You wake up every day deciding what to do. You have a need to build the future but a necessity of working the daily grind. You wonder what’s best, what’s next, where do you go from here.

In business we struggle between chasing income and creating wealth. We choose between attending to the customers we have or going after customers we don’t have.

We fight between speed and preparation, between decisiveness and thoughtfulness, between chasing shiny objects and capitalizing on fleeting opportunities.

And this my friends is only business.

In life our choices multiply by the moment. Resting versus working, reading verses doing, eating versus exercise. Family time and attention or working to provide for the family.

Having fun, working hard, travel, enjoying, staying focused.

Here’s what I believe we all know and can agree on…

Your decisions are your life.

In every moment.

Stacked up, compounding, usually interconnected, certainly one impacting another.

So then, how do we understand the dichotomy of life and the pushing and pulling of almost every decision you make? How do you go about knowing how to be, what to say, what to do, how to act? What money to take, customers to get, business to build?

More importantly, how do you choose how you invest your time, your energy, your attention, your love…your self?

The answer is this – definiteness of purpose!

In the book “Outwitting The Devil” Napoleon Hill writes about this explicitly. The book is about a conversation, more like an interview Napoleon Hill has with the Devil where the Devil opens up and shares all of his secrets, his ways, his beliefs, and tells exactly how to beat him at his game.

The point of course is finding yourself and living the most successful fulfilling life possible and avoiding all ways and means of sabotage, which by the way, you understand that is what you and I and the rest of the world do, don’t you!

Sabotage ourselves.

With words, actions, beliefs, people, shortsightedness, diversion from your definiteness of purpose, from what you want most in life.

This is the ultimate fight. The fight against self-sabotage. The disparage between your ambitions and your actions.

Yes of course there is always a balance to be had, but not in all things. You can balance a workout a day with a dessert a day, or two or three. That’s my kind of balance and of course you know I believe you must have some form of dessert every day. That’s the most innocent kind of indulgence there is, and the sweetest to, truth and pun intended.

But, in life, balance is overrated. I’m telling you. It’s true. Because of this reason – your scales must tip in the direction of your purpose, of what you are setting out to achieve. Of what you want for your life, more weight must be given.

Balance as a person, internally, but not in the world outwardly.

Balance is called indifference.

Balance is about not having preference, and to have no preference is to have no soul.

An example, if you want what’s best for your children then you would not nor would you allow someone else to smoke around your kids. That is not something to balance or be in different about.

If you want to get rich from your business there is a time when work and play can’t balance, at least not if you ever want to get to a point in your life when play out weights work.

If you want love in your life, lasting, committed, love you can count on, trust in, live for and with, then other things are going to sacrifice for that. Just ask your spouse if love is a perfectly balanced act.

Not a chance. Some times its 90/10 and others its 10/90, seldom is it 50/50, not even while you’re sleeping…thinking about it, who gets most of the bed (and covers).

The bottom line is this, you must know in each areas of your life and your life as a whole what is your definiteness of purpose and then weigh everything against that.

Oh yes, I do believe you live in “the now”, you savor every moment, but, savoring and fulfilling to the fullest degree, getting all you deserve out of it, can only happen when you are clear, certain, and committed to your future.

I didn’t say it’s easy to know, find, discover, believe…that’s the unwritten journey, always the next chapter in your life and sometimes it changes as you change, however, when you sit still, just “being”, your definiteness of purpose will be clear, its your inner most desire, what you want most, what you’re willing to sacrifice all else for. There is you and your life as a whole, and then all the parts that make it up.

The dichotomy of life is that there really is no dichotomy when you are charting your own course, it’s just a matter of whether you are being true to yourself or not, acting, living, being with integrity towards your definiteness of purpose.

One thoughtful point of so many taught in this book, was that it is your sole and primary duty in this life to satisfy this purpose fully. You deserve that, but only if you do what is deserving of it.

What is your purpose

For your life

For your love

For your family

For your business

For your customer

For your future

For this moment

I am sure you remember Circuit City and their downfall, is it possible Best Buy is next?

So how is it when Best Buy can’t even keep its doors open, Apple has thriving retail space.  It’s even yielded copycat stores from the once-critical Microsoft due to their success.

Some suggests it’s the “Apple experience” or the glass showroom or the fewer products.  However, this is not why the Apple Stores are a “success”.

It’s actually not as complicated as it seems.  Ultimately it comes down to 3 principles of direct marketing.  With Best Buy (and Microsoft) lacking anyone of the three, let alone all three, their failure is this arena is inevitable.

Find ways to apply all three principles in your business, and Apple-like success will surely follow.

1. Sell at the High-End: Most Apple computers start where Windows machines peak.  Fans of both will argue which is superior, but recent sales suggests that no one is doubting the value of the higher-priced Macs.  Premium prices need to be matched by a differentiated, premium product, but that’s not the point here.  Having prices higher than your competitors allows you to pay more for the customer through marketing.  Once achieved it also insulates you price wars.  Have you ever seen Apple use discounts to lure buyers?
2. Own the Entire Process: This principle embodies Steve Jobs’ early vision.  He wanted everything to run through Apple.  Without critical mass of early Mac adoption, it nearly killed the company, but now the philosophy reigns.  Apple doesn’t have to share the customer or the profits.  Best Buy only makes a small percent on every sale then the manufacturer gets their profit, then Microsoft, and so on.  Apple’s biggest advantage of its retail stores, it simply doesn’t need to make any money from their existence.  They are not there to derive profit, only attract the customer.  This relates to “paying more for your customers” in #1.  Given Apple owns the hardware, software,  accessories, and add-ons – it can afford to pay higher customer acquisition cost including retail locations.  By acquiring the customer, Apple can now can build brand loyalty and life-long customers.
3. Lifetime Value of a Customer: The first two principles lead to the #3, which is the reason I believe Apple is the most valuable company in the world.  After Apple acquires you as a user (let’s say through a retail location) and you buy your first mac, what’s next? An Windows Phone, or perhaps an Android tablet?  Of course not – more Apple products.  A CNBC study reports that half of all U.S. households own an Apple product, but more telling – over 30% of U.S. households own MORE THAN ONE.  Plus, each of those devices is upgraded every couple of years and after you use an Apple device it’s hard to switch.  Yet, here is Apple’s Golden Goose: as of last year there were over 200 Million Apple ID Accounts (the account that all iTunes, App Store, and Apple users create), making it one of the largest credit card repositories.  See, each and every Apple device offers a multitude of ways to continue to pay Apple money long after you’ve bought the device (including music, movies, apps, magazines, books, and more things in the making).  An area where nearly all other retailers fail.

If you are a retailer of electronics it might be time to alter tactics, because really Apple is merely getting started.  If it can sustain the three principles above without their visionary founder, there is no end in sight.

I made it with time to spare.

Someone asked me how I was feeling… referring to the flight, not the smoke-induced Las Vegas allergy throat and sinus disease like affects I seem to get every time I go (still love that city!).

I replied to them sort of without thinking about it…

“I feel like I just walked out of a phone booth!”
This person, knowing me, knew exactly what I meant… SuperMan!

And while my jacket looks a little like a cape, just doesn’t do it justice.

