7 Qualities that make it IMPOSSIBLE to fail!

The best part about being a student of personal growth, and being in the constant pursuit of greater success, is that there are or (always should be) notes to refer to. Last year at a sales training class I presented what I am going to share with you in the following paragraphs. Now as always, I truly believe that there are several principles, laws, and rules that can guide you to success, so I dare not act as if these are the “end all-be all” to you and your business. Rather you are an author, salesmen, designer, speaker, or a chef, beginning or well established, the 7 qualities that you will read here will absolutely help your business grow.
While typing this, I’ve realized that 8 days have already passed in 2012, and you know we like to say that entrepreneurs don’t have the luxury of time, so before I share these 7 qualities with you, I want you to ask yourself; “WHAT HAVE I DONE SO FAR THIS YEAR WITH THE 192 HOURS THAT I HAVE BEEN GIVEN” Not asking to make anyone feel bad, or put any pressure on you, but truly if we want to get where we said we would this year, we have to start IMMEDIATELY. Okay, enough suspense, I know you’re over there yelling at your screen, (or at least thinking in your head) “C’MON MAN, WHAT ARE THE QUALITIES” so…here we go..

1. Be Unconditionally Committed: Simply put, if it’s for you, it’s for you. There will be times in your business where not only people will doubt you, but you might even doubt yourself. But you have to be married to your business (not that Kardashian kind either!! –cheap shot, I know…sorry!) But when I say unconditionally committed, I mean working on you, and your business should be as automatic as brushing your teeth in the morning. You can’t give in to the time traps of being busy, not feeling well, etc. Wal-Mart is open for business 24/7 and you should be too. Be ready to pitch, ready to sell, and most importantly be ready to work longer than you anticipated. Quick example: Sylvester Stallone was unconditionally committed to his Rocky script, so much that he sold his dog for $50.00 and turned down over 100k offers that didn’t allow him to play the main character. After literally HUNDREDS OF NO’s, he got his yes.
2. You Cannot Be Emotionally Attached To Yes or No: I know this one is easier said than done, but I equate this to a hall of fame baseball player. *STAY WITH ME* a hall of famer in baseball typically has a batting average of at least .300 which means that 7 out of 10 times that it’s his turn to hit, he gets OUT! No homerun, no base hit…OUT! But 3 times, he gets a hit! What if you approached your business the same way? Countless entrepreneurs and sales people quit before they ever get their 8th,9th and 10th no! If you really want it, embrace the NO it’s simply part of the game.
3. Discipline and Consistency: These are like a muscle to me. Especially if you’re just starting out. Developing self discipline, and consistency aren’t necessarily easy to do, but that’s why it’s important to do what you love, so that it won’t feel like work. If you still have a day job, try to pick days of the week after work that you are committed to working on your business. An additional suggestion is to have an accountability partner, someone that knows your daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly goals, and checks in to make sure that you get them done.
4. Posture: This isn’t about standing or sitting up straight. Posture is the way you walk into the room, the way you command the right kind of attention, and how people view you. I like to call it a perfect blend of quiet confidence and laser focus. Imagine Donald Trump, Sean Combs, or even a Sara Blakely (FOUNDER OF SPANX) walking into the room, they know what they know, and they are absolutely great at what they do. There is a sense of “who is that” in the air. There are 2 definite things people will always do: Be attracted to success, and treat you the exact way that you present yourself. Have posture.
5. Willingness to fail: Similar to quality #2, being willing to fail in business means that you know its business, not personal. When you learned how to ride a bike, you were subconsciously willing to fail…BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T FOCUS ON FALLING, you focused on learning how to ride the bike. I know it sounds elementary, but success isn’t hard, following the principles that get you there is the part that discourages most. I beg you, to be okay with failing, just make sure you fail forward. I suggest that you document the perceived failures, and take maybe 5-10 minutes to analyze where you can improve.
6. Courage through the storm: The courage to keep going, this doesn’t mean that I want you to necessarily endure blow after blow after blow. No one wants to be a punching bag, but know that sometimes it will get worse before it gets better, hey even diamonds have to get pounded, stomped, burned, cut and all that stuff, but once it’s done… they’re the most beautiful stone on earth. Courage comes with knowing WHY you’re doing something. Who’s depending on you, why do you work so hard, what is the pot of preverbal gold that you’re chasing, and what does it mean to you?
7. Be a student of YOUR game: Consistently study your industry. Years ago, I knew several people that were earning well into the 6 and almost 7 figure incomes as real estate loan officers. They weren’t necessarily good at what they did, they were just in the right place at the right time, however when the market turned, they lost everything. They weren’t students of the game, and hadn’t studied the cyclical nature of the industry and consequently lost the very homes that the industry allowed them to buy. Your industry is bound to change, stay on top of it’s history, trends, and how it can affect your business. It’s not about right now, it’s about next quarter, next year, and 5 years from now.

