Lesson #2: Make A Commitment To Be The Very Best

“My first ambition in life was to be Miles Davis,” recalls Gardner. “I didn’t want to be a trumpet player, an artist or a jazz musician – I literally wanted to be Miles. My mom said to me, ‘Baby, you can’t be Miles. There ain’t but one, and he got that job.’ But I made a commitment at an early age that I wanted to be world class at something,”

Before realizing that his dream of becoming Miles Davis was unattainable, Gardner had spent nine years studying trumpet. “I wanted to be world class at it or world class at something,” he recalls. “At 18, Miles Davis was in New York playing with Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. At the same age, I was playing with some cats named Pookie and Ray Ray. It wasn’t going to happen.”

Gardner attributes his rise to the top to his mother and her “spiritual genetics”, which encouraged Gardner to dream big dreams for himself and strive to become the best. “We all understand genetics,” says Gardner. “You get your eyes from your dad, your mom’s nose, there’s nothing you can do about that. But your spiritual genetics you can choose, pick, embrace and commit to. That’s what I did.”

Gardner’s mother was a natural born teacher; she both loved doing it and did it well. But, after being abandoned by her husband, she found herself in the position of having to care for 12 children all on her own. She sacrificed her dream of teaching to take numerous part-time jobs that could better support the family. “Though my mom had too many of her own dreams denied, deferred and destroyed, she instilled in me that I could have dreams,” says Gardner. “And not just have dreams but had a responsibility to make them reality. My mom taught me from a very early age that I could do anything I wanted to do.”

One day while the two were watching a college basketball game, Gardner said, “Wow, one day those guys are going to make a million dollars.” His mother replied, “Son, if you want to, one day you could make a million dollars.” Gardner recalls being stunned after hearing that statement. “Until she said it, it wasn’t a possibility. I always knew I wanted to be world class at something. I couldn’t sing, I couldn’t run and catch a ball, and I couldn’t dance. But I was pretty good at reading and writing. So that was my ticket.”

To this day, Gardner maintains the attitude that not only can he do anything he sets his mind to, but he can succeed and become the very best at it. “We bag elephants,” Gardner says of the high-powered investment deals he negotiates on daily basis. “That's our motto. We go after the big deals because it takes just as much effort to land a $500 account as it does to land a $5 million one.”



Lesson #2: Make A Commitment To Be The Very Best

Like this article? Share it with your friends

E-Mail | Print | Post | Republish | More

Related Articles
Selling swimming pools is the same as selling what you sell
	6 Lessons about selling Lesson # 1: Make sure the person the customer talks to on the telephone is a good representative for your business. Lesson # 2: Never assume you know what the customer’s problems (needs a...
Getting Rich Is An Exact Science
	People who do things in this certain way whether they do it consciously or unconsciously get rich. In science in order for a theory to be proven correct and accepted as fact it must always produce like results from ...
Small Business Success: Commitment One Piece of the Puzzle
	With the high rate of business failure, many entrepreneurs continually seek small business help to ensure success. Learn how commitment may be that one piece missing from your success puzzle.
Strategic Commitments To Build Trust With Clients According to Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
	Today many small business owners are accountable only to themselves. And guess what? That means they are really accountable to no one. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach strongly believes that accountability ...
Nine Commitments That Will Emphasize Business Ethics and Company Core Values Are Extremely Crucial To Your Business
	In the last few years, business ethics and company core values are among the most critical discussions I facilitate during strategic planning and business coaching endeavors. This is partly due to he tremendous neg...

---

Related Forum Posts
	Dan Kennedy Marketing Methods
	Re: Women entrepreneur millionaires
	Viral Web Marketing
	Re: Dan Kennedy Marketing Methods
	Re: May Traffic Drop Off from Google's Update
	Re: How do I upload my picture?
	Increase Productivity and Profits on the Web
	Tax returns!