In all seriousness, I had no choice but to feel great, owed it to the people in the room. I was doubtful, I must admit, I’d felt terrible while in Vegas 2 of the last 3 days… yet made the most of it. Because, I guess, that’s about the only choice I had.

We often talk, right here, each week about the importance of confidence, which is really what it comes down to. Your ability to push yourself beyond your comfort zone, try new things, move into and in front of uncomfortable circumstances, and those are what builds your confidence. Realizing you don’t die after trying new things, after challenging yourself.

So even if I hadn’t felt great when I woke up on the airplane I had better start pretending…

My point in a minute, and it’s a great tie into Las Vegas, which I really do enjoy, and especially this time around, I had my father/son duo clients (who rank right up there with Santa Claus in terms of my enjoyment when hanging around them…always fun) and one of my top level key guys who really is my go-to partner in crime with many projects.

While we were in Vegas we saw a couple shows and ate at my favorite dessert restaurant every night.

The thing is, you just can’t help but feel like SuperMan while you’re inVegas. Everything is so BIG and BRIGHT and AWESOME, it’s all larger than life – which is what you have to be, if you want to make larger than life things happen.

I walked off an airplane into a room and for two days gave my attendees everything I had, blew up their businesses and built better ones and then politely asked them my favorite question… “If I’ve given you this much information, these many strategies, helped you in ways that you’ve have just expressed to me… if I’ve done all of that, for free (in this case, they were part of a Conference, so they did not pay me directly), just imagine what I will do for you when you pay me to work, think, and build your business”

They responded in kind at the end of the two days with it being worth just a tick over $1000 per hour of my face time with them… 2 days, pretty good average, considering that every relationship has just begun, not just ended, if you know what I mean.

Now, I don’t know about you, but, I’d be damn certain that if I walked into that room feeling like a loser, feeling sick, feeling weak, tired, and anything but SuperMan – it would have been hard for the meter to be running at $16/minute.

This is actually why I like to travel, go to nice restaurants, do fun things, and SPEND money – because it reinforces the SuperMan affect. When you value yourself, treat yourself, and take care of yourself, the universe (or whatever you want to call it) will take care of you with opportunity.

So, question number one, what is YOUR phone booth. What are the things in your life that you do to reinforce your own confidence, to broaden your thinking, to pump you up. What are the experiences, the thoughts, the places, the activities, the books, the food, the rituals, and on and on, that YOU personally have in your arsenal ready to pull out, that act as your SuperMan suit.

…that act as your own phone booth.

I’ve got a list of them…
If you’re curious enough, or if enough of you are curious, I’ll share them with you. Sometime. Who knows, I would even consider hosting a little event or workshop on this very topic, because it is my favorite and it’s led me, almost single-handedly to my most major breakthroughs.

Every day you wake up, someone, something, somewhere there are things going to try to derail your agenda, squash your goals, shatter your dreams, disrupt your momentum, and flat out cause you problems -

The world is your kryptonite, full of it in every way.
Negative thinking, negative people, negative things.

You don’t help matters when you settle for things, accept what you should not tolerate, lower your expectations in yourself, with others.

You must know this simple truth, people would prefer for you to be less successful and/or fail, rather than see you succeed and themselves then have to feel miserable about their pathetic lives and lack of ambition.

That’s just the truth folks.
So, you’ve got to be fighting those battles every day.
You’ve got to put on your cape.
You’ve got to have that secret phone booth, ready at any moment, to run into, and walk out of, changed, ready, confident, focused, and determined to make things happen.

You have the power to overcome everything.

In many ways, every week I give you a Cape to put on. With every message, strategies, beliefs, and philosophies to be and become your own Superman.

I’d like for you, today, right now, make a list of all the places you can go, all the things you can do, all the ways you can think of, that act as your phone booth, where you can slip on your cape and come out ready to take on the world.

Besides, there’s no money in being ordinary.
The best way to have everything you want in life, is to be your own Superhero, that way you don’t have to wait around hoping for someone else to save the day.

Today, I’m going to give you and up-to-the-minute report of what I’ve been doing, and included in this, together, we’ll get to the very core of why the rich get richer and how,regardless of what direction you are headed now, you can quickly change that momentum in your favor.

Not sure how sexy my message will be for you today, but it’ll darn sure be significant. That is of course if you are up to the challenge of being bulldozed by reality…I know sometimes Wednesday are painful for ya, depending on how closely you read this.

No pain, no gain, as the saying goes.

And we begin.

I’m writing you from a hotel room in Cleveland after spending the evening driving through the countryside of Ohio, a pleasant drive, brings back memories from my days out in the country growing up. Why am I hear you asked…

Well, it all began at the SuperConference earlier this year with a close personal friend and a client of mine introduced me to one of his close personal friends, we listened to each other stories, shared much in common, and determined that we ought to at least discuss the possibilities of a relationship, and maybe working together.

So we did that. We dialogued, did some discovery and we decided to take the next steps…

As you know, I’m very selective over who and how I work. I know that the quality of relationships determine the quality of life and affect everything else. I also choose to be involved with, at this level, a small number of people because I’ve got my own businesses to run and one thing always happens when I form a relationship with a client, one, they become a close personal friend, and two, the relationship and their business interests always expand.

That’d be a sign of a good thing, by the way.

Anyhow, every relationship of this nature, begins with some Face-to-Face meeting and on-site visit to their business. Now, I’m talking about ON-SITE…actually being there.

I do this for two reasons. One, I’m a little old fashion and I believe every relationship that should stand the test of time should begin with a handshake, looking them in the eyes.

The other reason is because I want to fully understand this person and their business. I want to see how they live, how they work, I want to FEEL the business. I want to meet the people around them, grasp what they are up against every day, take an inventory of possibilities and opportunities from an “in the trenches” perspective. And all the other obvious reasons.

Of course I’m only talking about, the highest level, my most intimate involvement with clients I actually “work with” and advise personally.

So, fortunately, my new friends being located in the heart (another work for in the middle of no-where) Ohio, could be coordinated with my trip to Cleveland for other Glazer-Kennedy matters. Which happens to also be leading me to Chicago for Client Seminars and Meetings and then another Glazer-Kennedy event at the front end of the week.

So, Monday, I began what will be a 12 day stretch of travel, up from Charleston to Dayton, driving to Huntsville, then to Cleveland, flying to Chicago for 5 days (1 day of my famous experiencing the city will be tucked in there, where Maddy will fly up too…can’t wait) and then back to Indy for my Coaching/Mastermind Days and back home.

Whew!

Told you you’d get an update.

Good news, with every update, there is a lesson.
And today’s lesson big!

While I’m at it, I’d like to give a little shout out to Jeremy, Adam, my new friends in Duff Country, and especially to Jason for a wonderful day yesterday and the beginning a powerful relationship. I have to tell you, I had fun driving all over Ohio, seeing everything he’s got going on, and learning about the different businesses.

It truly was like a kid on a field trip…and you know how much I love field trips!

I don’t often bring “others” into my writing (but I know they are reading and), what I’m about to share with you is coming directly from my experience yesterday and it is what I notice and know about the most successful people in my life and those I work with…and it is 100% responsible for my personal success as well.

So, thank my friends for this, and who would have thought my time in Ohio could change everything for you.

