability, in a huge way.
The vitamin manufacturer said he would take his offer provided the supplier allowed him to pay 10% more than he was offered.
He did this because he felt it would not be fair if only he was able to benefit from this big break in pricing.
The supplier was flabbergasted, of course, but agreed.
Several years went by and the vitamin manufacturer went through a period of trouble.
He went to his supplier and asked if he could extend his credit from 30- to 60-days.
Not only did the supplier say yes, but said he would extend it to 90-days if he liked.
The supplier told him that he never would tripled his extension in credit had the vitamin manufacturer not been so generous with him several years before
And this was but two of the many similar stories I heard.
Give, and you WILL receive multiples in return.
Listen, some of these suggestions may make you uncomfortable.
And that's ok.
ALL of us need to step out of our ''comfort zone'' to get what we want.
Otherwise we'll lead an unfulfilled life and look back with regret at what we could have done, should have been, or would have received.
Until next month... |