Seeds of SUCCESS by Jim Rohn

 

 

 

 

 

Activity/Labor

You must learn to translate wisdom and strong feelings into labor.

The miracle of the seed and the soil is not available by affirmation; it is only available by labor.

Make rest a necessity, not an objective. Only rest long enough to gather strength.

Without constant activity, the threats of life will soon overwhelm the values.

The few who do are the envy of the many who only watch.

For every promise, there is a price to pay.

SUCCESS in Minutes by Jim Rohn

What Constitutes a Good Life?

The ultimate expression of life is not a paycheck. The ultimate expression of life is not a Mercedes. The ultimate expression of life is not a million dollars or a bank account or a home. Here's the ultimate expression of life in my opinion, and that is living the good life. Here's what we must ask constantly, "What for me would be a good life?" And you have to keep going over and over the list. A list including areas such as spirituality, economics, health, relationships and recreation. What would constitute a good life? I've got a short list.

1) Number one, productivity. You won't be happy if you don't produce. The game of life is not rest. We must rest, but only long enough to gather strength to get back to productivity. What's the reason for the seasons and the seeds, the soil and the sunshine, the rain and the miracle of life? It's to see what you can do with it—to try your hand. Other people have tried their hand; here's what they did. You try your hand to see what you can do. So part of life is productivity.

2) Next are good friends. Friendship is probably the greatest support system in the world. Don't deny yourself the time to develop this support system. Nothing can match it. It's extraordinary in its benefit. Friends are those wonderful people who know all about you and still like you. A few years ago, I lost one of my dearest friends. He died at age 53—heart attack. David is gone, but he was one of my very special friends. I used to say of David that if I was stuck in a foreign jail somewhere accused unduly and if they would allow me one phone call, I would call David. Why? He would come and get me. That's a friend. Somebody who would come and get you. Now we've all got casual friends. And if you called them they would say, "Hey, if you get back, call me and we'll have a party." So you've got to have both, real friends and casual friends.

3) Next on the list of a good life is your culture. Your language, your music, the ceremonies, the traditions, the dress. All of that is so vitally important that you must keep it alive. In fact it is the uniqueness of all of us that when blended together brings vitality, energy, power, influence, uniqueness and rightness to the world.

4) Next is your spirituality. It helps to form the foundation of the family that builds the nation. And make sure you study, practice and teach. Don't be careless about the spiritual part of your nature; it's what makes us who we are, different from dogs, cats, birds and mice. Spirituality.

5) Next, here's what my parents taught me. Don't miss anything. Don't miss the game. Don't miss the performance, don't miss the movie, don't miss the show, don't miss the dance. Go to everything you possibly can. Buy a ticket to everything you possibly can. Go see everything and experience all you possibly can. This has served me so well to this day. Just before my father died at age 93, if you were to call him at 10:30 or 11:00 at night, he wouldn't be home. He was at the rodeo, he was watching the kids play softball, he was listening to the concert, he was at church, he was somewhere every night.

Live a vital life. Here's one of the reasons why. If you live well, you will earn well. If you live well it will show in your face, it will show in the texture of your voice. There will be something unique and magical about you if you live well. It will infuse not only your personal life but also your business life. And it will give you a vitality nothing else can give.

6) Next are your family and the inner circle. Invest in them and they'll invest in you. Inspire them and they'll inspire you. With your inner circle take care of the details. When my father was still alive, I used to call him when I traveled. He'd have breakfast most every morning with the farmers. Little place called The Decoy Inn out in the country where we lived in Southwest Idaho. So Papa would go there and have breakfast and I'd call him just to give him a special day. Now if I was in Israel, I'd have to get up in the middle of the night, but it only took five minutes, ten minutes. So I'd call Papa and they'd bring him the phone. I'd say, "Papa, I'm in Israel." He'd say, "Israel! Son, how are things in Israel?" He'd talk real loud so everybody could hear. “My son's calling me from Israel!” I'd say, "Papa, last night they gave me a reception on the rooftop underneath the stars overlooking the Mediterranean." He'd say, "Son, a reception on the rooftop underneath the stars overlooking the Mediterranean." Now everybody knows the story. It only took five or ten minutes, but what a special day for my father, age 93.