Without any unnecessary details, yesterday I saw the results of two words that have been responsible for the building and continuing to grow a family business empire. And believe me, I use the word empire for a reason. I could write all day telling you about all the businesses and how they tie together.

Instead, because we’re both short on time, I’ve got to get to the point (yeah, yeah, I know, you were waiting for that part).

Two words.

Hustle

And

Integrity

Allow me to explain, because you won’t get it on face value.

First – about INTEGRITY!

I knew yesterday exactly what I was going to write about today when my friend and now client said on multiple occasions in different conversations that he had TWO GOALS…everything in his businesses led back to these TWO GOALS.

They were clearly stated, specific, and said with a seriousness to them that you knew every decision, every action, every strategic plan and vision gets ran through the litmus test of these 2 objectives.

Of course I’m not going to tell you.
His goals don’t have to be yours.

Now, to say that it was that simple, would be an understatement, because there was an overriding “philosophy” also that governed everything in his life.

So, you could say, these two goals governed by this one philosophy.
WOW. I said, Brilliant. And no wonder his success speaks for itself.

No wonder you can’t stop him from growing his empire even if you tried.

Listen, the point is very simple.
What are your REASONS for doing everything you do
What are your REASONS for making every decision
What are your REASONS for waking up in the morning
What are your REASONS for growing your business, heck, just being in business

What are your goals!
And, what governs those goals.
What governs your actions, decisions, ideas, etc.

My friend along with his family (certainly he’s taking it to an entirely new level and created many other businesses of his own) have built an empire because they know their PURPOSE. They are very clear on their direction and their goals.

YOU HAVE TO HAVE THIS FIRST – before you can have INTERGRITY of purpose.
First purpose, then integrity.

Why integrity, or what do I mean by that…
Well, that’s easy, if you want to achieve something in your life, you must have integrity with yourself about that.

I’m going to stand up for a second, pretend I’m looking you in the eye, and say something very bold to you – right now.

IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE BUSINESS YOU WANT, LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT, EVERYTHING YOU WANT – you have no integrity.

Sorry. It’s the truth telling zone, it’s the only way you’ll keep coming back every week, is for my messages to have integrity with you.

Oh, I don’t necessarily mean you are a liar.
But…
When you say you are going to accomplish something and then you don’t…I guess, technically, that is a lie.

Integrity is so much deeper than lying, and I could care less about that anyhow.
I’m talking about YOU, deep down inside.
I’m talking about what makes you tick, what makes you think, what makes you do what you do.

You’ve heard you must get clear on your goals.
And, sure, yes, that’s true.

BUT my friends, that is half the battle.
Clear goals do nothing.

LIVING with INTEGRITY towards those goals, are what makes it possible for them to be achieved.

You get it.
YOUR HOMEWORK:

Identify what you really want your business, life, self to be like.
Then, establish very specific goals and objectives, and decide what governs those decisions.
And, NOW, act with integrity EVERY SINGLE DAY in EVERY THING YOU DO.

Ryan and I, we have goals, we have governing things that determine our decisions, and they can change by the way, we change our “rules” yearly, but always moving in the direction of our Purpose…and with integrity, it’s why I can say NO to a project, it’s why I can FIRE a client, it is why I can with INTEGRITY leave my home for 12 days, travel to 4 (I lost track) cities and build relationship and a business empire.

Because there is a purpose and integrity behind every decision and every action.

It is the first half the battle of why the RICH get RICHER, because they have more integrity.
(offend you yet…I’m sure trying)

2nd – HUSTLE.

Part two, and the believe me, it’s a “part two” as important as a Pitcher and a Catch…would be like sitting in a car with the it turned on, headed in the right direction, but without pushing on the gas…or having any fuel.

HUSTLE, it’s the thing you don’t do enough of, the thing other do NONE of.
It’s why as soon as I knew I’d be making this trip I filled up every nook and cranny of it with meetings face-to-face, and minute by minute phone appointments in the dead space.

It’s why my schedule stays booked months in advance.
It’s why the Rich get Richer…

Because they hustle.

And my Ohioans from yesterday, the family empire that’s been created is a direct result of HUSTLE – everything from daily work ethic, to capitalizing on opportunities, to investing more aggressively, to putting money to work of you, to waking up and DOING SOMETHING.

Hey, you can preach quality of life and balance and all of that bullshit to me all you want.
I’d stack my quality of life, quality of relationships, and quality of just about anything up against just about anyone else.

Because, I am in full integrity with my goals and objectives and when I work, I hustle.

I know there’s the life is too short mentality that people use against themselves as excuse for playing around, but heck, don’t you get it, when you have integrity of purpose and goals, your work is your play. When you hustle, you have time for it all.

YOUR HOMEWORK:

Hustle up. Act like you want it.
Be hungry, aggressive, and serious.
And go out there and make it happen.

Just to bring this full circle. My friend and client from yesterday, does more for his community and other organizations around the world than just about anyone I know, he works harder, and also has more fun, than just about anyone I know.

Excuses are just that. It’s what keeps losers losing, and the lack of them is what keeps winners winning.

I challenge you today, as big of a marketing lesson as you could ever receive…every notice, how the best marketing lessons are life lessons, and vice versa.

Well you can make this one out to be whatever you want.
The last thing I’ll say, is the most pathetic of things is listening to someone try to argue the obvious…I got no patience for it, that’s for sure.

The rich get richer because they hustle faster and work, live, think, decide, and ACT with in integrity every day in their business, in their life, and in their relationships.

We can all agree that momentum, by basic definition, the more you have the more you’ve got, and that’s the power of what I’ve shared with you today.

Reassess yourself. Get clear on your objectives and what governs your decisions, then act with integrity, and hustle, work like hell to make it happen.

And it will.

Oh, by the way, my friend, yeah, he’s 30…now, age to me is irrelevant, you can build a business at 15, 50, or 85, but my point is, it doesn’t take a lifetime to get somewhere, nope.

Just takes waking up every day KNOWING what you want and DOING something to make it happen. …30…just sayin

Scott

P.S. One quick aside, it does help to have a great team! And I enjoyed all the people I met yesterday and it was obvious the mission and passion of the family enterprise was throughout the organization. Great people. Hard workers. And, hey, they’re bringing me on board, so they’ve got to be extra smart…another lesson of success, and rich getting richer, they leverage other people’s experience and knowledge and resources to get them there…and they take people with them along for the ride. A first class Person with a first class Business empire I met yesterday and I’m proud to call him a friend and a client. Thanks boys…now let’s make some crazy stuff happen.

You remember the famous quote by Mr. Earl Nightengale, through one way or another he’s had something to do with the reason I’m writing and you’re reading this message today…direct or not, his influence is not able to be separated from successful people.

The quote: “if you’ve got no other model to follow, person to emulate, no other example to copy, and you want to be successful just look around at what everyone else is doing and DO THE OPPOSITE!!!”

Or something very close to that.
Read it again, therein lies the formula to follow.

Well, let’s get a couple things straight right here and right now:
“everybody else” is doing a lot of very stupid shit.

By sheer definition the “majority” is always wrong…majority is “average”, at least when we are talking about being NOT average, about being at the very tip top of the pyramid of humanity in relationship to success.

