| I’ve been hearing a lame excuse from several people in their 40’s and 50’s.
I even heard this from someone who was 30-something, which makes me angry.
That excuse is:
“Maybe I’m too old for this.”
BS.
Let me tell you a quick story from a book I read:
At age 45 David E. was “struckling” in what seemed to be a dead end career…
He was past his prime and his wife thought that he had no chance of promotion.
He’d missed out on his one chance to “play in the big leagues” when he was 22, just after the first love of his life ran away to New York and broke his heart.
When David finally did get married, tragedy soon struck. His first son died at 3 years old. David was crushed.
He then spent the next 20 years toiling in virtual obscurity. In the late 1930’s he was a mid-level cog in the 17th ranked army in the world.
In his early 40’s David had the option to quit on his dreams and take a lucrative gig working for a wealthy friend.
But David had too much integrity to give up and leave for a soul-sucking job as someone else’s “yes man”.
Instead… he persisted.
Because he believed there was something bigger and better ahead…
Despite ending every month “Just Over Broke” in his J-O-B.
David never once used the excuse, "I'm too old." His friend George, aged 55, was the same way.
It was a wise decision.
Destiny soon brought opportunity to David and George, rewarding their patience, and giving them the chance to step into their greatness.
Today, you know David better thanks to his middle name, Dwight — as in Dwight D. Eisenhower…
And his friend George as George S. Patton.
I tell you this story to remind you of several key points:
1. It’s never too late.
Another book I love is called “The First Billion is the Hardest.”
It’s the story of T. Boone Pickens, an oilman who became a billionaire in his 70’s, but only after he got kicked out of his first company that he started 40 years earlier.
At 68 he had no “job”... was going through a brutal divorce… and was diagnosed with depression.
But he never quit, and went on to make more money than ever with a new venture.
What was his secret?
The same secret that served Eisenhower and Patton:
Preparation
“A fool with a plan can outsmart a genius without a plan any day,” T. Boone said, who worked harder than most people 50 years his junior.
He showed up early, he showed up often (i.e. daily), and put together a great team so they were ready when destiny brought his opportunity.
2. This is not life or death.
“Business is war without bullets,” Phil Knight said in his book, Shoe Dog.
Great book but that idea is nonsense.
Saying business is like war is like saying ballet is indoor NFL football. They are not. They are two very different things.
Not getting enough leads this week is not the same as sending 2,000 men to their death in a single morning at Omaha Beach, as Eisenhower had to do on D-Day.
Keep your problems in perspective.
Understand that your problems are just puzzles.
If you prepare properly, like T. Boone Pickens did, you’ll solve the puzzles that come your way…
And sooner or later you’ll make a lot of money.
But first, you need to keep a level head, and don’t panic.
If you let your emotions get the better of you, you’ll make hasty – and often foolish – decisions in both business and life.
3. You must persist and never give up on what is important to you.
When you master your emotions and combine that with persistence, that’s when the magic happens.
That’s when destiny will bring your opportunity, as it happened for my client CC...
Today he is CRUSHING it online, but just a few months ago CC was letting his emotions get the better of him. That’s when he decided to Man-Up (as Bedros would say) and turn things around.
“Realizing that there are truly no limits on what I can accomplish,” CC said.
“I spent so much time stressing and doubting myself whenever anything went wrong but now I realize that it is all just part of the game. It’s win or learn. And as long as I focus on what actions I can take to move FORWARD instead of dwelling on the things that I can’t change - nothing can stop me.”
YES! We are capable of so much more!
From now on I want you to try to shift your focus from being only about yourself and your results…
And start focusing your energy on what you can do for others.
You and I may have 1st world problems – but that’s it.
If you let those consume you, you’re cooked.
But if you transcend beyond them and focus outwardly on others, you’ll solve your puzzle problems and win at the game of life.
In addition to your problems, you also have a solution — the product, service, or skill set that you provide — and you are doing the world a disservice if you don’t do all that you can to share it.
You must help others get what they want. And when you do, as Zig Ziglar said, “you’ll get everything you want.”
***
If you’ll simply keep those 3 things in mind, it’s never too late.
Success can come at any age. No matter what setbacks or failures you’ve had.
In fact, it’s often true that people who’ve failed the most end up with the greatest success.
So long as they DON’T make excuses…
And instead they plan, prepare, and execute.
Success Loves Speed,
Craig |