If a father walks out of the house and he can still feel his daughter's kiss on his face all day, he's a powerful man. If a husband walks out of the house and he can still feel the imprint of his wife's arms around his body, he's invincible all day. It's the special stuff with the inner circle that makes you strong and powerful and influential. So don't miss that opportunity. Here's the greatest value. The prophet said, "There are many virtues and values, but here's the greatest, one person caring for another." There is no greater value than love. Better to live in a tent on the beach with someone you love than to live in a mansion by yourself. One person caring for another, that's one of life's greatest expressions.

So make sure in your busy day to remember the true purpose and the reasons you do what you do. May you truly live the kind of life that will bring the fruit and rewards that you desire.

Seeds of SUCCESS by Jim Rohn

 

 

 

 

 

Lifestyle

Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you.

Lifestyle is the art of discovering ways to live uniquely.

Some people have learned to earn well, but they haven't learned to live well.

Earn as much money as you possibly can and as quickly as you can. The sooner you get money out of the way, the sooner you will be able to get to the rest of your problems in style.

The Overachiever vs. The Superachiever (4 of 4) by Darren Hardy

Just joining us? Be sure to read Installment #1 and #2 and #3

WARNING: There is kryptonite all around you!

There are great traps you will have to overcome to execute and stick to your five-point plan each day. These are three great warnings to look out for.

WARNING No. 1—“Yes”
You will have to become a master at saying “no.”  This is one of the greatest distinguishing features of superachievers—not what they do, but more important what they don’t do. Their ability to keep the main thing, in fact, the main thing and not get mired in weeds of minor tasks is their genius. They major in the major issues and don’t major in minors, as many of the rest of us tend to do.

As Brian Tracy said, you need to develop “Won’t Power.” The power to declare and stick to all the things you won’t do, in order for you to stay focused on the things that matter the most to the accomplishment of your BIG hairy audacious goals.

WARNING No. 2—Being reactive instead of creative
Monitor and calculate your time between being reactive (reacting to communications, inquiries, requests and needs of others) and being proactive or creative—the time you are spending being productive and on target with your key priorities, not the priorities of others.

Think about it: email, texts, the phone… you are mostly reacting when you are on these devices. Don’t let them yank you around all day as if you were on the end of a string where someone else is your puppet master. Instead, be sure the lion’s share of your time is spent being creative and focused on YOUR few and high-value priorities.

WARNING No. 3—Immediate gratification
Lastly, you have to keep your addictions at bay. Trust me, I know. I am a card-carrying achievement addict myself. This might be seeing checkmarks on a to-do list. The sense of achievement you get by checking a lot of tasks off—tasks that you probably shouldn’t have allowed to get your time and focus in the first place.

And our human addiction to novelty—what’s new, what’s next. The next email, the new text, the Tweet update, the Facebook responses, the latest news alert, etc. We love to know what’s new and we love to know we are loved. Many times a new email, text, blog, Facebook or Twitter comment is like getting a small shot of love dopamine pumped through our veins through the IVs that are our electronic devices. “Oh, a new email, a new comment; oh boy, someone loves me!” This can become a very unhealthy addiction, mostly because it continually and relentlessly distracts you from your creative and high-value productivity.

DON’T MISTAKE:
Movement for Achievement
Activity for Productivity
Rushing for Results

If all you did from this point forward was use the Superachiever Daily Productivity Planning and stick to executing on it each day, I can nearly guarantee you would multiply your productive output several times over. Your ability to achieve once seemingly impossible goals will become a reality.

It will look to others as you if you are “faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!”

Exclusive Audio!
Listen as I explain the 3 Great Warnings to look out for each day–how to overcome the great time traps throughout the day.
Click here to listen

Feel free to pass this blog series or the exclusive audios along to friends, team members or colleagues who too want to significantly increase their productivity.
 
Blog series link:
http://darrenhardy.success.com/category/superachiever-series/
 
Exclusive audios link:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=2074592376767

Share the results you have seen incorporating these ideas into your daily productivity… and any other ideas you have in the comments below.

