Be Interested in the Group

You can only do as well as the people around you. If everyone around you is sick, underperforming, and struggling, then sooner or later, you will become afflicted like everyone else. For example, pensions are strangling city and state govern- ments because handfuls of people were interested in their own situation and didn’t consider the impact it would have on the group as a whole. This type of “me first” thinking— that has no regard for the group—ultimately stifles the very group upon which an individual depends for survival. This self-serving approach later makes it almost impossible for the group to survive—and puts even that which was promised at peril.

The larger population’s health and well-being should be of utmost importance to each individual member—which is something that the most successful know. You can only be as successful as the individuals with whom you involve and associate yourself. It doesn’t matter what position you hold— whether you are leading a group or are part of a group—your success is limited to the ability of those around you. This does

not mean that successful people aren’t interested in themselves. It’s just that they realize that they have to expend energy and express interest in their associates because they know that if they are not doing well, even the most well-to-do will be dragged down with them. It is actually self-serving, to some degree, to care about what happens to everyone else. You want everyone on your team winning and improving because this is likely to improve your game. For that reason, you always want to do everything you can to bring the rest of the team to higher levels.

Be Dedicated to Continuous Learning

The most successful CEOs are reported to read an average of 60 books and attend more than six conferences per year— whereas the average American worker reads an average of less than one book and makes 319 times less income. Although the media often discuss the disparity between the rich and the poor, they frequently fail to cover the amount of time and energy the wealthy have committed to reading, studying, and educating themselves. Successful people make time for con- ventions, symposiums, and reading. There has never been a book, audio program, download, webinar, or speech from which I have not benefited—even from the ones that sucked.

The most successful people I know read everything they can get their hands on. They approach a $30 book as though it has the potential to make them a million dollars. They see every opportunity to train and educate themselves as the most solid and sure investment they can make. Unsuccessful people, on the other hand, simply worry about the cost of a book or seminar without ever giving consideration to the benefits it will provide. So join the ranks of successful people who know that their income, wealth, health, and future are dependent upon their ability to continue to seek out new information and never stop learning.

Be Uncomfortable

Those who succeed were—at one point or another in their lives—willing to put themselves in situations that were uncomfortable, whereas the unsuccessful seek comfort from all their decisions. The most important things I have done in my life were not the things I was comfortable doing; in fact, many of them made me very uneasy. Whether it was moving to a new city, cold calling a client, meeting new people, doing a new presentation, or venturing into new sectors, most of it was uncomfortable for me until I got used to doing it. It is so tempting to become content with your surroundings, daily rituals, and habits—most of which are probably not furthering your mission. It feels good when things are famil- iar. However, successful people are willing to put themselves in new and unfamiliar situations. That doesn’t mean that they are always changing just for the sake of changing; however, they know that getting too comfortable, too relaxed, and too familiar causes a person to become soft and lose his or her creativity and hunger to stay out front. So be willing to be uncomfortable, and do what makes other people uncom- fortable as well. It is a sure sign that you’re on your way to success.

Date: 2016-04-22; view: 532