Six Words That Determine How Much Money You Make
No matter what you do or try to make money, one small phrase containing just six words will ultimately determine your income. That may sound unbelievable at first, but bear with me and I'll prove it to you. The six words are: "What are you willing to do?"
Consider one of the greatest entrepreneurs ever, Sam Walton. He was willing to do whatever it took to succeed, at least within his personal moral and ethical constraints. No matter the price, he was willing to pay it. He wrote an autobiography, Made In America, just a few years before he died. It's a great book, and you can see this principle in the background all the way through. In fact, when you study the great entrepreneurs, you'll see that it's a common denominator they all share.
Back in the early 1990's, my wife bought me a gift that means more to me than anything else she's given me. It's just a little keychain with three words on it: "Whatever it takes." That's what I'm willing to do to succeed. I think about that all the time. I've failed plenty of times in the past, and I can look at all my failures and see that I failed because I wasn't willing to do whatever it took. People who are willing to do whatever it takes, no matter how many times they get beaten down, keep getting right back up until they succeed. They won't be stopped.
Think about those six words: "What are you willing to do?" Think about the three words on my keychain: "Whatever it takes." Elvis Presley had a saying he immortalized on the big TCB chain he wore around his neck; it stood for "Taking Care of Business." That was his version of the same thing.
What are you willing to do? Personally, whenever I start a new business, I'm willing to do whatever it takes. I'm not going to make the mistakes I've made in the past, where I suffered a few setbacks and then gave up and went on to the next shiny object. That's the way entrepreneurs tend to be. It's one of the reasons they fail. They don't have it in them to stick to difficult projects; I can say this with authority because I've been guilty of it myself.
So don't give up. You really do have to be willing to do whatever it takes to see your project through, assuming it's worth the effort. Sure, sometimes that's no fun, because you'd prefer an easier road. But successful people are willing to pay the price. Once you do so and achieve success, you'll look back and say, "Boy, I wish I'd done that sooner and made those commitments earlier. I could've reached this plateau a year, two years, five years or even 10 years ago."
It really does come down to doing whatever it takes. If they knock you down 10 times, you've got to get up 11 times. Now, you can't be so stubborn that you try and try and try to sell the same thing when it's obviously never going to sell. There's a limit to this principle; you just have to recognize it. Sometimes even wonderful copy won't sell a product people don't like or aren't ready for. But you can often transfer some or all of that copy to another product or service you know that people will buy. You're going to find the silver lining in there, some way to make it work, and you're going to be successful.
My mentor tells me that I'm a good example of this, and I like to think he's right in paying me that compliment. If nothing else, I'm stubborn. I've failed many times in business, but I have never, ever given up. I'm willing to persevere, spending enormous amounts of time to perfect the business opportunities I promote. I may procrastinate sometimes, like we all do, but I keep moving forward. If you want to be successful, you have to do the same. Look ahead, beyond your normal range of vision. Know that if you can believe it first and see it in your mind's eye, eventually it will manifest itself in the real world, right in front of you.
Where do you want to go? What are you willing to do to make that happen? The world is full of people who will take the easier path, so take the road less travelled. Dream big, and ascend to that place on high that the most successful of us have made their own. There's plenty of room at the top-mostly because only a few people are willing to work and dream hard enough to get there.
When you get right down to it, this is a life lesson as well as a business lesson, because no big goal-whether it's to shoot under par at the golf course, or to lose 50 pounds-happens overnight. You have to be willing to make the day-to-day commitment to make it happen. That's the hard part. You can look back and see what eventually transpired, but you usually can't see it in the day-to-day, especially early on. You think, "That goal's so far out there I'm never going to reach it." Well, what are willing to do to make sure that you do reach it?
Consider house-training a new puppy. It doesn't happen overnight, but you can't kick a puppy out of the house the first time it piddles; it takes a while to reach each milepost in the training. You have to start with the long view, knowing that a year from now, you'll see the fruits of your labor. You could, on the other hand, just say it's not worth it, and end up cleaning up after the dog all its life... but that's not a worthwhile outcome. If you stick to it and are willing to go through the trouble, you'll get the reward of having a well-trained and well-behaved dog in several short months.
There are all kinds of other life applications this applies to. It's a good thing to ask yourself, "What do I want? What am I willing to do?" for all these. What are your goals in life, business, and relationships? Most importantly, what are you willing to do to make them happen? Don't rely completely on other people. Don't play the blame game when something doesn't work out for you. What are you willing to do to make your goals a reality?
If you focus on those goals and make achieving them a daily commitment, you'll see success. Not every time, because success is sometimes elusive; but you'll experience a lot more successes than you might otherwise. Don't give up. Consistently be willing to do what other people are not, and someday, you'll achieve your dreams.
