My fifteen-point plan to become a great success story
Jerry Garcia, guitarist for the Grateful Dead, once said, “you do not merely want to be considered the best of the best.”
“You want to be considered the only one who does what you do.” Life is about finding the unique contribution that only you can make to the world.
Think of the Beijing Olympians – they’ve driven themselves for years of their life to achieve excellence. What are you meant to drive yourself to do?
Make your mark
Only some of us are capable of the grind of entrepreneurship, but all of us owe it to ourselves to find our unique contribution to the world. There should be no free-riders.
As you gear up for work again after the holidays, here are 15 ideas that worked for me: Believe in yourself. Self-belief is the key to achieving anything.
Always focus on what you can bring to others, and they will see you as a resource not a supplicant for anything; it’s a great way to build relationships. The more you do for others, the more you receive in return.
Develop your “unfair advantage” by focusing on your strengths, not trying to improve what you are poor at.
Don’t play small; your tentativeness doesn’t help anyone. Actively eliminate any negative energy in your life.
Make notes when you meet people on the opportunities which overlap or fall out of your goals and theirs.
Look at what you are afraid of, and decide what you would do if that happened, and it will lose its control over you; once you eliminate fear from your life, you are truly free to create and achieve.
Decision Time
Decide what you want to achieve by the time you die, write the obituary in your mind, and then live everyday fulfilling that goal.
Be a net contributor to every system that you are in; not a net taker. Read biographies of successful entrepreneurs; they will either inspire you to become one, or help you realise that you are not meant to be one.
Hone your ability to anticipate large change by paying attention to small changes which collectively announce a new trend.
Always do what you say you are going to do, so that people learn that they can rely on you. Work hard even if you want people to think it was effortless.
Develop your communications skills – written and verbal. Never give up, never accept no, and never go away – even when “they” want you to.
The difference between success and failure is that successful people persist when most people would give up. All successful people have a sense of purpose and a sense of urgency. Find yours.