If you ask most people if they want to be successful, they will say "Yes."  But, when you ask them if they are willing do everything it takes to reach that success and if they know what they need to do, people are a lot less confident.  

Success is earned.  Just like freedom is earned.  Last week, we remembered 9/11 in the United States and the horrific events of that day.  On that day, the U.S. was attacked because of our way of life and the freedoms that our citizens enjoy.  That freedom didn't just happen.  It was earned.  It was earned through our revolutionary war and by upholding the principles and ideals of our founding and protecting them for centuries.  It can never be taken for granted or we will lose it.  

Success is the same way.  It is a disciplined commitment to a set of principles, ideals, and actions that you follow and never give up on.  You have to keep going at it day in and day out, sometimes for many years to reach the success you desire.  And even then, the success you get may not be what you envisioned when you started.

Success is earned over time by diligence, dedication, and experience.  Every day you get better and closer to your goal.  You are responsible for your effort and your commitment.  

Interesting enough, the success you seek doesn't need to be done in a huge glorious way.  It can be done in little increments of getting better.  In fact, most success comes from getting better at the little things.  And it doesn't take much.  Think about the winner in an Olympic race.  Many times, it comes down to 1/10 of a second or less.  That can be a hand placement or foot position at the starting line.  The littlest of things can make the biggest difference.  The difference in getting a sale in a business could just how much faster you respond to a lead than your competition.  It could be that last follow up on a potential partnership after you have exhausted yourself in the effort.

Ask yourself, "What can I do today to further my success?"  Start each day this way and never stop!  Earn your success.

How do you know how to sell?

It's a peculiar question.  And the first time I was asked it as young executive, I have to admit, I was fumbling for an answer.

The truth is most people have never been taught how to sell.  For many years, there was no "school" for it although that has changed over the last decade.

Most people that are in sales, end up there.  They don't go looking for a sales position.  They are accidental sales people.  And because of this, many people in sales never reach their true potential.

So, back to the question.  How do you know how to sell?  Well, the truth is, all of us already have all the tools we need.  It is wired in us as humans.  One of the most innate abilities we have is to sell.  We don't see it that way, but think about what you are doing when explain an idea you are excited about or if you like a guy or gal and convince them to go out with you - you are selling.  You are selling yourself, an idea, a way of thinking, etc.  In fact, we are always selling.  Every day, we are selling something to somebody.  We just see it as selling.

So, the truth is, you already know how to sell.  You were born with the ability.  You have just never been aware of it.  And awareness is the catalyst to change.  

Now, that you understand selling is in your blood, you can hone the skill and use it to help you in life.  The best advice I can give you on how to better your sales skills is to be authentic, be honest, and know your worth.  And most importantly, people buy you, before they buy your product or service.

That may sound like common sense, but so many people try to be someone else when they sell something and it is easy to spot.  People know "when they are being sold."  When you have "try and sell someone," that's not selling.  It's more like desperation - and it's not authentic.  Be true to who you are.  

Next, be honest.  Tell things like they are and be up front.  There is always an element of tact needed.  But, people will respect you when you are authentic and give them a true picture of things.  Remember, people buy you first.

One of the places where salespeople hurt themselves the most is not knowing their worth.  They give way to much when they don't have to- both to the detriment of their business and their own wallet.  Salespeople have families and kids to feed to.  Show your worth.  Believe in it.  Explain it honestly and true and be willing to stand by it.  Not everyone will buy from you, but they will respect you, and you will be a lot more successful over the long run.

In the end, you should never have to "try to sell."  Go back to how you are when you are sharing an idea or concept you are excited about with your friends or family.  You don't see it as selling.  It's the same way in business; you are dealing people just the same there.  Always remember that.

Well, "Greenie" finally bit it this last week.  But, it wasn't without one of the most amazing fights I had ever seen .  

You see, Greenie was a one of my daughters fish in the fish tank in her room.  Anyone that has had a fish tank with goldfish, glofish, or others knows that there lifespan isn't that long, but as long as you take care of them and clean the tank regularly, etc, they can last a little while.

