there's great power in self-reliance self-reliance means you simply look mostly to yourself it would be nice if someone just gave you this gave you this gave you this it would be nice if everyone did their job exactly as they're supposed to do it but here's what you've got to do primarily rely on yourself primarily say I'm the person responsible and I will learn the necessary skills so that I can help people learn their skills if I need lots of people to do certain things to build my organization that is what I must have but I've
got to be the final back stop I've got to be the final one that people can rely on so that if this is missed and this is missed I can catch up I can fill the Gap I can do the job we have to do it when we conduct meetings we have to do it when we conduct training we have to do it when we're in a class of just a few what someone might have missed we're there to fill in self-reliance primarily we're learning to count on yourself so that you can do this never
complain and never explain here's the next key power and that's image there's many parts to image the image that others see you as the image you have with other people and it's very important how other people see you if if they don't see you as a leader chances are they won't pay attention if they don't see you as being in control chances are they won't have the trust if they don't see you as knowing where you're going what you want to accomplish they probably won't follow but if people can see you if you have the
image of someone that's in charge in control in control of your life your future your destiny in control of the situation if they see that that kind of image is powerful it helps to win the day it attracts other people people want to be around people that are in control that are powerful but they know how to use their power influential but they know how to use their influence that kind of image is important but here's a very important image and that is your image of your self the way you dress the way you talk
the way you think your capacity for learning all of that is an important image that you have of yourself the image that you have that if it needs to be learned you could learn it if there's a book that needs to be mastered you could Master it if there's a skill that needs to be learned why couldn't you get busy now and learn that skill that kind of self-image that I am continually trying my best to be the best I can because one of the most important places you have to look is into the future
yes you got to look into the past yes you've got to look around yes but one of the most important places you have to look is in the mirror goals are important for a genuinely success oriented person without them you're just playing around the difference between a goal directed individual and someone without goals is like the difference between a Wimbledon champion and a kid batting a tennis ball around on a court with Nonet no opponent to bring out the best in him and no way of keeping score despite everything that's been written about the importance
of goal setting very few people actually put it into practice it's always amazed me the way the average person devotes more thought and effort to planning his or her two weak vacation than to planning his life golds represent challenge in its most positive form leaders have their personal goals as as well as those of their organization clearly in focus in fact one of the principal responsibilities of leadership is defining goals for the vast majority of people who aren't able to do it for themselves over the years I've developed some ideas about effective goal setting and
I'd like to share those with you I also want to point out some traps of goal directed behavior that aren't usually talked about but certainly ought to be when I was a kid I used to dream what it would would be like to buy a ticket on a train and just go someplace I didn't really think about where I'd be going or how long it would take to get there I just love the idea of getting on the train and letting it take me someplace I guess there's still something appealing about that idea but it's
not really the way you should live your life as a mature human being when you grow up you buy a ticket on a train or a plane because you want to go someplace and you know exactly where you're going you may have to change planes in a different city your flight may be cancelled or you may have to switch to another flight you may not feel like talking to the person seated next to you but you will persist you know where you're headed and you're quite determined to get there that's goal directed behavior in its
simplest form there are short-term goals and long-term goals sometimes you're flying across the country other times you're just walking down to the Corner Grocery Store long-term goals are the equivalent of a major Journey when you reach the point where you've achieved your long-term goals your life will be fundamentally changed and the process of getting to that point will have transformed you into a stronger wiser and higher performing person how can you identify your long-term goals on a sheet of paper or in a notebook write these five headings one what do I want to do two
who do I want to be three what do I want to see four what do I want to have five where do I want to go under each of these categories write down several possible long-term goals be very relaxed about this just allow your mind to flow and come up with three to six ideas for each category don't worry about a lot of details at this point and don't spend too much time describing a particular goal for example refer to category one suppose you want to write a book about the history of your family going
back to the arrival of your great grandparents in the United States just quickly jot down family history then it occurs to you that you've always wanted to see the pyramids in Egypt so you write pyramids keep writing down ideas as long as the list of categories continues to inspire you you'll probably be surprised at some of the things that turn up you may have kept a great many desires and aspirations hidden in the back of your mind but the opportunity to write them down will move them to the Forefront of your Consciousness that's one of
the benefits of this technique when you're satisfied with your list of long-term goals read through the list once again then beside each item write the number of years that you believe it will take you to achieve that particular goal it's best to round off the numbers into 1 year 3 year 5 year and 10e time frame for example you may estimate that it will take you 10 years to research and write the book on your family history but you'll need only 5 years to reach a position where you can take a trip to the pyramids
create a time frame like this for every one of your long-term goals when you're finished entering your time frames there should be a fairly balanced distribution for all your goals if there are many one and threeyear objectives but only a few in the 10year category maybe you need to think more about what you really want your life to add up to what kind of life you really want to build over the long run but if there's a preponderance of 10-year goals and relatively few of the shorter term variety this may be an indication that you
