It’s amazing what happens when you fully commit to something. Whatever that action is that shows there’s no turning back: booking the flight, resigning from a job, paying a bill, writing that letter, making a call or agreeing on a date.

W.H. Murray, the explorer, wrote:

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings, and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.”

The word, “DECIDE”, is from the latin “Decidere”, which means “To kill off any other alternatives“.

Why You Can’t Afford to Wait

Sitting on the fence:

• wastes time and money
• decreases confidence
• diminishes one’s reputation with those Eagles who are action and result oriented
• increases the chance that one will do nothing but find excuses

The window of opportunity is prone to slamming shut on the fingers of the vacillating weakling. The indecisive, wavering, faltering entrepreneur watches as others boldly overcome their fears and walk away with the prize every time. No matter how much we justify our fears, the bottom line is clear:

you have to leave the shore in order to reach Treasure Island.

See if You Fit the Profile of a Winner

Winners know:

• They can’t wait until circumstances are perfect before making a commitment. They don’t wait until all the traffic lights along their route are green before leaving home. The best time is right now.
• They know that some decision, any decision, is better than no decision at all.
• Their enthusiasm and passion to reach their goals is greater than their trepidation.
• They focus on finding solutions.
• They believe in themselves and the value of their objectives.
• They make strong, firm and fast decisions. They don’t call fourteen meetings before deciding what to have for breakfast. And when they commit, as Mr. Murray tells us, things miraculously start to work out.

You can tell a lot about a person by the length of time it takes them to make a decision and a commitment. How about you?

• What decisions are your pondering?
• What are you waiting for?
• Are you paralyzed with fear?

It takes guts to leave the ruts, but once you commit, it just gets easier.

“I do not think there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature.”
– John D. Rockefeller

Are you experiencing a difficult time and perhaps considering giving up? The key to real, lasting success is Perseverance.

The Hallmark of Eagles

Champions win because perseverance is part of who they are, and it is reflected in every aspect of their lives. It separates the men from the boys. It is based on a strong foundation of self discipline. Eagles will never tell you, “I’ll TRY”. They don’t make excuses. They make it happen. Samuel Johnson said:

“If your determination is fixed, I do not counsel you to despair. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance.”

Look at the lives of successful people and you will find a steel will; a steel fist in a velvet glove. They know the secret to success is to persist and persevere. These people don’t doubt their own ability and they expect to win.

Be an Unstoppable Force

“If you want to get somewhere you have to know where you want to go and how to get there. Then never, never, never give up.”

- Norman Vincent Peale

When you decide that nothing and nobody is going get between you and your goals, you have already won! It has to happen in your head and your heart and deep down in your gut before you will take the necessary action and get the results you want.

There are two people in your life:

1. Those who will encourage you, challenge you and inspire you, and
2. Those who will discourage, depress, sabotage and undermine you.

Get rid of the latter. Remove them from your life. They are poison. They usually hide behind “I care about you”, smiles and “tact”, but believe me, they are hell bent on your failure.

The former, on the other hand, will stand by you, support you and remind you when you slack off. Seek them out. They are headed in the same direction that you are. Team up with them – Joint Venture with them. They don’t even consider the possibility of failure, and neither should you.

Insist on Winning

Napoleon Hill said:

“Persistence is to the character of man as carbon is to steel.”

Demand that of yourself. Insist on winning. Do not give in to greed, sloth, attachment or fear. Be resolute and firm. Do not take “No” for an answer, and you will join the Eagles who always end up winning. They may be bloodied and scarred from battle, but they are the victors. Don’t quit – you deserve to win!

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

– Thomas Edison

One of the most common questions I am asked at the seminars, talks and Bootcamps I present, is:

“But, Robin, how do I find people to Joint Venture with?”

Good question, of course. In a world where a good website and business brochure can make a bank robber living in his dog’s kennel look like the CEO of a Fortune 500 business, we have rightfully become skeptical, even cynical. We are wary of the scam artists and wanna-be’s out there. We don’t want to refer our trusted clients and friends to losers.

Use a Group that Enforces High Standards

That’s why we started the DollarMakers Joint Venture Forum. Good people were invited to join and they invited their best people, and so on. And now that people from all over the world are applying to join, we insist they agree to adhere to our Code of Ethics and we watch them carefully. Any deviation and we unceremoniously kick them out. Unlike many “Networking Groups” that would accept Hitler if he paid enough, our fees are so low and our benefits so high that we can afford to be, and are, very selective. So that is one way to find good Joint Venture Partners: simply join the Forum!

Use Your “N.E.E.R.” Relationships

Another way to find good Joint Venture partners is to start with your N.E.E.R. relationships – your Naturally Existing Economic Relationships – people whom you know and trust and have done business with in the past. People who are referred to you by trusted friends and associates are more likely to turn out well. And if you follow our guidelines, you will initiate those Joint Ventures with no money, no time and no risk. So you can walk away if things don’t work out or the Joint Venture partner deviates from the agreement, as some, I assure you, will.

