Please don’t misunderstand that I am indicating the lives of the people I have told you about are easier than most. On the contrary, their successful lives can often be more complicated and may be more challenging than ordinary people. Yet, because of their unrelenting commitment to greatness and excellence, they have grown to become people that not only accept these challenges but embrace them as an opportunity to continue to grow and become even better.
It is important to remember that living your dream is not an easy path, but it is a path worth taking because the victories are so rewarding. In other words, the thrills and the joy are in overcoming great challenges and adversity, as opposed to winning against mediocre opposition which may or may not be a real thrill. A professional athlete at the top of their game would find no thrill in beating a smaller, weaker, less experienced amateur. Beating worthy competition is where the rewards are the greatest.
What moves you? What are the desires of your heart? What are you personally doing to live the life you desire? We always tell people to ask themselves when thinking about their future, “What are you doing to make the next five years better than the last five years?” Another such saying is that “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change!” We also say that “the definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again, expecting different results.”
All of the above are simply statements and questions successful people are always asking themselves to make sure they are on the right path. They not only accept change, but embrace it as a way of taking everything to the next level. The best athletes in the world are always looking for ways to improve their skills and performance through new training techniques and methods. The best salespeople are always looking for ways to improve their skills and performance by going to training seminars and learning from other top producers. The best business people are always looking for ways to increase productivity and profits. Sometimes, within that process, there is failure. As the great sales trainer, Top Hopkins, teaches: “We never see failure as failure but only as an opportunity to practice our technique and perfect our performance.”
Yet, the mediocre performer, producer, business person seeks status quo and prefers “stability” to growth, productivity and massive success. They irrationally fear failure and take it very personally. Unwittingly, this attitude is the most unstable position possible, particularly in the rapidly changing and evolving world in which we live. Desiring the status quo or trying to stay even, can actually be falling behind. We have discovered over time that either you are growing and thriving or you are shrinking and dying.
“Failing forward” is another expression we like. It is how most of us succeed in life and how the most successful thrive. It seems the bigger and more painful the mistake, the better the lesson. As long as you are able to survive, learning from mistakes ultimately leads to great success. Obviously, we do not like making mistakes and try to avoid them whenever possible. We also realize that occasionally they are inevitable and even somewhat common.
An important key to getting started and staying on the road to success is to discover your “Why” – your big reason for wanting to succeed and willingness to do whatever it takes. We all have a reason “Why”--the something that motivates us to rise above and carry on, although many people repress the urge to dwell upon it. Maybe this reason is a tremendous desire to help other people and thereby seeking the financial means to do so. It could be helping with family, spiritual, charitable or pure love. Maybe it is a result of feelings of financial insecurity which can drive someone to do what it takes to develop this security. Perhaps it is simply a God given drive to be all you are capable of becoming. It could even be a vision of a certain type of lifestyle that you desire and an absolute determination to make that lifestyle a reality.
Whatever the “Why”, tapping into that will help you overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles on the way to turning your dreams into reality. Your “Why” is so important because it seems to open up possibilities and avenues you never knew existed when you unleash its power.
Our “Why” was that we could not stand the thought of regular people, people like us, being offered the absolute worst products available as opposed to among the best. It occurred to us that many companies catering to middle-American and mass-affluent consumers were marketing inferior products, compared to what the more upscale clients were offered. This notion has compelled us to want to compete in the middle and mass-affluent markets with among the best, world-class products. This “Why” has compelled our entire company to place our heart and soul in trying to change the way things are in the world. Doing something significant in the service of others is unbelievably compelling. As Mother Theresa said, “a life not lived for others is not a life at all”. We want you to build a life worth living for yourself, your family and the people most important to you.
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Investment advisory services may also be offered through HBW Advisory Services LLC. HBW Insurance & Financial Services, Inc. dba HBW Partners and HBW Advisory Services LLC are separate entities which do not offer legal or tax advice. IAPD