tend put things off keep working on your list adding and subtracting goals with various time frames until you've created a more or less even distribution now comes the really challenging and interesting part so far you've just been adding things to the list but now it's time to start making some selections now you're going to start asking yourself it's really important compared to what might just be fun choose four goals from each of the four time frames 1 year 3 year 5 year and 10 year you now have 16 separate goals so far you've only referred
to them in shorthand fashion but now you're going to start seeing them very clearly in your mind's eye you're going to see each goal just as if it were being realized this very minute and you're going to write down a detailed description of exactly what you see do you intend to open a handmade furniture store in 3 years what will the store look like from the street will there be gold leaf lettering on the windows or will there be a sign hanging over the door instead how many square feet will the store contain will there
be a showroom area for the furniture in front in a workspace SP and back or will the furniture be built at a different location do you intend to have any employees or will you run the business entirely by yourself think of all the questions that need to be answered in order to see your goal with absolute Clarity and then write the information down that written record will become one of your most important personal possessions but that's not all any goal is a powerful Mot Mo Ator only if there's a powerful reason behind it why do
you want to achieve your goals why do you want to own a handmade furniture store or a private airplane or a newspaper in a small town in Vermont why do you want to compete in a triathlon or visit the Australian Outback or be the first woman in your family to earn a PhD write down your reasons for wanting each goal in the same degree of detail that you use to write your descriptions if you can't find a clear and convincing reason for each of your 16 goals do some serious re-evaluating you may have more whims
or pipe dreams than real goals and now is the right time to make that Discovery keep working on your list until you have 16 clearly envisioned strongly motivating long-term goals at regular intervals review what you've written and keep careful track of your progress toward these objectives above all persevere goal setting is a very important First Step but goal achievement is a continuous lifelong process that's what makes it so challenging that's also why it's so extremely rewarding to finally attain your long-term goals that I'm just asking you to begin something new in all the areas of
your life maybe you've always thought about benevolence and you just haven't gotten started or you haven't made the plans or you haven't made the decision I'm asking you to start taking that stuff now that's in your head that imagination which is very powerful and it's a great source of inspiration in itself but then I'm asking you then to decide use that inspiration then I'm asking you to make plans begin to make plans use that inspiration and then if you take that first step it can be the first step of an incredible journey when Mark had
his first meeting when Mark recruited his first distributor when Mark got that first few yeses from people people and he started the process as simple as it was you know from the trunk of his car you know as as crude as as the literature was in the beginning it was a start and so beginning can be an incredible source of inspiration and beginning can be many things beginning a new commitment to learning you say I'm going to have a library second to none and I bought the first book of my new library today I'm going
to be surrounded by information and inspiration uh the cassette tapes and the videos and the books I'm going to have a library Second To None I've thought about it wouldn't it be wonderful and uh you know I've I've started making plans you know I've provided some space in my room for my expanded Library uh but here's what's exciting I got the first book today I've gotten started uh this is just the first of many many books this is the first uh of a whole flow of information for me this is the first time uh you
want to learn a new skill and you sign up for a class let's say you want to learn accounting or something and you you sign up for the class and you take the first class you get started you thought about it you made some plans for it you made some time for it but there's nothing like sitting there in the class with the pen in your hand and the pad ready to take notes Here I am I'm starting on a New Journey of learning remember that all the turns in life whether in wealth relationships or
knowledge come from compound interest pick business partners with high intelligence energy and above all Integrity don't partner with cynics and pessimists their beliefs are self-fulfilling learn to sell learn to build if you can do both you will be unstoppable arm yourself with specific knowledge accountability and Leverage specific knowledge is knowledge you cannot be trained for if Society can train you it can train someone else and replace you specific knowledge is found by pursuing your genuine curiosity and passion rather than whatever is hot right now building specific knowledge will feel like play to you but will
look like work to others when specific knowledge is taught it's through through apprenticeships not schools specific knowledge is often highly technical or creative it cannot be outsourced or automated Embrace accountability and take business risks under your own name society will reward you with responsibility equity and leverage fortunes require leverage business leverage comes from Capital people and products with no marginal cost of replication code and media cap Capital means money to raise money apply your specific knowledge with accountability and show resulting good judgment labor means people working for you it's the oldest and most fought over
form of Leverage labor leverage will impress your parents but don't waste your life chasing it capital and labor are permissioned leverage everyone is chasing Capital but someone has to give it to you everyone is trying to lead but someone has to follow you code and media are permissionless leverage they're The Leverage behind the newly Rich you can create software and media that works for you while you sleep Leverage is a forced multiplier for your judgment judgment requires experience but can be built Faster by learning foundational skills there is no skill called business avoid Business magazines
and business classes study microeconomics game Theory psychology persuasion ethics mathematics and computers reading is faster than listening doing is faster than watching you should be too busy to do coffee while still keeping an uncluttered calendar set and enforce an aspirational personal hourly rate if fixing a problem will save less than your hourly rate ignore it if Outsourcing a task will cost less than your hourly rate Outsource it work as hard as you can even though who you work with and what you work on are more important than how hard you work become the best in
the world at what you do keep redefining what you do until this is true there are no get rich quick schemes those are just someone else getting rich off you apply specific knowledge with leverage and eventually you will get what you deserve when you're finally wealthy you'll realize it wasn't what you were seeking in the first place