You can be darn sure “everybody else” IS in fact getting offended, they are looking for ways to get offended, things to get offended about…you know these type of people, the same ones making excuses, stuck in the past, and whining about this, that, and everything else, except the plain as day, obvious as can be, reason for all of their problems, staring them straight back in the eyes, when they look in the mirror.

This all happened during my trip to San Francisco last week.
(More details about this adventure next week)

THE MOST SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE are not “rude”, but they do not, EVER, walk around worrying about other peoples feelings and offending them.

In fact, the MOST Successful People, NEVER worry about things outside of their control…

SUCH AS – other peoples feelings -
If you’ve not, read the book THE FOUR AGREEMENTS…one of my little secrets that change my life and view of people. They do what they do, say what they say, believe what they believe, and everything else in between. Not going to change them, so basing anything you do on them will result in frustration, disappointment, and a life where you give up control to the enemy – OTHERS!

The reality is, the most successful people, STRIVE FOR, CHEER ABOUT, and make it their daily objective to OFFEND PEOPLE. You can’t possibly be doing anything worthy if you are not.

Why do I say this…well, for one, it’s true.
And I’ll prove it -

Every month in our Chapter Events I say, “I’m here today to do one very important thing – OFFEND YOU – and you are here to be OFFENDED, because that means I am going to challenge your thinking.”

If I do not do this – why on earth would you want to waste your time.
If you leave as you have entered, WASTED!!! You, me, everybody – wasted.

Same as this email, this little weekly email newsletter, THE POINT is to offend you – to get you to check yourself, your thinking, often times what you are ignoring that is in your way, at the door. That’s my responsibility to you.

And I do it.

So, the question is, do you STAND FOR, BELIEVE IN, have PASSION about something, enough so you rub others the wrong way…I could get religious on you, I won’t, but you should be able to read between the lines.

If you are not where you want to be, success, freedom, money, and all of the above – RIGHT NOW – it is because you are not offending people enough, you are not pushing the limits of yourself and those around you enough.

I’m serious about this. You are not DOING ENOUGH of “the opposite” stuff in your life so you are less like “everybody else” and more like “no body else” (otherwise known as the most successful people).

Okay, the point, and the reason for my rant today.

Last week while I was saving the world and creating an incredible (I can’t disclose a single syllable of the plan) new business with a client AND enjoying a quick, but wonderful, vacation to San Francisco and Napa Valley…I got this email…from “one of them.”

Yes, for the first time I received a raging HATE email complete with vulgarities and profanity of the worst kind.

Of course, there are two very sad problems with this -
Not that fact that I got the email…that was, well, interesting to say the least.

What was sad is that, I, personally, DIDN’T receive the email, nope, my executive assistant did, and I can tell you, if someone had talked to my wife, daughter, or assistant like that in person, they would have had to take up another hobby, because talking out of their ass wouldn’t be possible.

Anyhow, sad she had to read it, but, she’s a big girl and is well aware of what we do here… and occasional consequence from sifting the winners from the losers, every day, with every email.

The other thing that is even more disappointing – is that by law, I can’t send him this email in response…he actually will miss out on the lesson, he probably needed to hear it more than you.

Oh well. That’s why he’s a loser.

The crazy part of it was, nothing in the email he replied to was offensive…darn. Not sure where he’s been or what he’s doing. I’ve given him plenty of material before to get upset.

But something set him off about this email campaign. And of course, you would guess: I received more “fan mail”, positive feedback and (best of all) we had the largest number of Chapter Event registrations than ever before in one single week from the same emails that got this particular asshole disgruntled.

Same emails – different people.
The majority getting offended.
And The others: You, the elite, top level of pyramid – doing the opposite.

The irony of it all, of course, is far greater than what I’m telling you here.
It’s really the fact that while the inspirer of our message today was busying typing his profane and distasteful words in his little email – I was relaxing at the Country Club in Napa Valley with my friend and client plotting out our plan to conquer the world.

So, the satire of this story is simple.
Me bucking the trend, standing out, offending people, got my client to take notice, began a relationship that put me on vacation in San Francisco staying at the Ritz, flying first class, and enjoying the view of Napa Valley…

Hey, I don’t say all of this to impress you…I also worked all the way over to Cali on the plane, worked some while there, had a day of consulting, and flew the red-eye back Friday so I could be with the kids and then work all weekend and on Labor day.

Sure, I enjoy the fruits of my labor, got more than most, but the key word in it all, was “LABOR” not fruits.

While he’s forever-more shut out of my world, of the opportunities, the resources, the great people like you…

That’s the crazy thing about life: opportunities all around, but the losers, they just can’t see ‘em and always thinking that they are entitled to more.

So THANK YOU! Thank you for being here, not being like that other guy…doing the opposite, fitting in with the successful, not “everybody else”, and most of all, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to offend you, to challenge your thinking, to get you to stare yourself straight in that mirror, then turn around and step up to the plate and swing for the fences of your dreams.

The only way to workout your immunity to criticism muscle is to give them something to criticize. This is the breakfast of champions.

Two firsts all in one week…cussed out by an email…and
My trip to San Francisco…can’t wait to tell you bout it, next week!

Simply driving into the Gaylord you immediately feel moved to a place separate from everywhere else. And inside, you enter a refreshing natural environment in their amazing atriums that captivates you and removes you from the “outside” that you came in from.

I just love “destination” locations, especially when they get it right.

While at the Gaylord the service was incredible, more than adequate staff, always helpful, and taking great pride in their work. In the resort everything is self-contained inside of the “bubble”.

You can take leisurely walks, float down their river in a little boat, take in the waterfalls and enjoy many more relaxing things. One of my favorites was watching the “dancing fountain” that put on an incredible display themed to different music and it was fun.

Of course, we ate at their top of the line restaurant, which was magnificent and an investment valued more than the one night stay…I’m happy to report we filled every corner of the table with different desserts, (my idea) and yes, it was just enough for the two of us to enjoy!
(we are both still skinny – Maddy made me insert this)

The waiter was superb, and in less than 3 minutes at the table, I’d already decided that this will be one of the locations for our Traveling National Mastermind Group next year…and an experience it will be. Same waiter will be essential.

Anyhow, a couple quick things, every word out of every employees’ mouth was scripted, no time to explain, or go through details, but believe me, I ask questions, I push them, I see what they’re made of and reward them for the show.

From the hostess to the valet to the maids and maintenance, it was all planned out and executed beautifully.

We ate breakfast the next morning at the waterfalls and just to sum it up, I ordered (didn’t eat, but ordered) the $23 pastry basket simply to set on the table and look at – everything was THAT good.

Another thing I’ll point out, and then I will tell you why it’s so important for you…
I asked many employees how long they had been there and what position they started in, 4 out of 5 were more than 5 years, one just over a year, even that one, started somewhere simple and moved up.

They have a delicate and deliberate process for grooming people and giving them room to grow.

Finally, when I asked the waiter of 9 years, the one a handful of you will meet in 2012, my treat (if you’ve not put yourself on the Scott Manning Mastermind Experience List for next year, you’d better hurry, we’ve got more than I can let in already; they won’t all shake out but you’ve got to be on the list to get the notification).

Back to the waiter, who also had a little side business of playing Jazz at some local clubs downtown, when I asked him, why 9 years, here…what’s the big deal about the Gaylord.

