So, I’ve been listening to “Good To Great,” which is all about dissecting what made the most successful companies in the world who they are today.

In addition, I had one of those long chats with a close friend last night over a couple of drinks.

Combine the two and it’s exactly why I’m up right now at 1:15 AM on a Saturday night writing this post for you. I couldn’t sleep thinking more and more about it, figured I’d share.

My friend and I were talking about what’s going on with the world today and how things are falling apart left and right. Well, HIS view on the situation is quite more cynic than mine is, I understand there are two sides.

No matter how much evil we see, there is just as much great around us as well (it’s just that the media chooses not to talk about the good).

Anyways, he posed a question that concerned me and also led into a long heated (yet friendly) debate:

“Is it too late to change things? Is there no more hope? Look at everything around us, how did we let it get to this?”

As we talked about it, only one word came to mind…

Leadership

That’s right. I explained to him firstly that absolutely not, it’s not too late. Also, “how did we let things get to this point?” It’s all about leadership.

I’m a big believer that everything, every organization, family, business, government – all of it is shaped by a leader. We all look to follow someone who can INSPIRE and MOVE us. We believe in his/her dreams and we pledge our loyalty.

A great leader stays TRUE to his commitments and does ANYTHING to make them happen. I mean EVERYTHING, that includes the toughest decisions anyone can imagine making.

“Much of The Leadership Is Absent Or Has Gone Astray…”

That was my only answer for him. I oversimplified the matter by saying that really if we want to see things fixed, we need new leadership. But, if you really think about it, it really is THAT simple.

Any and all successful organizations have had leaders that were fearless, brilliant and made tough decisions like you wouldn’t believe. If you have not yet, I HIGHLY recommend picking up a copy of “Good To Great” – it really drives home this point.

A Great Leader Inspires

Without going into a great big rant, I want to leave everyone with just one thought – if you want to succeed in life, you need to first master the art of inspiring and motivating those around you.

You have to begin to lead and get away from following (believe me, it sounds great, but it’s tough).

Every great leader in our world has been the role model for what it means to be a “fighter.”

Creating Impact…

One of my good friends and probably one of the nicest guys I know, Kenneth McArthur, recently wrote a book called “IMPACT.” I just got done listening to the free audio and I loved it.

Kenneth’s book is the next one on my list, I’ve only heard great things about it.

The subtitle explains my entire point:

“How To Get Noticed, Motivate Millions and Make a Difference in a Noisy World…”

Fighting for your goals and dreams involves building a coalition around you and gaining support. If you ever plan on doing that, you have to inspire, motivate and create impact…

Kenneth is giving away MANY of his materials for FREE, including the amazing interview I listened to, just visit his site and sign-up. I highly recommend getting the book as well (I’ll give you a full review when I finish it).

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I was at a graduation a couple of months ago and the president of the university used a story that really hit home with me, something happened today to remind me again of the story so I thought I’d share…

Here’s the story:

A professor calls an early study group for his students, when they all get there he offers them coffee to get the morning started. He lays out a series of cups (all different kinds), some very nice and others pretty ugly.

As the students start going to get coffee, they grab a cup and make their way to the coffee.

What the professor noticed right away was that each student was choosing the nicest glass currently available at their time of selection. The last student even seemed a bit dissapointed to be “stuck” drinking from the simple styrofoam cup.

As the students sipped their coffees, the professor asked them WHY they had chosen the best cup available even the coffee was exactly the same for everyone.

None of the students could answer the question, as a matter of fact, they seemed to get confused themselves!

They hadn’t “conciously” looked for the nicest cup, it was innately built into them!

The point of the story is that we should all take a step back and think about what it is that we’re REALLY going after (the coffee) and not waste time worrying about the other things around it that are just helping you get there (the cup).

Afterall, in the end, the coffee is the same, right?

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Leonardo, a 5 year old charming young man paid me a visit today. Like any incredibly playful and talkative kid, he immediately started telling me stories of what “Mike did to him today, what his teacher said and how he threw a football across the whole field!…”

Confession – I typically just nod my head yes with a blank stare, but I’m glad I didn’t do that today.

Who knew that in his over-excited story-telling he would embark on me a piece of life advice that spun me into 3 hours of thinking and maybe even a moment of revelation.

What Were His Words of Advice?

“Just relax man, everything will work out just fine…”

I’m 100% serious, those are the exact words a 5 year old said to me when he observed that I was losing my temper with my mom.

2 Months Ago I Burned Out And Stopped Worrying…

Here’s the scoop. 2 months ago a LOT of things happened. You know how they say “when it rains, it pours” – well let’s just say I had a monsoon. As much of a Fighter as I am, this time, I was in over my head.

