Make every detail perfect and limit the number of details to perfect
Jack Dorsey, co-founder of twitter
The next phase in wealth creation is planning. A plan is nothing but a list of steps of intended actions, designed to achieve an objective. “A goal without a plan is just a wish” – Antoine de Saint – Exupery
Most times we underestimate the power of dedicated process, while we overestimate the event. Your dreams cannot be fulfilled without a process. As soon as you have discovered your purpose and goals, the next big step is to plan towards its actualization. Abraham Lincoln had this to say concerning the importance of planning “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four hours sharpening my axe”. This is to lay credence to the importance of adequate planning to any kind of venture you want to engage yourself in. “Productivity is never an accident, it is usually the end product of intelligent planning, commitment to excellence and focused effort”, Paul Meyer said.
Planning is to lay your future on the table, dissect it and put everything where they belong. Planning is the next crucial step in actualizing your goal. An idea, no matter how great it looks, is just a mere wish if it does not involve planning.
The three fundamental questions you must ask yourself in planning are:
- How?
- What?
- When?
a. How?
Thefirst step in planning is to ask yourself, “how?” This is the first fundamental step you must take. Your ability to effectively answer this question will build a very solid foundation for success. Let us say you have a desire to own a real estate in one of the hottest zones in the city; it is a beautiful idea, no doubt. But, in order to achieve this dream, you must know how the real estate business works; you must know how much it can cost in erecting an appealing edifice. You must know the city and how their laws work. No matter how little the knowledge is, it is very vital, it is not necessary that you must have an expert knowledge in all these areas, but it does mean that you must not be a total novice in any field you choose to earn your living in.
Aristotle Onassis, a great shipping tycoon, who once owned the world’s largest private shipping company, said that “the secret of business is to know something that nobody else knows”
While you are trying to know how, don’t be discouraged by the numerous roadblocks you must encounter. The road to success is full of bumps, thorns, dangerous turns and uncertainties; it is only through determination and an unwavering will to succeed that we can conquer. Michael Jordan, a great basketball player of his time once said “if you are trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I had them, everybody has them. But obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it or work around it”
b. What?
The next question should be “what?” this is where you start asking yourself about the necessary tools required to bring your goal to accomplishment. Now, this is the time to really really sit down, identify and analyze all the tools – materials and knowledge alike, needed to accomplish your goal.
This is a great task, the toughest part of planning. You must pay great attention to details so as not to leave any tool behind, failure to do this, will come back to haunt you in future by constituting a setback in your quest – a setback you may not have the luxury to afford.
The most important tools needed to drive your goals are:
- Desire
You need a flaming desire as we have already discussed “The starting point of all achievement is DESIRE. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results, just as a small fire makes a small amount of heat” – Napoleon Hill.
- Dedication
Dedication is the act of being committed to a task at hand. Knowledge is power only when it is put to work. Success cannot be achieved if you are not committed to the task. The Bible made it clear that “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back, is fit for the service in the kingdom of God” – Luke 9:62. Vince Lombardi in his own words said “The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand”. It takes a lot of determination, self discipline, dedication and effort to make our dreams become reality.
- Knowledge (Self Advancement):
“I do not believe in taking the right decision. I take a decision and make it right” – Mohammed Ali
Self – advancement is a term used to describe the process of improving ones abilities and qualities. No matter the amount of education you might have acquired, no matter the level of experience you might have gained, no matter who you are or what you have, you can always improve yourself to become a better version of you.
The world is evolving very fast and we should evolve also with it else we will be swept off the affairs of the world; we will then become miserly spectators. For you to succeed, you have to strive to be better than you were yesterday in order to cope with the ever changing world. There will always be a better and more efficient way of doing things.
“Let us strive to improve ourselves, for we cannot remain stationary; one either progresses or retrogrades” – Du Deffand.
There are two ways one can learn, one is through formal education and the other is through self- education. They are two very different forms of education, serving two different purposes in life. “Formal education will make you a living; self education will make you a fortune” – Jim Rohn.
Millions of people end up just at the level of formal education – go to school, get the best grade so you can secure the best job. It is a form of general knowledge. It has little effect on the accumulation of wealth. Yes! It will make you a living, but also it will buy you a ticket to enter the world’s biggest racing competition – the rat-race. The only thing it cannot do is to buy you a fortune. Building a fortune is the sole function of self – education. You can make millions of dollars today, but it takes more than formal education to manage, build on and expand the wealth.
The Secret ingredient of most accomplished inventors, scientists, entrepreneurs, etc lies outside the encasement of a formal education (general education) but lies greatly on self – education. Most of them left the formal educational system to acquire a specialized kind of knowledge in their areas of interest and to improve themselves in order to be the best they can be. The result is that, they learned something valuable that cannot be learned through a generalized kind of education, and that is how to effectively use the knowledge acquired.
