arms up. Ali suddenly came off the ropes and landed two rights and a massive left hook that sent Foreman to the canvas. Perseverance on the part of Ali had carried him through to victory in one of the greatest fights in history.
Many times as we go through life we get pounded on just like Ali did in the ring that night with big George Foreman. When tough times happen, we have to persevere through those difficulties and keep pressing on to our ultimate goal and vision. When we get knocked down, we have to get back up and keep on fighting… we must stay focused and remember our greatest victories are still ahead.
More often than not, too many people give up when they get more resistance than they bargained for. Things just seem to get a lot tougher and more difficult than they are willing to deal with. If they fail to persevere through those times, they will fail permanently! If you don’t finish something, it won’t be complete, and until something is completed, it isn’t finished. Much about success is just the result of simply the ability to follow up, follow through, and finish what we started. You’re not beaten by being knocked down. You’re only beaten if you stay down.
Personally, I believe I quit my sales career (in my own mind) more times than anybody who will ever read this book has thought about quitting. It was discouraging to be broke, in debt, uncertain of what I was doing, and not really knowing from one day to the next whether I would sink or swim. It’s times like that when faith, hope, courage, dedication, and persistence are of the utmost importance.
I’ll have to admit it was tough, and discouragement was a frequent companion of mine. I often had to buy fifty cents’ worth of gasoline at a time, and if I made a mistake in addition, I would have to place one or two items at the grocery store back on the shelf. I’ve had my lights and telephone temporarily disconnected when I couldn’t pay the bill, and I’ve even had to return a car when I could not make the payment. When our first daughter was born, the hospital bill was only sixty-four dollars. The problem was, we didn’t have the sixty-four dollars. I had to make two sales in order to get the money together to pay the bill. These were all embarrassing and humiliating circumstances but, fortunately, they were not the end of the world. I had a couple of things going for me that made the difference. I was committed to what I was doing, and the desire I had to win gave me the ability to persevere through the tough times. My dream to be a professional speaker was born in 1952, and though it was not until 1970 that I could pursue my dream on a full-time basis, planning for that career began immediately.
It was 1972 before my speaking career really exploded. I was forty-five years old. However, during the course of the preparation for what was to be, I always stayed grounded in my philosophy and the principles I adhered to. I altered ways in which I delivered my message in those early years, but I was fixated on the principles because I had a powerful vision of how I could help others, and I had a powerful desire for it to become a reality. The combination of vision and desire gave me the commitment to stay the course and the perseverance to keep pursuing my dream.
DESIRE ENHANCES YOUR ABILITY TO PLAN
When you spend the time necessary to plan your future, you are actually engaged in a process that is outlining the things you need to do to fulfill your vision in life. Is there a possibility that you’re not as far along in life as you would like to be? If so, do you feel it is because you’re not made of the right materials and do not have the natural ability to be successful? Or is there more than just a chance that you were born to win but you’ve simply been following the wrong “blueprint” (plan of action or no plan) for your life? Obviously, I have no doubt you were born to win, but remember that before you can win you must plan to win and prepare to win. Then—and only then—can you expect to win. Planning to win is the first step in the winning process and, unfortunately, people resist making a plan. After all, nothing is more embarrassing than creating a plan and then failing to successfully execute the plan. You have to come up with a lot of excuses about why the plan didn’t work!
Fear is the fatal killer of desire. Fear of failure is a big part of the reason why people procrastinate and avoid putting their plans in writing. Plus, planning is hard work! Desire is the difference between you being an enthusiastic planner, passionately working through all the things you need to do to be successful, or just going through the motions of planning like an item on a checklist. I hope you see that planning can either be embraced as an exciting opportunity to win, or avoided as an obligatory exercise or task. When you really want something, when you desire it and you are excited about it, you look forward to planning and preparing because you get to do it. The key words here are “get to do”! If you have the kind of desire I’ve shared with you in this chapter, planning becomes something you get to do, rather than something you have to do. And we all know that we do a much better job with a “get to” attitude.
WHAT DO YOU REALLY WANT?
Before you go any further in the planning to win process, it’s a good idea to do a desire-inspection on yourself. Why? Because if you don’t have a real desire to do something, your heart won’t be in it. The question we need to ask ourselves is, “Why do I want to do or accomplish this?” If you are unable to answer the “why you want something” question in one simple sentence, it probably isn’t a true desire of yours, so you can let go of that idea.
Weight loss is the simplest example that I can give you of how this process works. For instance, if you want to lose weight, your reasons why might be that weight loss will make you healthier, and you’ll feel and look better, too. If you are clear about your vision and you really want to achieve it, you will know what you want and why you want it. When you know what you desire, you can enthusiastically create an action plan to achieve it, and you will be genuinely motivated to follow through. My friend, you already have that desire, and in the next chapter I’ll show you how to take that desire and begin to win!
2
IF YOU REALLY want to win, you have to begin. I’ve always agreed with what I heard my friend and fellow speaker Joe Sabah say: “You don’t have to be great to get started, but you do have to start to be great.” This means you have to be before you can do, and do before you can have. That probably sounds simple enough, but there is a lot more involved in that statement than you might think. That statement really captures the core issues that are connected to being successful. When you understand what these three little words (be, do, have) mean, you will view success in an entirely new way—and ultimately change the world!
As we look at the game of life. I want to emphasize a couple of things. I personally believe that most of us have certain drives, hopes, and ambitions in life. I believe that each of us, whether we are female or male, young or old, black or white, short or tall, big or slim, have the desire to make a difference. I also believe you will agree that most people are interested in health, prosperity, happiness, friends, peace, and security.
Let me ask you a question. What is your definition of success? And do you know what success is and what it isn’t? Most people think of success in terms of power or recognition or the accumulation of money and material things. They also try to define it with one sentence or capture it with one central idea. True success has more components than one sentence or idea can contain.
For years I have been using a graphic to help people “see” where they are already successful and where they need help. I call it “The Wheel of Life.” I could not write this book without sharing this graph that has made such a difference in so many lives. This graph will help you “see” where you really are in the game of life. It gives you a starting point as you move forward.