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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