SUCCESS in Minutes by Jim Rohn

The Formula for Failure and Success 

 

Failure is not a single, cataclysmic event. We do not fail overnight. Failure is the inevitable result of an accumulation of poor thinking and poor choices. To put it more simply, failure is nothing more than a few errors in judgment repeated every day.

Now why would someone make an error in judgment and then be so foolish as to repeat it every day? The answer is because he or she does not think that it matters.

On their own, our daily acts do not seem that important. A minor oversight, a poor decision or a wasted hour generally doesn't result in an instant and measurable impact. More often than not, we escape from any immediate consequences of our deeds.

If we have not bothered to read a single book in the past ninety days, this lack of discipline does not seem to have any immediate impact on our lives. And since nothing drastic happened to us after the first ninety days, we repeat this error in judgment for another ninety days, and on and on it goes. Why? Because it doesn't seem to matter. And herein lies the great danger. Far worse than not reading the books is not even realizing that it matters!

Those who eat too many of the wrong foods are contributing to a future health problem, but the joy of the moment overshadows the consequence of the future. It does not seem to matter. Those who smoke too much or drink too much go on making these poor choices year after year after year... because it doesn't seem to matter. But the pain and regret of these errors in judgment have only been delayed for a future time. Consequences are seldom instant; instead, they accumulate until the inevitable day of reckoning finally arrives and the price must be paid for our poor choices—choices that didn't seem to matter.

Failure's most dangerous attribute is its subtlety. In the short term those little errors don't seem to make any difference. We do not seem to be failing. In fact, sometimes these accumulated errors in judgment occur throughout a period of great joy and prosperity in our lives. Since nothing terrible happens to us, since there are no instant consequences to capture our attention, we simply drift from one day to the next, repeating the errors, thinking the wrong thoughts, listening to the wrong voices and making the wrong choices. The sky did not fall in on us yesterday; therefore the act was probably harmless. Since it seemed to have no measurable consequence, it is probably safe to repeat.

But we must become better educated than that!

If at the end of the day when we made our first error in judgment the sky had fallen in on us, we undoubtedly would have taken immediate steps to ensure that the act would never be repeated. Like the child who places his hand on a hot burner despite his parents' warnings, we would have had an instantaneous experience accompanying our error in judgment.

Unfortunately, failure does not shout out its warnings as our parents once did. This is why it is imperative to refine our philosophy in order to be able to make better choices. With a powerful, personal philosophy guiding our every step, we become more aware of our errors in judgment and more aware that each error really does matter.

Now here is the great news. Just like the formula for failure, the formula for success is easy to follow: It's a few simple disciplines practiced every day.

Now here is an interesting question worth pondering: How can we change the errors in the formula for failure into the disciplines required in the formula for success? The answer is by making the future an important part of our current philosophy.

Both success and failure involve future consequences, namely the inevitable rewards or unavoidable regrets resulting from past activities. If this is true, why don't more people take time to ponder the future? The answer is simple: They are so caught up in the current moment that it doesn't seem to matter. The problems and the rewards of today are so absorbing to some human beings that they never pause long enough to think about tomorrow.

But what if we did develop a new discipline to take just a few minutes every day to look a little further down the road? We would then be able to foresee the impending consequences of our current conduct. Armed with that valuable information, we would be able to take the necessary action to change our errors into new success-oriented disciplines. In other words, by disciplining ourselves to see the future in advance, we would be able to change our thinking, amend our errors and develop new habits to replace the old.

One of the exciting things about the formula for success—a few simple disciplines practiced every day—is that the results are almost immediate. As we voluntarily change daily errors into daily disciplines, we experience positive results in a very short period of time. When we change our diet, our health improves noticeably in just a few weeks. When we start exercising, we feel a new vitality almost immediately. When we begin reading, we experience a growing awareness and a new level of self-confidence. Whatever new discipline we begin to practice daily will produce exciting results that will drive us to become even better at developing new disciplines.

The real magic of new disciplines is that they will cause us to amend our thinking. If we were to start today to read the books, keep a journal, attend the classes, listen more and observe more, then today would be the first day of a new life leading to a better future. If we were to start today to try harder, and in every way make a conscious and consistent effort to change subtle and deadly errors into constructive and rewarding disciplines, we would never again settle for a life of existence—not once we have tasted the fruits of a life of substance!