I got incredibly stressed, I began worrying and even thinking “life as I knew it was over.”

Talk about over-reacting and freaking out? I was the poster child.

I had lost all control, I couldn’t calm down – my brain was running 100 mph and negativity had overtaken me.

Two things happened that I feel saved me:

1. I re-started Mind Aerobics (thank god). You can try Mind Aerobics for FREE – click here…

2. My body’s self-defense mechanisms kicked in and I BURNED OUT!

That’s right, I had worried so much that my brain actually SHUT OFF. I woke up one morning and had the completely wrong attitude – “I just didn’t care any more…to ‘he**’ with it, I don’t care what happens…”

Obviously this is NOT the right way to react, but ironically it was just what I needed. Why?

Because I finally “relaxed maaaan…”

Within Days After Relaxing The Problems Started Dissapearing…

My “careless” attitude allowed me to finally relax and get my head together. I had just accepted the worst case so now I officially had nothing to lose, I just started focusing on implementing solutions.

One by one, everything began to improve and within just a few weeks, I was rocking and rolling!

The day I officially pulled out of the mess I remember thinking to myself, “You see, you did it AGAIN, just as always, you pulled out. Why do you freak out so much?  You KNOW you’ll get through it, you always do.”

I cannot express how much of a difference that new realization has made. I finally TRUST myself. I believe in myself. I know now that if all I do is relax, focus, believe in myself and take action, I can overcome any problem.

I mean, for god sake, I’ve almost died 3 times, battled a chronic illness since I was 13, started/run my own business, etc…etc… – what else do we need to do in life to start trusting ourselves?

So thank you Leonardo, your words today helped put structure around something I was thinking about for months now. You’re one smart 5 year old, it’s going to be fun watching you grow up.

Lesson For The Day: For the love of god, have some faith in yourself, trust in yourself and relaaax man, you and I both know that you’ll be fine and you’ll make it through one way or the other.

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I was recently at a graduation and the president of the university used a story that really hit home with me.

A professor calls an early study group for his students, when they all get there he offers them coffee to get the morning started. He lays out a series of cups (all different kids), some very nice and others pretty ugly.

As the students start going to get coffee they have to choose a cup first. The professor notes how each student is picking the nicest cup available at time of selection.

The styrofoam cups are the last to go.

As the last student gets his coffee, the professor brings his “research” to the student’s attention saying:

“Why is it that everyone went for the nicest cup first? It’s really the coffee you were after right? The cup was simply a tool you needed. The look/shape of the cup makes absolutely no impact on the cup, so why did it matter?

This is a very small example, but it purely illustrates how we spend too much time and energy on things that are irrelevant to our end-goal.

Focus on your end goal, all the things along the way are just tools, as long as they serve the purpose, spending too much thought on them is extra stress that gets in the way of your end goal.

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What You’re About To Learn: How to get your mind in the right place so you can take any obstacle head first with a clear mind.

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To date I’ve had to fight through many problems, you can learn about some of them by reading more about me…last year I realized something I tend to do the MINUTE I am faced with a challenge, I plan for the worst case…

Let’s take an example to better understand this…

Assume I get a phone call that says “Your site has crashed and is 100% down…”

There have been times where this was not a big deal and also times when this was a HUGE deal. My site being down means that I’m losing critical revenue, upsetting my customers and upsetting my promotional partners.

The first thing I do is figure out what the WORST case situation will be.

1. I’ll lose $100,000 in revenue (assuming)
2. I’ll upset 5 of my 10 partners.
3. I’ll upset 60% of my customers.
4. etc…

Once I make a list of the WORST case scenario, I will then PLAN for it. So, now that I know what the worst case is, I need to prepare to FIX it.

1. I’ll plan another product or I’ll cut expenses here and there.
2. I’ll make it up to them by doing something for them like promoting their product, or offering them more commission on the sales they have.
3. I’ll do something VERY special for my customers that will cost me $10,000 to do (I’ll swallow the expense).

So, now I know what the absolute worst situation can be, I’ve accepted it and I’m fully planned for it. Even if the worst case happens, I know exactly what I’m going to do to get around it.

NOW I HAVE A CLEAR MIND!

It’s amazing how much more effective I am at resolving major obstacles with a clear mind rather than one that is clouded with worry.

Once you have planned and accepted the worst case, your mind really calms down and lets you think. At that point you can focus on the core problem and not panic.

Just try this once and see what happens – trust me, if I did not think like this, I would have melted down years ago. So, in short…

Obstacle -> List Out Worst Case Scenario -> Accept It -> Plan For Worst Case -> Accept It -> Go Face The Problem With A Clear Mind Now!

