Apart from knowing exactly what you want in life, the next strong determinant of your success is your ability to achieve your goals. Having goals propels you ahead of the pack. But you are not the only one with goals. There are others who want a piece of the action. It comes down to you vs. them. So how do you win? You win through ability.

Ability comes down to your level of skill and talent. Talent is God given while skill is learned. Actor Will Smith reckons that “Talent you have naturally. Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft.”

I am Legend

Will Smith is our Inspiring Legend of the day. He is the actor of the movie “I am Legend”, a title that befits him.

I have watched all of Will Smith’s movies and followed his career since the days of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He has starred in many hit movies including Bad Boys, Bad Boys II, Independence Day, Men in Black, Men in Black II, I, Robot, The Pursuit of Happyness, Hancock, Enemy of the State and Hitch.

Most of us would say that Will Smith is a talented actor, and he is. But he has a different take on this. He says “I’m not afraid to die on a treadmill. I will not be outworked. You may be more talented than me. You might be smarter than me. And you may be better looking than me. But if we get on a treadmill together, you are going to get off first or I’m going to die. It’s really that simple. I’m not going to be outworked”. Will Smith has an incredible work ethic. He applies it to his work and exercise with the same vigor. It amplifies his talents.

When he first went to Hollywood, like other aspiring actors, he was not taken seriously. He was seen as just a rapper who had been lucky to have a breakthrough with a TV show and nothing more. But that did not dampen his spirit. He vowed to be the best actor in the world and got to work on himself.

First he analyzed what the top grossing movies had in common. He realized that they all had special effects and involved strange creatures and a love story. He chose his movies carefully based on his intended goal. His record speaks for itself.

He works harder than most actors. What appears like easy delivery is a result of hours and hours of practice. As a result, Will Smith became the only actor in history to have eight consecutive films gross over $100 million in the US domestic box office. That takes more than talent.

What about You?

There are things you are naturally good at. There are things that you do with ease that others struggle in. You may not have recognized it, but you have your talents.

The first step you should do is to take an inventory of your talents. What are you good at? Are you good with people? Are you a good problem solver? Are you a good writer? Are you good in music, dance, athletics, drawing etc?

Once you recognize what your talents are, and decide on the direction of your efforts; get to work. It is time to raise your skill level. It takes hours upon hours of practice to be really good in something. Race drivers do not rely on talent alone. Great writers do not rely on talent alone. Great mortgage brokers do not rely on talent alone. They put their heart and soul into skill development. Persistence is the name of the game.

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race – Calvin Coolidge.

We take some skills for granted but they took hours of practice to develop. Walking, brushing your teeth, personal grooming, typing, reading etc. They all took time, and so will the other skills you need.

Learn from Will Smith and put in the hours to develop your skills. Find a mentor or a coach to help you improve your skills. Even world class athletes need coaching too.

The difference between being average and world class is not talent. It is relentless skill development. What have you done today to develop your skills?

Conclusion

A whisper of talent can lead to a roar of achievement. Will Smith turned his talent to roaring success through an incredible work ethic and skill development. What skills can you develop to improve your prospect for prosperity? The time to act is now.

P/s – Please share this blog post with your friend on Facebook or via email. I am trying to expand the readership of the blog and your support is highly appreciated. Your feedback and comments are also most welcome.

Other articles you may enjoy :

1. Set up Systems to Serve You We only have 24 hours in a day. We are...
2. The Father of Positive Thinking If there was ever the need for a paternity test...
3. The Power of Discipline Positive thinking and motivational writing turns you on. It activates...
4. The Most Inspiring Carpenter Jonah had just bought a piece of land near Nazareth...
5. What I Learned Through Blogging in 2009 – Part Two Today we continue looking at my lessons in 2009 and...
6. What to do when you Lose it all? Stockbrokers have been known to commit suicide when the...

Six months later at a bookshop in Melbourne, I saw that same book again. Curiosity got the better of me and I checked it out. I started reading it to kill time before my flight. It had never crossed my mind that I would ever be so engaged reading a book called “Losing My Virginity”. It was almost time for my flight so I quickly bought it. Good decision. The page turner kept me hooked on my return journey to Perth.

I got to know Richard Branson better through this book; his autobiography (called “Losing My Virginity”) abode a Virgin Blue flight from Melbourne to Perth. He is one of my inspiring legends, a giant on whose shoulders I stand.

Someone asked me if this inspiring legend series is about dead people. No. Richard Branson is alive and kicking, though he has had his fair share of near-death experiences.

On one of his risky world record breaking attempts, he wrote a letter to his son and daughter that would have been his last had he not survived:

Dear Holly and Sam,

Life can seem rather unreal at times. Alive and well and loving one day. No longer there the next. As you both know I always had an urge to live life to its full. That meant I was lucky enough to live the life of many people during my 46 years. I loved every minute of it and I especially loved every second of my time with both of you and Mum.

I know that many people thought us foolish for embarking on this latest adventure. I was convinced they were wrong. I felt that everything we had learned from our Atlantic and Pacific adventures would mean that we’d have a safe flight. I thought that the risks were acceptable. Obviously I’ve been proved wrong.

However, I regret nothing about my life except not being with Joan to finally help you grow up. By the ages of 12 and 15 your characters have already developed. We’re both so proud of you. Joan and I couldn’t have had two more delightful kids. You are both kind, considerate, full of life (even witty!). What more could we both want.

Be strong. I know it won’t be easy. But we’ve had a wonderful life together and you’ll never forget all the good times we’ve had.

Live life to its full yourselves. Enjoy every minute of it. Love and look after Mum as if she’s both of us.

I love you,
Dad

Luckily for Holly and Sam, daddy returned and saw them grow up. He survived, had fun and made a fortune. He is still having fun, getting rich and growing strong.

Rags to Riches Story

Richard Branson’s grandfather was a judge and his father a barrister. Three generations of the Bransons had been lawyers. Pressure was on him to do well in school but the poor chap was not too good in class. He was mildly dyslexic, short sighted and preferred sports to books.

His school headmaster predicted that he would either go to prison or become a millionaire. He did both and went on to become a billionaire. “Losing My Virginity” is his inspiring rags to riches story.

Seeds of Greatness

His first venture was growing and selling Christmas trees (a business I once tried along Ngong Road in Nairobi Kenya lol). His business plan indicated that he and his partner would make ₤800 but as fate would have it their young trees were eaten by rabbits. His revenge mission on the rabbits allowed him to make a few shillings after selling the meat to a local butcher.

He tried a few such businesses with poor results in making money but scored high on lessons and confidence. Eventually, he found his footing when he teamed up with a friend to setup an alternative school magazine. They named the magazine “Student”.  The magazine was opened up to more schools, colleges and universities. They worked the phones and came up with a list of advertisers and distributors before the first issue. The magazine went on to become a huge success. At 17, he had over 100,000 readers.

Virgins in Business

Students love music and Richard Branson quickly moved in to fill the information gap. He interviewed musicians including the Beatles. Being a people person, he was able to attract people to work for him mostly on volunteer basis. They worked out an arrangement where the friends would sell the magazine. They would keep 50% of the money as commission. Amazon and other internet companies call this affiliate marketing; Richard was doing it in 1970.

Richard Branson learned to leverage the “Student” name and had other companies funding his ventures such as sending reporters overseas. He also realized that his magazine could also be used as a platform for selling music, not just posting photos and interviews of the artists.

He had the vision for expanding the “Student” brand to “Student Accommodation”, “Student Hostels”, “Student Travel” etc. Then someone suggested that they use the name “Virgin” since they were virgins in business. A global brand was born.

More than 300 Virgins

Over the years, Richard Branson re-invested his profits to build up the Virgin Brand. Today the Virgin Brand is one of the most respected and recognized brands in the world. The Virgin Group has found success  in sectors ranging from mobile telephony to transportation, travel, financial services, media, music and fitness. Virgin Companies include Virgin Galactic, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Holidays, Virgin Wines, Virgin Games and Virgin Media.

Inspiring Richard Branson Quotes

• My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them.

• A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts.

• Above all, you want to create something you are proud of…. That has always been my philosophy of business. I can honestly say that I have never gone into any business purely to make money. If that is the sole motive, then I believe you are better off doing nothing.

• All you have in life is your reputation: you may be very rich, but if you lose your good name, then you’ll never be happy. The thought will always lurk at the back of your mind that people don’t trust you. I had never really focused on what a good name meant before, but that night in prison made me understand.

• To be successful, you have to be out there, you have to hit the ground running, and if you have a good team around you and more than a fair share of luck, you might make something happen. But you certainly can’t guarantee it just by following someone else’s formula.

• I don’t think of work as work and play as play. It’s all living.

Learn More about Richard Branson

Like we have done with the other inspiring legends, please take a moment to learn more about Richard Branson and what makes him tick. My job was just to introduce you to the man. Your job is to learn more about him and to find the nuggets of inspiration that you can take with you.

• Follow Richard Branson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/richardbranson
• Buy Losing My Virginity Book From Amazon.
• Read Up on Richard Branson on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Branson
• Learn More About Virgin http://www.virgin.com
• Richard Branson on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6hILGfbqSg

Summary

Richard Branson is an inspiring legend who has created success after success. I hope he can inspire you to awaken you the giant within you.

Other articles you may enjoy :

1. Here Comes the Men in Luck “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find that...
2. What is Your Life’s Purpose? I recently had a near death experience that made me...
3. What I Learned Through Blogging in 2009 – Part Two Today we continue looking at my lessons in 2009 and...
4. As a Man Thinketh in His Mind For the next few days, I will serialize one of...
5. What to do when you Lose it all? Stockbrokers have been known to commit suicide when the...
6. The Father of Positive Thinking If there was ever the need for a paternity test...

Every year without fail, the words “resolutions” and “valentine” spike up on web searches. Millions of people log in to their favorite search engines and google for goals and love. According to Google Trends, the searches for the word “resolutions” spike up right at the end of each year. The searches for the word “valentine” spike up at the second week of February. Let us ride the wave and set some post valentines resolutions.

Where is Your Horizon?

How far into the future do you set your goals? Are you only looking at the next 18 months? Your actions and choices today will affect your future. Successful people think further into the future than unsuccessful people. They are willing to invest for the future instead of getting instant gratification. They are willing to sow the seeds and wait for them to bear fruits.

Set a major goal that is attainable but have a longer term view of it. Your major mission in life becomes your moral compass, helping you make the right choices along the way. If you only think of the near term, your habits, friends, output and choices will show.

The Feeling of Achievement

One of my decisions this year is to get used to the taste of victory. I want to get used to the idea of winning. I want to get used to the idea of being a super achiever. It is a self perpetuating state. The more you think of yourself as a winner, the more likely you are to succeed.

Positive thinking alone will not make you win your battles, but it does a lot more for your success than negative thinking ever can. So how do you develop the feeling of achievement? The answer lies with the goals you set for yourself.

If you set goals that are almost impossible to achieve, then chances are that you will not achieve them. The biggest man was once a baby. Start with baby goals and grow with them. Get used to the little league before jumping into the small league. Learn to spell before you write your novel.

Celebrate each victory no matter how small. When you set a specific, measurable goal, and you reach it, take a moment to celebrate. Take a moment to reflect on what made you succeed. As you do that over and over, you will grow in confidence and ability. You will establish a pattern of winning that will be difficult to break.

Life Work Balance

Do you have an insatiable desire for wealth that is detrimental to your values and relationships? Taking business and success too seriously can lead to stress and emotional turmoil that can ruin everything else.

Since launching this blog, I have written on a wide array of topics ranging from Personal Branding, to Emotional Mastery to Relationships and Getting Rich. I have tried to inspire you and me to find balance instead of chasing success in only one aspect of life. How would you like to gain the whole world and lose your soul? How would you feel if you became the richest man in your city and lose you family?

Take regular breaks from work or business. It helps create a healthy work / life balance. You can spend time with your family and friends when taking breaks from work.

Take a piece of piece of paper and set your goals in all aspects of your life. Re-evaluate your quest for success and decide if you are paying a fair price. Is your job worth your family life? Is your night out worth your school grades? Is a little grass worth your career?

Finding the One

Find the one goal that makes you happy. Put in the requisite time and effort to attain that goal. Going on with life without a major goal is like setting out to sea without a destination in mind.

The major goal for this blog, this year, is to create a community of positive minded people. I want to provide a personal development platform and an environment for people to share their experiences. I am still working behind the scenes to put the building blocks in place. It is a goal that has consumed me and will continue to until it turns out into reality.

What is your major goal in life? What are you trying to achieve this year or in your life? Take time to really understand yourself and where you want to go. You are the captain of your universe and you owe it to yourself to get direction. Nobody can tell you what your major goal should be. Look within and you will find it. When you find your goal, give it your very best.