Power Trip Hi-Lites

The March 23-24th Special Edition Power Trip was truly a one of a kind event. It featured the great John Maxwell teaching "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership" and Pat Hintze and his presentation on "The Colors of Success".

Congratulation, Ambit Energy!!!

Ambit Energy was just named the 15th largest direct selling company on the planet based on their 2011 revenues! In 2008-43rd, 2009-38th, 2010-31st, 2011-15th....

Can you spot the trend? 

Congratulations!

"The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious." John Scully

                  CLICK HERE SEE THE COMPLETE LIST 

The Overachiever vs. The Superachiever (3 of 4) by Darren Hardy

Just joining us? Be sure to read Installment #1 and #2

Here is a simple (but don’t let the simplicity fool you!) but PROFOUND plan to immediately multiply your productive output many times over your current rate.

I’m not talking about activity (more work, more time). I said productivity (results, money, accomplishment, goal attainment)… all the while, living much more stress free and carefree existence (more time for family, fun and hobbies!).

Let me outline a 5-point Superachiever Productivity Plan for you… this is what I do.

No. 1—Plan tomorrow today. Jim Rohn taught me, “Don’t start your day until it is finished on paper.” And the best time to do this is the day before.

This is an important and many times not so easy-to-keep discipline. The last thing I do before I shut down for the day, by routine, is to review and complete the plan for the following day.

The entire process takes less than 10 minutes. What you don’t want to do is wake up and then figure out what you should be doing—it’s way too late by then. Chances are the rest of the world will have decided what it wants you to do and it will control your day, instead of you. You will be reacting instead of creating.
Let me take you through that simple planning process, since the key to brilliant execution is always brilliant planning.

That takes us to…

No. 2—Review, or establish if you don’t already have, your BIG 3. These are your top three goals for the year. Not 100 goals, or 10 goals; it’s critical you to  focus them down to just your BIG 3—your top and most important goals. The kind of goals that if you only accomplished those three you would undoubtedly have your best year ever.

This review and focus process is important to calibrate and align point number three…

No. 3—Identifying your 3 MVPs—your three Most Valuable Priorities: those few activities that are worth five to ten times the value of all the rest of the tasks.

“If you have more than three strategic priorities, you don’t have any.” —Jim Collins

No. 4—Now that you have your 3 MVPs, take your calendar for tomorrow and chunk. This is where you block out chunks of time on your calendar to specifically work your 3 MVPs. What doesn’t get scheduled doesn’t get done.

Additional Tip: During these important time chunks, clear the potential distractions. Put yourself in a “cone of silence.” Turn off your phones, your email, your Facebook, Twitter or anything else that can reach you. Also shut your door; you don’t need to have an open-door policy all the time. There is a time for intensely focused, undisturbed productive work.

I put a sign on my door that says when I will be available next. This way if someone comes looking for me, I am not just simply unavailable; it is clear when I will be available next. No problem.  If you find keeping the distractions away from you difficult then maybe do what I do often—go somewhere where you can’t be found and is away from your typical addictive distraction traps. I will go to a library, to a colleague’s unused conference room or even in my car parked at the beach or in a park. I am AMAZED at how much creative work I get done when I separate from my normal environment, which is full of distraction devices and temptations.

Now that you have your BIG 3 goals reviewed, your 3 MVPs aligned to them and your time chunks allocating to executing on those MVPs, we can now discuss what to do tomorrow.

No. 5—The very first thing you should do when you enter the office—don’t check email, don’t sort your mail, don’t review the morning news—is lick your chops and Eat That Frog (the title of a Brian Tracy book). Take the nastiest but most important priority of the day, and eat it first. Spend 90 minutes in your cone of silence doing nothing but executing, with complete and uninterrupted focus, on your most important priority… for 90 minutes straight. No more, no less.

If you do this, you will get more done. More important, you’ll get more done of what is IMPORTANT than most people will get done in two or three days of constantly interrupted and distracted 12-hour days in the office.

