Download MP 3 Listen on iTunes
Hey
Summary
“Stick with what works.”
These are simple words that have made all the difference in my career.
There are many passing trends and opportunities that you could always be jumping on. But if you are determined to be the dog running down every passing car, you are going to neglect developing your key strengths.
I’m lucky that I learned early on that I should double down to develop my key areas of expertise and talents.
Read on to learn why this strategy has worked for me, and can work for you.
Transcript
If you are a competitive person, it is very common to want to shore up any weaknesses you may have. When you think about how you will go about advancing in your career, you may naturally gravitate to the things that you don’t do so well.
It’s great to be focused on growth and improvement. But don’t get so caught up in correcting your weaknesses that you neglect to bolster your areas of strength.
Find What Works –Then Do More of It
One of the lessons I learned from one of my mentors when I was selling real estate, was very simple and has long stuck with me. He told me to “do more of what was working for me.”
It was a hard lesson to sink in at first. After all, I had so much to learn! We all have our personal strengths. You are hopefully always expanding your areas of expertise and learnings. But be aware there are inevitably activities that we do in work and play that we enjoy and find more productive. These activities are the ones that we often are far more likely to excel at. If you enjoy doing something, it is much easier to arrive at that trance-like state of flow that you may have experienced before in which the world falls away and you become totally and completely focused on what you are doing.
Success can be elusive in this world. When you find it, I encourage you to hold onto it. In building your own business, whether it is online or otherwise, it can take a period of trial and error to figure out what works for you. When you do find that formula that is creating success for you, you should most often stick with it. And if you want more success, don’t set out to reinvent the wheel or launch an entirely new venture or sales campaign from scratch. Instead do more of what is already working.
That doesn’t mean that you don’t take the initiative to explore other ways that you can improve or grow. But while you do that exploring, you should also keep one foot in the realm of what led you to success to begin with. Continuing with more of what is working will give you the growth you need to continue to grow your success into the future.
Emulate Success
The same may also go for success and wins that have worked well for others. Entrepreneurs often fall into what I call the “visionary trap”. They work themselves into a lather convincing themselves that they need to develop some great new groundbreaking service or product like nothing that anyone has ever seen before. They spend years and years trying to come up with something radically new and completely visionary. Most times they would be far better served by merely following through on the fundamentals.
There are countless examples out there of proven business success, so why not take a page from what has been demonstrated to already work? Instead of branching out into something new altogether, follow the recipe for success. You will thank yourself in the long run by using a proven business model and executing on the plan. That doesn’t mean that you don’t look for areas where you can innovate and add your own special flavor, but there is no need to start all over. As scripture tells us, “there is nothing new under the sun.”
I tend to think of Michael Jordan as an example in the sports world. He was at the very heights of his powers in basketball when he stepped down from the game in the 1990s and made a detour into the sport he had first pursued as a young man, which was baseball. There were many reasons for this. Jordan was at an age when he was seeking a new challenge, which may be hard to believe for those of us who can only imagine what it would be like to be at the apex of a major sport, or in our given field of interest. Jordan may have wanted to reconnect with the memory of his late father who had been a baseball fan. But for whatever reason, Jordan’s detour into baseball didn’t go well, as many had predicted. His brand took a major hit and it was not long before he had returned to basketball, the sport he had dominated for so long, where he resumed the business of winning and excelling.
I don’t mean to pick on anyone who embraces a new challenge. But the fact is that Jordan gave up a lot by walking away during his peak performance years to pursue what most sports watchers rightfully described as a lark. You can go off and take these types of risks, but you need to be aware of what you are risking. By straying away from your core competencies and your greatest talents, you dilute your ability to focus on being the very best at whatever field it is that you have set your mind to.
We see a very similar dynamic play out all the time when high-profile figures convince themselves that their success in one area naturally translates to potential in a completely different field. But it often turns out that the singer is not so great at acting after all, or that the business executive would be better off by not straying into the political game. It might be an interesting and worthwhile endeavor for me to try my hand at computer programming or coding or another valuable skill. But I only have so much time at my disposal. At this stage, I’m largely aware of what my key strengths and talents are. That’s why I have decided to double down on what has worked for me in my investments in real estate, online marketing, and other ventures.
I can think of few better examples than in the story of Warren Buffet. History is full of stories of wealthy individuals who hit it big, only to stray away from what they are good at because they convince themselves that everything they touches will turn to gold. Warren Buffet is a notable exception, because he believes in what he calls “circles of competencies”. Essentially he believes in sticking to what has worked for him. This means that he only invests in businesses that he thoroughly understands.
Some who have Buffet’s resources at their disposal would be tempted to gamble a bit on some passing fads or trends, especially in the tech space. But Warren has continued to plug away at investing in reliable, blue chip stocks and investments that are not especially flashy or sexy. And by overlooking the passing trends that he recognizes he is not as versed in, he has managed to avoid straying away from his core successful enterprise strategy. He may have missed out on getting in on some hot tips, but that’s the price you pay by focusing on what works. It means that you have to develop the inner patience and fortitude to not go swinging at every pitch that comes your way. Focus on making the home runs and stick with what works!
You can also learn more by visiting tonyneumeyer.com and registering to receive free trainings articles and more. Also subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me on Facebook. You can get your copy of The 7 Minute Millionaire and check out my other books at https://tonyneumeyer.com/books/.