Other articles you may enjoy :

1. The Power of Discipline Positive thinking and motivational writing turns you on. It activates...
2. Chasing the Wind of Success Ok my friends, let us change gears today. We are...
3. Are Your Goals Getting Enough Love? On Valentines Day, my heart went out to King Solomon’s...
4. What If 2010 Was Your Last Year on Earth? What would you do if you only had six more...
5. Setting Incredible Resolutions What if you decided to set goals so ambitious that...
6. Do you have a Blueprint for Success? Success does not just happen. You must first purpose it...

Polygamous Goals Setting

Many people rushed to remove the speck in South African president, Jacob Zuma’s eye (regarding his polygamy), before removing the logs in their own eyes. Why? Introspection is harder than analyzing other people’s affairs.

As we move along with the Goals Series of articles, I want to zoom in on the question of monogamy vs. polygamy of goals. (Valentine’s love is still in the air).

What are the perils of marring many goals? Why does the grass seem greener on the other side of your goal? Is it that hard to be faithful to your major goal in life? How sweet is that forbidden fruit called distractions? Why do we keep falling in and out of love with our goals?

Many people spread themselves too thin. They never stay fixated on something long enough to see it blossom. It is easier to be turned on by the next shiny goal than to pursue a boring goal to its logical conclusion.

Flirting with a new goal is irresistibly exhilarating. It takes us to new highs, gives us goose bumps and makes our minds spin. It is easy to stay up at night thinking of a new goal. It is easy to be passionately infatuated with fresh goals. New goals open the world of possibilities and do wonders for the heart.

Then something happens. The reality of our relationship with that goal sinks in. The excitement is replaced by mundane activities. The honeymoon comes to a crashing halt.

At first there is the desire to rekindle the passion, but that is quickly replaced by the temptation to try something new. Why not seek out yet another goal on the side? Why not juggle a couple of goals incase one does not work out? Subconsciously, we ask, “What is wrong with polygamy?”

Lack of focus is a major cause of infertility of goals. Jumping from one bed of ideas to another is bad karma. It may seem fun and safe at first but it causes nothing but pain and under-performance in the long run.

Enhancing Your Relationship with Goals

If you have been in and out of relationships you know that there is a cost of switching. You either end up hurting yourself, your partner or wasting time… or all of the above. It is the same with goals. Switching from one goal to another comes at a price. It gets expensive as far as time is concerned. It hurts your output and your confidence. Flipping from one goal to another turns out to be a recipe for mediocrity.

Polygamy of goals would work best if you had more than 24 hours a day. It is better to have one sweet goal and give it all the loving that it needs. Spend time with your lovely goal. Dedicate yourself to your goal. Commit to your goal and stick around to see it bear fruits.

Relationships take time and work. Do not starve your goals of attention, time and sheer hard work. Continuously enhance your performance and drive deeper into your goals. Many people never get close to their potential because they swim on the shallow end. They are afraid of the deep end of their desires.

Learn to show love to your goals. One of the best ways of showing love is to learn to listen. Learn all you can about your goal and get real intimate with the details. Go out of your way to make the baby steps of achievements. It is the small things that count. Little by little you will get to do big things.

Sometimes you may feel uninspired to love your goals. In moments like those, seek the advice of goals counselors. Zig Ziglar once said “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily!” Look for ways to stay attracted to your goals daily. Retrace your steps to that which attracted you in the first place. You may need a coach, an inspiring blogger or a good friend to remind you daily that your love for your goal is not in vain. Do what you need to do to stay in love with your goal.

Other articles you may enjoy :

1. In Goals We Trust A group of five guys, including yours truly, were coming...
2. Guy Seeking Goal It is not too late to set a major goal...
3. What is Kaizen? Kaizen is the process of reaching your goals in life...
4. Do you have a Blueprint for Success? Success does not just happen. You must first purpose it...
5. Making your Relationship Last Some relationships are single serving like airline food. Others last...
6. Serenity CALMNESS of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of...

Acting as Jake Sully in the 2009 film Avatar, Sam Worthington has immortalized himself here in Perth and beyond.

And who would have thought that movie writer and director, James Cameron would break his own box office record (Titanic)? At the time of this writing, Avatar is the highest grossing movie in history (Over $US2.2 Billion!).

I won’t be the spoiler for those who have not seen the movie. Go watch it.

Pimp My Ride

A few years ago I was addicted to a TV show called “Pimp My Ride”. Each episode consisted of taking a car in a poor condition and restoring it, as well as customizing it. I personally know a few people who would benefit from such a makeover.

Last night I had a dream. I dreamt up of a new “Blog show”. Let us call it “Pimp My Avatar”. The show will be starring a carefully selected Success Makeover Experts team.

This team will be responsible for challenging your thinking and inspiring you to be the best you can be. What is an Avatar? An Avatar is a representation of an idea. The idea can be you as a husband (or wife); you as a business owner; you as a student; you as a sports man… it is up to you.

Now let us think about it. What if the “Pimp My Avatar” team worked on you today? What would they change? How would they transform you? How would the customize you? What would they get rid off in your life? What would they say about your current state?

You are about to be PIMPED UP!

Focus – What Do You Want To Be?

A good Avatar does not try to do everything. It is not a generality but a specific success story. What do you want to be? Do you want to be a better leader? Do you want to be a good student? Do you want to be the perfect relationship partner? Whatever your heart desires, you can be it. Make no mistake about it.

What are your current dominating thoughts? Are you a positive person or is your mind clouded in negative thoughts? Take out a piece of paper and write down what you think about mainly. What dominates your Avatar?

Changing what you focus on has the magical power of transforming your Avatar. Many people waste time and energy because of lack of focus. They do a little bit of this and a little bit of that. They spread themselves too thin.

Dig deeper into what you want to achieve in. If it is a relationship, give it more time. If it is a job, do your best. Do one thing and do it well. See it to its logical conclusion.

Grow – Get More Powerful

The more you use your Avatar, the more powerful it becomes. In computer games, the more you play and jump hurdles, the more powerful your Avatar becomes. You only grow if you do something. Sitting on your laurels only makes you stagnate.

Visualize in your mind where you want to go and how you plan to get there. Remember there can be no progress without action.

Don’t just take action for the sake of taking action. Take well calculated steps to take you to where you want to be. Remember the most important part of a journey is to pick the right direction. Don’t head to Cape Town if you want to get to Cairo.

Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Learn from your mistakes. Be careful not to make the same mistake twice though.

As you become stronger, hang around other stronger people. Do not compete with amateurs when you go pro. Do not lift the small weights when you can do more. Stretch yourself. Find people and situations that make you stretch. Do not get into a comfort zone. Be a powerful Avatar.

Presentation – Sell the Sizzle, not the Steak

The “Pimp My Avatar” team loves this part. This is where they make you look good. What good does it do for you to be a strong, focused Avatar if everyone thinks you suck?

The “Pimp My Avatar” team will first tell you to work on your communication skills. The messages you send out to others through your verbal and non-verbal communication define how they look at you.

Think ahead of time what image you want to project. Choose your words carefully. The words that come out of your mouth will be your Avatar’s image. Don’t speak like an old shoe.

Be careful about what you write down and speak to others. Words, once let out never come back. You cannot swallow back your words even with the most sincere apology.

The next task is to work on your association. Birds of a feather flock together. The people you hang out with will be a reflection of your Avatar’s character. An Avatar that scratches with turkeys is not an eagle in my books (and in many people’s books).

The “Pimp My Avatar” team will also spend time working on your personal grooming. You will feel like a million bucks once they give you a few handy tips. It takes only 3 seconds for you to make a first impression. And because you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression; make sure your Avatar looks good!

Work On Your Weak Areas

Just like the old cars in Pimp My Ride TV show, we all have defects. There is nothing wrong with that… that’s just the way life is. If we were all perfect, the world would be a boring place (and I would be out of job).

The “Pimp My Avatar” team has this little worksheet called “Habits”. They believe we are creatures of habits. They will help you identify your habits.

What bad habits would you like to eliminate? Do you tell “creative” truths? Are you always late for meetings? Do you forget to keep in touch with loved ones? Are you loud and a vexation to the spirit?

One by one, cast your bad habits to a bottomless pit or the deep blue ocean.

Work On Your Strengths

The able team at “Pimp My Avatar” knows that we at times give ourselves more credit than we deserve. It is not so easy to be a jack of all trades.

The team may seem mean spirited, but they are only trying to help you. They will gently advise you to go slow on things you don’t naturally excel in. They will tell you that even Michael Jordan tried his hand in Baseball but decided to go back to Basketball. It was not like he was bad at it anyway; it just was not his core strength.

Identify your key strengths and work on those. If you are not good with numbers, hire an accountant. If you are not good with gardening work, hire a gardener. Decide what your core strengths are and let others do the rest. Shine at what you do best. Let others shine in what they do best.

Journal Your Journey

The “Pimp My Avatar” team will insist that you record your success journey. A success journal is something that will guide you over the years and tell you how far you have come. Who knows, one day you may want to write a book to tell the world about how you became such a big, successful Avatar.

We tell ourselves that we shall remember all that is happening today. But over time the memories fade.

When you are eliminating habits, write your down how you feel. Why are you stopping smoking? What challenges are you experiencing? Why are you trying to improve your writing skills? How are you going about it?

Write your journal for you own consumption. Even if nobody ever reads it, it will serve the purpose of crystallizing your ideas, thoughts and help you in making sound judgment now and in the future.

Establish Your Feedback Loop

The “Pimp My Avatar” will finally insist that you have people to keep you in check. Do not surround yourself with “yes-men”. Have a friend (or a few friends) who will always be honest with you and tell you when you go wrong.

I once heard that a certain rich man had someone whose work was to whisper to him the words “You are only human”, after a delegation of praise singers had been to see him.

Musicians sometimes lose touch with their true fans and get surrounded by flatterers. By the time they realize it, they have lost touch with their base and their records are not selling as they used to.

Have a trusted mentor who will guide you and give you feedback on how your Avatar is coming along. Have a couple of admirers and cheerleaders that will lift your spirits up, but be wary of flattery. An ancient Greek philosopher once said “Flattery is like friendship in show, but not in fruit”. Get feedback that will bear fruits.

Final Thought….

To succeed in life you have to be clear on what you want. Focus on the right things. You become what you think about. Fill your mind with positive thoughts of achievement.

Remember to get out of your comfort zone. Work on your strengths and weaknesses. Present yourself well through your grooming, communication and association. Record your success journey and maintain touch with people who will give you honest feedback.

You are now an officially pimped up Avatar!

Other articles you may enjoy :

1. Is your Belief System screwing you up? Today has been a very humbling experience for me. I...
2. Succeed through Making a Contribution I had a friend in high school, let us call...
3. Guy Seeking Goal It is not too late to set a major goal...
4. What a Car Mechanic Taught me About Success Everywhere I look, I seem to find lessons to share...
5. Do you have a Blueprint for Success? Success does not just happen. You must first purpose it...
6. What I Learned Through Blogging in 2009 – Part Two Today we continue looking at my lessons in 2009 and...

6. People love stories

I experienced the power of stories when I launched this blog. I saw patterns in what people were responding to. The more stories I shared, the more readers would respond. One friend told me that my stories helped to better articulate the problems we all face.

The greatest book of all time (the bible), is a collection of stories. People love stories. We connect and learn better through stories.

Learning the power of stories had a powerful impact on my life and this site’s future direction. I will transform this website to a community of people sharing stories. Each of us has a story.

The new site will also feature stories about people who have made it in life. We shall zoom in on the lives of famous people such us Nelson Mandela, Jim Rohn, Richard Branson etc.

7. Two heads are better than one

I collaborate with a few friends on aspects of running the site. Some times it having someone share with me a new perspective, or a good topic. I also have people encouraging me to keep the fire burning. All in all, I could not have done it without the support of this group of incredible people.

Many people think that they can make it alone. I am here to say that yes you can make progress alone (to some extent). But to really get ahead in life, you need others.

One of the books I partially serialized in 2009 was “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. He had this to say about collaborating with others…

“Economic advantages may be created by any person who surrounds himself with the advice, counsel, and personal cooperation of a group of men who are willing to lend him wholehearted aid, in a spirit of PERFECT HARMONY. This form of cooperative alliance has been the basis of nearly every great fortune. Your understanding of this great truth may definitely determine your financial status.”

Everyone is gifted or experienced in their own area. Knowing how to tap into the unique talents and experiences of people can transform your success from zero to a million and beyond.

There is a limit of how far a website can grow when it is based on the thoughts and ideas of one man. Transforming this site into a community will hopefully, increase its reach and impact.

8. I don’t know it all

2009 exposed me to the $US14 Billion Personal Development industry. I thought I knew it all but the more I researched, the more I realized just how little I knew.

It is like when someone goes to university for the first time, they feel “clever” at first, but as they dig deeper, and specialize, they realize just how huge the human body of really knowledge is.

For this reason, I am going to dedicate 2010 to learning and bringing to your attention, resources and ideas from others better than me. Together we shall study successful people, apply their tried and tested success principles and ideas; instead of re-inventing the wheel.