Okay, that’s enough to read for now, but guys I absolutely believe that if you can adopt these 7 qualities, your businesses will never be the same. As a matter of fact, these aren’t just business principles, try applying them to your personal lives and relationships as well.

**As always, if you find the contents of this blog helpful or inspiring, we ask that you share the page with your network, and leave a comment so we know what it is you're looking for and how we can help**

THE FIRST GRAY HAIR

Okay, I know what you’re thinking, and yes you’re right. As much as I’ve never given it a first, second or third thought, it finally came. Life’s most gruesome, evil, forsaken, telling mark of age… my first grey hair. Sure, I went through all the stages, denial, maybe I’m stressed etc, but much more quickly than I’d imagine in retrospect, it didn’t cause the reaction most would think.

I didn’t flip out, I didn’t go on a mad treasure hunt trying to figure out if anymore were coming. For me, the first grey hair wasn’t as much as an alarm as it was a reminder…maybe even a stopwatch. If you know me at all, you know that I’m a sports guy, namely NFL and track and field. The reason I say it’s a stopwatch, is because most athletes don’t use a stopwatch to “countdown” per say, they use them to measure speed, accuracy, and improvement. Okay, okay… back to the grey hair, what I realized is that we don’t have the luxury of time when it comes to chasing our dreams and goals.

I began to think about what I’ve accomplished in life thus far…any self respecting entrepreneur would say it’s not enough, but in the same breath, I’m absolutely grateful for where I am, and what’s on the horizon. In my official effort to give grey hairs a perception makeover…Ask yourself these questions…

1. Have I truly made good use of the time that I’ve been given?
2. When I procrastinate, is there really a good reason?
3. Where would I/we be if I’d saw that one thing through, or not given up so early?

Although we’re all guilty of procrastination in some way, shape or form, nothing is worse than telling yourself flat out excuses (which are nothing more than well planned lies.) How many times have you said “Next year, I’ll definitely get it done, or “As soon as things settle down, it will be easier”, or maybe you just tell yourself “It’s just too late”.
All of these excuses run congruently, it’s kind of like the lie you tell yourself about running a stop sign. If it’s not a complete stop, it’s a roll. Accept it, deal with it, just hope you don’t get caught! However in life, for everything that you don’t give the extra effort for you not only get caught, you get penalized.

Think about it, how many times have you known that you should have done something as simple as changing the oil in your car, and not gotten it done? Only to talk about how “crooked” the mechanic is when he tells you how much it costs to replace your engine. You get the idea.
The reason I’m writing this is to invite you to look at your first grey hair, (or the 6th, 7th or 19 grey hairs that you have) as the starting gun to get things done. It’s clear that time isn’t on our side, so we have to make the most of what we have.

Top 5 things to do:
1. Take inventory of all the projects you’ve always wanted to do
2. Take inventory of the “reasons” that you haven’t done them
3. Prioritize (quickest gratification, sense of accomplishment
4. Plan of action
5. Be Accountable- now that you have a grey hair… how much will you get done, (be it little or whatever) before you find the next one, the next 5…

I can see now, that in the interest and utter respect for your time, this may have to be a 2-part series…but one thing is for sure, Grey hairs don’t come by themselves, and they typically don’t stop coming…why not make sure we have something to show for them. OH! and No!, I'm not telling you where it was!!!

**As always, if you find the contents of this blog helpful or inspiring, we ask that you share the page with your network, and leave a comment so we know what it is you're looking for and how we can help**