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What you learn today: A simple thing to say to yourself every time someone says no to you…

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6 years ago I took a job as a financial planner with one of the largest broker dealers in our area. This was my first time taking a “sales related” job and I was only 19 years old, but very motivated.

Trying to sell families and small businesses on using YOU as their financial planner when you barely have $500 in the bank is a very tough task so obviously I got shot down quite a bit when I pitched clients (I looked like a kid for god sake).

One Conversation I’ll Never Forget…

At that time my Marketing Director was more of a mentor and close friend, just overall a great teacher. I remember one specific day after our “staff meeting” I was very deflated and thinking about quitting.

My “boss” looked at me and just said this one line that I think was a turning point in my life for sales…

“With Every No You’re Closer To a Yes…”

If you think about it, that simple phrase has so many messages that make sense.

1. Persistence
2. Never give up or quit 
3. Rejection leads to success
4. Failure leads to success

I can literally keep going.

I came back within the next year and was the top sales agent in my region and age group – I was even being asked to speak at their regional events!

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Take a minute now to sit back and really think about this line – “With every no you’re closer to a yes…”

The next time you’re feeling down after having something bad happen, rinse and repeat that statement. 

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What you learn today: Why “quitting” is a trap and how you might be quitting right BEFORE you succeed!

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I was in “Hot”lanta this past weekend to speak at a seminar. An hour before I spoke, I ran into a lady in the lobby and we struck a conversation. She was telling me her own “fighting” story about how she got to the seminar…

–> She was broke.
–> Had to fight her husband to get there.
–> Had already failed on building her online business a few times and everyone was telling her she couldn’t do it.

However, she said she REFUSED to give up and that she was going to keep “fighting” – her words, not mine (I don’t think she even knew that I run this site).

She Said Something Incredibly Profound…

As she talked and I practiced my listening skills I caught a quick statement she made that pierced straight to my brain and made me have an “AH HA” moment.

Here’s what she said exactly…

“I told my husband there is no way I’m quitting. Only 2 things happen when you quit. Either you quit before you ever even started OR you quit right before it became successful.”

Just take a minute to really think about that, if it “clicks” in your head, you’re going to have a serious moment like I did.

This woman (I wish I had written her contact information down) doesn’t know it, but she may have just changed the way I think about many things!

I’m not saying that you should never “throw in the flag” or “walk from a bad investment” – but if you really think about it, most of the time the only reason we ever “fail” is because we either never really truly started or we just didn’t try hard enough (a.k.a quit right before it became a success).

The last few days I have been walking around repeating that statement in my head and it’s truly motivational…

So, when’s the last time YOU quit something? Did you ever really even start? If so, do you HONESTLY think you tried hard enough and kept at it as long as needed?

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The Fighter Mentality is not only something that comes to life AFTER something goes wrong, but more something that is awake 24/7 and always on the look-out.

Whenever a fighter is faced with an obstacle or challenge or smells one coming, he/she immediately kicks into mode and starts preparing for the fight. I’ve spent the last 5 years evaluating what I do and I’ve found a consistent patter.

How To Overcome Obstacles – FIRST, Prepare For The Worst…

I know that sounds like old and re-hashed advice, but hear me out.

I’ve learned that in order for me to face a problem head-on with a clear head, I have to ACCEPT (100%) the WORST possible outcome that could happen.

What do I mean by this?

Here’s a personal and fairly extreme example.

When I was in the ICU a couple of years ago, many nurses told me that I was probably the happiest patient they had ever seen with the best attitude (just to note, I was internally bleeding profusely, could not even stand up without risking heart overload and had already gone into shock from blood loss once).

So, yes, pretty serious situation.

This was a point in which the “Fighter” kicked in. I evaluated the situation and determined the WORST case – it was that I may die, I’m not trying to be dramatic – just proving a point.

Save All Energy For Positive Thoughts...

If I was going to “fight” this situation and come out on top, I had to put 100% of my energy on positive things and focus on getting better, I could not spare even ONE second “fearing” the worst. So, I simply accepted it.

I accepted the fact that I had lived a good life and that if I die, it would be amongst my loved ones and that if I was going to go, I would make it a point to go with a smile on my face.

It took me a lot of convincing myself, but I did accept it. At the SAME time, I determined that “if they’re gonna take me, Ima go down swinging!”

So, I was very motivated to fight and WIN. I focused 100% of my energy on motivating myself and taking every situation one step at a time.

In the end, I was able to completely focus on getting better and I did. I had accepted the worst possible situation and so I no longer feared it (and was prepared for it).

The next time you have an obstacle ahead of you – face your fears. Pretend as if the worst has already happened. Plan your way OUT of that situation, accept it and see how much easier it is to stand and fight.

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