We shall study the work of people like Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad, Poor Dad), Stephen Covey (7 Habits of Highly Effective Habits) and many more.

9. I know enough to make a difference

I was humbled by my discovery that a lot of people are better than me. Many are better than I can ever hope to become. However, my unique experiences, lessons, ideas and actions can still make a difference.

My writing style, experiences, skills and passion touches a particular audience. Your experiences, skills and passion will touch a different group of people. If we can all come together to a personal development melting pot, we can learn from each other, help each other grow and avoid repeating mistakes that each of us has already made.

I will use my contacts, marketing and programming skills to bring together many of us on one website. That I can do. That I will do.

I may not be the world expert on personal development, but my unique talents, passion, and experiences will form the backbone of a community of friends inspiring friends.

10. Networking is Magical

It is good to have one or two contacts. But the more contacts you have the more likely you are to find a contact to meet your needs.

Your needs may vary from getting a new job, having someone to meet you in a new city, or someone to make you laugh.

The people you surround yourself with determine your destiny. How much you earn is likely to be the average of your closest 5 friends. Your hobbies, activities and thoughts are all influenced by people around you. The bible says “show me your friends, and I will tell you what kind of person you are”.

2009 allowed me to network, to make new friends from around the world. I saw the power of surrounding myself with positive people even when they are miles away from me.

2010 is going to be an even bigger year for me as far as networking goes. The more positive friends you have on speed dial, the more likely you are to be positive.

As you can see, my 2009 lessons all seem to point to the need of reaching out to people, developing better relationships, and collectively getting ahead. I am really looking forward to launching this community.

When is this community going live? We are not too far off, but I will not give an ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) as yet. When the time comes, I hope you will be part of the group of positive friends who will join the site, get to know each other and share experiences.

Thank you.

P/s – I would love to hear your comments, and ideas that you would like incorporated in the new community site.

Other articles you may enjoy :

1. What I Learned Through Blogging in 2009 – Part One In January 2009, I set out on a public self...
2. Thanks a Million 2009 Very soon writing New Year’s resolutions will be back in...
3. How to Amplify Your Potential To amplify is to increase in size, volume or significance....
4. Setting Incredible Resolutions What if you decided to set goals so ambitious that...
5. Find your Own Angle for Success I get people asking me all the time about what...
6. Clarity Begins at Home On the 5th of January this year, I set out...

[This blog post is a serialization of the book, "As a Man Thinketh", by James Allen]

Here is a man who is wretchedly poor. He is extremely anxious that his surroundings and home comforts should be improved, yet all the time he shirks his work, and considers he is justified in trying to deceive his employer on the ground of the insufficiency of his wages. Such a man does not understand the simplest rudiments of those principles which are the basis of true prosperity, and is not only totally unfitted to rise out of his wretchedness, but is actually attracting to himself a still deeper wretchedness by dwelling in, and acting out, indolent, deceptive, and unmanly thoughts.

Here is a rich man who is the victim of a painful and persistent disease as the result of gluttony. He is willing to give large sums of money to get rid of it, but he will not sacrifice his gluttonous desires. He wants to gratify his taste for rich and unnatural viands and have his health as well. Such a man is totally unfit to have health, because he has not yet learned the first principles of a healthy life.

Here is an employer of labour who adopts crooked measures to avoid paying the regulation wage, and, in the hope of making larger profits, reduces the wages of his workpeople. Such a man is altogether unfitted for prosperity, and when he finds himself bankrupt, both as regards reputation and riches, he blames circumstances, not knowing that he is the sole author of his condition.

I have introduced these three cases merely as illustrative of the truth that man is the causer (though nearly always is unconsciously) of his circumstances, and that, whilst aiming at a good end, he is continually frustrating its accomplishment by encouraging thoughts and desires which cannot possibly harmonize with that end. Such cases could be multiplied and varied almost indefinitely, but this is not necessary, as the reader can, if he so resolves, trace the action of the laws of thought in his own mind and life, and until this is done, mere external facts cannot serve as a ground of reasoning.

Circumstances, however, are so complicated, thought is so deeply rooted, and the conditions of happiness vary so, vastly with individuals, that a man’s entire soul-condition (although it may be known to himself) cannot be judged by another from the external aspect of his life alone. A man may be honest in certain directions, yet suffer privations; a man may be dishonest in certain directions, yet acquire wealth; but the conclusion usually formed that the one man fails because of his particular honesty, and that the other prospers because of his particular dishonesty, is the result of a superficial judgment, which assumes that the dishonest man is almost totally corrupt, and the honest man almost entirely virtuous. In the light of a deeper knowledge and wider experience such judgment is found to be erroneous. The dishonest man may have some admirable virtues, which the other does, not possess; and the honest man obnoxious vices which are absent in the other. The honest man reaps the good results of his honest thoughts and acts; he also brings upon himself the sufferings, which his vices produce. The dishonest man likewise garners his own suffering and happiness.

It is pleasing to human vanity to believe that one suffers because of one’s virtue; but not until a man has extirpated every sickly, bitter, and impure thought from his mind, and washed every sinful stain from his soul, can he be in a position to know and declare that his sufferings are the result of his good, and not of his bad qualities; and on the way to, yet long before he has reached, that supreme perfection, he will have found, working in his mind and life, the Great Law which is absolutely just, and which cannot, therefore, give good for evil, evil for good. Possessed of such knowledge, he will then know, looking back upon his past ignorance and blindness, that his life is, and always was, justly ordered, and that all his past experiences, good and bad, were the equitable outworking of his evolving, yet unevolved self.

Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results. This is but saying that nothing can come from corn but corn, nothing from nettles but nettles. Men understand this law in the natural world, and work with it; but few understand it in the mental and moral world (though its operation there is just as simple and undeviating), and they, therefore, do not co-operate with it.

Suffering is always the effect of wrong thought in some direction. It is an indication that the individual is out of harmony with himself, with the Law of his being. The sole and supreme use of suffering is to purify, to burn out all that is useless and impure. Suffering ceases for him who is pure. There could be no object in burning gold after the dross had been removed, and a perfectly pure and enlightened being could not suffer.

The circumstances, which a man encounters with suffering, are the result of his own mental inharmony. The circumstances, which a man encounters with blessedness, are the result of his own mental harmony. Blessedness, not material possessions, is the measure of right thought; wretchedness, not lack of material possessions, is the measure of wrong thought. A man may be cursed and rich; he may be blessed and poor. Blessedness and riches are only joined together when the riches are rightly and wisely used; and the poor man only descends into wretchedness when he regards his lot as a burden unjustly imposed.

Indigence and indulgence are the two extremes of wretchedness. They are both equally unnatural and the result of mental disorder. A man is not rightly conditioned until he is a happy, healthy, and prosperous being; and happiness, health, and prosperity are the result of a harmonious adjustment of the inner with the outer, of the man with his surroundings.

A man only begins to be a man when he ceases to whine and revile, and commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates his life. And as he adapts his mind to that regulating factor, he ceases to accuse others as the cause of his condition, and builds himself up in strong and noble thoughts; ceases to kick against circumstances, but begins to use them as aids to his more rapid progress, and as a means of discovering the hidden powers and possibilities within himself.

Law, not confusion, is the dominating principle in the universe; justice, not injustice, is the soul and substance of life; and righteousness, not corruption, is the moulding and moving force in the spiritual government of the world. This being so, man has but to right himself to find that the universe is right; and during the process of putting himself right he will find that as he alters his thoughts towards things and other people, things and other people will alter towards him.

The proof of this truth is in every person, and it therefore admits of easy investigation by systematic introspection and self-analysis. Let a man radically alter his thoughts, and he will be astonished at the rapid transformation it will effect in the material conditions of his life. Men imagine that thought can be kept secret, but it cannot; it rapidly crystallizes into habit, and habit solidifies into circumstance. Bestial thoughts crystallize into habits of drunkenness and sensuality, which solidify into circumstances of destitution and disease: impure thoughts of every kind crystallize into enervating and confusing habits, which solidify into distracting and adverse circumstances: thoughts of fear, doubt, and indecision crystallize into weak, unmanly, and irresolute habits, which solidify into circumstances of failure, indigence, and slavish dependence: lazy thoughts crystallize into habits of uncleanliness and dishonesty, which solidify into circumstances of foulness and beggary: hateful and condemnatory thoughts crystallize into habits of accusation and violence, which solidify into circumstances of injury and persecution: selfish thoughts of all kinds crystallize into habits of self-seeking, which solidify into circumstances more or less distressing. On the other hand, beautiful thoughts of all kinds crystallize into habits of grace and kindliness, which solidify into genial and sunny circumstances: pure thoughts crystallize into habits of temperance and self-control, which solidify into circumstances of repose and peace: thoughts of courage, self-reliance, and decision crystallize into manly habits, which solidify into circumstances of success, plenty, and freedom: energetic thoughts crystallize into habits of cleanliness and industry, which solidify into circumstances of pleasantness: gentle and forgiving thoughts crystallize into habits of gentleness, which solidify into protective and preservative circumstances: loving and unselfish thoughts crystallize into habits of self-forgetfulness for others, which solidify into circumstances of sure and abiding prosperity and true riches.

A particular train of thought persisted in, be it good or bad, cannot fail to produce its results on the character and circumstances. A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances.

Nature helps every man to the gratification of the thoughts, which he most encourages, and opportunities are presented which will most speedily bring to the surface both the good and evil thoughts.

Let a man cease from his sinful thoughts, and all the world will soften towards him, and be ready to help him; let him put away his weakly and sickly thoughts, and lo, opportunities will spring up on every hand to aid his strong resolves; let him encourage good thoughts, and no hard fate shall bind him down to wretchedness and shame. The world is your kaleidoscope, and the varying combinations of colours, which at every succeeding moment it presents to you are the exquisitely adjusted pictures of your ever-moving thoughts.

“So You will be what you will to be;

Let failure find its false content

In that poor word, ‘environment,’

But spirit scorns it, and is free.

“It masters time, it conquers space;

It cowes that boastful trickster, Chance,

And bids the tyrant Circumstance

Uncrown, and fill a servant’s place.

“The human Will, that force unseen,

The offspring of a deathless Soul,

Can hew a way to any goal,

Though walls of granite intervene.

“Be not impatient in delays

But wait as one who understands;

When spirit rises and commands

The gods are ready to obey.”

Other articles you may enjoy :

1. Effect of Thought on Circumstances – Part 1 MAN’S mind may be likened to a garden, which may...
2. Effect of Thought on Health and the Body THE body is the servant of the mind. It obeys...
3. The Thought-Factor in Achievement ALL that a man achieves and all that he fails...
4. Thought and Character THE aphorism, “As a man thinketh in his heart so...
5. Thought and Purpose UNTIL thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent...
6. Serenity CALMNESS of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of...

Take Action

It does not matter how much you know if you never take action. You will rarely get that dream job unless you place the right job applications. You will not get that lean and fit body unless you exercise and eat right.

Do not just sit there and think of all the things you are capable of. Instead, a have a bias for action. Get out there and do something. You may be thinking of starting a business or a relationship. That will only materialize if you take action. Fantasizing about your potential will only leave you feeling unfulfilled in the end, if you do not take action.

Use Other People’s Resources

I first heard of the term OPM (Other People’s Money) ten years ago. I got fascinated by the concept and read up on it, and discovered it goes further than that. It extends to other resources, not just money.

You can use other people money to amplify your potential. Banks and insurance companies reap huge benefits by using our money. People take their savings to the bank and are rewarded with a negligible interest rate. The bank then takes the money and lends it to the next guy for a fortune. Listed companies use shareholders money to run their operations.

Are you working long hours trying to make a living or is other people’s money working for you? It is not too late to start thinking of how you can take advantage of other people’s money, just like the banks do.

Using other peoples money wisely and profitably WILL amplify your success. On the other hand, losing other people money in a failed venture can leave you with a deep hole in your pocket. The trick is to do your homework on how to profit from other people’s money.

People and banks will lend you an umbrella when it is raining and ask for it when it starts drizzling. It happens all the time especially in the stock market. Many investors will quickly withdraw their money from your venture at the first sign of trouble. Be careful with other people’s money, but do not underestimate its potential.

You can also tap onto other people’s resources; experiences, time, passions and expertise to turbo charge your success. First you need to align your intentions to make sure you are pulling in the same direction. Create a win-win situation and you will laugh all the way to the bank.

Focused Effort

My mind is constantly coming up with ideas of what I need to do. I end up with a plethora of unfinished projects. I consider myself a man of great potential, but am quickly realizing that there are only 24 hours in a day. Not everything that passes through my mind can be done, unfortunately. I am learning to prioritize and saying NO to good opportunities that I would not have let slide a few years ago.

Do you find yourself trying to juggle more than a few projects or ideas? If you get nothing else from today’s posting, get this: Be Focused!

It is an area of life that I admittedly fall short in but I am trying. Why? I think it makes a lot of sense. Why do 10 mediocre things when you can do one thing very well? The more focused you are on something, the greater your success rate. Do not be a jack of all trades and end up as a master of none.

