[Music] you know I was standing in my backyard just the other day watching this remarkable Little Ant carrying a piece of food nearly twice its size for 15 minutes I stood there fascinated that little an never gave up never looked around for an easier path just kept moving forward step by step and it hit me isn't that just the perfect picture of what success really looks like most people people they want success to be like a lightning bolt one bright flash and suddenly everything changes but that's not how it works never has been success is
more like that ant steady determined consistent you see I grew up on an Idaho Farm and let me tell you something about farming you can't plant the seeds today and harvest tomorrow nature doesn't work that way and neither does success I remember my first job making minimum wage $144 an hour now some people would look at that and say that's terrible but you know what I did I showed up every single day on time ready to work rain or shine good mood or bad I was there and here's the fascinating thing within a year I
wasn't making minimum wage anymore why because consistency creates value now here's something interesting about SU success that nobody talks about much success leaves Clues just like failure does and one of the biggest Clues I've discovered over the years is that successful people are boring people Yes you heard that right boring they do the same important things day after day after day they read their books they make their calls they keep their commitments they show up early nothing flashy nothing exciting just consistent reliable action you see most people overestimate what they can do in a day
and they drastically underestimate what they can accomplish in a year of consistent effort they're looking for the magic formula the secret shortcut but success isn't about shortcuts it's about the long cut it's about doing the right things day after day even when nobody's watching even when you don't feel like it I had a friend once who told me he wanted to write a book I asked him how many pages have you written this week he said well none but I'm going to get started soon a year later same conversation 5 years later still no book
you know why because he was waiting for inspiration to strike waiting for the perfect moment but success doesn't wait for perfect moments it creates them through consistent action and that's what I want to talk to you about today the incredible power of consistency because success isn't about doing extraordinary things things it's about doing ordinary things extraordinarily well day after day after day just like that an in my backyard it's about keeping your eyes on your goal and taking one step at a time regardless of the obstacles in your path and speaking of obstacles let me
tell you something important about the Journey To Success it's not the big challenges that usually stop people it's the small daily decisions that determine your destiny you know what I mean it's not the big dramatic moments that make or break your success it's what you do every single day in those Quiet Moments when nobody's watching think about it like building a house nobody in their right mind would try to build a house without first laying a solid foundation yet I see people every day trying to build success on wishful thinking and good intentions that's like
trying to build a mansion on quicksand it just won't stand the foundation of success is made up of four cornerstones and I want you to write these down because they're absolutely crucial first you've got personal development I always say don't wish it was easier wish you were better don't wish for fewer problems wish for more skills why because success is not something you pursue success is something you attract by the person you become I remember when I was struggling in my early days I was broke discouraged and looking for answers then someone gave me this
vital piece of wisdom they said work harder on yourself than you do on your job that changed everything for me you see your income rarely exceeds your personal development I know some people don't want to hear that but it's the truth the second Cornerstone is your philosophy your personal philosophy is the way you think about life about challenges is about opportunities some people have a philosophy of blame they blame the economy they blame the weather they blame their boss they blame their spouse but successful people they have a philosophy of responsibility they say if it's
going to be it's up to me let me tell you a story about two salespeople who went to the same town to sell shoes the first one called back and said I'm coming home nobody here wears shoes the second one called and said send me all the shoes you've got nobody here has shoes yet same circumstance different philosophy totally different results the third Cornerstone is your habits now this is where the rubber meets the road habits are those little actions that seem insignificant in the moment but compound over time to create your destiny good habits
are hard to form but easy to live with bad habits are easy to form but hard to live with the key is to make the simple disciplines a way of life you know what I do every morning I spend the first hour reading something valuable something that will contribute to my growth been doing it for over four decades now some people say well that doesn't sound like much but let me ask you this what happens if you read just 30 minutes every day for 30 years you'll be in the top one of educated people in
your field That's The Power of consistent habits and the fourth Cornerstone this one's crucial is your attitude toward time time is the great equalizer we all have the same 24 hours in a day the difference is what we do with that time poor people spend their time middleclass people manage their time but successful people invest their time here's something fascinating about time you can't save it you can only spend it or invest it and the best investment you can make is in yourself every day you're either preparing or repairing you're either getting ready for opportunities