There are two ways to self – improvement; one is through reading and the other, through association with smarter people.
- Through reading: You can learn a lot from the experiences of others before you – their fears and how they conquered it, their ways of life that aided them in the accumulation of wealth, their business associations and strategies, what worked for them and what didn’t work for them, and why they didn’t work for them. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others, because life is too short to make all the mistakes alone. And what better way to learn this other than through books?
Through reading and practicing, one can also acquire a specialized knowledge in the area of your interest. There are so many secrets of success buried in prints, go out there and get the financial intelligent needed to acquire, expand and secure your wealth.
- Association with smarter people: “whenever you see a man who is successful in the society, try to discover what makes him pleasing, and if possible, adopt his system” Benjamin Disraeli. Association with smarter people will serve as a shock absorber should you need one, a pillar to hold you up should you try to fall and a light to direct your path should your own inner light flutters. There is an adage that says “show me your friends and I will show you who you are”, there is a natural selection law that people who walk together, have like minds and behave alike. The company you keep has a way of molding your mind – negatively or positively, so beware of the company you keep because the human nature is such that it adapts naturally to any environment it finds itself in, “ He who walks with the wise grows wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm” – Proverbs 13:20. Again, in your unwavering quest to accumulate riches, you will require some kinds of specialized knowledge. This very kind of knowledge can come from you and or from another person. One person cannot be a master of all knowledge, which is the reason one needs to form an alliance with like minds. Every man aspiring to be successful must surround himself with smart and intelligent people who posses other specialized knowledge he might require in order to acquire his desired riches.
- You need people:
Getting people to work for you is not always enough. You have to go further to form an alliance with them. Alliance literally, is the coming together of two or more separate individual entities to pursue a common set goal.
The mind on itself is a very powerful tool, but when in combination with other like minds, the combined energy is far more powerful than the sum of the individual energies.
The advantages of association with like minds are:
- When one is weak, the others uplifts him
- It protects you from total failure if the purpose is also beneficial to others
- It encourages brainstorming to come out with the best idea through the power of the mind.
- You need a positive attitude
“The only disability in life is a bad attitude” Scott Hamilton
Your attitude in life determines your altitude. Indifference cannot bring you the needed corporation and alliance with others. Thomas Jefferson once said “Nothing can stop the man with the right attitude from achieving his goals; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong attitude”
Success is planned; it does not just happen simply because you wished it to happen. For you to get the needed assistance and help of others, you must earn their friendship, trust and loyalty. Being indifference cannot help.
Remember luck is something you can create for yourself with a friendly attitude. Your attitude is your trademark; you must therefore keep it positive at all times. It clears all obstacles that may stand between you and people that can help you achieve your goal. Your attitude is what enables you to live and co – operate with other like minds. You must learn to be flexible in your attitude in order to accommodate a varied range of others’ attitudes without losing your own form. You cannot control other people’s attitude towards you but you can control your reaction to them.
Avoid sarcasm, resentment and indifference towards others, people have this craving to be heard and wanted, don’t let them think you don’t care. Don’t be a fault finder rather be a solution finder, in this way you will gain their loyalty and assistance.
You need Faith.
Faith will be discussed in details in the next chapter.
a. When?
“If you love life, then don’t squander time for time is the stuff life is made up of “– Bruce Lee
This is the time during which something comes about. It is all about placing a time limit to the accomplishment of any stage in your plan. “You can’t build reputation on what you are going to do” – Henry Ford. You must set a time for the accomplishment of your goal and this call for great discipline. You must be willing to sacrifice your comfort for the purpose of achieving your goals, you must go out of your comfort zone, nothing has ever happened in the state of comfort. “Action is the real measure of intelligence.” – Napoleon Hill. Newton’s first law of motion states that “a body at rest will continue to stay at rest until an external force acts on it, and also, a body in motion will remain in a motion at a constant velocity until an external force acts on it” this law captured exactly the role of setting a time limit in the pursuit of our goal. It serves as the external force that will cause a body at rest to spring to action, a motivator, and a driving force that will spur you to action. Without this little effort of setting a time limit, there will be very little motivation and consequently, your body will spend most of its time in the state of rest. “A dream is a goal with a deadline”- Napoleon Hill.