Why You Should ONLY Associate with Successful People

Always remember that there are people out there who will agree to anything to grab a customer and make a quick buck. Desperate people do desperate things. So you should choose successful people – not the trailer park type who lives on welfare and can’t afford gas, whom you want to help; you’re not a social worker. I have tried that and it cost me money. Find winners and visionaries.

Other Key Factors

And make sure to manage the relationship and the Joint Venture – it takes attention and monitoring to make it work well. And the more they know about Joint Ventures, the more likely the Joint Venture is to succeed. For example, DollarMakers Joint Venture Forum Member who has attended the Joint Venture Broker Bootcamp is more likely to succeed than one who hasn’t.  Contact Us to attend one yourself.

“Many people have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.”

- Helen Keller

Do you know this person?

• He rises without hitting the snooze button.
• She works without complaining.
• He works longer and harder than anyone else.
• He always delivers on time.
• She gets there before anyone else.
• He cares little about the opinions of others.
• She consistently raises his own standards and expectations.
• He is not cowered or frightened by his circumstances – he is in control of his environment and his mind.

If you know such a person, they are living on purpose. They have a Magnificent Obsession.

“But there is suffering in life, and there are defeats. No one can avoid them. But it’s better to lose some of the battles in the struggles for your dreams than to be defeated without ever knowing what you’re fighting for.”

- Paulo Coelho

Living on Purpose

People with a very specific and definite purpose are not easily phased or thrown off course. They are utterly reliable and focused. They do not make excuses. Their lives are meaningful. They know who they are and they don’t need anyone else’s permission, endorsement or acknowledgement – only their own.

“The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.”

- Thomas Paine

He knew whereof he spoke. Purpose driven people pay the price of success gladly. They are warriors.

Are You an Eagle or a Chicken?

Unstoppable people are Eagles – they have goals and objectives and they are self reliant. They concur with Ayn Rand’s definition of Freedom: “To ask for nothing, to expect nothing, to depend on nothing.” And Freedom is usually their highest value. They enjoy strong self esteem and confidently pioneer new frontiers, never doubting their own ability. They don’t know how to turn tail, quit or compromise. It’s foreign to them. Eagles expect to win.

Someone with a purpose will know unprecedented peace, power and profit when they discover their own Magnificent Obsession and give themselves permission to win at all costs. They are strengthened by detours, obstructions and the mindless, seething masses. They see beyond the ordinary. They rise majestically above the quicksand of Collectivism and compromise.

Do you see this person in the mirror every morning? You can, you know.

A Shocking Study

Psychologists put four monkeys into a cage. In the cage, they erected a pole with a platform on top of it. They put a huge bunch of tantalizing, ripe, yellow bananas on the platform. Soon the monkeys smelt the bananas and eagerly started to climb nimbly up the pole to get at them. Immediately, the psychologists started squirting the monkeys with strong jets of icy cold water from fire hoses. They did this every time the monkeys tried to get to the bananas, and, naturally, soon the monkeys gave up trying. They sat around getting hungry.

Then the psychologists removed one of the monkeys and replaced him with a new monkey who had never experienced the wrath of the fire hoses. Soon the enticing aroma of bananas assailed nostrils and he started climbing up the pole towards them.

What do you think the other furry fellows did?

That’s right, they grabbed the newcomer and pulled him down from the pole, preventing him from getting at the bananas. At this point no fire hoses were used.

Well, they removed another the monkey and brought in a new one. Now, even the monkey who had never been squirted by the fire hoses, joined in to stop the latest addition from climbing up the pole!

One by one they removed the monkeys and replaced them with new monkeys, each of which was stopped from climbing the pole by the other monkeys, all of which, eventually, had never even been squirted with water!

That’s how belief systems and rumors work.

We start to believe the myths and urban legends. We become the victims of the limiting beliefs of others and accept those lies as our own, and then we, in turn, impose them on others, believing that we are helping them!

Why are We Doing This Again?

You’ve heard the story of the woman who regularly cut off the ends of a ham before putting it into the oven, haven’t you?

Well, eventually the husband asked why she cut the ends off and she said she was taught to do so by her mother, who was a great cook. The husband asked his mother in law why she taught her daughter to cut the ends off hams. She didn’t know - HER mother had taught her to do so.

Eventually, the husband found out that the grandmother’s oven was too small – that why the ends had to be cut off. And even though his wife’s oven was quite spacious enough to accommodate three hams, she continued to cut the ends off.

Perception is reality.

We tend to make the reality of others, our own. We say we want to learn from their mistakes, but we often learn to limit ourselves with their false restrictions. We allow fear instead of faith to guide us.

Duck vs. Eagles

Ducks fly in flocks and stay close to the ground. Eagles fly alone and high. Eagles don’t fly around with ducks, or they might start quacking before too long. When the mob runs south, Eagles stroll northwards.

What’s Holding You Back?

Small elephants are tied up with a strong chain until they realize they can’t escape. When they’re grown, a thin rope that they could snap very easily will enslave them to the extent that they have staved to death and burnt to death because they believed a meager rope was a powerful chain. What is your rope? What beliefs do we have that are preventing us from happiness, health and hilarity?

Are we monkeys or monarchs? Minions or miracle workers? Let’s dare to dream. Easy is not an option. Quitting is also not an option. Let’s have goals that are bigger than our fears.