Exclusive Audio!
Hear an audio explanation of my 5-Point Productivity Plan:
Click here to listen

Superachiever 5-Point Productivity Plan Cheat Sheet:

1) Plan your day the night before
2) Review your BIG 3
3) Decide your 3 MVPs
4) Chunk out times on your calendar for your 3 MVPs
5) Eat That Frog—your No. 1 MVP first thing in the morning for 90 minutes.

Download free PDF Worksheet here: Superachiever Daily Productivity Planning

What do you do to plan and prepare for a high-performance day? Share your ideas with the community in the comments below.

Seeds of SUCCESS by Jim Rohn

 

 

 

 

 

Values

The major value in life is not what you get. The major value in life is what you become. That is why I wish to pay fair price for every value. If I have to pay for it or earn it, that makes something of me. If I get it for free, that makes nothing of me.

All values must be won by contest, and after they have been won, they must be defended.

Don't sell out your virtue and your value for something you think you want. Judas got the money, but he threw it all away and hung himself because he was so unhappy with himself.

Values were meant to be costly. If it doesn't cost much, we probably wouldn't appreciate the value.

Count the cost first. Don't pay too big a price for pursuing minor values.

SUCCESS in Minutes by Jim Rohn

Become a Good Observer

We must never allow a day to pass without finding the answers to a list of important questions such as: What is going on in our industry? What new challenges are currently facing our government? Our community? Our neighborhood? What are the new breakthroughs, the new opportunities, the new tools and techniques that have recently come to light? Who are the new personalities that are influencing world and local opinion?

We must become good observers and astute evaluators of all that is going on around us. All events affect us, and what affects us leaves an imprint on what we will one day be and how we will one day live.

One of the major reasons why people are not doing well is because they keep trying to get through the day. A more worthy challenge is to try to get from the day. We must become sensitive enough to observe and ponder what is happening around us. Be alert. Be awake. Let life and all of its subtle messages touch us. Often, the most extraordinary opportunities are hidden among the seemingly insignificant events of life. If we do not pay attention to these events, we can easily miss the opportunities.

So be a good observer of both life and the world around you.

The Overachiever vs. The Superachiever (2 of 4) by Darren Hardy

If you want to know what we’re up to, be sure to read Installment #1.

After interviewing hundreds of superachievers, many of whom you have seen grace the cover of SUCCESS magazine, I have found about a half-dozen key distinctions of superachievers.



In this series I will outline one of the BIG strategies and a 5-point plan to dramatically increase your productive output, while significantly lowering your stress and schedule burdens.
Superachiever Distinction No. 1:

It’s NOT what the superachievers DO that separates them from everyone else…
I am constantly asked, “What do Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffet and the like DO that makes them so successful, productive and wealthy?”

What’s supremely interesting is that what they DO has little to do with their extraordinary success. It has more to do with what they DON’T DO.

Steve Jobs: When asked what is the thing he is most proud of what he and Apple has created, this was his answer: “I’m as proud of what we DON’T do as I am of what we do.”

Warren Buffet: When asked for the No. 1 key to his success, this is his consistent answer, “For every 100 great opportunities that are brought to me, I say ‘NO’ 99 times.”

Isn’t that interesting?!
You see, saying “yes” is easy.
Yes I have a minute
Yes I’ll take the call
Yes I’ll take on that project
Yes I’ll come out for happy hour
Yes I’ll have another drink
Yes I’ll have dessert too

Saying “no” is much harder. And I have learned it is the master skill of the superachievers and their ability to succeed—extraordinarily.

Put it this way: For everything you say “yes” to you are saying “no” to something else… and you only have so much time. For most people, the ability to do MORE is impossible, you are already overwhelmed and working yourself to exhaustion 24/7.

In a world where we are constantly being tugged on from a thousand different directions, your ability to be productive and ultimately achieve your big hairy audacious goals has more to do with all the things you DON’T do versus the things you do.

When Mark Parker started as CEO of Nike he was on a call with Steve Jobs and Steve gave the new CEO some advice. Steve said while Nike makes a lot of great and quality products, they also make a lot of crap. Steve suggested Mark have Nike stop making the crap (see the video here).