Paul J. Meyer gave us an invaluable advice when he said “Crystallize your goals. Make a plan for achieving them and set yourself a deadline, then with supreme confidence, determination and disregard for obstacles and other people’s criticism, carry out your plan” Men are naturally lazy and without motivation, they can’t get anything started. Adam Savage pointed out that “deadlines refine the mind. They remove variables like exotic materials and processes that take too long. The closer the deadline, the more likely you will start thinking way outside the box”
Make your plans, set a time limit for its actualization and then start work. “Time is more precious than money. You can get more money, but you can’t get more time” – Jim Rohn
The Role of Friends in your Financial Story
“The greatest gift of life is friendship and I have received it” – Hubert H. Humphrey
Friends can be a blessing and at the same time they can be a curse. Your friends can determine the direction of your future. Some friends can saturate you with confidence and multiply your ideas, while others can drain you of confidence and break you down.
We are going to look at two kinds of friendships and their impact on your financial success. These are destructive friendship and progressive friendship.
Human mind harbors two opposing forces – faith and fear. What separates champion achievers from mediocre is usually the function of the more dominant force in their lives. Champions have faith as the dominant force; whereas mediocre have fear as the ruling force in their lives. If we let fear rule our lives, we won’t amount to much. Faith is the belief and conviction that something hoped for, regardless of the present situation will turn out good.
Our friends are humans, and because of that, they posses these two opposing forces. Some are ruled by fear (destructive friends) and the others, by faith (progressive friends).
Let us look at how we can identify these two categories of friends and how they can affect our financial success.
- Progressive friendship
Progressive friends are ruled by faith; they are always the advocates of progress, improvement and change. They are dynamic; never wish to maintain things as they are. They have liberal minds – always on the lookout for new ideas and methods that they think will improve our lives. They add value to your life and multiply your ideas.
These are your true friends, who think you are a good egg even if you are half cracked. They encourage you to dare, because they believe that it is only in daring that we can conquer. Because they are ruled by faith and faith brings courage, they are ever ready to dare with you, to watch your back, to hold you up when you are about to fall or when you don’t have the strength to stand on your own. They stand in your way only when you are falling. They always challenge us to rise above mediocrity by sharing live – changing opportunities with us and encouraging us to pursue same. They multiply the good in us.
- Destructive friendship
“There are people who can help you to roll the boat of your dream, so also there are people who can drill holes under that boat to make it sink” – Israelmore Ayivor
Write down at least 5 names of people you spend most of your time with, how many of them add value to your life? You should spend more time with people who will help you roll the boat of your dream and not those that will drill hole to sink the boat. Some friends will help you achieve your dream while some will steal your dream away and may destroy you in the process.
This type of friendship can best be explained using the ecological relationships in animals.
Commensalism (0 +)
In this type of destruction friendship, the friend benefits from you but contributes nothing for your own progress. These are people ruled either by fear, which prevents them from daring and from offering useful advices that will improve your own life for fear that it might not work out and you will hate them or they are ruled by sheer envy that they will not show you the way to success.
Even though they don’t harm you directly, they harm your progress indirectly by not contributing to your success. They are just matters that occupy useful spaces in your life.
Ammensalism (- 0)
“Dream murderers are people who refuse to learn and optimize their own dreams. They discourage others from going ahead to make it happen. Why? Because they don’t want to go higher and they want everyone to be like them” – Israelmore Ayivor
These friends harm you by their actions, they don’t benefit from you, but rather, they will drag you down to their level because usually, they don’t amount to much in the society. They usually subtract from you. They will prevent you from achieving your goals and at same time, inflicting losses to your finances. They have the come-lets-eat-all attitude. They live above their means. They love partying, women, expensive jewelries, clothes, shoes and materials possessions that are more of liabilities than assets and they will like you to love them also.
By following their affluent lifestyle, you will run into debts and missed opportunities. Avoid these people like plague if you want to succeed. “To be of good quality, you have to excuse yourself from the presence of shallow and callous minded individuals” – Michael Bassey John
Parasitism (- +)
These people, like parasites, come to kill and to destroy. They act like predators; they will feast on your finances. They inflict injuries on your finances as a result of their actions. You are an answer to their prayers – a messiah that will solve all their financial problems. Yes, we are bound to help others, especially our friends, but when the friend is constantly demanding more, be sure that the friend came to kill and to destroy you. You will suddenly become his deposit bank, where he withdraws without depositing. You will solve his problems, his brother’s, mother’s and father’s problems. A friend, who is constantly in need, is a friend to be avoided.
Summary: Michael Bassey John wraps it up by saying “Minimize your time with those who make noises instead of speaking what is good for your ears, else they will attune you with balderdash. Maximize your time with those who will inject into your ears a soothing sound of wisdom, for they will set your mind on a sound reasoning path”
Rejection and failure as a motivational tool for success
“A rejection is nothing more than a necessary step in the pursuit of success” – Bo Bennett
In the pursuit of success, the biggest hurdle one must pass is rejection. It is a necessary evil, what makes the different is how one handles it. You must be prepared for it for it shall surely come at one point. “To achieve your dream, you must embrace adversity and make failure a regular part of your life. If you are not failing, you are probably not really moving forward. The best way to fail is to fail forward” – John C. Maxwell. What differentiates successful people from unsuccessful people is that successful people prepare and expect rejection, so they are more likely to do those things unsuccessful people do not want to do because of fear of rejection, and they recognized that there is no unprofitable experience. All experiences are designed to teach us some valuable lessons. The only time we actually fail is when we fail to learn something from our failure.