or getting ready for repairs I used to waste so much time early in my career until one day someone asked me a question that changed my life they said how many books have you read in the last 90 days and I had to answer none they said well then you haven't changed much in the last 90 days have you that hit me right between the eyes because you see everything in your life changes the day you start investing in your mind in your future in your potential and that's what building a solid foundation is all
about it's about making those daily investments in yourself in your knowledge in your skills in your character because here's what I've learned after all these years success is Not an Accident success is a choice and that choice begins with building a foundation strong enough to support all your dreams and Ambitions now let me share with you something crucial about these daily investments in yourself these daily disciplines they're like scaffolding for your dreams most people miss the connection between their daily actions and their future success they're looking for some magical moment when everything will s suddenly
change but that's not how life works let me tell you about something that happened at my local grocery store I was standing in line and this lady in front of me was buying a lottery ticket she turned to me and said this is my retirement plan now isn't that interesting she was willing to trust her entire future to random chance when the real power of success is in what you do every single day you know what fascin Ates me about discipline it's like compound interest for your life small seemingly insignificant actions repeated day after day
create massive results over time it's just like putting a few dollars away each day at first it doesn't seem like much but give it time and those small deposits turn into a fortune let me give you a perfect example I know a gentleman who decided to write just one page every day just one page that's not much is it but do you know what happens when you write one page every day for a year you've got a 365 page book most people won't write one page today because they can't write an entire book today they
don't understand the power of daily disciplines here's something else about discipline that most people don't understand it's not about perfection it's about consistency I remember when I first started my self-development journey I set out to read for an hour every day did I make it every single day no I didn't let missing one day turn into missing a week I got right back on track the next day and that's where most people go wrong they think if they can't do something perfectly they shouldn't do it at all but success doesn't require Perfection it requires persistence
it's better to do something imperfectly than to do do nothing flawlessly let me share with you what I call the five major pieces of the daily discipline Puzzle first there's your morning routine how you start your day sets the tone for everything that follows I start every morning with reading reflection and planning it's not complicated but it's powerful second there's your health disciplines you've got to take care of the goose that lays the golden eggs that means proper nutrition regular exercise adequate rest your body is the only place you have to live take good care
of it third there's your learning discipline the world belongs to the Learners every day you should know more than you knew yesterday whether it's through reading listening to audio programs or attending seminars make learning a daily priority fourth there's your work discipline show up early stay late when necessary go to the extra mile success is not about doing the extraordinary it's about doing the ordinary things extraordinarily well and fifth there's your personal development discipline work on your character your integrity your values because here's what's interesting your income rarely exceeds your personal development if you want
more now here's something fascinating about these daily disciplines they work whether you believe in them or not just like gravity these principles are always in effect you don't have to believe in gravity for it to keep you on the ground and you don't have to believe in these principles for them to work in your life but here's the challenge and this is important the things that are easy to do are also easy not to do it's easy to read 10 pages of a good book today it's also easy not to it's easy to make a
few extra calls today it's also easy not to it's easy to save a few dollars today it's also easy not to and that's what makes the difference between success and mediocrity the daily choices we make the choices that seem insignificant in the moment but compound over time to create our destiny and speaking of time let me share something crucial about how successful people think about time and Seasons life is not just about understanding what to do it's about understanding when to do it everything in life has its season just like in nature you can't plant
in the fall and harvest in the spring that's not how it works I learned this lesson years ago watching my father work our family farm he understood something profound that most people Miss there's a time to plant and a time to harvest and you can't rush the seasons you can't negotiate with them you can't skip them and you certainly can't ignore them here's what's fascinating about time we all have the same amount rich or poor young or old we all get 24 hours each day the difference is in how we use those hours some people
are planning in their 24 hours While others are spending their 24 hours some are investing While others are wasting let me tell you something that changed my life when I first understood it there are three ways to look at time first there's clock time that's what shows up on your watch then there's calendar time that's what shows up on your schedule but most importantly there's opportunity time that's what shows up in your life as chances for growth and progress you know what most people do they wait for the right time to start they say I'll