He responded immediately, stepped back from the table looked up at the ‘artificial’ stars and the real moonlight through the atrium glass, he gazed around, he looked back and said, “what’s better than the Gaylord…you can’t have bad days inside here!”

“WOW!” I said to Maddy, “this is the shit!”
Or something like that…

Now, let’s be clear, it really is comparable to Disney, to Vegas, just not as grand a scale; it’s for different people. I love them all, same concepts apply to all three…this just a DIFFERENT experience, different ENVIRONMENT.

And that, my friends is my message to you today.

What is YOUR Environment?

I could write about the lessons from the Gaylord all day long.
What’s important is what you take away from MY experience here.

The one bubble that will never burst is the one you live in.
Real Estate, Stock Market, Economy, whatever -

All under other peoples control…well actually, realistically probably not under much of anyone’s control, maybe that’s the problem.

None the less – YOUR BUBBLE is in your control.

The Gaylord controls everything, the people, the guests, the environment, the food, the music, the mood, the weather! Everything.

Literally, no joke, we woke up the next morning to puddles everywhere, obvious remains of a heavy thunderstorm, and we never noticed it, not for a single moment, and you can look up at the sky and see through the atrium and yet, nothing.

Inside that Bubble, you can create exactly what you expect because you are the master in control.

I’ve got to tell you, I detest the question “how was your day?”
I ask people the same question, and I’m guilty of not being more demanding and resentful about it. But it’s just a dumb question.

What do you mean, how was my day? Well, how was it supposed to be…it was exactly the way I wanted it to be; because I am in control of my days.

Oh, I know, it’s polite, and I do appreciate it, it’s nothing against others, I was raised with that type of family friendly questions and stuff…but, the reality is, asking the question IMPLIES that it could have been good or bad -

NO SIR, not for me, not good, not bad, just a day with a purpose.
I enjoy every minute of every day, some more than others, but enjoy I do, because I live in a bubble, I create my own environment, and I decide who gets in, who stays out, what’s thought about, dealt with, and everything in between.

You have the same power.

As Nido Quebein says, “you can create your own theme park!”
Whether the Gaylord, Vegas, or Disney, you really do get to decide the environment you live in, the environment you create success in, the environment you get to enjoy.

Perhaps the most provocative thing, (that most people intentionally ignore and make excuses for) is regarding people who create more success in their lives than others. Truth is, those people simply exert more control on and have more clarity in their bubble.

You have to set yourself up for success. It is NOT just going to happen.

Oh don’t misunderstand, we’re not talking about perfection here, we’re talking about your ability to control what you can control and by doing so, give yourself a fighting chance at overcoming everything else around you.

I’ve said this before and I know you’ve heard it -
Success does not happen by accident.

My question for you right now, today, is: What is your Bubble like?
What type of environment are you attempting to be successful in?
Who needs to be pushed out of the bubble?
What needs to be eliminated from your environment?
Are you dictating exactly what happens inside your world?

Hey, we teach you to put a fence around your herd…
First, you gotta be putting a bubble around yourself…

Are you training the people in your life the way the Gaylord trains theirs?
Certainly, your friends, family, and employees…

Are you managing every detail and mitigating possibilities of distraction, discomfort, and failure?

You choose where, how, why, when, what, and with whom you do business with!
You choose where, how, why when, what, and with whom you live your life with!

You either create the environment you want or others create it for you.
Variables are for the meek, weak, and helpless…

The bold, brash, and rich get a bad rap for being demanding and dictating of how things should be…there is a closed loop there.

If you think they can have exceptional experiences at places like the Gaylord by ALLOWING exceptions, people to have anything but GREAT DAYS and PERFECT ATTITUDES, you’ve got another ‘think’ coming, and it’s probably a mirror image of what you accept and allow in your life and business.

No, there is no room for error, sloppiness, others to be in control.
Not for you, not if those goals you tout are sincere.
Not if your ambitions are genuine.

Here’s the ultimate challenge of the most successful, and for you, if you want to be one of us, fight, scrap, demand, things to be as you need them to be in order for you to achieve your goals. Stop accepting, settling, making excuses, letting your environment get in the way of your progress.

Stop taking NO for an answer, primarily from yourself! Because it begins and ends with You.

One of the “ah-ha’s” from my friends that joined me last month at our Chapter Event from around the country was the extreme control I take over every detail of the Event, and I don’t stop there. It is in every aspect and area of my life…such as the thought put into this little weekly email newsletter.

Of course, it’s not enough to control your customers; you must first control yourself, and YOUR environment.

We all must set out to design and create an Experience in your own life, in the way you work, in what you do, in the way you live. Give up “bad days”.

I’m almost done…I want to prove to you that I’m stone cold serious about this, I’m on the verge of bringing on someone to fill a very critical role for me in my life and in our business…I stated in the “description of the position, roles and responsibilities” that there could be NO PERSONAL PROBLEMS. Some thought it harsh, and I said “good!”

Life’s going to throw you enough problems as it is, surely you can do without your own set of problems to throw fuel on the fire. My family isn’t perfect, but we don’t end a day with an existing problem, everything, no matter what it is, has some resolution at days end. It may be that we need to schedule time to address it more in depth, or whatever…but it doesn’t go beyond the day…because tomorrow’s going to have a whole new set of things to deal with.

Let me ask you something, if you’re driving down the road and have a flat tire, or wake up in the morning and you’ve got to be somewhere and your tire is flat…what do you do?

If driving, do you keep driving…uh, NO.
If at home, do you cancel everything and go sit in the house and say “oh, well, such is life, bad luck for me.”

No dammit. You fix the tire. Well there are NO FLAT TIRES at the Gaylord and there can be no flat tires in your life. Not because you don’t have them, but because you don’t tolerate them when they occur.

You may think me overboard about this; we can compare incomes if you wish… I just know how serious YOUR ENVIRONMENT is, and I know that within it IS EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING holding you back…including yourself.

Believe me, I make changes daily, moment by moment to upgrade my environment, because I’m trying to catch the next person and leap up to the next rung on the success ladder, I know the only thing standing in my way, is figuring out what’s their doing with their environment and control that I’m not…

What about you?

Scott Manning

P.S. This week I really hit a nerve with people, driving in more registrations for our chapter event in the first two days than ever before.

The reason – speaking the truth, saying what everybody else is thinking, that’s why.
I shared about all the things that we entrepreneurs are facing that continue to mount and the struggles that we must overcome.

The attack on the small business and capitalism in general in nothing new, yet, today we face a challenge more fierce, a battle more bloody, and an enemy with far greater arsenal than ever before.

At our Indianapolis Chapter event next week I’ll layout the specific and proactive counter attack necessary to ensure that your business succeeds, today, right now in this economy, during the 2nd coming of the Recession.

I’ve said you must OUT EARN the problems around you, because there will always be PROBLEMS around you. I’ve given you the foundational and most fundamental principles in todays’ message, if you’re local to Indy, you’ll get the blow by blow battle plan of how to make this come to life in your business next week.

Ha. I was never very good at jokes…better at marketing and making money, thank goodness.

Well today, I’ve decided to get back to work, so to speak, and tell you about one of the single biggest and most significant sabotaging-your-sales mistakes you can possibly make in your business and your interaction/communication with your Customers.