While you might produce some quality work during your day, I bet you do a lot of crap (time, energy and productivity-sucking activities) too. Take Steve’s advice, “stop doing the crap” so you have the time and creative capacity to produce more quality and on-goal results.

Peter Drucker: “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently, that which should not be done at all.”

Kenneth Cole: “Success has less to do with what we can get ourselves to do and more to do with keeping ourselves from doing what we shouldn’t.”

Doing more is not the answer. Doing less is. Say “no” to more things so you can say “yes” to the right things with greater focus and depth. This is the key to more efficiently and expeditiously achieving your goals.

Assess yourself:
 
Look at your calendar last week. Ask yourself, What should I have said “no” to? What took your time, attention, focus and energy, but wasn’t on target with your top few major goals?

Now, look at your calendar for next week. Ask yourself, What should I say “no” to? If it won’t move the needle on any of your top few goals “D” it—Delegate, Delete or Decline. Here is your new slogan: Just DON’T Do It!

And look at all your lists—your to-do list, project list, task list, new idea list, new features list, etc. Ask yourself, Which should I say “no” to?

What is the hardest thing you have trouble saying “no” to? What are your productivity-crushing addictions? The first step toward change is acknowledgement. You are among friends. Confess in the comments below.

Seeds of SUCCESS by Jim Rohn

 

 

 

 

 

Reputation

Each of us must be committed to maintaining the reputation of all of us. And all of us must be committed to maintaining the reputation of each of us.

Accuracy builds credibility.

The Bible gives us a list of human stories on both sides of the ledger. One list of human stories is used as examples—do what these people did. Another list of human stories is used as warnings—don't do what these people did. So if your story ever gets in one of these books, make sure they use it as an example, not a warning.

It only takes one lie to taint your entire testimony in a court of law. Honesty is a vital part of having a good reputation.

Lost for Two Decades, I Found THE SECRET!

It seems that a secret international society slipped into the United States of America sometime about the mid 1990s.

They stole our secret.

This is the secret we had previously stolen from Europe. This secret is what powered our rise to become a superpower during the twentieth century.

But we have been without the formula this secret reveals for almost two decades now. We have seen, felt and experience the results of being without it.

We have also seen the results of those who stole it from us. Members of this secret society belong to China, India, Mexico, Japan and others.

They tried to bury it and hide it from us.

But I found it.

Many millenniums ago it was etched on a stone tablet. Since it has been passed down by an esoteric group of people. Less than 3% of those who have ever lived have learned of this secret. Even fewer have used its magic powers.

I have the tablet. I have the photo to prove it.

Do you want to see it?

Do you want the secret?

Are you sure?

If you learn of it and don’t use its formula, it could lead to a life of regret and despair.

In this case ignorance is bliss.

You could always excuse yourself by saying, “I just didn’t know the secret.”

But, if you want to know the secret… the secret to all success, in any aspect of life, the formula is etched on this stone table—click this link to discover The Secret (if you dare!)

Help reveal The Secret to everyone you know. Share on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, email, text, etc. America needs The Secret back. HURRY, we are running out of time!

SUCCESS in Minutes by Jim Rohn

The Subtlety of Language by Jim Rohn

I have found that sometimes the subtle difference in our attitude, which of course can make a major difference in our future, can be as simple as the language we use. The difference in even how you talk to yourself or others. Consciously making a decision to quit saying what you don't want and to start saying what you do want. I call that faith. Believing the best, hoping for the best and moving toward the best.

A few examples could be, instead of saying "What if somebody doesn't respond?" you start saying, "What if they do respond?" Instead of saying "What if someone says no?" you say "What if they say yes?" Instead of "What if they start and quit?" you say "What if they start and stay?" Or instead of "What if it doesn't work out?" you say "What if it does work out?" And the list goes on and on.
I found that when you start thinking and saying what you really want then your mind automatically shifts and pulls you in that direction. And sometimes it can be that simple, just a little twist in vocabulary that illustrates your attitude and philosophy.

Our language can also affect how others perform and behave around us. A teenager says to a parent, "I need $10." If the parent learns to say, "That kind of language doesn't work here. We've got plenty of money, but that's not how you get $10," then you teach your teenager how to ask, "How can I earn $10?"

