Success Isn't an Entitlement--It's Earned
Success Isn't an Entitlement--It's Earned
Success is largely determined by our hard work and our choices. I know many people who work hard but make bad choices. It's amazing how many of them think they deserve to be more successful because they feel like they've worked so hard. On the other hand, I don't know very many, if any, successful people who have made good choices but didn't work hard.
Working hard is only the first part of success. Making good choices is the second part. It truly takes both to achieve success at whatever you do.
I knew someone who was constantly lamenting her "bad luck." She wasn't happy with the various jobs that she had over the years, her personal life was a shambles, she was almost 30, hadn't completed college, and constantly had money problems. She often blamed situations or other people for the various predicaments that she was in. However, the glaringly obvious truth was that although she worked fairly hard, she continually made horrible choices. One day she would complain about money, and the next day she'd buy something totally extravagant and completely unnecessary. The next week she'd complain about not being able to get a good job while showing up to work an hour late for personal reasons (which happened regularly).
From time to time, she'd talk to me about her issues, and I'd point out the choices she made that led to the current problem at hand. Each time she'd pay lip service to acknowledging the connection, but the truth is, she never took ownership for the real problem--her choices. She once lamented, "Why me, why me, I deserve better!" I didn't offer my opinion on this question, but what I wanted to tell her was that "everyone feels like they 'deserve better' at some point in their life--get over it, stop complaining, and start really doing something about it. Work hard and make better choices!"
I've had the opportunity during my career to work with thousands of people who have experienced varying degrees of success in their lives. One of the recurring themes I see with these people is that they plan their work and work their plan. That is, they think through their choices, make the best ones they can with the information they have, and then work hard to carry those choices out.
As the CEO for an international business, I know that the choices I make are sometimes pretty important to the business. The decisions I make can impact hundreds of employees, franchise owners and associates as well as tens of thousands of clients around the world. Years ago, I was talking to a friend about some tough decisions I had to make and my concerns about them. He gave me some great advice. He said: "Not every decision you make has to be a good one. Just make sure that you make more good ones than bad ones, and when you make a bad one, minimize the impact by fixing it quick."
Wow! This was great advice. It's advice that squarely hits the point about working hard and making good choices. Not every choice you make has to be on the mark. However, enough of them do in order for you to get the kind of results you want. Some of my biggest lessons in business have come from my losses, not my successes. Generally, neither had much to do with luck, but instead, with the choices I made or the commitment I gave to the project.
Not long ago, I was talking to someone I've known for years about the growth of my business and some other personal goals I've recently met, and he said: "Man, you're lucky. It must be nice."
I responded to him by saying, "Yes, I'm lucky; let me tell you the secret to my luck...
"First, I went to college for 10 years. During that time, I started my own business and worked really long hours for two decades. Along the way, I mortgaged my house a couple times for the business, and I wrote five books. You, too, can have this kind of luck. All you need to do is apply this kind of effort to whatever you do, and you can be just as lucky."
He laughed and said, "OK, OK, I get it!" Did he really get it though? I don't think so, because he hasn't changed his behavior or started making different choices. If being successful were easy, everyone would have the success they think they deserve.
For most of those two decades I mentioned above, I didn't feel very lucky or incredibly successful. It took time, effort, hard work and fairly decent choices before I felt any modicum of success. The problem is that many people want to go from point A to point Z and bypass all the challenges in between. They work hard, therefore "deserve" the success they want.
Success is not an entitlement. It's not a "right" or a "claim" that we should have. Oh, people have the right to "pursue" success, but that's it. Success is most often earned, not handed over because you are entitled. I think I was in my thirties before I truly understood and internalized that notion.
The other day, I asked my 9-year-old son to quote the "mantra" of success that I had been teaching him. I said, "Trey, what's the secret to success?" He said, in a young boy's slightly bored sing-song tone: "The secret to success without hard work and good choices is still a secret, Dad. Can I go out and play now?"
OK, maybe 9 is a little young to start the training...but, maybe not.
________________________________________
Dr. Ivan Misner is the Founder and Chairman of BNI, the world's largest business networking organization, which has more than 4,600 chapters in 37 countries. Dr. Misner is also the author of several books, including the New York Times bestseller TRUTH OR DELUSION? (www.truthordelusion.com), and he is the Senior Partner for the Referral Institute (www.referralinstitute.com), a referral training company with operations around the world.
Success Isnt an EntitlementIts Earned - To learn more about this author, visit Ivan R. Misner's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 |
Free Download - How to Become a Master Networker |
Everyone wants some degree of success. They might want it in different forms, but I've never met anyone who didn't want to be successful in or at something important in their lives. This is good, because I believe that everyone's entitled to pursue success--but success itself is not an entitlement.