And, in that, you will find exactly how to fix it and dramatically enhance your ability to CONNECT with your customers and appear and present yourself, product or service, as exactly what they should buy, do, believe in – right now.

To begin, I share with you the old cliché of being at the “right place at the right time”.
That is the battle you face with marketing.

No – not ACTUALLY being in the place. Although that is possible.

The battle to get your customer to PERCEIVE that your paths are crossing at the right time and right place in their life and that they must take advantage of whatever it is you offer – today.

This perception is where we begin to go wrong.
And it always starts on the marketers side of the table.

I often listen to people complain about their results in selling and it almost always boils down to a misunderstanding of PERCEPTION.

Here’s what I mean:

You cannot get caught up in what YOU want to sell…you must align with what your customer WANTS to buy.

Read that again, because it’s a big deal.
It’s the difference between pushing stuff on people versus attracting them to you.
It’s the difference between resistance and acceptance.
Price being the only thing and being irrelevant.

Oh sure, ‘savvy’ salesmen (or women) can sell just about anything, but that doesn’t get you quality, long-term customer relationships.

You’re initial interaction with your customers and their buying experience has a lot more to do with the long term relationship, whether they buy again, and/or refer other to you – than you probably think.

So, what’s the secret…
What’s the one thing that you can change in your approach, your marketing, the way you sell?

It’s this -

It comes down to the difference between these 2 words.

NEEDS
And
WANTS

Too many people try shoving stuff down the throats of their customers based on
What they THINK they NEED…

Instead of what the customer actually wants.

Here’s some enlightening news for you…
If the customer was going to be motivated by need, and they actually do need something, then why on earth haven’t they already bought it???

It’s because they buy what they WANT.

When you step to the other side of the table, put yourself directly into the customers situation and perspective you can easily see the difference.

The good news is that your job and purpose of marketing is to manipulate their perception into what is actually best for them, ie buying your stuff.

This requires you to UNDERSTAND (which my grandmaster in the martial arts carefully explained to his instructors underneath him that the word describe itself when you separate the two)

You must STAND / UNDER your customer…meaning see it the way they do, in order to connect with them genuinely, sincerely, and emotionally.

This is why Dan Kennedy always asks his clients if they are going where their customers go, to shop, to sleep, to eat…are you watching what your customers are watching, listening to their music, reading their books, publications, etc.

You must.

The difference between quality relationships begins at the first engagement, with first marketing piece, first ‘selling experience’. Without understanding your customers you are at a disadvantage.

Since you are hanging around here, you know and respect the fact that this is really your mission, the craft you must master…it’s the reason you are reading this right now.

The reality is you can sell anything, just about to anybody, as long as you convince them that they WANT what you have to offer.

Oh, you can easily show them that they NEED something, but that’s only enough to get their interest, not their money – you must bridge the gap and truly entice your customer enough so that they want something so bad there is no way to say no, no way to refuse.

So that moving on without you leaves a void in their life, an uneasy feeling in their stomach, a vision in their mind that they just can’t get rid of…

It’s why I preach, teach, and follow the five rules of making customers want what you sell:

I’ve just given you some very powerful stuff here. In the wrong hands, dangerous.

This is and should be your complete selling process, from lead generation to new customer experience after they give you money.

This is the process for creating customer for life.

Check all of your marketing, review your selling approach.

No doubt you are chasing sales instead of creating customers. If you fix this, if you better align with your customers, focus on what they really want…you will possess the most valuable skill for marketing and making money.

Hope it’ll have the impact on you that it did on me.

I often use Sunday’s as my catch-all writing day. I take a giant stack of project work (I keep every client and/or project in a separate file folder, often more than one, sometimes in big envelopes) so when I go to write, wherever I go, take what I need to work on with me.

I’ve prepared in advanced, have a list in priority order, and I start typing.

In most cases, my mind has long been thinking about the projects in advance so when I sit down the magic just happens. It’s just plain silly to sit down and “try” to write, if you haven’t conditioned yourself to be able to get the job done on-demand, then do not sit down until you’ve mentally prepared yourself and given your subconscious the opportunity to do the heavy lifting for you in advance.

That’s a big lesson by the way, but time to get back to my story.

Normally I start out a bit leisurely in the morning, maybe run, fix the kids some breakfast, relax, and then hit the ground running. It’s worth the drive time to a destination of my preference because gives me a chance to play out the day in my mind, project by project. And also, having the ability to do what I want, pretty much when I want, I go wherever I feel like going when I schedule a day like that day.

So this particular Sunday I went to one of my favorite Starbucks and a long 10 hours later I finally finished up, well sort of, I never ever actually finish… no such thing in this line of work.

None the less, I had a deadline of 9:00pm because I wanted to go to The Bone Fish Grill that I like to frequent every once in a while. It’s not downtown Charleston but a good quality restaurant none the less.

But, like so many other days, I missed the deadline, skipped dinner, and kept right on working…
The list, after all, was more important than dinner. Should’ve typed faster, worked harder, been even better prepared.

So round about 10:20pm Maddy and I headed over to the Denny’s where we’d planned to stop for a milkshake on the way home, instead, dinner and a milkshake.

The young waitress was nice, attentive, and well mannered, amongst the probably, less-than-high-school graduate English. As Ryan will tell you, eating with me is as he puts it “an experience”, regardless of whether or not it’s the upscale places I frequent, never-been-before restaurants, or the local Denny’s.

Details for another time.

The girl did great, and took care of us, which is no easy undertaking, especially after a hard days work churning out copy and printing money on my computer.

As we finally got around to the Milkshake part, she informed us that she was going to be leaving soon and wanted to make sure we were doing okay and if we needed anything. Turns out she had already stayed about 20 minutes past her clock-out time to take care of us and one other lady in the restaurant that were “her customers”.

We told her we were good and said to bring the check. I absolutely hate restaurants that don’t take money at the table, thus having to wait in line, so I usually politely refuse and ask them to take care of it.

She did and I told her to put $20 on the tip. Because at Denny’s they ring it up with the receipt.

She stopped, laughed, and said, how much…I said $20, and she responded “are you serious?”

And I said, “no, I’m Scott, but yes, I said $20 for the tip.”

She then went on to tell us that she was just getting ready to leave to get home to her daughter so her mom could go home or whatever. A story you hear all too often these days. The girl, I’d be shocked if she was more than 19…maybe, but that’s not the point.

She was going home for the evening, and we made her day.

She said to me that she was going to cry and she just couldn’t believe that I was giving her $20 and that it would make her and her baby who she was going home to see so very happy.

She said it then, and again, with more emotion when she came back to the table.
And I said to Maddy, if I would have known how much she would appreciate it, I would have left $100. And, I’m planning to go back in a couple weeks, and do just that.

My story has a couple points, first some commentary.

You do realize the 100,000s, probably millions, I just don’t pay attention, people who are sitting on their ass, at home, wasting away their life, do nothing, instead of feeding the kids they brought into the world.

Collecting checks, cashing food stamps. NOT working.

I’m not a fan of the girl I met at Denny’s specific situation, and I’m not judging people, believe me. But, life is harsh enough, so I just let it do its deal, and I keep my opinions to myself. I also believe it’s what you do with life and with happens, that matters.