Do you want to know whether or not you will achieve your goals? Just look at your life, and you’ll know! What you consistently do in your life is a very clear prediction of where you will be in two years’ time. Your level of self discipline is a crystal ball – there is a definite link between discipline, self esteem and accomplishment. Look how many hours you spend dedicated to the accomplishment of your goals, and your future will reveal itself to you.

“We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”

- John F. Kennedy

Successful people are “Outcome Driven”.

• They know exactly what they want.
• They focus on the reward, not the process.
• They highly respect, protect and prize their time.
• They do things in the order of their importance.
• Their time is prioritized.

Frank Lloyd Wright said, “I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.”

Mike Litman says, “You don’t have to get it right; you just have to get it going. Take action NOW. In life, you’re either consistent or you’re non-existent.”

Which are You?

• Do you prepare your day with a Do List of the six things you absolutely have to accomplish the next day? Is your vision so clear, so compelling, so exciting, that you can’t go back to sleep again after thinking of it?
• Or do you drift along, side tracked and buffeted by every new quick buck scheme and MLM dream, grabbing here and there and never sticking to anything?

• Are you an unstoppable machine, up early and rearing to go? How worn is the snooze button on your alarm clock? Do you even NEED an alarm clock?

And please check your philosophy. Your entire life and business is a reflection of your philosophy.

“The heights by great men reached and kept

Were not attained by sudden flight,

But they, while their companions slept,

Were toiling upward in the night.”

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Action Steps

How many hours a day do you dedicate to your magnificent obsession? If you see a need for change, CHANGE NOW. Take charge. It’s not too late! Make it happen. Align yourself with Eagles, cut the ducks out of your life and kick any money making scam that isn’t working to the curb. Get a new telephone number and only give it to winners. You can do it.

Rats!

Years ago, a pilot was attempting a world record long distance flight. He was nearing the end of his journey and was two hours away from the next airport and his final target, when he heard a frightening sound. He heard the distinct sound of a rat gnawing at something. The adventurer knew that this could spell disaster; the rat could chew through his control lines or the fuel line, and cause him to crash into the mountains below!

At first he started panicking, but then he started thinking about a solution. At last it came to him: rats can’t handle high altitudes! Don’t ask me how he knew that, but his knowledge solved his problem. He started climbing higher and higher, until the gnawing sound ceased. The rat had died from the high altitude. When he landed his plane, he found the dead rat.

Three lessons:

1. You can panic or you can think. There is a solution for every problem.
2. Knowledge without action is useless. Had the pilot not flown higher, knowing about the solution wouldn’t have helped one iota.
3. Bad things don’t last in the high altitude of high ideals, lofty goals and soaring aspirations. Rat ideas die where eagles soar.

What’s Rubbing Off on You?

Evidently a Jerry Seinfeld TV comedy show recently featured a scenario where the valet who parked Jerry’s car had very bad body odor. When Jerry and his friend got into the car, the BO stuck to their clothes and resulted in her boyfriend rejecting her because she smelt bad! When we mix with negative, pessimistic people, their attitudes tend to stick to us like BO and sabotage our success. But when we mix with positive, enthusiastic people, that motivation rubs off on us as well and we achieve our goals even faster.

Your thoughts determine your attitude, your actions and the result you experience. Manage your thoughts and your input and soar with the Eagles!

I heard a story on the radio recently about two interesting men. One was the king and was extremely obese. He ate continually and was so fat that he couldn’t even get through a door. He was deposed by the second man, who had a room built around the former king, with normal windows and a door that wasn’t locked. He told the large man that he could leave anytime he wished, but at the same time he supplied him with four huge meals every day. Of course, the fatty couldn’t resist the food, so he never escaped his own prison.

Is Your Captivation Enriching or Depleting You?

In our world today of “Sugar and Spice and Everything Thrice”, self-discipline and frugality are seldom found. We complicate our lives, create prisons of debt and illness and miss out on the finer things of life. My wife Rika, and I were walking along the beach at Indian Arm on a lovely summer day when we saw some kids lying on a huge blanket, playing with their hand-held Game Boy computer games. They could have been talking, swimming, boating, fishing, playing ball or just enjoying nature’s incredible beauty. The Game Boys captivated them.

Set Yourself Free

My prison guard could be television, food, drugs… but it is my own choice to be in jail.

• Simplify, cut back and get back to basics, lean and mean, sober and clean. Anything that you think you NEED, controls you and imprisons you.
• Set yourself free.
• Use your resources to create a happy, healthy and contributing lifestyle.
• Take stock of your choices and project the consequences. Enough small choices lead to great consequences. Enough spider webs can be as strong as steel cables.
• We always have a choice, and it’s never too late to change.

Try This:

Set a goal to get up 20 minutes earlier every day and exercise, read a self development book, pray, meditate, or just take a brisk walk. In a few weeks you will see a difference. Create success habits.

Norman Lear said,

“Life is made up of small pleasures. Happiness is made up of those tiny successes. The big ones come too infrequently. And if you don’t collect all these tiny successes, the big ones don’t really mean anything.”