We are beginning a new year of opportunity. The last year before the new millennium is an appropriate time to consider where we stand, to evaluate our characteristics and ourselves. Do we have the stuff inside to take us to the next level in life and in business?

Being a successful producer in any aspect of life is more than having high production. Production or money or wealth is only one measuring stick. There are many other measures in life: family life; relationships; spouse; children; physical health; spiritual well being; mental state. One who is fulfilled in these ways and is also a financial success has great abundance. I know a lot of people who trade it all for money. Is that really the measure of success? I am far more impressed with people who craft a fabulous lifestyle and are also financially successful. These people share three common traits.

First, they are the explorers. They explore everything and question everybody who could help them to reach the next level. The next level is not always a financial level. It could be a better relationship with a spouse, a higher level of physical fitness, or deeper spiritual convictions. The truth is, there are many things more attractive at the next level than money. These things also carry more meaning than money. The ultimate accomplishment is to be an explorer who explores for the joy that growth and creation brings, not just for the cash.

Jim Rohn had a wonderful saying: “It’s not the money that makes the millionaire, it’s what that person had to become.” That millionaire could lose the money tomorrow. The money carries little importance in the long run. What matters is how a person had to change to become the person who had the value of a millionaire.

The opposite of an explorer is a cynic. The cynic looks for reasons why it will not work, for ways to maintain the status quo and continue to do nothing. The explorer is seeking new information and ideas that will lead to the next level.

Second, the successful producers are investors. Successful producers invest in their most important asset: themselves. Just as finding the best real estate deal has no value if you don’t buy it, realizing your true value requires that you invest in yourself. You need to work continually to find the best path to achievement, and then put in what it takes in order to start down that path. Investors buy the best deal, the best book, and the best tape series. They are the people who are constantly reading, who are listening to audiotapes in their cars. They look for others who have been where they want to go, or who are going in their direction but are farther down the path. They stop and ask for directions when they get lost in life.

The opposite of an investor is an excuse maker. Excuse makers are always looking back and covering their tracks. Their vocabularies are littered with “if only” and “but.” Being successful is far more rewarding than achieving mediocrity while having a good excuse. We all have the choice to have what we want in life, being all that God created us to be, or to spend our lives coming up with excuses for having fallen short. The choice is up to you.

Third, the most successful people are implementers. Exploring and investing do not produce success without implementation. Implementation draws the bold line between massive success and failure. We all have found great ideas and done nothing with them. We have all implemented a few small changes and seen staggering results. Resolve today to implement one idea that you have been thinking about, researching and evaluating. Do it now. The implementer is the only one who achieves massive success. How many ideas or thoughts have you had in your real estate sales career that would have been windfalls if you had just disciplined yourself to implement them?

You may need to commit right now to a new path, or you may need only to commit to following your current path farther toward implementation. In either case, begin by making the commitment now to explore, invest and implement. If you do these things daily, your life will never be the same.

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