start my business when the economy gets better or I will start saving when I make more money or my favorite I will start reading when I have more time but here's the truth the right time never arrives you have to create it I remember talking to a young man who told me he was waiting for his ship to come in I asked him have you sent any out that's the key you've got to understand the seasons of preparation and action the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago the second best time is
today most people don't understand every season has its own reward winter isn't just about cold and darkness it's about preparation and planning spring isn't just about planning it's about possibility and potential summer isn't just about growth it's about nurturing and protecting and fall isn't just about Harvest it's about gathering in gratitude you got to learn to work with these Seasons not against them when it's time to plant plant when it's time to water water when it's time to weed weed and when it's time to harvest Harvest don't confuse the seasons and don't try to shortcut
the process what's interesting about success it's rarely a matter of timing the market it's almost always a matter of time in the market it's not about waiting for everything to be perfect it's about making progress in spite of imperfect conditions and that brings me to something crucial about success that most people completely misunderstand the price you have to pay everybody has to pay it the only question is when you can pay now and enjoy later or you can enjoy now and pay later but the bill always comes due that's one of life's great certainties you
know what's interesting about Excellence it's never on sale the price is the price and here's what I've discovered after all these years most people want to negotiate the price of success they want to get it wholesale they say can I get twice the success for half the effort but it doesn't work that way let me tell you about my early days in business I was working hard or just I thought I was then my mentor asked me a question that changed everything he said how many books did you read last year I said two or
three he said that's the problem the man who reads one good book a month is living in a different world than the man who reads one or two a year see most people don't want to pay the price of Education of self-development of discipline they want success but they don't want to pay what it costs it's like going to a restaurant and saying I'd like to file it minion but I'd like to pay hamburger prices it just doesn't work that way what Excellence costs it costs time when others are watching TV it costs study when
others are sleeping it costs practice when others are playing it costs persistence when others are quitting and here's the fascinating thing the price never goes down but if you pay it long enough consistently enough the value of what you receive will far outweigh the price you pay I remember meeting a successful businessmen who told me something profound he said I work eight hours a day for survival and 4 hours a day for Success Now isn't that interesting most people work just just enough to survive but Excellence demands that extra effort that additional investment of time
and energy average is easy average comes naturally Excellence Excellence is a conscious Choice you've got to choose it every single day and here's what most people don't understand about Excellence it's not about doing extraordinary things it's about doing ordinary things extraordinarily well let me give you an example two salespeople make 10 calls each the average one just makes the calls the excellent one prepares for each call researches each Prospect follows up after each conversation same number of calls totally different results why because Excellence is in the detail success is not a pay as you go
system you don't get to experience the rewards until after you've invested the effort it's like planting a garden you get to eat the Harvest the day after you plant the seeds but here's the good news about paying the price of Excellence once you've paid it nobody can take it away from you what you learn what you become what you achieve through consistent effort that's yours forever they can't tax it they can't steal it and they can't diminish it Excellence it's not just about what you do it's about who you become in the process it's about
building your character your character is like the foundation of a building you can't build a tall building on a weak foundation and you can't build lasting success on weak character that's just the way life works you know what amazes me people spend Years Learning their trade but they spend minutes working on their character they know everything about their business but very little about themselves and then they wonder why their success doesn't last let me tell you about something that happened to me years ago I was complained about my circumstances and someone wiser than me said
the only your circumstances will change is if you change that hit me right between the eyes because you see your character is not something you're born with it's something you build decision by decision day by day what's fascinating about character it's revealed in the small moments when nobody's watching it's choosing to do the right thing even even when the wrong thing is easier it's keeping your word even when it cost you it's showing up early even when nobody would notice if you're late I remember talking to a young entrepreneur who was frustrated with his business
results he said I'm doing everything right but nothing's working so I asked him are you being truthful in all your dealings are you following through on every promise are you giving value first before before expecting returns he got very quiet success is not just about strategies and tactics it's about who you are as a person most people don't understand about character it's built through adversity not Comfort every challenge you face is an opportunity to strengthen your character every problem is a chance to prove your integrity every setback is a setup for a stronger comeback you