Success is largely determined by our hard work and our choices. I know many people who work hard but make bad choices. It's amazing how many of them think they deserve to be more successful because they feel like they've worked so hard. On the other hand, I don't know very many, if any, successful people who have made good choices but didn't work hard.
Working hard is only the first part of success. Making good choices is the second part. It truly takes both to achieve success at whatever you do.
I knew someone who was constantly lamenting her "bad luck." She wasn't happy with the various jobs that she had over the years, her personal life was a shambles, she was almost 30, hadn't completed college, and constantly had money problems. She often blamed situations or other people for the various predicaments that she was in. However, the glaringly obvious truth was that although she worked fairly hard, she continually made horrible choices. One day she would complain about money, and the next day she'd buy something totally extravagant and completely unnecessary. The next week she'd complain about not being able to get a good job while showing up to work an hour late for personal reasons (which happened regularly).
From time to time, she'd talk to me about her issues, and I'd point out the choices she made that led to the current problem at hand. Each time she'd pay lip service to acknowledging the connection, but the truth is, she never took ownership for the real problem--her choices. She once lamented, "Why me, why me, I deserve better!" I didn't offer my opinion on this question, but what I wanted to tell her was that "everyone feels like they 'deserve better' at some point in their life--get over it, stop complaining, and start really doing something about it. Work hard and make better choices!"
I've had the opportunity during my career to work with thousands of people who have experienced varying degrees of success in their lives. One of the recurring themes I see with these people is that they plan their work and work their plan. That is, they think through their choices, make the best ones they can with the information they have, and then work hard to carry those choices out.
As the CEO for an international business, I know that the choices I make are sometimes pretty important to the business. The decisions I make can impact hundreds of employees, franchise owners and associates as well as tens of thousands of clients around the world. Years ago, I was talking to a friend about some tough decisions I had to make and my concerns about them. He gave me some great advice. He said: "Not every decision you make has to be a good one. Just make sure that you make more good ones than bad ones, and when you make a bad one, minimize the impact by fixing it quick."
Wow! This was great advice. It's advice that squarely hits the point about working hard and making good choices. Not every choice you make has to be on the mark. However, enough of them do in order for you to get the kind of results you want. Some of my biggest lessons in business have come from my losses, not my successes. Generally, neither had much to do with luck, but instead, with the choices I made or the commitment I gave to the project.
Not long ago, I was talking to someone I've known for years about the growth of my business and some other personal goals I've recently met, and he said: "Man, you're lucky. It must be nice."
I responded to him by saying, "Yes, I'm lucky; let me tell you the secret to my luck...
"First, I went to college for 10 years. During that time, I started my own business and worked really long hours for two decades. Along the way, I mortgaged my house a couple times for the business, and I wrote five books. You, too, can have this kind of luck. All you need to do is apply this kind of effort to whatever you do, and you can be just as lucky."
He laughed and said, "OK, OK, I get it!" Did he really get it though? I don't think so, because he hasn't changed his behavior or started making different choices. If being successful were easy, everyone would have the success they think they deserve.
For most of those two decades I mentioned above, I didn't feel very lucky or incredibly successful. It took time, effort, hard work and fairly decent choices before I felt any modicum of success. The problem is that many people want to go from point A to point Z and bypass all the challenges in between. They work hard, therefore "deserve" the success they want.
Success is not an entitlement. It's not a "right" or a "claim" that we should have. Oh, people have the right to "pursue" success, but that's it. Success is most often earned, not handed over because you are entitled. I think I was in my thirties before I truly understood and internalized that notion.
The other day, I asked my 9-year-old son to quote the "mantra" of success that I had been teaching him. I said, "Trey, what's the secret to success?" He said, in a young boy's slightly bored sing-song tone: "The secret to success without hard work and good choices is still a secret, Dad. Can I go out and play now?"
OK, maybe 9 is a little young to start the training...but, maybe not.
________________________________________
Dr. Ivan Misner is the Founder and Chairman of BNI, the world's largest business networking organization, which has more than 4,600 chapters in 37 countries. Dr. Misner is also the author of several books, including the New York Times bestseller TRUTH OR DELUSION? (www.truthordelusion.com), and he is the Senior Partner for the Referral Institute (www.referralinstitute.com), a referral training company with operations around the world.
Success Isnt an EntitlementIts Earned - To learn more about this author, visit Ivan R. Misner's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
|||
Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
|||
Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
|||
Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Ivan's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 | |
|
| |
 | |||||||
|
 | ||
|
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 Buying 2.0 Life Purpose Strategic Plan Online Marketing Tools Self-Employment Guide |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 HR Blogs 2009
Top 50 HR Blogs 2009 | |
 |
Top 50 Productivity Blogs
Top Blogs To Watch In 2009 | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
| ||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||