Summary
When you decide to make a change in your life and move forward, be determined. Don’t let anything stand in your way.
It’s fun to be spontaneous at times, but this is not one of them. A spontaneous decision to quit or change something in your current life without adequate preparation may lead to failure and disappointment. When you are planning to make a change in your life, it’s important to first assess where you are at currently, where you want to go, and determine precisely what actions will be required to get you there.
Opportunities exist today like never before, and we need to act if we are going to make the most of the possibilities out there. Don’t allow procrastination and complacency to hold you back. Planning is key, and will ensure that you transition more smoothly and effectively, moving forward towards the life you desire, where you can truly live rich.
Transcript
Famous Words
It was October 29th, 1941 when Winston Churchill gave a very famous speech to his alma mater, Harrow School. It is said that he got up on stage and repeated the word ‘never’ an inordinate number of times, stating, “Never, never, never, ever, never, never, never quit.” I think he actually went on longer than that, as the story goes, and then he apparently walked off the stage. Well, that account may not be one hundred percent accurate, however, he did say something similar and his speech was actually quite a bit longer. Here is the actual quote:
Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force, never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.
Time to Quit and Make a Change
Let me ask you a question. Are there things in your life right now that you think you should quit, or that you should stop doing? Are there any bad habits that you’ve got?
So maybe there is a time to quit, but let’s use the word change instead of quit. Winston Churchill actually states that we must never give in, “…except to convictions of honor and good sense.”
Maybe you’re in a job that’s taking you nowhere or you hit the glass ceiling and need to make a change. Perhaps you should start a second business. Maybe you need to start something from home or quit your current job and start your own business completely.What about the relationship you’re in? Maybe that isn’t going right and maybe that’s something you need to change. Maybe your fitness isn’t as good as it should be. You may be a few pounds overweight and need to make some change there.
What’s Holding You Back?
So what’s holding you back from making these changes? I don’t like to say quit because I’m a big proponent of forging ahead. That said, I think there are times when it is better to move on. When I was in my banking career, just after I got out of school, it was one of those things where I decided that it was time to quit, move on and do something different. I didn’t feel that banking was really what I wanted to do. I wanted to be more entrepreneurial than that. So it was time to make a change and I did. I made a change from that job.
So there are times when we should quit but that doesn’t mean that we’re not still moving forward and I don’t recommend that anyone should quit a job until they have another in place. However, if you are in the process of making changes in your life, then there are some things that, in fact, you may want to quit from or change.
Procrastination Can Be a Killer
Winston Churchill also said, “…never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” Now in your case, who is the enemy? Is your enemy procrastination? Do you put things off? Do you delay? Do you say, “I’ll do it tomorrow,” and you actually don’t? You don’t get around to it. Again you say, “Oh, I’ll do it tomorrow for sure,” and tomorrow never comes. Procrastination can be a real killer if you’re trying to get ahead in life. Procrastination may certainly be an enemy that you want to quit or make a change from.
Time and Money Shouldn’t Limit You
What about time and money? Well, time is an interesting one, because we all have a finite amount of time and we all have the same amount of time in a given day. Yet, some people get so much more done in a given day than other people.
Now, some people are just better at time management, but it is a skill that you can learn and I suggest you become very good at managing your time efficiently and effectively. Don’t let emails get in the way. Don’t let social media get in the way. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use them to your advantage, just don’t let them get in your way, slow you down and distract you from being the most productive you that you can be.
Start getting up earlier in the day. I began getting up at 5:00 in the morning when I needed to build my multimillion-dollar business and double my real estate income at the same time. I did this because I knew that in order to build my business, I would need an extra hour or more in the day to be able to do so, and I did it.
What about money? I know that money can be a limiting factor for a lot of people, and it’s easy for me to say. You may think, “Oh yeah, you’ve got money. What difference does it make to you?” That’s what a lot of people think.
However, I started from humble beginnings. I was down and out as a result of a crushing bankruptcy. I had no money and could barely feed myself. Yet, after a few years of really trying to emotionally deal with this event that had taken place in my life due to a crash in the real estate market, I was finally able to come out of it. In fact, I came out of it with a vengeance, going on to earn a great deal of money and help many other people earn their fortunes as well.