Have a Mastermind Group

In his timeless classic book, “Think and Grow Rich”, Napoleon Hill said “When a group of individual brains are coordinated and function in harmony, the increased energy created through the alliance, becomes available to every individual in the group”.

Very few fortunes (if any) are made by people who work in isolation. That is the precise reason why companies have boards of directors. The directors brainstorm and use their collective experiences, contacts and expertise for the betterment of the company.

You can assemble your own “board of directors” in your life. Identify people you can connect with in harmony, for a definite purpose, and that will surely amplify your potential.

Napoleon Hill also said:  “Men take on the nature and habits and the power of thought of those with whom they associate in a spirit of sympathy and harmony”.

Think of the 5 people closest to you. Chances are they think like you, talk like you and enjoy the same things as you. If you dig deeper, you will realize just how much impact they have in your life. The bible says “show me your friends, and I will tell you what kind of person you are”. They say that birds of a feather flock together.

Consciously assembling a mastermind group could turn out to be on of your best time investments. How do you become a millionaire if all your friends all earn 15,000 per year? How do you live a healthy life if you and your friends are always at the pub till the wee hours of the morning? How do you get ahead in life without a single encouraging voice in the vicinity? A mastermind group is the master key to unlocking potential.

Other articles you may enjoy :

1. Of Good and Bad Debt Have a quick look at those two men over there;...
2. Gaining and Sustaining Success Momentum The first million is the hardest to make. Once...
3. Set up Systems to Serve You We only have 24 hours in a day. We are...
4. What I Learned Through Blogging in 2009 – Part Two Today we continue looking at my lessons in 2009 and...
5. Who Is Your Customer? There is a customer born every minute, said P.T. Barnum....
6. Do Not Re-Invent the Wheel What has been is what will be, and what...

According to Wikipedia, a magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials and attracts or repels other magnets.

The mystery of magnetic energy has never been unraveled; they are at an atomic level that isn’t known yet. And like other forces such as gravity, mechanics, heat, scientists are only able to know how they work, what they do, and if there any formulas that can be made to describe (and thus predict) their behavior. Only then are able to control them.

Qualities of a Magnetic Success

There are four facts about a magnet that we can borrow and apply in our lives in order to attract success.

• Magnetic forces attract only magnetic materials.

There are some materials that just won’t be attracted by magnets. You will not be able to attract anything and everything in your life. Even magnets do not attract some materials such as glass or plastic. Do not waste your time and energy trying to attract things that just won’t happen. Sow where there is a possibility of a harvest.

• North poles point north, south poles point south.

The compass that will shape our destiny is internal and will always point us to where we belong. If you have a strong character with values such as integrity, honesty and good attitude, then you will attract success. Before looking at external sources of success, try and get the internal magnet working right for you. That is what will ultimately attract the success that you desire.

• Magnetic forces act on distance.

Depending on the magnetic strength possessed, a magnet will be able to attract things at a distance. If you move closer to the things that you want to attract, you will be able to attract them faster and more powerfully. If you want to attract success in one area of life, move closer to the thing that you want to attract. It does not have to be physical distance; it can be mentally or emotionally.

• While magnetized, temporary magnets act like permanent magnets.

When you start acting like a success, success comes to you. When you have the right mindset, even temporarily, it will attract success to your life.

Keep reading inspiring blogs such as this one. Read motivational books, hang out with positive and empowering people. The energy and motivation you get from them will energize you to work, take action and succeed.

Your success will come because of the things you DO when you were “magnetized”. Always seek to be magnetized or motivated for success by other magnetic or motivated people.

Success Attractors:

• Clarity is a success magnet

Be absolutely clear on what you want. It does not take long to find clarity. When you are clear on what your intentions are, you are able to eliminate wasted effort and apply yourself fully to achieving your goals. You save a lot of time by avoiding chasing irrelevant things.

• Have the right thoughts

Success or failure is all in the mind. You become what you think about. Take time to feed your mind with positive and empowering thoughts. I have deliberately decided to fill my mind with positive thoughts and I have seen this doing wonders in many areas of my life.

Think through what you want, it will propel you to action, and achieving it. Everything you see out there was once a thought. Who knows what you can achieve if you set your mind on something. What you think in your mind will eventually be realized in the physical realm.

• Attitude

Have a can do, will do attitude to attract success. The kind of attitude you have in your relationships, job, business, and finances will determine the exact level of success you will attract or repel.

• Become a learner.

Learn from your mistakes and those of others; it will help you forge ahead and achieve what you want to achieve. Go out of your way to learn about how to succeed. Invest in learning from experts, peers and authorities in your field. Continuous learning is a success magnet.

• Become a giver

The more you give the more you will attract back to your life. If you give friendship you will get friendship. If you give value you will get value. Be a cheerful giver. Give something of value to people you meet. Not necessarily money but what you have in your reserves. When you give you are making a deposit in your spiritual account and you will reap your rewards with the same measure you give out.

Other articles you may enjoy :

1. Mastering Self Confidence for Success My self confidence has always swung like a pendulum. Sometimes...
2. Sex, Power and Success – Part 1 The mind is a powerful tool at our disposal. Napoleon...
3. Sex, Power and Success – Part 2 This is Continued from Part 1 of the topic of...
4. Find your Own Angle for Success I get people asking me all the time about what...
5. Success: How Badly do You Want it? I will start today’s post with a confession: I have...
6. Do you have a Blueprint for Success? Success does not just happen. You must first purpose it...

Stockbrokers have been known to commit suicide when the going gets tough. When the markets nose-dive, some prefer to jump off skyscrapers rather than face the consequences. Do you attach too much meaning and personal involvement in your material possessions?

Imaginary Losses

It is very easy to fall into the trap of imagining that the worst will happen. If you keep your mind focused on what could go wrong, then you might just precipitate it. You can create your worst fears by constantly thinking about them. I am not saying that you sink your head in the sand and assume that nothing bad will happen; far from it. What am saying is that you should not overly live in fear of the worst. Fear of failure or loss paralyzes action.

We are talking about getting ahead in life in this series of articles. To be able to get ahead, minimize your imaginary loses. Many people die so many times in their own heads. They have so many divorces in their minds. They fail so many exams, have accidents, have their houses broken into… all in their minds. Imaginary loses can reduce your lifestyle and quality of life. In addition, they can steal the fighting spirit and the zeal to succeed. Be aware. You have been warned.

Cumulative Losses

Some people lose it all and they think that that was a bad day or a bad month. But the reality was that they were on a losing streak all along, they just did not realize it. Losing, just like winning, is not an event but a process. If for example you have a habit of drinking and driving, having a road accident might seem like it was “sudden” but it really wasn’t. Falling deeply in debt does not happen overnight. It is the cumulative effect of spending habits and financial discipline.

You can reverse your fortunes by having an early warning system in place. For example, if you continuously miss your targets in your business, it should serve as a warning is not late. If you are in a relationship and your communication is almost nil, then you should be aware of the impending disaster. Pay attention to the details. Losses, just like success, rarely happen overnight.

Spread Your Risk

Daniel Ngari is more than this blog. If this blog was no more, I would still survive and thrive. Many people place too much emphasis on one aspect of their lives. They put too many eggs in one basket. They put their sanity at risk by investing too heavily in one aspect of life. Spread your risk of total loss by finding solace in diverse areas of your life.

Have hobbies and people who you can fall back on if the worst comes to the worst. It may be a cell group at your church or people you play a sport with. Have a place you belong other than your work or business.

Keep a portion of your income for a rainy day. Do not be driven by instant gratification. Consuming today without regard for tomorrow can exacerbate the pain of losses. View money as a game. Play to both win and enjoy. Use your money wisely and remember to pass the ball (giving). You get back what you give out.

Disaster Recovery Plan

In the software development industry, having a disaster recovery plan is a smart way of minimizing loses. What would you do if your computer got a virus? What would you do if your USB thumb drive stopped working?

Hope for the best but prepare for the worst. The worst could happen without any warning. Having given thought to your action plan in such an event can mean the difference between a temporary setback and total ruin.

Starting all Over Again

The best thing you can do if you lose it all is to take time to reflect on where you went wrong. Don’t dwell too much on it, but don’t avoid this important stage. Make sure you do not make the same mistake twice.

After you have identified what went wrong, create a game plan. Have a plan on how you are going to bounce back to where you were and beyond. Take small but consistent steps towards the attainment of your goals.

If you ever have to start again after failure, do not give up. Be persistent. “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race”. Calvin Coolidge (30th President of the United States of America, 1872-1933).

No matter what challenges you may be facing in your life today, take heart; persist. That which cannot kill you will only make you stronger. The size of the victory depends on the size of the opponents.

Regardless of how deep in hell you may be, if you look inside yourself, you will see that a hero lies in you. The strength of your character and your hunger to bounce back can help you overcome adversity. Many people give up on the first sign of trouble, but the art of bouncing back is what separates successes from failures.

In Summary

Losing all that you have worked for can be a painful experience. Unfortunately, many people let the fear of potentially losing it all paralyze their actions. Focus on the bright side of life. Know that even if you lost it all, you could still bounce back.

Every cloud has a silver lining, make sure you learn from your mistakes or understand the reasons for your loss, then quickly attempt to bounce back. Take well thought out action steps, persistently, to re-build and re-brand you.

If you like this article, please share it with a friend. I would love to hear your comments on the topic of bouncing back after losing it all.

Other articles you may enjoy :

1. Be Prepared for Success A farmer knows that they have to plant the right...
2. 10 Surefire Ways of Destroying a Relationship. Yesterday we talked about the importance of relationships in our...
3. Losing My Virginity I had gone to Curtin University here in Perth, Western...
4. Thought and Purpose UNTIL thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent...
5. The Man Who Said Sorry There was a leadership spill in Australia last week. The...
6. Building a Strong Foundation for Success A sky scraper’s foundation is different from that of a...

How relevant are you? What do you do that has enduring value? Bill gates can say his dream of having a personal computer in every home and every office has largely been realized (in the developed world at least). What are you going to be remembered for? Your legacy is directly proportional to your contribution.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children…to leave the world a better place…to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”

We are talking about getting ahead in this series of articles. What better way of getting ahead in life than making the lives of others better? The universe provides abundantly to those with an abundant mindset. The universe keeps away its goodies from those with a scarcity mindset. Thinking you cannot succeed by improving the lives of others is a self limiting belief.

Do not wait until you get rich for you to make a contribution. Make giving part of getting rich. Give until it hurts. Giving will open floodgates of blessings. Align your goals, actions and habits with making a contribution to others. I try my best on this blog to make a contribution in my readers’ lives. I want my success to be intricately tied to your success.

Succeeding by building others up is the most sustainable way of succeeding. If I work really hard to write great articles that will change your life, you are most likely going to keep coming back for more and maybe invite your friends to this site. It is the same in business and other areas of life. If you build other people up, they will be happy with you and spread the word on your behalf saving you big bucks in advertising costs.

Teachers Contribution

Teachers are some of the most under-appreciated contributors in society. I will dedicate some space for all the teachers today. I love teachers; maybe it has something to do with my dad having been a teacher and the fact that my sister is a teacher. I previously shared this video on the blog post about succeeding through building others up.

Video Transcript

By Taylor Mali
www.taylormali.com

He says the problem with teachers is, “What’s a kid going to learn
from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?”
He reminds the other dinner guests that it’s true what they say about
teachers:
Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.

I decide to bite my tongue instead of his
and resist the temptation to remind the other dinner guests
that it’s also true what they say about lawyers.

Because we’re eating, after all, and this is polite company.

“I mean, you¹re a teacher, Taylor,” he says.
“Be honest. What do you make?”

And I wish he hadn’t done that
(asked me to be honest)
because, you see, I have a policy
about honesty and ass-kicking:
if you ask for it, I have to let you have it.

You want to know what I make?

I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.
I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional medal of honor
and an A- feel like a slap in the face.
How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best.

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall
in absolute silence. No, you may not work in groups.
No, you may not ask a question.
Why won’t I let you get a drink of water?
Because you’re not thirsty, you’re bored, that’s why.

I make parents tremble in fear when I call home:
I hope I haven’t called at a bad time,
I just wanted to talk to you about something Billy said today.
Billy said, “Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don’t you?”
And it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen.

I make parents see their children for who they are
and what they can be.

You want to know what I make?

I make kids wonder,
I make them question.
I make them criticize.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them write, write, write.
And then I make them read.
I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely
beautiful
over and over and over again until they will never misspell
either one of those words again.
I make them show all their work in math.
And hide it on their final drafts in English.
I make them understand that if you got this (brains)
then you follow this (heart) and if someone ever tries to judge you
by what you make, you give them this (the finger).

Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:
I make a goddamn difference! What about you?

