Have you ever been at that point in your life where you know you need to get a task completed, but you do not have the drive to get it done? There is no other choice. The task must be done. The really sad part is that you have absolutely no desire to complete it. I’m talking about things like doing your taxes, that diet that your doctor told you that you had to do for your heart, or those exercises that you know are necessary for keeping you from becoming exhausted just from climbing the stairs. You know they need to be done, you want to do them, but you have no real motivation to make it happen.
I have experienced that sensation more times than I care to count. I had experienced them so many times that I began to wonder if there wasn’t something wrong with me. I would look at the lives of others in my life and saw them experiencing tremendous success. I began to think that the successful people in the world were “lucky” or “gifted”. I wondered how people managed to be so successful when the others of us seemed to be stuck in the mud bog of life. The thing is that when we get stuck in the mud, we start to make excuses for being stuck. We start to tell ourselves little lies to make ourselves feel better. We say things like we don’t have time, we worked today so we don’t need to exercise, or that one donut a day never hurt anyone. Lies!
I mean, what makes Tom Brady the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time) anyway? How did Michael Jordan become the best basketball player ever? How then, could I get the motivation that these successful people had? I would ask my friends and family that question. They would say things like, “You’ve got to want it badly” or “You’ve got to just work hard”. Are you kidding me??!! How much harder do you want me to work, I would ask myself. Why was the successful people’s work seemingly so much better than my work? Then it dawned on me that I was asking my question of the wrong people. I was asking people that were no more successful than I was! They didn’t have the answer, they were just telling me the platitudes they told themselves when they felt that same way.
Platitudes sound nice, but they really don’t tell you anything. Go and work hard sounds like, and it is, very good advice. The problem is that you don’t know what specifically to work hard at! I finally figured out that I needed to ask someone who was successful to get a solid answer. Since I didn’t have any super successful people that I knew personally, I figured I would read some autobiographies and biographies. I read about Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Andy Grove (intel processor chips), and Steven Jobs. I read some great stories but did not really find the answer I was looking for.
I was frustrated but then I discovered that there are people that “coach” other people on how to become successful. Now, isn’t that interesting? So, I dove into the world of personal development. I read books by Anthony Robbins, Zig Ziglar, Napoleon Hill, Brian Tracy, Steven Covey, and Brandon Burchard. Suddenly, I started picking up a theme that ran through all of their teachings.
I went back and looked over the biographies I had read and, sure enough! In each of those biographies I could find the very same points all the “coaches” were continually talking about. I finally had something that I could wrap my head around!
Before I tell you what those things are, you need to know something else. My life and my career are not, nor have they ever been, on an easy path to success. Just like you, I have had my share of bumps and bruises. I have had many successes but seemingly many more failures. That is just life. I want to share with you the fact that just as I was learning all of these secrets to unlock success, I was truly at a very low point in my life.
Have you ever noticed that when things go bad that moment is generally preceded by a slow steady drip of “crappy luck”? Then one day it all comes to a head and the bad just crushes you. Me too! Divorce, the loss of a son, financial mistakes, the loss of my parents, and suddenly I was at such a low point I figured I would just close my office doors and live off whatever the government would give me. It was really bad. I was tough to get motivated all my life, but these things really took away what little I had of my drive.
It was at that point that I decided to try what I had been reading about from the personal development teachers. I mean, really were the truly successful people that much different than me? What I discovered was that the truly successful people had just figured out what questions, and better questions to ask themselves. They had learned what actions were necessary to make themselves overcome the desire to be complacent. That is the heart of the matter. We ALL know that studying harder, working harder, and practicing more of what we want to excel at is the key. What we don’t know is how to excite ourselves to do the mundane things that will make us successful.
I'm dying tell you the rest of the story and share with you what I learned. You are going to have to wait until Thursday July 27th at 6 pm to hear it though. I am going to host an “Unlock Success” workshop at my office. When you come to the workshop I will share with you what I learned and let you know how much it has helped me. I will give you the tools to make it work for you too!
I challenge you to email me at weber407@comcast.com with your name and the number of guests you would like to bring with you to this event. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.
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