So although money is a limiting factor, understand that there are things you can do today, starting right now, that will start to increase your income without the need for much investment, if any. Time and money go together. By finding or creating a little extra time in your day and combining it with a small amount of capital, you can actually gain quite an advantage, and use this extra bit of time and money to start getting ahead in many, many ways.
Don’t Be Complacent If You’re Not Content
What about complacency? Is it that you’re just complacent? Complacency is related to contentment, but it may be more than that. It may also be an unwillingness to act despite your dissatisfaction with the current situation. If you’re complacent and okay with the way things are, that means that you’re content with where you are today, so you’re probably not very inspired to go out and move ahead in life.
I suggest that if you find yourself being content and complacent, either learn to be okay with it and remain in you current situation, or start looking for ways to make a change. If you aren’t content with your current situation, make the decision to move ahead and then act on it.
Now, I’ve talked a little bit about quitting. You might think I’m advocating quitting. Well, I’m not exactly. I am advocating making a change. Before you decide to quit what you’re currently doing, I’d like to tell you a story that you may or may not have heard before. It’s a true story, involving a farmer in Africa, who owned a large plot of land that was productive, but it wasn’t the most productive farm in the area.
The African farmer had heard all these stories about people discovering diamond mines all around the country. He was quite excited by these stories of fortunes being discovered and couldn’t keep himself from thinking about them. Soon after, he decided to sell his farm and go off in search of diamonds. Sadly, he never found any and he died dead broke, an absolutely tragic end.
Now one day, the man who had bought his farm was walking along and after finishing his farming duties for the day, he took a stroll along the stream. He saw a nice little rock in the stream, pulled it out, and didn’t pay much attention to what it was. It looked pretty cool and he put it on the mantelpiece in his home.
A few weeks go by and a fellow drops by the house, picks up the stone, examines it and says to his friend, “Do you know what this is?” The farmer answered his friend, “Oh, I don’t know. It’s a rock I found in the stream and there are plenty of them there.” The friend replied, “Well, this may in fact be the largest diamond ever discovered in the world!” As it turned out, the land he had bought from the previous farmer eventually became one of the largest producing diamond mines in history.
Consider the Outcomes and Make a Plan
Now, I only tell you this story because I want to be sure that you’ve considered all of the possibilities and are not simply thinking that the grass is always greener on the other side.
Make sure you have a plan in place when you decide that you’re going to make a change. Consider all the possible outcomes and consequences of your actions. Understand what you’re going to do, how you’re going to do it and when. Examine where you are today, where it is you want to go, and then plot the actions required to move you forward.
Make a commitment to yourself and set a deadline. What is the date at which you want to start? You may require some additional skills in order to take on this new venture. It may take you three to six months to master the required skills, and if that’s the case, allow for this time in your plan. Plot a timeline showing how long you will maintain your current status and position while developing these necessary skills and taking the next action steps to move you in the direction you want to go.
Next, I want you to consider what will happen if you don’t do this. What if you just stay where you are now, and you don’t quit some of those things in your life or, as I say, make a change? Where are you going to be in three years? Is today any different than where you were three years ago?
Decide to Act on Your Plan; Opportunity Awaits
I hope that you are planning to move ahead. I know right now you’re probably working your butt off, scrambling to try and figure out ways to get ahead, as many, many people are. I know that the economy has been tough on many people.
With that said, there are so many great opportunities in the world today. It’s one of the most amazing times, I think, in history in terms of the opportunities that exist, many of which can be started with very little money, and mainly require an investment of sweat equity and spending the time to do it.
I don’t know what road you want to go down and what it will take, but let me tell you this; it will be your road. It will be an adventure that you want to grab hold of and be excited by the journey, because I’ll tell you, that journey can be fun and exciting! It can also be fruitful and, believe me, when you really start to take charge of your life and make the decision to do so, things will begin to change.
As you start to program yourself for success, your outlook and life itself will change. New people will start to come into your life and opportunities will open that you never before thought possible. As you start to do this, as you find this new excitement for all the possibilities unfolding in your life, you’ll feel inspired and exhilarated, like a breath of fresh air that gives you even more strength and determination to move forward.
So I strongly encourage you to consider where you are now and where it is you want to go. Make a plan, and then determine to take the actions needed to make changes that are going to move you forward, so that you too can absolutely live rich.
