Newsletter for March 2007: Essential Step for Getting Things You Want
Contents:
- This Months Thought
- Essential Step to Get Anything You Want
- Quotes of the Month
- Strictly Business: Your Winning Team
- Humor: Really Serious Points to Ponder
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Here is a great truth about life. The key to getting anything you want in life is to take action. Take the smartest, best action you can think of and see what happens. If you can, hire a mentor or coach to help you. You might buy (and read!) a how-to-do-it guide, but take some action! Observe your results, adjust accordingly, and keep on keeping on.
Almost every month I receive emails from people who say they are stuck or confused or lost and need "help" to achieve their goals in life. As much as I can, I respond personally to those emails, sometimes even following up with a phone call, and This Months Thought comes from some of those conversations.
Now, there are lots of reasons people get frustrated or struggle in life, but one of the most common is that some people refuse to get started! Some people have big dreams but refuse to take the first steps to make them come true. No wonder they are frustrated and say they have "failed" to reach their goals!
The truth is that there is almost no real failure in life. One of Newton's laws says that for every action there is an effect. Tony Robbins is famous for his observation that high achievers take massive action, observe their results, adjust accordingly, and take more action. There is tremendous power in persistent, determined action!
There is a famous phrase in the Bible that the "truth shall set you free" and a key truth is that to achieve any goal, no matter what it is, some action - some effort, some work, some activity, some physical exertion is required and the activity must come FIRST! To achieve your goals, action is required!
And here is a second truth: Often the required action is simple, easy and obvious. These are the cases that frustrate me.
Over my years as a success coach, I've had hundreds of conversations with people who want to reach the ordinary sort of goals that lots of other people have achieved. They want to save for retirement, start a business, travel the world, or do something else that (to them) seems difficult, but in fact has been achieved by lots of other people. The problem is that they "can't find a way" to take the first steps toward success.
They hesitate to get started. They "can't" find a way to save money, or to develop the first draft of a business plan. Now, I emphasize that I am not making fun of these people! For them the pain and frustration are very real, and I understand that. But to achieve success, they must also understand that the fear is in their own minds.
Often, the first steps are simple, easy and relatively obvious. The key is to get started, take action, observe your results, adjust accordingly, and take more action.
And here is a third truth: Most of the actions people take when they set out to achieve a goal are WRONG! Of course they are! We learn by trial and error. When we try anything for the first time, we are bound to make mistakes, but mistakes are not failures! They are simply the best, smartest action we could figure out at the time, but unfortunately they may not give us the results we desired, so we learn and try again.
Did you fall down when you first tried to walk? Probably! Were your first attempts at dating clumsy or embarrassing? Probably! Were your first attempts to use a computer frustrating? Probably! There is no failure or shame in that. We try, we learn, and we try again.
This is a truth about life! The key to getting anything you want in life is to take action. Take the smartest, best action you can think of and see what happens. If you can, hire a mentor or coach to help you. You might buy (and read!) a how-to-do-it guide, but take some action! Observe your results, adjust accordingly, and keep on keeping on.
"In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing." -- Theodore Roosevelt
"Most of the things worth doing in the world have been declared impossible before they were attempted." -- Earl Nightingale
"Opportunities are usually disguised by hard work, so most people don't recognize them." -- Ann Landers
"It only takes one person to change your life - you." -- Ruth Casey
Periodically I hear the term "solo-preneur" as a way of describing professionals and micro-business entrepreneurs, and I appreciate whoever coined the phrase because for many professionals, it feels like we are in business "solo" - all by ourselves. The truth, of course, is far different.
Every successful salesperson, doctor, writer, consultant or entrepreneur works with a huge team of colleagues, and we do well to recognize the members of our team, whether they work for us in our own offices, or support us in some less direct way.
Late last year, I met with other "solo-preneur" to compare notes about what works to enhance building businesses marketing through the internet, and this spring we plan to meet again. Does it cost some valuable time to take time to meet? Of course it does! But the return on the investment is huge!
Over this month, invite two or three of your best, brightest and most successful colleagues to have lunch. Talk about your situation and give away your best ideas, your best skills, and your best insights. It's a way of building trust and investing in the relationship so you can, in turn; ask for their help in building your business. I am a huge believer in masterminds. I am a huge advocate of winning teams!
If you would like a personal coach to help you build your business, get one! I have a few openings for this spring, and there are thousands of highly skilled coaches with precisely the expertise you need. Find and use a coach! Every winning team is well-coached and you deserve nothing less.
If you would like to talk about your situation and see if we might be a good "fit," send me an email. We'll get together, interview each other and see where it leads. Contact me at: rodger@rodgerblaker.com
I've always referred to these as "bumper slicker" but then I noticed a friend calling them "bumper snickers" and I thought that was an even better phrase. Perhaps they'll brighten your day and give you something really important to ponder this month. Enjoy!
Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are dead?
Why do banks charge a fee on "insufficient funds" when they know there is no money in the account?
Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?
Why doesn't glue stick to the bottle?
Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?
Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?
Why did Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?
Whose idea was it to put an "S" in the word "lisp"?
What is the speed of darkness?
If you send someone 'Styrofoam', how do you pack it?
If the temperature is zero outside today and it's going to be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold will it be?
If it's true that we are here to help others, what are the others doing here?
Can you cry under water?
How important does a person have to be before they can be assassinated instead of just murdered?
Why does a round pizza come in a square box?
How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?
In fairness, if a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a hearing?
Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?
Why do doctors leave the room while you change? They're going to see you naked anyway.
Please forward this copy to your friends and colleagues! That's how I grow!