I don’t want to make excuses for her, but, she was working, at night, while others are doing a lot of other stuff. None of us want to be judged by our past, but by our present. She deserved the tip. Deserves more. Deserves a chance at something better.

Of course it’s debatable whether or not she’ll catch a break or make one for herself.
But at that moment, in that restaurant, she felt like a million bucks, because someone stopped, paid attention, and treated her like a human being.

Can $20 dollars change a life?
Maybe that $20 didn’t change her, but it sure made her day.

$20, for the right person can change a life.
My Dan Kennedy book, all 3 combined costs me just over $30 and they did change my life.

Our chapter events are free, I’m not bashful about the fact that I change lives every single month. In fact, that’s the business I’m in, really.

No, not the life changing business, the belief business.
The beliefs come first, before the changes.

And people don’t wake up with them, they find them, first in other people, then in themselves.

To wrap this up today, my little story should be valuable lesson for you and for how seriously you take your life as an influencer. Because you are, to everyone around you, whether you want to be or not.

Personally, I’m able to use money to change lives now, but not before.
I was the one needing the money…

I start my month with an extra $1,000 (keyword is extra) in my pocket and I give it away in $20, $50, $100 chunks to people who deserve it by earning it.

You can build up to it, or do a lot more.
And just so we are clear, I’m not talking about “tips” like at Restaurants and stuff, that’s normal and customary, I’m talking about “rewarding” people.

I’m talking about MAKING DAYS for people who are long due one.

Oh, I’m not here to talk about giving away money, and my philosophy on that, already written about, you surely know, and hopefully do.

What I’m talking about is the power of making people cry, of extracting positive emotions, of showing belief, of giving of yourself to others.

I’m talking about MAKING DAYS and changing lives.

See, it just happened to be the waitress in the restaurant that day.
But, right now, reading this, I’m influencing you.
For some, maybe one, maybe two, maybe more…
What I’m writing is hitting you just right, between the eyes, it’s either a wake-up call, or affirmation.

Tomorrow, I’m going to change people’s lives.
Because that’s what I set-out to do, I’m very clear on the tools I have and the impact I want to make. It’s not just me, you too have the same power, first you have to realize and accept it, second you have to harness it and allow it to expand and be used.

That night, I turned to Maddy and said something to the effect of how easy it is to make a difference. Holding a door, giving a compliment, being genuinely nice, respectful, courteous.

Giving a gift, showing appreciation.
The list goes on.

That night the price was $20, for a meal that might have been $16 or $17. I spent more than that when I first sat down at Starbucks earlier that day. But the $20 made her day and who knows, whether she’s working there a year from now, isn’t, or perhaps has found an upgrade.

None of that matters.
What mattered was that moment.
What’s significant is how little it took.

Hey, here’s a question for you…

Are you striving to change lives in your life every day.
Are you doing ‘stuff’ to MAKE your customers’ days.

So many people get caught up in holding on, holding out, and holding up
People
Information
Opportunity
Money
Success
You name it.

“Holding” much of anything other than your kids or spouse is rarely a good thing.

Let go my friends.

Want more
Expect more
Do more

…FOR OTHERS

You can damn sure be certain it’ll almost always mean more to them than you think it will, and always be more significant of a gain to them than a ‘material’ loss to you.

It’s really about your human nature, your behavior, what you condition yourself to do.
You too can change.
And it’s starts with you.
Heck, you are going to affect many people if you are affecting yourself too.

I was touched that day and since then I always got an extra $20 handy, because, you just never know who you’re going to run into that day.

Remember, this goes beyond the random act, into your relationship with your customers, your staff, your family, people around you. It’s more than ‘doing business’, it’s really about a philosophy, a way of living.

Of course you are wondering what is *THIS*.
And I’m going to tell you.
First, let me lay some groundwork.

If there were to be one secret above all other secrets,
One thing that is the single most fundamental requirement of success.

It would be *THIS*.

If you were to carefully examine and study the most successful people in the world.
The people with the most control, most money, most opportunity…

They all have more than just about anyone else of *THIS*.

Okay, enough playing games, its just that after I tell you what *THIS* is, there’s a chance you’ll want to stop reading, which is actually my entire point for writing this message today.

I am certain, 100%, for sure that when a person fully embraces what I’m about to say in their business and life, EVERYTHING else begins to fall into place, at least, doors begin to open, people begin to take notice…and actually, you simply (and very importantly) feel differently, better, about yourself.

*THIS*
Is
*RESPONSIBILITY*

Yeah, I know, but before you discount it.
Think about it
Let it soak in

The more *RESPONSIBILITY* you have, get, accept
The more you are in control…

The secret is to TAKE, not just have, get, accept, but TAKE as much *RESPONSIBILITY* as you possibly can.

As fast as I can, I’m going to give you some examples.

There’s one man in front of the media right now along with a whole “house” full of others who continually pass off *RESPONSIBILITY* on the next guy, the next term, the next party, the next generation…and on and on and on.

Problems occur when *RESPONSIBILITY* is not taken.
You are seeing an example of that right now.

More importantly, since you’ve got no control over what they do, let’s talk about what you can control…YOURSELF, as example.

Your business
Your prices
Your marketing
Your customers
Your employees
The achievement of your goals
The balance in your bank account

Oh, here’s a good one, YOUR DAILY BEHAVIORS and productivity.

Some of this I mentioned last week and because a whole lot of stuff happens in my life in a week, I got no idea what I said…pardon any repeat, although, it just means it’s important.

If you want to make more money – take more responsibility.

I always remembered the funny Zig Ziglar quote where someone would say in response to
“how ya doin?”
And he said they’d start by saying “under the circumstances”
And Zig would say, “I always wondered what they were doing under there in the first place”

Look, $hi! Happens to everybody – that’s not the difference between the rich and the poor, only the responsibility they take when it does.

I know people who literally get mad or frustrated that their customers don’t respond to an offer or give them money, as if it’s their customers fault. Perhaps sending emails like this religiously, showing that you care about your customers even when you are NOT asking them for money would help. Then again, you could ask them what they actually want. You could take responsibility for the type of customers on your list…perhaps you settled for cheapest and easiest therefore not best buyers to begin with.

To me, people sitting down in their business expecting money, customers, opportunity, ANYTHING to happen FOR them, is no different than the person sitting around collecting unemployment just waiting around for something better to happen AS IF it’s going to without them actually DOING something first.

So many entrepreneurs and business people simply lack responsibility.  Without a doubt, we all should TAKE more.

So many entrepreneurs and business people pretend to be independent, goal-striving, serious about success individuals, yet they live, breath, and operate their businesses with an ENTITLEMENT philosophy.

The only thing you are entitled to is RESPONSIBILTY over your own results.

Hey, no sense me wasting your time telling you anything but the truth…it doesn’t build a good customer…and eventually you’d see through it and I’d be letting you down. A lot say they want one thing but acting in total contradiction to that want…you can fool yourself into believing it for only so long, eventually your conscious mind catches up with what your subconscious already knew, eventually your friends find out, and your bank account will always be a reflection of it.

Okay, rather than just beat you up over this, how about some RESPONSIBILTY Muscle Building Exercises…which IS the way to do it.