In other words…

No matter what you do in life, whether you are a teacher or a lawyer, a cleaner or a business man, you can succeed by making a contribution. Find what others need and give them exceptional value. Always ask yourself, “what can I do to build this person or people up?.

Take stock of your life; are you making a contribution to others? Is the achievement of your goals going to be humanity’s nightmare? Be on the look out for ways you can make a contribution to the lives of others. Ask not, what others can do for you, but what you can do for others.

In Summary

There is no better way of getting ahead in life than aligning your success with that of others. You will not only enjoy your success journey, but you will sleep soundly at night after you make it.

If you like this blog post, please be kind enough to share it with your friends. Make a contribution to their lives by sharing this blog post (or am I pushing it? Haha!)

Other articles you may enjoy :

1. Succeed by Building Others Up Regardless of what success means to you, you can attain...
2. Succeed through Authenticity You are a unique person, with unique experiences and unique...
3. Making your Relationship Last Some relationships are single serving like airline food. Others last...
4. How to Get Ahead in Life I just got back to Australia from Kenya where I...
5. Is your Belief System screwing you up? Today has been a very humbling experience for me. I...
6. How and When to Buy Influence Influence is like a magic wand for getting ahead in...

This year, I have been unshackling myself from mental slavery. I earmarked 2009 as the year of unparalleled professional and personal growth. It has meant getting rid of some beliefs that were royally screwing my life and preventing me from getting ahead.

I decided to start this blog to share my experiences, lessons and thoughts with others…why? To inspire you to be the best you can be. It has not been an easy road exposing my life to people I might never meet. But it is a small prize to pay to make a positive contribution in your life. I might never meet you in person, but it is my hope that your success will inspire others too.

Early this week, I posted a blog post about setting up systems to serve you. If you have a good belief system… a collection of ideas, outlook, habits, and action triggers, you will succeed. The kind of belief system you set up will determine how high you rise and how far you go. To succeed, you have to let go of self limiting beliefs.

Will Smith is one of my favorite actors of all time. You can watch him on a video I posted in January 2009 on the about page of this blog. He said that he believes whole-heartedly that our thoughts, our feelings, our dreams; our ideas are PHYSICAL in the universe. Your belief system WILL manifest itself in your physical life.

I am living testimony that positive thoughts can transform a life. I had reached the depths sheol and did not like it down there. My beliefs and ideas were keeping me down. I tried the positive thinking “nonsense” and it surprisingly made absolute sense to me. I urge you to give it a try my friend. Commit yourself to a complete renewal of your mind through positive thoughts. What you think, you become. What you believe, you get.

Let us look at a few areas of life that a shaky belief system can cost you (and what to do about it).

Finances

• Generosity – What are your thoughts on giving? I have found that the more you give the more it comes back to you. Do not hoard the little you have thinking that you will start giving when you “get there”. Commit a certain percentage of your time and resources for generosity. If you cannot give $10 to your church when you have $100, it is unlikely that you will give them a hundred grand when you make a million.
• Sow and Reap – As a man soweth, so shall he also reap. What kind of seeds are you planting in your life right now? Whether you realize it or not, you are a farmer. You are always planting and harvesting. If you plant an extravagant lifestyle on credit, you will reap massive debt. If you sow an automatic investment strategy, then you will reap compounded returns.
• Don’t work for money – Do you believe that you have to work for money? That is not cool. Let money work for you instead. Don’t rock up to a job you hate every day for the rest of your life just for the paycheck. Find your passion, do what you like to do, not what money makes you do. The irony is that the more you do what you enjoy doing, the more money you will get.
• The quickest path to happiness – I have said previously on this blog that those who say money cannot buy happiness don’t know where to shop. I maintain that view, but let me add something… you can still be happy without spending your money. The quickest path to happiness is contentment.
• Gain Financial Literacy – Do you bury your head in the sand and let your accountant crunch the numbers for you? Do you say that you are not good with numbers or that finance is too complicated? Such a belief system can cost you a fortune. Get busy now and acquire financial literacy. Celebrities who hand over their money to money managers at times end up in the poor house if they do not pay attention to the details of their financial standing.

Career

• Flexible goals – Some people believe that just because their biology teacher said it, they have to become doctors. Just because you were good in math does not mean you should be an accountant. Be flexible and adaptable to changing times and opportunities in your career.
• It may take time to succeed – Career success does not happen overnight. Be prepared to put in the hours, effort and perseverance. Success is normally found just after others give up. Push yourself, don’t give up.
• Formal qualifications are not the “alpha and omega” of career success. You can succeed in a career that you did not earn a degree. I am a graduate in Business (Marketing & Information Systems) but what I do has little to do with what I studied at uni. I know a lot of people who have had career success in what they trained in. I also a lot of others that have succeeded in areas of their passion even though they do not have any formal training.
• Work on your strengths – In school we are taught to focus on our weak areas. To repeat until we get it. But real life is a little different. Work on your strengths instead of wasting your time on what you are not good at. You can always subcontract your weak areas if you find success on what you are good at.
• It is never too late – I recently read a story about a middle aged lady that had gone back to university to study law. She had been running a clothing store for 20 years. She went on to become a successful lawyer. Do not be stuck in a rut for fear of change. As long as you are not six feet underground, you can do whatever you put your mind to.

Relationships

• Treat yourself nice – How you treat and perceive yourself will have a dramatic effect on how others treat you. Think about it, when you meet new people, you treat them according to how they present or express themselves. Put your best foot forward and others will treat you accordingly.
• Relationships are forever – Think of creating win-win situations with others. Whether you are talking with your customers or wife, treat them with respect and set a foundation for an ongoing relationship.
• Birds of a feather – You will be judged by the company you keep. People you surround yourself with can infect you with their enthusiasm for life or their morbid desire for punishment.
• Stereotypes – Do not succumb to stereotyping yourself or others. Take time to listen and learn about others before making sweeping statements.

In Summary

You can do whatever your put your mind to. Your beliefs affect your relationships, your finances, your health and much more. Think positively and constantly re-evaluate your belief system.

Kindly share this article with your friends. I would love to hear your thoughts and comments on this topic. For the readers who have supported this blog in the last eight months, I say a big thank you. I appreciate you.

Other articles you may enjoy :

1. Succeed through Authenticity You are a unique person, with unique experiences and unique...
2. Becoming a Success Magnet What if you could attract to your life anything you ever...
3. Succeed through Making a Contribution I had a friend in high school, let us call...
4. The Most Inspiring Carpenter Jonah had just bought a piece of land near Nazareth...
5. How to Get Ahead in Life I just got back to Australia from Kenya where I...
6. What is Kaizen? Kaizen is the process of reaching your goals in life...

Many of us are always looking to climb higher. Unfortunately, the higher you climb the more you realize how far you still to go. Do you spend your life looking for the next promotion, the next relationship, the next success?

I like a quote by Will Smith, he said “Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t need, to impress people they don’t like.” Breaking your back to amass a collection of luxuries you don’t need, to impress people you don’t care about sounds silly, but a surprisingly high number of people do that year in year out.

Internal Congruence

To be truly successful, you need to have internal congruence. Your mind and soul needs to be convinced that what you are doing is a worthy pursuit. Wouldn’t it be nice to find the quickest path to happiness instead of perpetually chasing the wind?

If one part of you wants to succeed and the other part says “hey man, is it really worth it?” then you are going to have problems. You are going to sabotage yourself more than Al-Qaeda operatives in Iraq sabotage Americans. You will be your own enemy in your success battles.

Finding Balance

Do you have an insatiable desire for wealth that is detrimental to your values and relationships? Taking business and success too seriously can lead to stress and emotional turmoil that can ruin everything else.

Since launching this blog, I have been writing on a wide array of topics ranging from Personal Branding, to Emotional Mastery to Relationships and Getting Rich. It is all about finding balance instead of chasing success in one aspect of life to the exclusion of all else. How would you like to gain the whole world and lose your soul? How would you feel if you became the richest man in your city and lose you family?

Take a piece of piece of paper and set your goals in all aspects of your life. Re-evaluate your quest for success and decide if you are paying a fair price. Is your job worth your family life? Is your night out worth your school grades? Is your career worth a little grass or more?

And the Bible Says…

Today I will leave you with the  scripture that inspired the title of this post.

Ecclesiastes 1 (New International Version)

1. The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:

2        “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”

3        What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?

4        Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.

5        The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.

6        The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.

7        All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.

8        All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.

9        What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

10    Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.

11    There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow.

12    I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

13     I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men!

14     I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

15     What is twisted cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.

16    I thought to myself, “Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.”

17     Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.

18    For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.

Parting Shot…

I would love to hear from you regarding your thoughts about chasing the wind of success and finding balance. Your comments are highly appreciated. Kindly share this blog post with your friends on Facebook and other social Media.

Other articles you may enjoy :

1. Guy Seeking Goal It is not too late to set a major goal...
2. Do you have a Blueprint for Success? Success does not just happen. You must first purpose it...
3. Gaining and Sustaining Success Momentum The first million is the hardest to make. Once...
4. What a Car Mechanic Taught me About Success Everywhere I look, I seem to find lessons to share...
5. Building a Strong Foundation for Success A sky scraper’s foundation is different from that of a...
6. Mastering Self Confidence for Success My self confidence has always swung like a pendulum. Sometimes...

I was inspired by a story told by Robert Kiyosaki and I will share that with you today.

Instead of creating and delivering value in person, you can set up systems to serve you. Package your value and find a way of delivering that value to the people who need it. For example, companies like Coca-cola and Pepsi thrive even if they do not have their own shops. They seek partners in delivering their refreshments. You can do the same in your life; you can work with others to deliver value for you, just like Pepsi does.

Here is that brilliant story by Robert Kiyosaki.

Once upon a time there was this quaint little village. It was a great place to live except for one problem. The village had no water unless it rained. To solve this problem once and for all, the village elders decided to put out to bid the contract to have water delivered to the village on a daily basis.

Two people volunteered to take on the task and the elders awarded the contract to both of them. They felt that a little competition would keep prices low and ensure a back-up supply of water.

The first of the two people who won the contract, Ed, immediately ran out, bought two galvanized steel buckets and began running back and forth along the trail to the lake which was a mile away. He immediately began making money as he labored morning to dusk hauling water from the lake with his two buckets.

He would empty them into the large concrete holding tank the village had built. Each morning he had to get up before the rest of the village awoke to make sure there was enough water for the village when it wanted it. It was hard work, but he was very happy to be making money and for having one of the two exclusive contracts for this business.

Business Owner Thinking

The second winning contractor, Bill, disappeared for a while. He was not seen for months, which made Ed very happy since he had no competition. Ed was making all the money.

Instead of buying two buckets to compete with Ed, Bill had written a business plan, created a corporation, found four investors, employed a president to do the work and returned six months later with a construction crew.

Within a year his team had built a large volume stainless steel pipeline which connected the village to the lake. At the grand opening celebration, Bill announced that his water was cleaner than Ed’s water.

Bill knew that there had been complaints about dirt in Ed’s water. Bill also announced that he could supply the village with water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Ed could only deliver water on the weekdays–he did not work on weekends.

Then Bill announced that he would charge 75% less than Ed did for this higher quality and more reliable source of water. The village cheered and ran immediately for the faucet at the end of Bill’s pipeline.

In order to compete, Ed immediately lowered his rates by 75%, bought two more buckets, added covers to his buckets and began hauling four buckets each trip. In order to provide better service, he hired his two sons to give him a hand for the night shift and on weekends. When his boy s went off to college, he said to them, “Hurry back because someday this business will belong to you.” For some reason, after college, his two sons never returned.

Eventually Ed had employees and union problems. The union was demanding higher wages, better benefits and wanted its members to only haul one bucket at a time.

Bill, on the other hand, realized that if this village needed water then other villages must need water too. He rewrote his business plan and went off to sell his high speed, high volume, and low cost and clean water delivery system to villages throughout the world. He only makes a penny per bucket of water delivered, but he delivers billions of buckets of water, and all that money pours into his bank account. Bill had developed a pipeline to deliver money to himself as well as water to the villages. Bill lived happily ever after and Ed worked hard for the rest of his life and had financial problems forever after.

That story about Bill and Ed has guided me for years. It has assisted me in my life’s decision making process. I often ask myself, “Am I building a pipeline or hauling buckets?” “Am I working hard or am I working smart?”

In Summary

Are you capable of creating a “pipeline” to be delivering value for you? What do you need to do before you can deliver value to others 24/7? To get ahead in life, you have to be more like Bill and less like Ed.

Please share this blog post with your friends on Facebook and other social media. I would also love to hear from you about practical areas of life that one can setup a distribution system (pipelines).

Other articles you may enjoy :

1. Who Is Your Customer? There is a customer born every minute, said P.T. Barnum....
2. Set up Systems to Serve You We only have 24 hours in a day. We are...
3. Sermon on the Blog I have found solace in the Big Book this year...
4. Find your Own Angle for Success I get people asking me all the time about what...
5. Succeed through Making a Contribution I had a friend in high school, let us call...
6. How and When to Buy Influence Influence is like a magic wand for getting ahead in...

