What Lessons Are You Learning Today?

Are You Going To Make It? That Is Up To You!

All you get is what you bring to the fight.

And that fight get’s easier every day you learn new lessons.

Here are 18 of those lessons every business person (not just me) needs to learn:

• Just because it hasn’t worked out already doesn’t mean that it won’t ever.
• Anything that is easy to do isn’t going to lead to success. 
• Ironically, the quickest way to become an expert is to defy industry experts.
• The number of people who believe in you doesn’t correlate to your chances of success.
• Sometimes your best effort is NOT good enough to succeed.
• You can’t learn if you aren’t willing to listen.
• The only way to get other people to care about you is to care about them first.
• You can’t find opportunities for success if you aren’t looking for them.
• The difference between success and failure is just a decision to keep trying.
• Just because all your competitors are doing it doesn’t mean you should too.
• Pretending like you never make mistakes doesn’t make it so.
• Working smarter is a result of hard work; not a replacement for it.
• There is no easy way out for big problems; but there is always a way out.
• Being “professional” is key to getting prospects to want to do business with you.
• Working smart will get more applause. Working hard will get more done.
• Sometimes bad things happen to good people with great strategies.
• If you haven’t failed a lot, you probably aren’t going to win a lot.
• Experience is what you get just after you need it.

Life is about the choices you make. There’s no such thing as “getting lucky.” Hard work, tenacity, and learning from failure is what will ultimately determine how successful you become.

That’s How It Has Always Been

Great people learn hard lessons.

Sigmund Freud was booed off stage the first time he presented his theories to a group of scientists in Europe. He went on to win the Goethe Award for his work in psychology.

Henry Ford failed at farming, failed as an apprentice, and failed as a machinist — going bankrupt five times. He went on to modernise mass production.

Leo Tolstoy flunked out of law school and was labeled “unable to learn” by his professors. He went on to become one of the world’s greatest novelists.

John Creasey failed as a salesman, a desk clerk, a factory worker, and an aspiring writer — getting 754 rejection notices by publishers. He went on to write more than 600 novels and is considered one of the greatest mystery writers ever.

Hank Aaron failed his tryout with the Brooklyn Dodgers and went 0-5 his first game in Major League Baseball. He went on to hit more home runs than anyone in baseball.

But It’s Not About Them

It’s about you. About what you are prepared to do in order to be successful.

The question is:

“What lessons are you learning today?”

Motivational Monday: 7 Must Read Motivational Lessons from Zig Ziglar

Hilary “Zig” Ziglar was an amazing American author, salesperson, and motivational speaker. He was born in Coffee County, Alabama the tenth of twelve children. Ziglar became a salesman and worked for several different companies.

During this time his sales skills grew, as did his desire to become a motivational speaker. And in 1970, Ziglar decided to become a full-time motivational speaker. 

7 Must Read Lessons from Zig Ziglar:

1. Motivation is Critical

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why I recommend it daily.”

Never underestimate the power of motivation. The world is filled with negativity; it’s important that you get your “motivational fix” daily!

Make time every morning for some time of inspiration and motivation, which will give you the boost to be successful throughout your day.

2. There Will Always be Little Men

“Little men with little minds and little imaginations go through life in little ruts, smugly resisting all changes which would jar their little worlds.”

There will always be critics; there will always be people saying, “How you can’t, why you can’t, and how you’re going to fail when you try.” 

There will always be “little men,” and it’s not that they intend to do you harm; they just can’t fathom “big things.” They live in a “little world,” …so never try to force a million euro idea, in an 8 euro per hour brain, it just won’t fit.

3. Balance is Necessary

 “I believe that being successful means having a balance of success stories across the many areas of your life. You can’t truly be considered successful in your business life if your home life is in shambles.”

Success means balance! There are people who have financial success, but who are miserable. There are people who have great family lives, but can’t purchase the basic necessities of life. 

Success means balance, it means having the best of both worlds, it means having your cake and eating it to. What good is cake if you can’t eat it?

4. Talent Utilization is Key


“It’s not what you’ve got; it’s what you use that makes a difference.”

Use what you got! I will never be a great singer, it’s not in the cards for me, but that’s okay, I can still have everything I “really” want in life. 

You may not be the smartest, you may not be the tallest, but you are “you,” and there’s not anyone who can be “you,” like you. You must learn to utilise this priceless advantage.

5. Positive Thinking is Certainly Better than Negative Thinking

“Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.”