Consider one of the greatest entrepreneurs ever, Sam Walton. He was willing to do whatever it took to succeed, at least within his personal moral and ethical constraints. No matter the price, he was willing to pay it. He wrote an autobiography, Made In America, just a few years before he died. It's a great book, and you can see this principle in the background all the way through. In fact, when you study the great entrepreneurs, you'll see that it's a common denominator they all share.
Back in the early 1990's, my wife bought me a gift that means more to me than anything else she's given me. It's just a little keychain with three words on it: "Whatever it takes." That's what I'm willing to do to succeed. I think about that all the time. I've failed plenty of times in the past, and I can look at all my failures and see that I failed because I wasn't willing to do whatever it took. People who are willing to do whatever it takes, no matter how many times they get beaten down, keep getting right back up until they succeed. They won't be stopped.
Think about those six words: "What are you willing to do?" Think about the three words on my keychain: "Whatever it takes." Elvis Presley had a saying he immortalized on the big TCB chain he wore around his neck; it stood for "Taking Care of Business." That was his version of the same thing.
What are you willing to do? Personally, whenever I start a new business, I'm willing to do whatever it takes. I'm not going to make the mistakes I've made in the past, where I suffered a few setbacks and then gave up and went on to the next shiny object. That's the way entrepreneurs tend to be. It's one of the reasons they fail. They don't have it in them to stick to difficult projects; I can say this with authority because I've been guilty of it myself.
So don't give up. You really do have to be willing to do whatever it takes to see your project through, assuming it's worth the effort. Sure, sometimes that's no fun, because you'd prefer an easier road. But successful people are willing to pay the price. Once you do so and achieve success, you'll look back and say, "Boy, I wish I'd done that sooner and made those commitments earlier. I could've reached this plateau a year, two years, five years or even 10 years ago."
It really does come down to doing whatever it takes. If they knock you down 10 times, you've got to get up 11 times. Now, you can't be so stubborn that you try and try and try to sell the same thing when it's obviously never going to sell. There's a limit to this principle; you just have to recognize it. Sometimes even wonderful copy won't sell a product people don't like or aren't ready for. But you can often transfer some or all of that copy to another product or service you know that people will buy. You're going to find the silver lining in there, some way to make it work, and you're going to be successful.
My mentor tells me that I'm a good example of this, and I like to think he's right in paying me that compliment. If nothing else, I'm stubborn. I've failed many times in business, but I have never, ever given up. I'm willing to persevere, spending enormous amounts of time to perfect the business opportunities I promote. I may procrastinate sometimes, like we all do, but I keep moving forward. If you want to be successful, you have to do the same. Look ahead, beyond your normal range of vision. Know that if you can believe it first and see it in your mind's eye, eventually it will manifest itself in the real world, right in front of you.
Where do you want to go? What are you willing to do to make that happen? The world is full of people who will take the easier path, so take the road less travelled. Dream big, and ascend to that place on high that the most successful of us have made their own. There's plenty of room at the top-mostly because only a few people are willing to work and dream hard enough to get there.
When you get right down to it, this is a life lesson as well as a business lesson, because no big goal-whether it's to shoot under par at the golf course, or to lose 50 pounds-happens overnight. You have to be willing to make the day-to-day commitment to make it happen. That's the hard part. You can look back and see what eventually transpired, but you usually can't see it in the day-to-day, especially early on. You think, "That goal's so far out there I'm never going to reach it." Well, what are willing to do to make sure that you do reach it?
Consider house-training a new puppy. It doesn't happen overnight, but you can't kick a puppy out of the house the first time it piddles; it takes a while to reach each milepost in the training. You have to start with the long view, knowing that a year from now, you'll see the fruits of your labor. You could, on the other hand, just say it's not worth it, and end up cleaning up after the dog all its life... but that's not a worthwhile outcome. If you stick to it and are willing to go through the trouble, you'll get the reward of having a well-trained and well-behaved dog in several short months.
There are all kinds of other life applications this applies to. It's a good thing to ask yourself, "What do I want? What am I willing to do?" for all these. What are your goals in life, business, and relationships? Most importantly, what are you willing to do to make them happen? Don't rely completely on other people. Don't play the blame game when something doesn't work out for you. What are you willing to do to make your goals a reality?
If you focus on those goals and make achieving them a daily commitment, you'll see success. Not every time, because success is sometimes elusive; but you'll experience a lot more successes than you might otherwise. Don't give up. Consistently be willing to do what other people are not, and someday, you'll achieve your dreams.
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