Henry Ford capitalized on the assembly line system to produce cars more efficiently. He designed his manufacturing system to introduce efficiency and help roll out affordable cars faster from his production lines.

What kind of systems can you set up to be working for you 24/7 to introduce efficiency and effectiveness in your life or venture? This blog for example, is a simple system working for me. It is able to deliver value to my readers in 90 countries, 24 hours a day / 7 days a week.

Footballers earn a lot of money, so do musicians, but have you ever spared a thought about the people who own the systems… the football franchises, the recording industry magnates etc. These people working behind the scenes earn a lot more; in fact they are the ones who pay the footballers and the musicians.

Having systems work for you is a major leverage for getting ahead in life. Unfortunately not many people obsess over setting up their own systems. If you do not obsess about setting up systems to serve you, you will be limited on how high you can ascend. Your own flesh and blood can only do so much.

Decide what vehicle you want to use to deliver value to others, and employ smart systems to serve you around the clock. Your system might be a computer program like in the case of this blog, or it may be a monthly arrangement with a professional e.g. a bookkeeper or cleaner.

Aim to have systems around what you do. Free your time for creativity and growing your venture, not getting stuck in a rut. What if you had hundreds of systems working for you 24/7/365 days?

The Internet is a good place to setup systems to serve you. You could setup a simple blog to act as your CV. You could setup a shop on the internet to be selling your goods and services even when you sleep. Please check out a couple of articles I wrote on how you can use the internet to serve you; 1) How to use Social Media for Personal Branding, 2) How to use Blogging for Personal Branding.

Think about your daily activities, especially if you run a business. Are there some of your actions that can be automated, delegated or outsourced? Could you create a system to do what you did yesterday? Aim to create a new system per week to make your work more efficient or effective. Examples of systems working for others include classified advertising, production lines, websites, subcontracting work, personal budgeting, automatic investment plans etc.

In Summary

To get ahead in life you need to release yourself from the mundane and repetitive tasks that can be done by someone else. Think of building systems and processes to serve you and multiply your efforts, ideas, talents and resources.

If you like this blog post, please share with your friends on Facebook, or via email. I would love to hear from you through the comments system with ideas or questions about setting up systems to serve you.

Other articles you may enjoy :

1. Why set up your own Pipelines? Money is the exchange of value, the more value you...
2. Who Is Your Customer? There is a customer born every minute, said P.T. Barnum....
3. Do Not Re-Invent the Wheel What has been is what will be, and what...
4. How to Get Ahead in Life I just got back to Australia from Kenya where I...
5. Skill vs Talent Do you want to use every ounce of potential to...
6. Is your Belief System screwing you up? Today has been a very humbling experience for me. I...

Someone once said “find that which you love to do and you will never have to work a day in your life”. There is truth in that statement. When you do things you love, though you may physically or mentally get tired, you will enjoy what you do, and it will feel less like work and more like fun.

If you are going to spend equal amounts of energy hating your job (but pretending to like it) and doing your job, think twice my friend. Doing something you hate just for the money is the quickest way to mediocrity. Nobody becomes a class act by hating their job.

Success through authenticity means embracing your uniqueness. It also means investing your time and efforts in ventures that are in alignment with your uniqueness. If you do not find the passion for your job or career – quit. You will hardly get ahead if you do something you loathe anyway. Lack of authenticity produces moderate results at best.

Who are you?

To confidently call yourself authentic, you need to know who you really are. Take time to list your unique characteristics, culture and beliefs, experiences, training etc. Do a SWOT analysis of yourself before embarking on a new venture. (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats).

What are you talents? What do you do with ease that others struggle in? What do you aspire to do or what does your heart desire? Combining your unique talents, with a strong desire to succeed in an area of life can propel you to success.

Why are you on this planet? What is your mission in life? Let your actions, career, relationships and ventures be guided by your mission in life. Just like corporations, you should have a mission statement that will guide you and tell you when you are on the right track or not.

Your father being a lawyer does not mean you should become one as well. You don’t have to become a writer just because your English teacher said you should. What you do should come from within. If you are thrust into something by external forces, it will show. People can tell a phony from the real deal.

There is more than one avenue for success. Find the avenue that is the closest match to your uniqueness. Trying to change your core to become like someone else is harder than finding a matching career in the long term. Authenticity breeds happiness.

Are you genuinely interested?

To succeed in a venture or relationship, you must throw yourself into it fully. To succeed in a venture, you have to live your venture full time. Undertaking half measures slows down your success journey or derails you.

Are you genuinely interested in your career, job, business or investment? Without genuine interest in what you do, you would not have internal congruence. Lack of internal congruence can introduce conflicting thoughts that hinder progress. You may not be able to apply yourself fully if you are not genuinely interested. Real growth only happens when your interest level is on a high.

I realized early on in life that I do not like taking orders, and neither do I like seeing blood. That ruled out the military and medicine as career options for me. There are many other unique things about me that have directed my career choices. What are you unique characteristics, like and dislikes? Use your uniqueness to your advantage.

If you find that you are continuously forcing yourself to do your job or run a business, perhaps it is high time to evaluate what you are doing. Not all of us can be doctors, bricklayers, cooks, preachers or mechanics. There is something for everyone. Take your time to find your passion and dedicate yourself to what you are good at.

In Summary

Stop trying to keep up with others or to do what society dictates. If you that which you love, are passionate about, and are genuinely interested in, you will soar to greater heights of success and achievement.

I would love to hear from you through your comments. Do you know someone who can succeed more if they followed their passion and unique gifts in life? Please share this blog post with them, your Facebook friends or other friends via email.

Other articles you may enjoy :

1. Succeed by Building Others Up Regardless of what success means to you, you can attain...
2. Succeed through Making a Contribution I had a friend in high school, let us call...
3. What I Learned Through Blogging in 2009 – Part Two Today we continue looking at my lessons in 2009 and...
4. Set up Systems to Serve You We only have 24 hours in a day. We are...
5. Do Not Re-Invent the Wheel What has been is what will be, and what...
6. Signs of an Unhealthy Relationship There are actions and habits that should be reason enough...

First, let us see what Google has to say about the word “buy”.

• Obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction; “The family purchased a new car”; “The conglomerate acquired a new company”

• Bribe: make illegal payments to in exchange for favors or influence; “This judge can be bought”
• Acquire by trade or sacrifice or exchange; “She wanted to buy his love with her dedication to him and his work”

While we are at it, let us have a quick look at what “influence” is all about.

• A power to affect persons or events especially power based on prestige etc; “used her parents’ influence to get the job”
• Causing something without any direct or apparent effort
• Determine: shape or give direction to; “mold public opinion”
• Charm: induce into action by using one’s charm; “She charmed him into giving her all his money”

Why Become Influential?

To get ahead in life, you will need to influence others to do things for you. You may need to influence people to buy from you. You may need to influence people to vote for you. There are all sorts of ways to influence people. Once you have influence, you will cause things to happen without any direct or apparent effort.

One of the most influential people in the world is Oprah Winfrey. Bill O’Reilly once said: “I mean this is a woman that came from nothing to rise up to be the most powerful woman, I think, in the world. I think Oprah Winfrey is the most powerful woman in the world, not just in America. That’s — anybody who goes on her program immediately benefits through the roof. I mean, she has a loyal following; she has credibility; she has talent; and she’s done it on her own to become fabulously wealthy and fabulously powerful”

In July 2007 TV Guide reported that Winfrey was the highest paid TV entertainer in the United States during the past year. She earned an estimated $260 million during the year. That amount was more than 5 times what had been earned by the person in second place (Wikipedia). In 2008, Oprah was said to be worth US$2.7 million.

The more influential you are, the richer you will be (in most cases). Wealth makes people influential, but influence can precede great wealth. Gaining influence, by whatever means available to you, can open up doors that are closed to many.

Being influential makes life easier. You can do what you desire, shape the direction of events, be in control, and be happy. At any one moment in time, you are either influencing others or being influenced in some way.

Buying Influence

Going by the definitions of buying above, I choose to focus on buying as being “acquire by trade or sacrifice or exchange”. To get influence, you have to trade something you value or make sacrifices . Influence is a worthy purchase. Now let us a look at 10 ways of buying influence.

1 – Tell a Compelling Story

Unless you are going to brandish a gun and force people to do your bidding, you need to articulate what is in it for them. Inspiring people into action through stories is one of the most powerful ways of gaining influence. The most read book in history, the bible is a collection of stories with lessons galore.

Taking time to develop a compelling story can give you a master key to influencing people. Whether you are a marketer, a politician, a union leader or a preacher, your story is what will create your following. Do people resonate with what you are telling them? Do they believe your story? Do they trust you to guide them?

Your story needs to be told and re-told. Great brands are just a repetition of a compelling story. The story does not have to be a long winded narrative. It can be an association, a memory, a reason to take action. Articulating your vision is the first step to influencing people.

2 – Unite People

Power comes from people. If you can find a way of uniting people towards a common goal, then you will be powerful and influential. Perhaps you could start by bringing together people, people who share a hobby, passion, or profession. You would become the cornerstone of the group and that is how influence begins.

If you take your time and put thought into what people really need or want to unite in, then you can tap on those emotions, needs or circumstances to become influential. A good example that comes to mind is Malcom X. He tapped on the racial tensions between blacks and whites in America to become very influential. (Disclaimer: the following is text is a quote by Malcom X, not my opinion or thoughts).

Malcolm X: Brothers and sisters, I am here to tell you that I charge the white man.

I charge the white man with being the greatest murderer on earth. I charge the white man with being the greatest kidnapper on earth. There is no place in this world that this man can go and say he created peace and harmony.

Everywhere he’s gone he’s created havoc. Everywhere he’s gone he’s created destruction. So I charge him. I charge him with being the greatest kidnapper on this earth! I charge him with being the greatest murderer on this earth! I charge him with being the greatest robber and enslaver on this earth! I charge the white man with being the greatest swine-eater on this earth. The greatest drunkard on this earth!

He can’t deny the charges! You can’t deny the charges! We’re the living proof of those charges! You and I are the proof. You’re not an American, you are the victim of America. You didn’t have a choice coming over here. He didn’t say, “Black man, black woman, come on over and help me build America”. He said, “Nigger, get down in the bottom of that boat and I’m taking you over there to help me build America”. Being born here does not make you an American. I am not an American, you are not an American. You are one of the 22 million black people who are the victims of America.

You and I, we’ve never see any democracy. We didn’t see any democracy on the-the cotton fields of Georgia, wasn’t no democracy down there. We didn’t see any democracy. We didn’t see any democracy on the streets of Harlem or on the streets of Brooklyn or on the streets of Detroit or Chicago. Ain’t no democracy down there. No, we’ve never seem democracy! All we’ve seen is hypocrisy! We don’t see any American Dream. We’ve experienced only the American Nightmare!

Crowd: [shouting] Malcolm! Malcolm! We want Malcolm! We want Malcolm!

The crowd had just been given a reason to unite… and who was there to lead them? Who was there to influence them? Of course, Malcom X! If you can find an angle to unite people (along the lines of something that meets your and their objectives), then my friend, you will have just purchased a truckload of influence.

3 – Meet a Need

Take time to do your homework on what people need. It is easier to influence people who need you than people who can do without you. Make yourself indispensable or highly desirable. Invest some time to get in tune with the needs of others. There are different types of needs and Abraham Maslow summed them up nicely in five levels.

• Physiological needs – These are the basic needs that each person has. Meeting these needs can give you leverage and influence. These needs include the need for food, sleep, sex, shelter, clothing etc. If someone depends on you for shelter for example, you are more likely to influence them than someone who does not. Think of how you can align your offering with the needs of the people you want to influence. They may be basic needs, but they are very powerful needs that many people will go to great lengths to meet.
• Safety needs – Once people have their physiological needs sorted, they start looking for some form of security or protection. Insurance companies pry on these needs. They target people who are just above being driven by physiological needs alone. They urge them to protect what they have. You can position yourself to be the protector and provider of security and gain influence because of that. Some unscrupulous people can gain influence through manipulation, by playing on the fear factor. For example, extortionists can offer to protect a business and if the business owner refuses to pay, they can use scare tactics to influence the owner to comply.There are different types of safety needs including: personal safety, financial security and good health. You can get ahead in life by just focusing on meeting just one need. For example, you could build a business around providing information about healthy living for young families.
• Social needs – When people have a roof over themselves in a safe house/neighborhood, they start paying attention to higher level needs such as intimacy, family and friendship. Think of ways you can gain leverage by being the antidote for loneliness. The need for friendship and acceptance can provide you with a window to influence someone or people.
• Esteem – You can gain influence by providing a sense of belonging to people. This is where starting a professional association, sports team, sub-culture and a membership club can make you influential. You can influence people through the emotion of wanting to belong. People with low self esteem are more easily influenced. Think of ways you can build up others, meet their need to belong, the need to be recognized, accepted and feel important. Blend that with your business or activities to gain influence and get ahead in life.
• Self-Actualization – This need is not for everyone. It is for those who have conquered the above needs. This is a need that only the cream of society can actually call a pressing need. Self actualization is the desire for someone to reach their full potential and be the master of their destiny. You will hit jackpot if you can position yourself as the self-actualization guru. If you can help people meet this need, then my friend, you will be influencing the cream. And now, that is influence.