That is the magic of words. There is plenty of money here. There is money for everybody, but you just have to learn the magic words to get them—for everything you could possibly want, if you just learn the philosophy. How could I earn $10? Because you can't go to the soil and say, "Give me a harvest." You know the soil smiles and says, "Who is this clown that brings me his need and brings me no seed." And if you said to the soil, "I've got this seed and if I planted it, would you work while I sleep?" the soil says, "No problem. Give me the seed. Go to sleep and I'll be working while you're sleeping."

If you just understand these simple principles, teaching them to a teenager (or adult) is sometimes just a matter of language. It's like an investment account instead of a savings account. Simple language, but so important. It is easy to stumble through almost a lifetime and not learn some of these simplicities. Then you have to put up with all the lack and all the challenges that don't work out simply from not reading the book, not listening to the tape, not sitting in the class, not studying your language and not being willing to search so you can then find.

But here is the great news: You can start this process anytime. For me it was at age 25. At 25 I'm broke. Six years later I'm a millionaire. Somebody says, "What kind of revolution, what kind of change, what kind of thinking, what kind of magic had to happen? Was it you?" And I say, "No. Any person, any six years, 36 to 42, 50 to 56. Whatever six years; whatever few years you go on an intensive, accelerated personal-development curve, learning curve, application curve, and learning the disciplines. Now, it might not take the same amount of time, but I'm telling you the same changes and the same rewards in some different fashion are available for those who pay that six-year price. And you might find that whether it's in the beginning to help get you started, or in the middle to keep you on track, that your language can have a great impact on your attitude, actions and results.

The Overachiever vs. The Superachiever (1 of 4) by Darren Hardy

If busyness, long hours and hard work equaled success—I’d be wealthier and more successful than Richard Branson, Tony Hawk and Donald Trump.
I KNOW I put in more hours, take fewer vacations, play less golf, get in less beach time and spend far less time with kids, family and friends than they do.

And yet, in a world where all four of us have exactly the same 24/7/365, I produce nowhere near the results they do. What’s worse, I am not even allowing myself to enjoy as many non-work-related joys of life as they are.

I have to confess, this really ticks me off!

And the only person I have to be mad at… is me. All four of us started out this journey relatively the same—a couple of them in much more difficult circumstances than me—and yet, I’m getting my butt kicked.
I think I’ve finally figured it out a critical distinction of how they are accomplishing so much more than me… and probably you too.

Overachiever

You see, I have always been an overachiever. If you read The Compound Effect you know I was raised by a university football coach, single dad. And the way you got love and an ‘atta-boy’ in our house was to achieve. Do well in school; you get to go to the ice-cream parlor to celebrate. Don’t do well and you’re left home. Hit a home run at Little League and we stopped at the pizza parlor on the way home. Collect a day of strike-outs and it was a cold, quiet car ride—straight home.

Looking back, this is why I think I am such an achievement addict—or as it is commonly known as in polite society, an overachiever. In fact I have worn this title as a badge of honor. I was proud that I could outwork most anyone.

But I now understand the massive difference between an overachiever and a superachiever. They kind of sound the same, don’t they? Yeah, that’s what I thought. But they are worlds apart—or you can say islands apart, as Branson has his own island… and I do not.

As I start seeing the differences between what overachievers do and what superachievers do, I realize how many of us are also probably confused between the two.

We all lead incredibly busy lives, trying to keep up and get it all accomplished. We feel this pressure to be superman or superwoman and do it all, BE it all! So we overstretch and overreach and in doing so become the exact opposite of productive.

How many of you already feel overworked, overstressed and at times overwhelmed, but you still aren’t getting the results you want? The strategies I will outline in this series are for you if you want to go from being an overworked, overstressed and overscheduled overachiever to becoming a superachiever who produces stunning results with less effort, less stress in less time—leaving lots of time to experience your hobbies and be with your family. How does that sound?

Great! Join me back here next Tuesday and tell all your overachiever friends, family and colleagues to also subscribe to this blog. Let’s all journey together on the road to overachiever recovery and onward to superachiever productivity.

Do you feel you work harder, longer and more tirelessly than others who produce more and are wealthier than you? Why do you think that is? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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