How Bad Do You Want It?

How committed are you to your success? How bad do you want what you want?

This past week was a roller coaster ride for me. When the week started I thought that I had booked a spot in a major conference I was hoping to be a part of. Tuesday, I was disappointed to find out that not only did I not get that contract, but I actually lost two others contracts that I thought were almost in the bag. By the end of the day I was in a bad mood and feeling VERY discouraged.

Later in the week I contacted a speaker friend of mine who WAS booked for the event I was hoping to land. After expressing my jealousy that's he'd been booked and I hadn't, I wondered aloud what I was doing wrong or what I wasn't doing, that I should have been. Like a good friend would, he called me out and listed a few things that I could/should be doing to build my business and increase my odds of success, and asked why I hadn't done them yet.

When I explained that I'd avoided these steps because of the expense involved, he challenged me about how committed I really was to my success. I hadn't taken these steps because I didn't want to invest money in something when I didn't have much to invest and couldn't be assured of good ROI. His response was very challenging, "if you don't invest in your business, how can you expect it to grow?"

What an incredibly powerful question and challenge to all of us. We all say that we WANT to be successful. We all SAY that we want to be the best at what we do. But how many of us are willing to do whatever it takes to get there? Most of the time, the difference between those who do well and those who do great in their chosen fields, is that those who do great are willing to do what those who do well, aren't willing to do.

So this week I challenge you to do what your competition and colleagues aren't willing to do. Figure out the one or two things that you could do that your competition can't or are not willing to... then do it!

You may read this and say, great Mark, but tell me what those things are. What are we supposed to do? Truthfully I can't tell you what those things are for you. It's different for all of us. Maybe you need to learn a new skill, hire an employee or consultant to help you, read some new research, change jobs, or even get out of a harmful relationship. I don't know what it is for you. That's your job. But I can tell you this, when you make the commitment to do whatever it takes, success will come. That's a guarantee.

Cooperation. Amazing things happen when we work together.

This past week I had the opportunity to do some professional development training with a colleague. I learned a lot, but the most powerful lesson was the reminder about the power of cooperation. By having someone who knows my field, to bounce ideas off of, I was able to come up with new strategies and outlooks that I could never have created alone.

You've probably heard of a principal called "synergy". Synergy has became a major buzzword a over the last decade or so. In fact it's been used so much that it's probably lost it's meaning for many, but it's a powerful concept that anyone who wants to succeed in business, in school and in life, should understand. Synergy is defined as: 'two or more agents working together to produce a result not obtainable by any of the agents independently'. In other words, in math 2 + 2=4 but in synergy, 2+2 might equal 10.

"Pyramid" or Multi-Level Marketing businesses employ this principal very effectively. Say what you will about these types of businesses, they understand the concept of exponential growth and synergy. They understand that four people working together can accomplish more than double what two people can.

So where could you be employing synergy in your life right now? Who should you call to talk about a project? Make this the week you start to think cooperatively!