4 – Become an Authority

People respond to authority. One of the most powerful ways of propelling your influence to the stratosphere is through positioning yourself as an authority. Becoming an authority can eliminate doubts about your abilities and marshal people around your ideas.

You just don’t wake up one day and decide that you are an authority on the diplomatic relations between Australia and China. You gain that authority status through recognition by peers. If you are a doctor, you cannot just say you are the best. Other experts like you have to think you are the best. It is not easy getting authority status.

Authority status is not acquired overnight. Be persistent in your aspiration for authority status in your chosen field. Continuously develop your career. Learn the ropes. Learn the people.

You can gain authority status without starting from the bottom by aligning yourself with experts in your field. A man by the name Rich Schefren took the internet marketing community by storm. He seemingly came from nowhere and became the go to guy in internet marketing coaching by getting strong endorsements from known big names. He stood on the shoulders of giants and became the giant that he is today.

Gaining influence by becoming a known authority on a subject matter is a powerful way especially in a knowledge economy. Find something you love and specialize. Dig deeper than most people dare. Decide to learn, experience, practice, perfect and master your area. Work with others in the area, be helpful and let them be the ones to let the world know who the “big dog” in that subject matter is.

5 – Pre-Plan your Influence

I will let you in on a secret. You can influence anyone if you focus on influencing them, plan it and run over your moves before they even realize it. Teachers meet in the staff room to decide how they are going to influence students. Government economists influence the spending habits of consumers by cutting or increasing the official interest rate. Advertisers influence people into making purchase decisions by pre-planning their moves.

Get smart on this and you will thank me later. Spend time thinking of what kind of power or influence you want to have over someone or a group of people. Then like a chess game, plan your moves prior to making them. Do not just go with the flow. Think about what you want to accomplish and the steps you will take before you can influence people.

6 – Limited Time Offers

Direct marketing experts are good at telling a compelling story about a product or service, and then make you want it NOW. People will tend to procrastinate if they do not have to do something NOW.

Again this calls for prior planning. Think about what you want people to do and create a time limit for a decision. Do you want your child to have dinner now? Creating a limited time offer can modify their behavior. This works not just for children but staff, groups, congregations and partners. Spend time showing people why they need to do something and create a small window of opportunity for them to take action.

7 – Focus on the Long Term

Align yourself with nature. Nature develops slowly. Unless you are Jack and the bean stalk, when you plant some beans, it will take time for them to germinate and grow. You will have to cultivate the land, weed the garden, then wait for nature to take its course, then harvest.

If you look at the greatest rivers, first they start with small tributaries on the mountains. Those tributaries eventually form a river, as the river progresses towards the ocean, it becomes more and more powerful. You can use that analogy to grow your influence in different areas. It is not the one big action that you take that will make you influential… it is the small steady tributaries that make you a force to reckon with.

Your tributaries may come in the form of offering a helping hand to a friend in need. Or it may be that you have solved someone’s need. My influence on this blog will come as a result of each blog post or effort I make over time. Your influence in your business or industry will depend on lots of little steps over a long time. Plan your game plan and with time you will be influential in whatever area you choose.

8 – Friendship

People are more likely to respond to those they like. Whether you are a student doctor or a teacher, cultivate friendships with people in your area and beyond. Those friendships will come in handy. Do not just become a friend to someone when you need something from them. Be genuinely interested in friendship for the sake of friendship and that will come across. It is easy to spot a phony and people do not like fake or opportunistic friends.

A friend in need is a friend indeed. Be there at the hour of need when your friends need you. Invest in your friendships by spending time and resources to cement your bonds. A friend is more likely to do what you want them to than an enemy or stranger. Friendships are developed over time, so start early.

9 – Favors

Make sure you dish out more favors than you take in. In my favorite movie “The Godfather”, Don Coleone was asked for a favor to dispense justice. He said “Someday, and that day may never come, I’ll call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day accept this justice as gift on my daughter’s wedding day”. By giving that favor for free, he put himself in a position of influence on the man who needed justice done.

Think of ways you can give people favors according to their needs. Again this calls for prior planning. It may be a tip you give to a club bouncer or your mechanic, or it may be working a few hours extra for free when your boss was really stressed or over worked.

Be constantly on the lookout on how you can make people owe you instead of the other way out. It is easier to influence people who owe you. Your favors do not have to be monetary. You can be there in person for a person when they really needed a friend. You can go an extra mile for them, even if it is part of your job.

Don’t get into the habit of collecting your favors before you need them. Just like the Godfather, be willing to let some favors slide. Be ready to help and forget, but be helping anyway. This theory works whether you are in the most corrupt country in the world or the opposite. People are the same world over. They will bend to do more for those they have accepted favors from. Having said that, make sure you do not run contrary to the laws governing you on your quest for influence through favors.

10 – Listening Skills

Some people have ears but they do not hear. Not because they do not have the ability to hear but because they are too busy waiting for the turn to speak. Listening lets you in on the motivations, needs, strengths and weaknesses of others. God gave you two ears and one mouth. Use them in that proportion.

Developing your listening skill is one of the most powerful ways of influencing people. Whether you are a politician or a husband, you need to learn to listen. You need to know the prevailing mood of the people you want to influence and adapt where required. Listening multiplies your opportunities for influencing others. When people speak, they are telling you how to influence them. Learn to listen deep, get the deeper meaning of what people speak up or decide to censor. Understand people’s body language, posture, written word and actions. Take time to internalize that before taking actions to influence them. Get ahead through developing your listening skills.

In Summary

Getting ahead calls for increasing your influence. The time to start making progress towards gaining influence in now. It takes time and effort to be really influential. Influence open doors that would otherwise be closed. It is a worthy asset to develop or even purchase. You do not have to spend money or be corrupt to gain influence. You gain influence through understanding people and their motivations and needs.

If you like this blog post, please share with your friends. I would love to hear from you through comments or via the contact form on this blog.

Other articles you may enjoy :

1. What I Learned Through Blogging in 2009 – Part Two Today we continue looking at my lessons in 2009 and...
2. The Most Inspiring Carpenter Jonah had just bought a piece of land near Nazareth...
3. Duplicate Your Success Learning how to duplicate your success is like getting a...
4. Why set up your own Pipelines? Money is the exchange of value, the more value you...
5. Set up Systems to Serve You We only have 24 hours in a day. We are...
6. 10 Reasons why Relationships Matter In the last series, we were talked of Getting...

The first million is the hardest to make. Once you make it, you will find a lot more doors opening up for you. World class actors such as Angelina Jolie or Keanu Reeves will not star alongside a nobody. Fellow actors have to first accumulate a few box office hits before they can even be considered. In one of my favorite movies staring Al Pacino, actor Simone suddenly got fellow actors wanting to star alongside her as soon as “she” made a hit.

It takes 10 years of focused effort, steady determination and hard work to achieve world class expert status. It takes at least a few years of running a business for it to pick up. The early years are full of sweat and tears but with time things get easier. Many people give up before they gain momentum. I hope to inspire you to get ahead in life, by gaining and sustaining the momentum for success.

Gaining Momentum

Momentum = Mass x Velocity.

As we have seen above, momentum is a product of mass and velocity. It therefore follows that gaining some mass can increase your momentum. It is easier to stop a cow than it is to stop an elephant if they are running at the same speed. Take your time before speeding. Take some time to gain some mass, otherwise you may be blown by the wind. Accumulate some assets, experiences and resources before you increase your velocity.

Ok Daniel, slow down, let us start at the beginning…

To gain the momentum for success, you have to get off your backside and take some action. Last year I was busy planning this blog, checking out the competition, carrying out endless research before I launched this blog. I contacted fellow Kenyan blogger, based in Melbourne, Australia. He was already running a successful blog called “the Displaced African”.

His blog is focused on providing new and prospective migrants with information about studying or settling in Australia. His name is Mwangi. I asked him for advice on how to launch and run a successful blog. He gave me lots of tips but the advice that has stuck with me and made a big impact on this blog is to take action. It is easy to get into “paralysis analysis”, if you do not have a bias for action.

This blog was bigger than it is but that was only in my mind. I had lofty dreams of the millions upon millions of people who would be coming here to listen to a young man who grew up in a small farm near the Kenyan Capital, Nairobi. I was busy fantasizing about the rave reviews the blog would be getting. All that and more before even having written a single blog post! Mwangi saved me from self delusion by triggering me into action and once again I say thank you Mwangi!

To gain the momentum for success requires one to do proper homework. You might not have liked the term “homework” in school but you have no choice when it comes to success. I advocate having a bias for action, but I am quick to note that it is better to “aim, fire, aim”, rather than “fire fire fire” or “aim aim aim”. You have to strike a balance between research and action.

You would not set out to sea without a compass. Likewise, do not set out to succeed without direction, without clarity and a plan. Take your time to determine where you want to be, do your homework on what is required of you, and then take action in the right direction.

Identify areas of our life that could do with some momentum. Gain some mass in the form of resources, experiences, facts and knowledge. Then take action in the correct direction.

Sustaining Momentum

• We are creatures of habit. Consciously set up the right habits in order to sustain your momentum. If you succeeded because of waking up early and putting in more time when your competition slept, do not slacken when things start moving along nicely. Think of all the habits that led to your initial success and keep doing what works.

• Find leverage. Find something that will push you ahead. There is a limit on how far you can grow your business if you work alone. Leverage the resources, money, time and ideas of others to create win-win situations.

• Automate and Delegate – The human body is faint. To be able to sustain your momentum for success may call upon you to automate or delegate responsibilities to ensure that things keep getting done even when you get big. Plan for automation and delegation when you start a new venture.

• Avoid distraction. Identify people or things that keep you from your chosen path and learn how to manage them. Do not let anyone or anything stand in the way of making progress, if you want to sustain your momentum.

• Put controls in place. You can sustain momentum by knowing when to turn, brake or accelerate. Success is a journey, momentum will keep you moving.

In Conclusion

Proper planning and taking action are the first steps of gaining the momentum for success. The first steps (or years) are the hardest but as you gain more experience and resources, the journey becomes easier. There are various ways that you can sustain the momentum of your success including leverage, delegation and avoiding distractions.

If you like this blog post, please share it with your friends, invite them to have a look. I would love to hear from you through your comments. Have a good day.

Other articles you may enjoy :

1. Success: How Badly do You Want it? I will start today’s post with a confession: I have...
2. Duplicate Your Success Learning how to duplicate your success is like getting a...
3. Find your Own Angle for Success I get people asking me all the time about what...
4. Do you have a Blueprint for Success? Success does not just happen. You must first purpose it...
5. Building a Strong Foundation for Success A sky scraper’s foundation is different from that of a...
6. Start Succeeding Early If you started investing $500 per month at the...

Think through that which you want to build. Reflect on the implications of your success. Visualize on the magnitude of the success you desire. If you have big dreams, then you should have a strong foundation.

Spend the time learning the ropes, training and getting experiences. I have been in situations where I have succeeded without having properly built a foundation. It is not a good feeling when you have to live with the fear of your success crumbling. My experience has taught me that it is better to wait to succeed than succeed when you are not ready.

Core Values for Success

What are your core values? Have you ever given serious thought to developing values as a way of building your foundation for success? It is good to consciously think of the set of values that you would not compromise on. Examples of such values are honesty, integrity and trust.

Running for the office of the USA president requires one to have a character that is beyond reproach (atleast in theory). The media and opposition looks for any shreds of evidence of hidden weaknesses and past mistakes. The core values and character foundation requirements for the United States president are different from that of a long distance truck driver.

What do you want to be and what are the moral requirements? Think of the core values that will ensure your success in your ventures. What kind of foundation are you standing on? Who are the key people in your life? What does your history and past actions say about you?

From this point forward, assuming you want to get ahead in life; what do you need to do? What changes do you need to make in your life? You are as strong as your weakest link. If you have skeletons in your closet, they can come back to haunt you.

A Strong Foundation in Business

To get ahead in business, you need to have a strong foundation. Many people focus too much on what they can get out of business instead of first laying a strong foundation.

Do you know who your customers really are? Do you know what their most pressing needs? How are you going to meet and exceed their expectations? Conducting proper marketing research is a great way to build a firm foundation for your business.

Take time to understand the people you are going to serve. Take time to know what value they are seeking. Identify their evolving needs and be proactive in serving them. It is said that the customer is always right. They have the right to spend their money with whom and on whatever they deem fit. Become a close fit to their expectations and desires.

Do not put your needs before those of your customers. That is myopic and a recipe for failure. Let your value proposition reflect the wishes of your customers. Understand your competition and position yourself in the minds of your customers as being the best supplier.