Positive thinking gives you the advantage; it allows you to see opportunities that you may have otherwise missed. It opens your eyes, so to speak. Negative thinking, of course, does the opposite, it allows you to miss opportunities, and it numbs your ability to perceive the possibilities.

In short, positive thinking is better than negative thinking, besides, no one likes to hang around a negative person. They’re like “dead weight,” dragging everyone down around them. Decide to be positive; lift up all those who enter your domain.

6. Vision is Crucial

“If you don’t see yourself as a winner, then you cannot perform as a winner.

You cannot perform in a manner inconsistent with the way you see yourself.”

The person you see, is the person you will be! This is so important, so many people struggle for the simple reason that they are unable to see themselves as successful. If you talk to someone who is unfit, chances are you’ll find that they are unable to see themselves “fit,” they can’t consistently perceive it. 

Now, I’m not picking on individuals who are unhealthy or overweight. And that’s not to say that everyone can’t imagine something for a second, what I’m saying is that some people don’t really believe it’s possible for them. They can’t consistently see it.

“If you can’t see it, you can’t have it.”

You must see it! Your life is exactly what you’ve been able to see and believe up until this point.

7. Success Defined


“Success is the maximum utilisation of the ability that you have.”

I love this! Success is not making it to the pros. Success is not becoming a billionaire. “Success is the maximum utilisation of the ability that you have.” 

Success is being you’re very best; it’s giving your all, to worthy goals. It’s fully utilising the unique talents and gifts that you have been given.

So the question is, “Are you going to succeed, are you going to give your very best?” If you are, then success will be yours!

How To Change People's Minds

Dale Carnegie in his 1936 book, How to Win Friends and Influence People outlined ways to get people to change their mind without offending them and I have added a modern twist.

Most of the points are simple and straight forward but it is challenging to put theory into practice.

Begin with praise and honest appreciation. The objective is to get them to work with you rather than against you, so start with what you agree with, or what you find positive and praiseworthy in what they have said.

Call attention to errors only indirectly. You may need to undermine the other person’s argument to make your point, but if you rush at the opportunity to demonstrate they are wrong, you will only set up the confrontation and hostility you are trying to avoid. If the object of your discussion is to get them to take some action or hold some view that you want, then winning the argument will not help UNLESS you take them with you. If by this stage they will do anything rather than what you want, then you have lost, not won.

Talk about your own mistakes – it makes it much easier for the other person to either admit theirs or change their view. It is a natural human instinct to mimic behaviour. So if someone is aggressive to you, the tendency is to respond with aggression. So if you show how you can get it wrong, you invite the other person to be ready to show how they are not always right. This can set the tone for rational and objective appraisal rather than entrenched positions.

Ask questions that lead to the point, rather than telling. This enables the other person to identify the result as their conclusion rather than yours. Questions are more powerful influencer than statements.

Let the person save face: the objective is to create change, not to prove you are right. Sometimes you are presented with the choice of being right or being successful.

Praise every step that goes in your direction, so that the other person feels encouraged to continue on that route. You are basically trying to lead the other person, and you will not do this by tugging them, but by gently obstructing and deflecting from paths which do not lead where you want, and by being very encouraging when they are going where you do want.

Give them a fine reputation to live up to! When you say to that really person that you have heard they have a reputation for being tough but objective and fair, you are making it very difficult for them to not give you a fair hearing. If they want to see themselves as tough but fair (but usually are not) they are likely to try unusually hard to live up to the image you have set for them.

Encourage them by making faults seem easy to correct. For example, perhaps applying t he pointabove you have got the buyer to admit that perhaps he has assessed your service too harshly against your competitors. You might respond that it is easy for that to happen and that you will happily organise another opportunity to evaluate it again.

Make the other person feel happy about doing what you suggest. If you are the person who has just persuaded the buyer to spend a lot more with you than they would have with your competitors, you might want to round off with a comment on how his decision will protect his company from risk and put them in good company with many major corporations who have chosen similarly.

All the above sounds easy, but for a lot of people, their natural instincts point in another direction – to win, to excel, to show off (in a good as well as a bad sense). That is one of the reasons that it is not always the powerful extroverts who are the best sales people. 

The quieter and more introverted often find it easier to listen, easier to praise others, easier to focus on and understand the other person’s point of view, and be ready to give praise for it.

Rethink some of the mind sets that you have gotten into, and seek to acquire habits which are more effective.