Greenie was different.  We got him a long time ago, well over a year with some other fish and while some of the others had gone to the deep sea heave, Greenie continued to cruise on.  A few months, he started showing signs of his age and started having trouble swimming.  We thought it would be a matter of days before nature took it's course.  Wrong.

That fish lasted for months - even when it basically laid flat on its side floating at the top of the water in the tank, it would miraculously come to life and start swimming when we walked by,  I can count how many times we thought he was gone, only to see him come to life.  It started to become a joke in the house that if a nuclear bomb went off, all that would be left is Greenie and a couple of cockroaches!

Eventually, it came to an end, but Greenie surprised all of us with his longevity and ability to live.  

I took 3 lessons from this experience that I want to share with you.

1.)  You have  more capacity to withstand things than you think

The Navy Seals have the 40% rule that says when you mind says you are done, you are only 40% done.  You have more capacity to endure and keep going than you think.  We all thought Greenie had days to live and he lasted for months.  It's never over until you decide it is.

2.)  No matter what happens, keep pushing any way you can

Even though Greenie lost his ability to even swim normally and had to float on his side most of the time, he kept at it.  Every time the fish got fed, he came alive and found a way to get some food and swim.  He did it anyway he could.  In your life, you are going to have challenges and obstacles come at you from all directions - keep pushing through them and overcome them anyway you can.  It may not be pretty, but you can do it.

3.)  Celebrate the good in the bad

Even though Greenie finally moved on, the lesson in perseverance he showed to our daughter was priceless - to the point where we can now say thinks like "Be like Greenie, keep pushing.  Try harder, etc."  Going through the experience was a good one, even thought the end result was bad.  To see Greenie fight every day and keep going was something we celebrated and will remember for a long time.  It's amazing the lessons you can learn from a little fish!

We have all been there.   We reach a point in our lives and work where there is just so much going on across so many areas that we can't seem to keep up with it all.

And in today's fast paced world and seemingly 24/7 instant environment, things can compound quickly and get away from us making us truly overwhelmed.

The worst part is that if we don't do anything about it, things continue to pile up to a point where we start to miss things, critical important things - and more importantly potentially miss out on potential opportunities.

So what do you do when this happens?  How do you get out of being overwhelmed and get back on track?

I've one simple exercise that makes the biggest difference and alleviates this problem.  It will take you about 10 mins to do.

When you feel yourself getting overwhelmed with tons of stuff to do and not knowing which things to work on or do first to remove the piling up of tasks, needs, and/or responsibilities - stop and write everything down.

I'm serious.  Take 10 minutes, get away from your office or area of work and just do a brain dump of everything you have on your plate.  Write everything down - work stuff, family stuff, personal stuff - get everything you think you have to do across your life out of your head.

Once you've done that, take a look at the items and decide if any don't belong or are really not things you need do, or more importantly, can delegate.  Then prioritize the rest of the list from most important to least important and get  working on them.

I know this seems so rudimentary and foundational, but it isn't funny how many of us forget to do these simple things and carry on in a state of flux and craziness from day to day.  

This one simple exercise will save you so much time, help you to be more productive, and most importantly save your sanity!  

My recent Half-Ironman event was a big success.  I shaved about 20 mins off my time from the same race last year and continue to get better and stronger at the 3 disciplines (Swim, Bike, Run).  

I cruising along on my run at about mile 7 when I saw my wife and daughter waiting to cheer me on.  There is nothing better, after swimming 1.2 miles, biking 56 miles, and being halfway through a 13.1, than seeing your family there rooting for you and cheering for you.  It gives you 2nd, or maybe 3rd wind.  I gave them a sweaty hug and thanked and them for supporting me as I ran in place for a minute.  Everything was going great.  Then my wife said, "Did you hear?"  I said, "About what?"  My wife quickly told me that a competitor that left on the bike a little while after I had started my ride got hit and killed by a vehicle.

In that moment, knowing I had to run another 6 miles, I didn't know what to do.  All I could muster was an "Oh my gosh, what happened!"  My wife didn't know, but she gave me a quick hug and told me to be careful.