Another way of setting up a good foundation for business is to understand the numbers. Cash flow is everything in business. Manage your payments, receipts, income and expenses prudently. If you do not have the know-how, employ the services of a good accountant or book keeper.

Find a balance between providing value for your customers and getting paid. When you get paid, have systems in place to re-invest the profits. Treat the business like a baby. It needs nourishment. You cannot keep taking from your business and expect it to thrive. To create a sustainable business, have a strong budgeting process, cash flow projections and multiple streams of income.

A Strong Foundation in Relationships

You do not want to be in a relationship with someone who is “still finding themselves”. They will betray you and jump off the relationship if they find out that it is not you they were after. Are you that kind of person? Are you still finding yourself?

Take time to know yourself. Know what you want in a partner. Know what you seek in a relationship before you commit to one. Understanding and clearly communicating your needs and expectations of each other is one very important foundation stone of relationships. Be sure you understand each other’s fears, likes, hopes, dislikes, circumstances and customs.

Many people jump into relationships without proper dating or courtship. That can be a recipe for disaster. It is easy for a relationship to cloud your judgment if you jump in too soon. Wherever possible, take time to develop a friendship and understanding before committing to a relationship.

If you are already in a relationship, and you think that that relationship is doomed, then get out now. There is no honor in staying in a relationship that is not going anywhere because of the fear of being single. There are so many other people out there and you may be surprised to find that true happiness is not beyond you.

In the event that you find yourself in a relationship that has the hope of working, then take it upon yourself to do what you can to make it work. Lay a good foundation for your relationship by creating bonding opportunities, having shared values, expectations, aspirations and memories. Build and maintain trust; it is the foundation of healthy relationships. Broken trust is hard to recover so if you find someone trusting you do not abuse it. If you have failed your partner then think of ways of making it up to him or her and hope that time will heal. If your partner has abused your trust and you want the relationship to work, find it in you to forgive and rebuild the trust. Without trust, it is impossible to love truly.

A Strong Foundation in your Career

You can have a strong foundation for long term career success by getting into a career that matches your talents and desires. Find that which you love to do and pursue it for a career.

You can set yourself up for success through proper training and gaining of experiences. For example, if you wanted to be a successful small business owner, make sure you learn all there is to do with your offering. Also make sure you learn skills such as marketing, finance, human resource management etc that will be useful for you running your business successfully. You can learn through formal education, learning from other small business owners, attending seminars or through self education.

Networking and contacts building is another smart way for setting yourself up for career success. As Confucius once said “dig the well before you thirst”. Make friends with people in your industry and related industries before you need them. Build your networking strategy to be a win-win relationship. Bring something to the table when you go networking.

A Strong Foundation in your Finances

To succeed in finance, you have to understand the time value of money. Live within your means. Watch you outgoings and worry about the cents and the dollars will take care of themselves. Learning to live within your means especially when you are starting out is one of the best ways of securing your financial future. Many people, perhaps due to peer pressure, end up spending more than they can earn, or saving less than they should. Remember that your early choices will influence your future significantly.

Another way of setting yourself up for financial success is to invest in your financial education. You may be a musician, doctor, brick layer or mechanic, but you still need to learn how the world of finance works. You need to take the time to understand various investment options available to you. Do not let a third party make all the decisions for you. Their interest and your long term interests may not always align.

When building your financial empire, remember that there are things that are beyond you that could go wrong and hand you financial ruin. Become adequately insured. Good income protection policy, medical cover, life insurance policy and other covers can come in handy for you and your family if things go pear shaped.

Fundamental Habits

We are creatures of habits. The kind of habits you have will influence your long term success. Think of the habits you form as the foundation for your success.

• Focus – Avoid distractions. Set clear goals on what you want to achieve and focus on that until you get the results you desire. Work on your ability to concentrate and see things to completion.

• Hard work – Nothing in life comes easy, not success anyway. Be prepared to work for your success. You need to develop that ability to work hard. Make it a part of you to put in the hours and effort that it takes to succeed in what you set your mind on.

• Sleeping Habits – Do you get adequate sleep? Sleep deprivation can lead to loss of productivity. On the other hand, sleeping too much can reduce the time available to you to work on your ventures. They say “early to bed, early to rise, makes someone healthy, wealthy and wise”. Are you an early riser? Many successful people have a regular sleeping patterns and wake up early. The early bird catches the worm. (sshhh…don’t talk about the early worm!).

• Persistence – Do you jump from one venture to another? Do you jump from one investment to another? Do you jump from one relationship to another? Staying put long enough to accumulate success is a vital habit that can bear good dividends.

• Listening – God gave us two ears and one mouth each. Use them in that proportion. Develop good listening habits. Even the dull and ignorant people have their side of the story. Listening enables one to gain insight in the way others think and interpret situations. Accept that you will not always be right or know everything.

• Follow Up – Many people can do something once, but very few have the tenacity to follow through on their commitments. It is not what you do once that matters. It is what you repeatedly follow up on that makes the difference. Whether you are developing a relationship with a partner or customer, following up can make all the difference.

In Summary

Decide upfront what kind of success you desire and set up an appropriate foundation. Setting out to succeed without a strong foundation is recipe for disaster.

If you like this article and others on this blog, kindly invite your friends to read or subscribe. I would also love to hear you comments on the topic of setting up a strong foundation for success in life.

Other articles you may enjoy :

1. Succeed by Building Others Up Regardless of what success means to you, you can attain...
2. Do you have a Blueprint for Success? Success does not just happen. You must first purpose it...
3. How to Build and Sustain Trust Trust is one of the great essentials for healthy relationships....
4. Signs of an Unhealthy Relationship There are actions and habits that should be reason enough...
5. Mastering Self Confidence for Success My self confidence has always swung like a pendulum. Sometimes...
6. Gaining and Sustaining Success Momentum The first million is the hardest to make. Once...

For example, the founder of McDonald’s Restaurants has the exact formula of replicating his success in one restaurant to another. McDonald’s has perfected the art of making a profit with one restaurant, and if you are going to open a McDonald’s restaurant, you will succeed, provided you follow their formula to the letter.

People like Michael Jackson were able to become household names because they did something well, packaged it, duplicated it and sold it to millions. If you can package your success and photo copy it, or duplicate it in some way, then you can get rich.

You may not be able to duplicate your success like a DVD, book, CD or website, but there are other ways of duplicating your success. Let us say you want to become an property investor… you can invest in one property, perhaps get a loan for it, improve the property by adding a fresh coat of paint and do the required repairs to add value to the property. Then get a tenant to rent your property. After you have paid off a portion of the property, you can duplicate the exact steps you made and get a second property. Over time you can have a healthy property portfolio if you stick to your winning formula.

Document Your Success

You will encounter challenges and find unique solutions to problems on your success journey. It is a good idea to keep a diary or some form of documentation for the steps you take to succeed.

Using our earlier example of property investment, you can write down the exact steps you take to acquire the property, the surrounding legal issues, your contacts, your finance options, the obstacles you faced, the length of time each step takes, and your lessons along the way. This information would really serve you well if you were to try and get a second property.

When I started this blog, I did some research on what others were doing in the personal development space. I watched countless videos, read numerous blogs and talked to a number of people who were running blogs successfully. I wanted this blog to be a success and to meet the objectives that I set out.

There were many challenges I faced including looking for a good hosting company, blogging technology, branding and market research. I read a number of books and blogs on how to create a successful blog. I brushed up on my internet marketing skills to be able to drive traffic to the site. I made sure that I wrote down each step that I followed. It is still an ongoing project so I keep a record on what I learn and the choices I make, and the rationale behind them.

Why do I document the steps I make as a blogger? If I was to create a second blog, or provide advice for someone who wants to start one, I would refer to my notes. Writing down the challenges and solutions to problems helps in reflection and gives me an opportunity to come back later and see the problems in new light.

I work in the software development industry where documentation is not one of the favorite things to do, but one of the most important. When someone is writing a software package e.g. a ecommerce store, they have to write down the documentation for future developers and customers to make sense of the system. A computer programmer who goes back to inspect his or her own work after 12 months might not be able to remember why something works the way it is. Without proper documentation, they would find it hard to extend or fix problems with the system.

You might not be a computer programmer or a property investor, but whatever you do, make time to document the steps you take to get to your destination. Without proper documentation, you will always be re-solving the problem afresh. If you document your process, not only will it make it easier for you in the future, but you will be able to teach someone else how to do it on your behalf.

The Art of Delegation

There is a bible story about a man called Moses. He was charged with the task of moving the Israelites to freedom from Egypt. They stayed in the wilderness for 40 years and they multiplied on the way.

One day his father in law, a man called Jethro, observed Moses at work. Moses would wake up early and work till dusk being the judge over the growing population. With over 600,000 people looking up to him, his work was cut out for him.

His father in law was worried that he was going to work himself to the grave. He gave him advice that you can apply in your life too if you want to get ahead. He told him to delegate. Up to that point, Moses had assumed that he was the only one who could do the job. But Jethro advised him to teach other noble men the teachings of God and put them in charge of 50 people, some in charge of 100 and others in charge of 500 people.

All Moses had to do was document his art of judging and taught others under him how to do it too. It substantially reduced his work load and improved his effectiveness. His story reminds me of the story of a young lawyer who was working for 90 hours per week.

When this young lawyer was asked why he worked so hard, he said that others could never do his job as well as he could. One senior partner at the firm where he worked then took him to a cemetery and showed him the graves. He said that it was likely that some of those graves were full of men and women who thought they were irreplaceable, or that the world would not go on without them.

Do not hold on to stuff too close to your heart. Document your process of success and delegate where appropriate. You cannot do everything there is to do. Learn to delegate and empower others to share with the responsibility and the glory of what you do.

Plans are underway to share the responsibility of updating and managing this blog.. I am looking for people who have a passion for inspiring others to join a small team that will be in charge of growing this to the next level. For that reason, I am documenting my ideas, obstacles, requests and comments to be able to empower my team to inspire others.

Leverage Initial Success

A struggling beginning musician would find it really hard to get his or her music played on radio. But as soon as they make a hit, everyone would want to play not just their hit song but their upcoming album.

As an unknown person in your industry, it is rather difficult to get people to open doors for you. You have to kiss a lot of asses to get ahead. You have to work hard and hit the pavement. In Kenya, they call it “tarmacking”. Your shoe has to hit the tarmac for you to get any takers. It is ok, plan for that. It is a necessary part of success. Do not be discouraged.

You should consider creating little successes of your own. Success thrives on success. Every time you succeed, use that success as a stepping stone to your next success. People are more likely to take you seriously if you prove you can do something.

Many people starting or planning to start businesses quickly find that raising funds is not very easy. Lenders want to lend to people who have a proven track record. Many complain and wonder why they are not even being given a chance to create that track record. Unfortunately that is just the way life is. You have to succeed before people have the desire or willingness to invest in you. Many people and banks will lend you an umbrella when it is sunny and ask for it as soon as it starts drizzling.

When you get that one chance to succeed and get ahead, maximize your opportunity. Use that success to create more successes. Play each success card well.

Packaging Your Value

Money is the exchange of value. The more value you provide, the more money you will make. To be able to deliver your value to others, think of ways of encapsulating your value into something “tangible”. If you can package your value into something that people can take with, and share with their friends, then you will get the packaged value working for you 24/7.

If I was to talk to a group of 50 people and tell them the words and ideas that I have shared with you, many would be happy and maybe even pay for me to speak to them. But when I write these words down, you are able to read from your phone, computer or printout even though you might be thousands of miles away from you. Writing my ideas on this blog is way of packaging my value.

Packaging value enables you to present that value to more people and you can duplicate it. We are living in extra ordinary times. You most likely have access to the internet. You can document the steps that lead you to success and share it with others. Musicians, authors, actors, trainers etc get rich through packaging their value in DVDs, audio CDs, books etc. Those books or DVDs are able to work for them even when they sleep.

In Summary

I have gone around in circles and touched on various ways of succeeding. It is my hope that you have gained some insight in how you can duplicate your success to get ahead in life. Document the process of succeeding, and package your value, then deliver it to the people who need it.

Have the mentality of duplicating success even before you start a venture. Ask yourself how you are going to succeed, how you can translate that success into more successes. Do not become a slave to your business. Learn to delegate and make your work easier.

If you like this article, please subscribe to be getting updates via email and share this blog with your friends. I would love to hear from you through your comments.

Other articles you may enjoy :

1. Gaining and Sustaining Success Momentum The first million is the hardest to make. Once...
2. Find your Own Angle for Success I get people asking me all the time about what...
3. Becoming a Success Magnet What if you could attract to your life anything you ever...
4. Chasing the Wind of Success Ok my friends, let us change gears today. We are...
5. Do you have a Blueprint for Success? Success does not just happen. You must first purpose it...
6. Building a Strong Foundation for Success A sky scraper’s foundation is different from that of a...