know what I've noticed over the years people with strong character don't have an easier life they just handle life's difficulties better they don't have fewer problems they have better solutions they don't have less stress they have more strength your character is like a muscle it gets stronger not through Comfort but through resistance every time you choose the hard right over the easy wrong you're building character every time you keep a commitment even when it's inconvenient You're Building character every time you tell the truth when a lie would be easier You're Building character and here's what's
interesting about character it's the one thing you can't fake you can fake enthusiasm you can fake knowledge you can even fake success for a while but you can't fake character it shows up in everything you do everything you say everything you are that's why I always say work harder on yourself than you do on your job because your job will never pay you more than your character can handle your success will never outgrow your personal development your achievements will never exceed your character and speaking of growth and development let me share with you something fascinating
about how small consistent actions compound over time and this might be one of the most powerful secrets of success I've ever discovered most people completely misunderstand how success works there looking for The Big Break the lucky break the overnight success but that's not how it happened let me tell you a story that illustrates this perfectly if I offered you a choice between taking $3 million cash right now or a single penny that doubles in value every day for 31 days which would you choose most people would grab the $3 million R but they'd be making
a mistake because that Penny doubled every day for $3 one days turns into more than $10 million That's The Power of Compound Effect success works the same way small consistent actions compounded over time create extraordinary results but here's the challenge you can't see the results in the beginning just like that Penny doesn't look like much on day five or day 10 your daily disciplines might not seem significant in the moment I remember when I started my reading habit one page a day doesn't sound like much does it but one page a day becomes 365 Pages
a year that's a book and one book can change your life I know because one book changed mine but most people won't read one page a day because they can't read an entire book today here's what's fascinating about consistency it's like gravity it works whether you believe in it or not you don't have to believe in gravity to be held on the ground and you don't have to believe in The Compound Effect for it to work in your life you just have to be consistent think about water dripping on a rock one drop doesn't do
much 100 drops don't do much but water dripping consistently day after day year after year can cut through solid rock that's what consistency does in your life it cuts through any obstacle any challenge any barrier this can see it works both ways just like small positive actions compound into success small negative actions compound into failure missing one workout won't make you out of shape just like doing one workout won't make you fit it's the consistent pattern that matters that's why the little things are the big things because life isn't made of big moments it's made
of small moments drung together and what you do consistently in those small moments determines where you'll end up but of course D consistent isn't always easy there will will be obstacles along the way and that's exactly what I want to talk about next obstacles they're not there to stop you they're there to test you they're not there to block your path they're there to show you how badly you want what's on the other side you know I used to think successful people had fewer problems than everybody else but I was wrong they don't have fewer
problems they just have bigger problems and that's good news because your problems are actually a sign of your growth the size of your problem determines the size of your opportunities let me tell you about a friend of mine who started a business his first obstacle was lack of capital then it was Finding customers then it was managing growth noticed something interesting his problems kept getting bigger but so did his success that's how it works new levels new Devils here's what most people do when they hit an obstacle they Retreat to their comfort zone but Comfort
zones are interesting places they're comfortable but nothing ever grows there it's like a thermostat set to 72° it will keep you comfortable but it'll never make you successful I remember when I first started public speaking my hands would shake my voice would quiver my knees would knock every fiber of my being want wanted to quit but here's what I learned the obstacle isn't the enemy the obstacle is the way every time I push through that fear I got stronger every time I face that challenge I grew obstacles a they reveal What You're Made Of anyone
can stay positive when everything's going well anyone can keep going when the path is smooth it's what you do when things get tough that shows your true character you see most people ask why is this happening to me me but successful people ask what is this teaching me they understand that every obstacle comes with a lesson every challenge comes with a gift every setback comes with an opportunity let me share something powerful with you the size of your success will be determined by the size of the obstacles you're willing to overcome if you only want
to tackle small obstacles you'll only achieve small success but if you're willing to face big obstacles you achieve big success and here's the fascinating thing about obstacles they don't care about your feelings they don't care if you're tired if you're scared if you're not ready they show up when they show up the only question is what are you going to do about them because ultimately that's what success comes down to it's not about avoiding obstacles it's about becoming the kind of person who can overcome any obstacle and that brings me to my final point
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