As an Ironman competitor or any distance racing competitor, there are always dangers.  We spend a lot of time running on roads, swimming in lakes or oceans, and biking for long distances on roads with traffic.  The worst fear of our loved ones is us getting hurt or killed in a freak accident.  And the last place anyone would expect this to happen is in a sanctioned Ironman race where everything is blocked off, paramedics, and race staff all around the course, and every safety precaution is taken.

After the race, I talked to a few of my race friends and no one really new the details.  Later that day, we heard that biker had gone outside the blocked off area and was stuck - so it was their fault.  But, they lost their life.  I can't imagine that.  You start a beautiful morning watching the sun come up, do a great mile + long swim and get on your bike to ride.  You are in the best shape of your life.  Things are great.  Life is good.
Then, in one instant, with one decision, your life is over.

As I thought about it in the days that followed, it really hit home to me how precious every moment that we have is...and how all of take them for granted.  Heck, I may have even talked to this person that morning wishing them a great race.

I know it is hard to cherish every single moment and take the perspective that every moment is precious in our daily lives as we go from home to work to the activities we do, but maybe we can stop and just really enjoy one moment each day and be thankful for it.  Maybe we can choose one moment to truly make count or one action to make count each day.  That wouldn't be too hard and our lives, and those of the lives around us would be better for it.  Find a way to do that.  Find a way to make at least one moment really count each day.  I know I will.

When was the last time you a real reality check on your business?  Maybe you are doing well and things are going great.  Or maybe you've run into some challenges lately and are wondering what you may be doing wrong.

Either way, a good habit to get into each year is to get a fresh set of eyes on your business and get feedback to help you.  You should bring someone in from the outside and have them do a top down analysis of your business.

Now, forgoing objections in your mind, such as, "I can do that, but they don't understand our business.  They don't understand what we are going through and having to do.  Coming in for a few hours is not enough time for them really understand and help us."   There is some validity to the argument, but I would say that the feedback you will get outweighs the issue of them not knowing your business as well as you do.

Anytime you get feedback, there are elements of it that you will not use or are not accurate, but there is always something that you will.  And that is what you are looking for.  You are looking for the little diamond in the rough or that one of two things, or different ways of thinking that can make a huge difference in your business.

Look, I know it is hard to have someone tear apart your business and maybe challenge you about how your do things, but that is the point, right?  If you never confront things and do things the way you've always done, you pretty much get the results you've always gotten.  Your goal in this exercise is to expose the problems, the skeletons of things that you may have been willing to deal with and figure out how you will.  The goal is always to get new advice and a different perspective that may cause you to look at things differently and grow.

So, get a reality check by an outsider at least once per year.  It's one of the best ways to break your business out to new levels.

There is one thing that can make you more money than really anything else.  It is a small thing that most people forget or do sparingly - and it can be the difference between business success and failure. 

What I am talking about?  Following up.  Following on your sales.  Following up on your partnerships.  Following up on all areas of your business to make sure things get done.  Follow up.

Most people follow up once, maybe, but the real fortune is found way down the line.  In fact, according to the National Sales Executive Association:

• 48% of sales people never follow up with a prospect
• 25% of sales people make a second contact and stop
• 12% of sales people only make 3 contacts and stop
• Only 10% of sales people make more than 3 contacts
• 2% of sales are made on the 1st contact
• 3% of sales are made on the 2nd contact
• 5% of sales are made on the 3rd contact
• 10% are made on the 4th contact
• 80% of sales are made on the 5th-12th contact

Even if you cut those stats in half, the bulk of sales would still be made after the 3rd contact.  How many times are you or your teams following up?  Do you have a follow up strategy in place for your sales?  How about for your customers?

Remember, the fortune is always in the follow up, so go our there and make yours!

One of the hardest lessons for most new business owners to learn is the difference between being cheap and being frugal.  You can understand why.  When a business owner finally starts making some money from the hard work in their business, they want to reap some of the benefits.  They want to be paid for the hard work and sacrifice they have put in to that point.

This usually happens in the early stages of a business - within the first year or two.  But, the big mistake that most young entrepreneurs or new business owners make is becoming cheap and not spending on the things that will really take their business to its next level.  At this stage in a business, it is not the time to stop investing - it is the most important time to invest.  A business owner in this stage must be frugal in that they don't waste money, but they spend it on the things that will give a large return in the future.

