Over the years I have been involved with and owned several businesses. I’ve achieved much success, and I’ve had my share of failure. I’ve deposited seven figure checks, and I’ve hocked everything I own to guarantee the bank loans. There have been ups and there have been downs. So why am I tell you all this? Why not just boast about my success, waive my riches under your nose, and shout at you that you can achieve great things also?
Well, what I’ve found is that anyone can do that. The world is full of people telling you how successful they are, or how great they are, or I’ve done it so invest in my system and you can do it to. The reality is that very few people have really enjoyed success, and almost all of them have done it the hard way.
It is very easy to look at someone, see their success, and say, “I want to be able to achieve what they have achieved.” The glamour looks great. All the successes you know are just successes. Very rarely do you see the pain they’ve endured, the time they’ve invested, and the failures they’ve worked through. All you see are the fancy cars, the nice clothes, the beautiful home, or any of the other physical possessions that accumulating money permits someone to acquire.
What I want to share with you now may change your life. This single thought could be what sets you free. Free from the chains that held me back, led to many of my failures, and may be holding you back. Without a doubt, one personal trait I have has led to most of the hardship, frustration, and misery I’ve endured over time while I tried to figure out how to successfully build my companies.
Like you, my drive to succeed has always been strong. I wanted to do great things. I wanted to achieve to my definition of success. I wanted to create a financial backing for my family that would allow us to do everything in life that we wanted to do. But here’s where I fell into my trap. I wanted to achieve all of those things very quickly. I wanted success now. I wanted the cars now. I wanted the independence now. The word patience just wasn’t in my dictionary. As a matter of fact my dictionary went from the word “pathway” right to the word “patin.”
Have you ever come across someone who appeared to be an overnight success? They seem to pop up all the time, and I figured if they did it, then I could do it. Well, the truth is that they really weren’t overnight successes after all. They had spent years developing their craft, perfecting their skills in business, sales, communications, and created a powerful network of allies. Only when these elements were in place did they realize their most prized goals and achieve the successes that we attribute them to.
“Patience is a virtue.” My father repeated this statement to me time after time as a child growing up. Some of the best advise I was ever given, and it went right over my head. A mentor of mine always counseled me to be patient as I went along on my journey. I heard him, but didn’t take his advise as much to heart as I should have.
So many times I was so focused on what I wanted that I didn’t always do what I needed to do to get there. You can’t cross all of your “t’s” and dot your “i’s” unless you take the time to do so. And, the reality of it all is that taking the time to do it right means being patient. Not worrying about immediate results, but rather worrying about doing everything right so that you get positive results over time. Because what you really want are those positive results.
Yes, it would be nice to achieve what you desire now, but wouldn’t it be more important to achieve your goals at some point in time rather than never, because you didn’t do the right things or take the right steps?
The key is to set up powerful goals. Have a target to air for and to hit. Understand what success looks like for you. Then figure out what needs to be done to get there. And as you take that journey, take the time to do what is necessary to allow you to achieve your goals and to enjoy the ride you’re on. You will enjoy the process, acquire what it is you desire, and you will learn more about yourself than you ever thought possible.
Be patient and you will be on the road to Building a Better Biz!