1. Set yourself up for success. If you are trying to lose weight you can’t keep the donuts on the counter and look at them to try to build self-discipline, if only you were that strong…you have to eliminate them. Same with excuses. No more. Honest assessment.
2. Start by getting clear on ONE goal that you want to achieve
3. And then determine the first and most important action that you should take
4. Have a team of people to share that goal with – like, say, a Mastermind Group
5. Put yourself in an environment that will remind you of success, arm you with tools, and make you feel silly if you don’t keep your commitments because everyone else around you is…such as our monthly Chapter Events (like this Friday, http://www.NoBSIndy.com/chaptermeeting)
6. Wake up every day and know what the ONE key responsibility you have made to yourself that you must get done

Okay, a few different ones that will really help you out -

1. Avoid unnecessary responsibilities, those that don’t relate to your goals and agenda.
2. STOP taking on others responsibilities so you have more time/room for your own.
3. Reward yourself when you keep your commitments
4. STOP being negative, you should be too busy working on all the stuff that’s going well, all the things moving forward, slowing down to dwell on the other stuff only sabotages the positive.
5. If you don’t have enough things moving forward, do more things.
6. Step up to challenges, make swift decisions, be confident, and deal with problems don’t ignore them, pretend they aren’t there, or anything else…responsible people DO SOMETHING.

My favorite illustration of this is the star athlete who makes it big time.
Now there are a lot of not so great things about a lot of people in the lime light.
But, the one thing they’ve all got right, and have to, in order to make it to the top of their field, just like the person at the top of their industry…

They’ve got to take control over EVERYTHING they can get their hands on.
It’s why Michael Jordan ALWAYS wanted the Ball.
It’s why Peyton Manning runs the team.
You can insert other examples here…

These people WANT the responsibility of victory.
They believe that the best way to have a shot at the results they want is by taking control and doing everything in their power to MAKE THINGS HAPPEN.

I’m here to tell you, whatever the situation you are in right now, where ever you want to go, the vehicle of success is guided by responsibility.

You will get where you want to be by DOING EVERYTHING IN YOUR POWER TO GET THERE.
Excuses won’t do it.
Waiting won’t do it.
Only DOING IT will make it happen.

I found this insightful, a definition of responsibility:
The obligation to carry forward an assigned task to a successful conclusion.   With responsibility goes authority to direct and take the necessary action to ensure success.

You get that – “successful conclusion”, “ensure success”

When you set a goal, run a business, say you want to make money, you should write these down and carry them with you, because you are under obligation and you have the authority.

You now must succeed.

If you are not happy with your income, with your business, with your goals, or whatever else…

I give you the same advice I gave the people at my Private Retreat -

You’ve gotta WANT more
You’ve gotta EXPECT more
You’ve gotta DO more

And ultimately you’ve gotta take MORE responsibility

I do this more as an appreciation event than anything else. Still, it is designed to be a “working weekend” with business transformation at its core.

My goal is to make it an experience that justifies peoples entire investment and relationship with me by itself. Feedback from this year, from someone who attended last year said,

“…after last year, I really didn’t think you could possibly top it, you did, without a doubt, taking nothing away from last year, this year was even better…”

I appreciate that and all the other incredible feedback and comments.

Since this is more of a private thing, I’ve got nothing else to say.

One of the activities that we did were to meet 3 different entrepreneurs and business owners each with a different business and interview them, get to know their story, what makes them unique, then makeover their business.

Among other things, one of the real lessons of this that I hoped everyone got (and they did) was how quickly and easily they could see opportunities for improvement in their business, yet in many cases these entrepreneurs where as or more (in terms of revenue) successful than some of the participants.

The lesson obvious… DOING always out performs THINKING.

These people didn’t know what they didn’t know yet they found ways to get buy and build their businesses, by working. Often, because people get caught up in “information” and ideas, ideas, ideas, they forget the WORKING part and are stymied on their path to riches.

One of my favorite sayings is:

“Ideas will make you feel good, but actions will make you money”

And I’d challenge you to not be that person who’s trying to “think” your way to money and opportunity, you must “do” or better said, WORK your way to money and opportunity.

Hey that brings me to another point that I often see people fall entrepreneurial victims too.

Being easily offended.

Ha, there is no profit in offense, I assure you.

A person who is a close friend of mine years ago used to say to me, “I have never seen anyone who I couldn’t learn from and wouldn’t listen to, the beggar on the street, the banker in the suit and tie…”

I always wanted to be that person because you just never know. Period.

Our Celebrity Entrepreneur for the weekend was Mr. Mike Veeck, no time to tell his story but he was amazing, phenomenal, and a perfect set-up for the weekend. His family, famous in baseball, and he himself THE outrageous out-of-the-box marketer who owns seven minor league teams and fills thousands upon thousands of seats in games each and every week.

A person who thinks they know too much, or is too ‘stuck up’ to listen to people, will miss out on more opportunity than they garner.

Same with criticism, you must be immune to it, but you cannot get offended by it, or anything else. People who go around looking to be offended, looking to be negative, looking for excuses…two things about them:

One – they are all one in the same, not able to be separated

Two – they have no money, and hope no one else does too

Last point that I’d like to share with you, I often say that Success is not an a la carte menu. And it isn’t. Things required to be successful are required.

Over the weekend, my friends were taken through experiences that used up every minute that they were not sleeping.

The lesson I kept referring back to them was this:

We do not give ourselves enough time to accomplish anything of great significance in our business. We try to rush the stuff that makes the money and play around with the stuff that lets us pretend being busy.

You must always have deadlines and you must always give the most important tasks the proper amount of time to get them accomplished, executed, and maximized.

That’s why this retreat is a few days not a few hours. It’s why I meet with my clients for an hour or more not 15 minutes. It’s why I do consulting DAYs not consulting minutes.

Time is all you’ve got, better use it, not waste it.

Speaking of waste…and I know I’m giving you a bunch of sayings this week and random thoughts, next week back to business, but I’ve got a very important point for you…

Rich people become spontaneous AFTER they make money, not before.

So, please, get the illusion of doing what you want, whenever you want, wake up in the morning and see how you feel…kind of lifestyle for AFTER you deserve it.

As I wrap this up I want to say that I try to choose very carefully the people who are in my life. I am glad you are one of them, and I’m very thankful for all of those who follow me closely and who trust in me to impact and make a difference in their life.

If there is one thing that all of our clients and members have in common…it’s loyalty.

Life’s too short to keep starting over…and since at the end of the day it’s all about relationships, seems you ought to have ones with people who you like, who match up with your beliefs, objectives, and principles.

Those who lacks loyalty are a diminishing proposition with unreliable EVERYTHING.

So, a big shout out and public thank you to everyone in my life and to those people who we just spent a few days together, I can’t wait until next year, your support, loyalty, and dedication to success, I’m forever thankful for and I’m excited for the great things to come for You.

Remember, I’ve got your back and I take my responsibility more seriously than anything else. As I wrote to you in my letter, and as one of my coaching members said to me…

“I think you want for me as much or more than I want for myself”

That’s the compliment of all compliments and to me, the true sign of a leader you want to follow and stand by and that’s loyalty explained.

I’m proud to be that person, for you.

I’m going to give you the single most success-money-happiness determining secret next week.

Truly it’s THE SECRET of life. I promise, so stay tuned.

Scott