The other issue that must be watched is short term thinking.  Many new or young entrepreneurs are only focused on the next month or two at this stage in their business and are not being strategic about what is needed to 2x, 5x, or 10x their business over the next year or two.  You must remember to delay gratification at this stage and invest back into your company if you are in this position.

This one mistake can delay or ruin the growth of a business.

For example, if you are having some success and generating positive cashflow, but you are still doing all of the roles in your company, ie. trying to sell every client, run operations, manage cash, etc., you are going to do a bad job.  You will be a jack of all trades and a master of none and your business will flounder.  Instead, invest in a great salesperson or contractor and don't worry about paying them commission for their work - it will pay off 10 fold down the line.  Or maybe you need some help with administration or getting all your processes and systems dialed in and documented (a critical key to success for a business), then bring in someone, whether a consultant for a period or an operations employee to help gets things dialed in.  These are investments that will pay off, allow you to scale, and help you to make massive amounts of money.  Don't be cheap and delay these investments.

Lastly, this is also the stage where you should be on the hunt for A-players to form your rockstar team...and almost inevitably one will come along during this time that will cost more than you think you can afford.  This will stretch you and stress you, but my advice is get them on-board.  To find true A-players that will be as excited and devoted to your business as you, is difficult.  They are basically diamonds in the the rough.  Figure out a way to get them on-board.  If you can't pay the salary, work with them to find a way to compensate them less in the beginning and more over time or give them something they don't have currently (maybe a more flexible schedule or more vacation).  Do whatever you can to find a way to get them involved because they will make a huge difference in the future of your business.

Always remember, that there is a difference between being cheap and being frugal.  Don't be cheap.  Invest in your business and your future, and the rewards will be exponentially more than the little bit your are trying to hold onto in the early stages of your business! 

One of the greatest business lessons you will ever get is going to the start with a 5 or 6 year old for them to buy something.  

Recently, we were at the store picking up groceries and some odds and ends and my wife told our 6 year-old daughter that she could pick out a coloring book to get.  If you have kids, I bet you can imagine what happened next.  For next 15-20 minutes we sat there while the little tyke went back and forth on every single coloring book they had on display - picking almost every one and starting to put it in the cart only to stop and go back and pick a new one.  

I watched amused as this went on and my wife, who had started to whole thing, go more annoyed to the point she had to do a countdown from 10 or my daughter was going to have the forfeit the book.  It literally came down to the wire where on "1" she grabbed one and said "This one!"  Of course, as we walked away, she started to second guess herself, etc.

As I watched and thought about this, it occurred to me that a big lesson was unfolding before me.  A lesson that anyone who wants to truly succeed must learn and skill they must practice.  The lesson?  How to make decisions.  Great leaders and successful entrepreneurs are decisive.  They have the ability to look at all the angles in the moment and weight the consequences of the outcomes of their decisions on something quickly and act.

This is something I have practiced hard over the years and a skill you must learn.  Your ability to think in the moment, separate emotion from logic, and see the different angles to make quick, solid decisions is priceless on your path to success.  Make it a point to decide firmly and quickly - and to learn when you make a decision that was not the right one.  You will get better and better and your success will grow as you do.

Read the quote above again.  Think deeply about it....

Do you know what it means?  Do you understand the power that is in that short amount of words?  It is one of the most powerful statements every uttered and it can change your life.

​If you take everything but the first 3 words and the the last 5 words, what do you get?  You get, "Watch your thoughts, for it becomes destiny."  Everything and I mean everything begins in your thoughts.  

Your beliefs, how you feel about yourself, your worldview, your worthiness, you attitude about life, you confidence or lack there of - even your physical capabilities all start in your thoughts.  What you think every second of every day determines your world and the life around you.  

If you believe the world is stacked against you, it will be.
If you believe that you are not worthy of reaching the levels of success you want, you won't.
If you believe that your life sucks, it will.
If you believe that you are destined to fail in relationships, you will.
If you believe that you cannot climb the mountain, you won't.

What do you believe?  What thoughts are going through your head right now?  What thoughts should you have?

Change your thoughts and you will change everything.  You will change your life and live in a way that you have never lived before.  Think and Start Living!