These statements make up much of the conventional wisdom about what it takes to become a success. However, conventional wisdom is not always the best wisdom and can frequently be detrimental if followed. The term "conventional," by definition, should send up a red flag. According to www.dictionary.com, it means "conforming or adhering to accepted standards," and in another definition, "ordinary rather than different or original." Accepted standards? Ordinary? Do those sound like the building blocks of success to you?
No one would describe an ultra-successful person with those definitions because the über successful don't conform, and they aren't ordinary. In fact, they are the complete opposite.
From the minute people are born, they start to conform and follow the herd. They do what everyone else is doing the way everyone else is doing it. They are taught to stand in line and work to "fit in." They follow the masses and all get the same results: average results.
Extraordinary results come from doing something different...from challenging the status quo and shaking things up. So what can you do to get on a path to innovation, extraordinary progress, and extreme success? Here are five things the ultra successful do differently that you can implement now.
Exploit Your Uniqueness
The ultra-successful companies and entrepreneurs know what makes them different and use it to their full advantage. Most businesses try to be all things to all people, attempting to please everyone. They are afraid that being polar will alienate their market. The truth is real success comes from being "for" a specific group of people and "not for" others. Specialization and customization win the day, garner more attention, and ultimately attract the most success.
Every consumer believes his or her situation or problem is somehow different and unique and believes there's a custom solution needed to fix it. Consumers don't want a one-size-fits-all, "canned" solution; they want a customized solution from an expert person or company that specializes in helping people in their circumstances, understands exactly what they are going through, and can relate directly to them.
Ask Better Questions
Many people think the super successful have all the answers. That may be true, but they didn't get them from divine intervention or random guessing. They got the answers by asking better questions of themselves, their businesses, their industries, their employees, their coworkers, their customers, their peers, and their family members.
Average people tend to shy away from asking the tough questions because they fear the answers they might get. Successful people face new challenges head-on, ask the tough questions, and tackle them regardless of the answers.
Read
The ultra successful realize a need to continue educating themselves. School's never out for the pro. According to the Jenkins Group, 80% of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year, and 42% of college graduates never, ever read another book after school. Successful people devour information, read books constantly, listen to tapes and audio programs, and attend seminars on a regular basis. They are addicted to information, positive thinking, and improvement.
Jim Rohn, world-famous motivational speaker, philosopher, and entrepreneur, sums this point up brilliantly: "Poor people have big TVs; rich people have big libraries."
Take Risks
Risk tolerance is a success trait that's hard to ignore. Super-successful people understand that with risk comes reward, and they are willing to take chances. But they aren't stupid; they hedge their bets with high-quality information and research. They put in the work and time necessary to plan for and research the viability of each risky decision. It's still a risk, but it's a calculated one.
The hyper-success minded also understand that with every failure comes a learning experience. They know how to gain valuable information from their mistakes and failures, analyzing situations and extracting as many lessons as possible from disasters. They synthesize this information and create better plans for moving forward.
Fight
The average person tries to avoid confrontation at all costs. People hate to cause trouble, make a scene, or get in someone's face, even to the point of missing out on something they are entitled to. They're happier practicing avoidance than they are practicing strength. The overachievers, on the other hand, don't follow that thinking. They engage in battle to get what they want, deserve, or are passionate about and are not afraid to hurt feelings by being open, honest, and blunt about their passions.
Leverage Time
We all have the same amount of time in a day. Some people just do more with it than others. The "Trumps" of the world know the value of time and how to leverage it to get more accomplished. The average person thinks about time as a renewable resource, not a precious raw material of success. They measure their success in terms of money collected per hour or per year and think of time as something you exchange for money — an even swap. This thinking delivers standard returns and mediocre wages.
The successful know how to leverage time and stop trading it for dollars. They don't buy into a tit-for-tat mentality when it comes to exchanging time for money; rather, they create systems that work for eternity. They seek out and get involved in opportunities that deliver returns for long periods of time.
When you follow the crowd and do what everyone thinks is right — for instance, "best practices" — you're going to duplicate their results. Those results are typically mediocre and average at best. The norm isn't extraordinary. If it were, most people would be wealthy and happy and have mind-blowing experiences on a daily basis.
Instead, a normal day usually consists of frustration from businesses and people who are just getting by, limping along, and trying to keep it together. That's what conventional thinking and "best practices" deliver.
About the Authors
Travis Miller and Jimmy Vee are authors and marketing experts who specialize in attracting customers and creating E.S.P. businesses — enjoyable, simple, and prosperous. As co-authors of Gravitational Marketing: The Science of Attracting Customers, Miller and Vee have turned the traditional sales and marketing process on its head, creating a powerful concept that shows business owners, entrepreneurs, and sales professionals how to naturally attract a steady stream of qualified prospects who pay, stay, and refer. Get their Ultimate Free Gift — $549 worth of free business-building tools — by visiting www.gravitationalmarketing.com or calling 407-275-8667.
