I’ve read a veritable boat load full of How To Be Successful books.
I’ve attended a lot of raw-raw sessions, meetings and even weekends where I’ve been told, “If you dream it, you can achieve it.”
You and I have both been told we can DO whatever we set out minds to. (Unfortunately, that goes for people that want to DO bad things, too, and that is always disturbing to me the same holds true for “them.”)
While my wounds are still fresh (no scar tissue yet in many places) from my extensive challenges the last couple of years (Yes, years! I can’t believe how quickly time flies. And, for this reason alone, is why MOST wounds heal quickly because time heals all wounds, right?), I feel more empowered, more emboldened, excited and more cautious (odd, but true), than at any time ever in my life.
I am also more confident about my family’s future and can see the light at the end of the tunnel is sunshine, not the oncoming locomotive as I had earlier thought. (NOTE: Some will always see a train. Others will see a different picture.)
Here’s what I know as I reach the end of this tunnel: As soon as I’m done with it (if you’re in business you know this to be true), and I emerge, I’ll bask in the sun (hopefully in Cabo) for a few years, then, a new tunnel will emerge. Regardless of whether or not it’s directly “my fault,” that just life. If you think it’s not that way for everyone, you’re sorely mistaken.
And, frankly, that’s not a bad thing.
Not to be discouraged with another tunnel, I’ll chug my way through that one, too. And on and on. I’m like the Energizer(R) Bunny when it comes to “getting back up again.” (Sorry, that’s sort of R-rated!)
What outright SLAUGHTERS most people that only “want” success (not crave, desire, lose sleep over, make repeated sacrifice over), is their inability to have any sort of mental resiliency or toughness or in some cases, outright meanness towards FAILING.
In this month’s issue of SUCCESS magazine, on the cover is the very spicy, hard-working, smart, and resilient superstar trainer and weightloss guru, Jillian Michaels.
Michaels, 36, goes into a lot of depth, to the point of getting into her psyche, in the interview with SUCCESS writers. It’s revealing to me what pushes her pushes the most visibly “successful” people – stars, athletes, dentists, and others.
For her, success is about this trait (RESILIENCY or, MENTAL TOUGHNESS) that successful entrepreneurs have, or they develop, or, in some cases, are probably born with.
Like my mentor, friend and business partner, Tom often says, “It ain’t the dog in the fight it’s the fight in the dog.”
If you lack fight. If you LACK bold determination. If you lack what Trump has – outrageous toughness, you’ll suck at everything you ever attempt. And you’ll never be successful. You’ll always be a loser.
ANOTHER THOUGHT ABOUT THE FRAGIL NATURE OF SUCCESS…
I was reminded how easily “success” can be stripped from you yesterday at lunch with my good friend, Clay. He commented that 3 or 4 of his friends, at one point a few years ago, “had it made.”
Here’s what I know/knew about the 3 or 4 he referred to (I know one of them really well!):
On the surface, looks are generally 100% deceiving. And, time and circumstances, and gov’t regulations and new laws, will often times, strip away success, almost no matter how it’s defined (speaking about wealth only, not “personal” success, which by the way, I value far more than monetary “success.”), and there’s not a damn thing we can do about it. Except…
Getting back up again. And, going after it all over!
I’m having a difficult time pinning it down…what I mean here.
Let me just summarize it like this:
If you’re wealthy today and living off a few million in the bank and you are not actively pursuing other opportunities to GROW that wealth, in only but one or two circumstances, can that wealth survive. Creditors, Predators, Governments and Relatives will do their best to “get at it.” You’re a target. And, the more fearful you are of this happening, the more likely you’ll LOSE whatever you have.
If you live humbly, beneath your means, are a steward of wealth and not someone that hordes wealth, guess what? YOU WILL have more wealth attracted to you. There’s a reason why broke people remain broke…Unless they change their attitudes and habits about money, wealth, and their respective places in our lives, money is repelled, not attracted to, their beings.
Sounds airy fairy, but I know I’m right. I see it happen all the time.