Jennifer Salaiz, an American author once said “was I bitter? Absolutely. Hurt? You bet your sweet ass I was hurt. Who doesn’t feel a part of their heart break at rejection? You ask yourself every question you can think of, what, why, how come, and then your sadness turns to anger. That is my favorite part. It drives me, feeds me, and makes one hell of a story”
Paul DeJoria added that “When 10 doors are slammed in your face, go to door number 11 enthusiastically, with a smile on your face”
Rejection can hurt you, reduce your IQ, your self esteem and can even drive you to inflict injuries on your emotional and physical body. All these can happen, only if you allow them.
Each and every one of us is unique in his own way, the best revenge for rejection is to live and prove yourself a success. To show them that, yes, you can do it even when they don’t believe you can. Frank Sinatra puts it better when he said that “the best revenge is massive success”, let rejection be the driving force in your quest for success instead of a poison that will eat away your peace of mind and drive you into the abyss of poverty.
When life gives you a lemon, they say, you should make lemonade, but others will tell you, No, you should plant the seed and what you will have is an orchard. You will become a producer of lemons for various uses and you will be throwing a party everyday with vodka in your house.
Most famous and successful people across the globe today suffered some worse kinds of rejections at one time in their lives, overcoming those rejections was what made them what they are today. They have one thing in common – faith. They have that inner conviction that no matter the circumstance, their destiny is in their hands. They refused to allow rejection to drag them down and destroy their destiny, rather, it served as a propeller that propelled them to success. They discovered that the greatest goldmine lies not in the crust of the earth, but in the minds of men.
Let’s briefly look at the lives of some of these great men and women, who overcame rejection to become so great that today, they are pillars in their professions.
Oprah Winfrey
This great TV personality and one of the richest women in history was at one time told that she was “unfit” for TV. She was fired from her job as an anchor on Baltimore’s WJZ – TV 6 o’clock weekly news. In spite of all these, she went ahead to become a success story, today she is celebrated as an icon and an authority in media matters, that when she talks the whole world listens.
J.K Rowling
She was fired because of her love for writing, she was left penniless – a single mother, saddled with the responsibility of raising a child while attending school. Today, through hard work and an unrelenting spirit, Harry Porter creator is one of the richest women in the world.
Walt Disney
Walt Disney today does not need any introduction; he is a household name in the cartoon industry. He was fired from his newspaper job because, according to his editor “he lacked imagination and had no good idea”
His first animated comic creation, Mickey Mouse, was rejected by MGM Studios in 1927, because according to them, the idea of a big mouse on a screen would never work. Walt was forced to close down his company and ended up bankrupt. Failure was synonymous with his name, but today, he is a force to reckon with in the industry.
Thomas Edison
Before he successfully invented the light bulb, Edison failed about 1000 times, but for him, he didn’t fail 1000 times, he only discovered 1000 ways that couldn’t work. He was fired from his two previous jobs because he was “unproductive”. Even during his school days, his teachers would always tell him that he was “too dumb” to learn anything. Today, without Edison’s works, who knows? we might still be groping in darkness. Before he died, he had over a thousand US patents in his name.
Steve Jobs
Steve was fired from a company he founded – Apple Inc. Getting fired from his own company, according to him, freed him to enter one of the most creative periods of his life. Upon his return, he changed the face of Apple forever. Jobs was one of the richest men on planet before his demise.
Bill Gates
After spending much time and resources creating the failed Traf – 0 – Data with his partner, Paul Allen, they didn’t relent until Microsoft was born. Bill Gates’ net worth is in excess of $80 billion.
Soicho Honda
Honda applied for a job as an engineer in Toyota Motors Corporation but was rejected; he went and started his own private company at his home, which later grew to give birth to today’s Honda Motors.
Harland David Sanders
Col. Harland David Sanders of the Kentucky Fried Chicken fame. Sanders’ secret chicken recipe was rejected 1000 times, before it was eventually accepted by one local restaurant. That singular acceptance proved the turning point for Sanders’ success story.
Summary:
Success according to Coco Chanel is most often achieved by those who do not know that failure is inevitable. Develop a can-do attitude and try as much as you can to resist the influence of those friends that want to discourage and prevent you from achieving your dreams.
