01 Sep The Ingredients of Success
Hi folks, let me share with you the ground-breaking truth… Success isn’t easy! Do I hear a collective groan? I remember some time back (probably in my youth) I believed that *everything* I could possibly dream would somehow magically come to pass with a few clicks of my fingers, a shake of my tail feathers or by dine providence.
Didn’t quite turn out that way did it?
The thing is, there are still people these day selling the success myth – and they’re making millions! But their buyers are not. I had a conversation just yesterday with a client who told me of a friend of hers who is going from success seminar to success seminar, buying everything that she can get her hands on, in some desperate attempt to ‘become successful’.
From what I was told, she’s more likely to become broke!
Here’s the point… success *isn’t* easy… but it is possible. It comes about as the result of two things; what you think, and also what you do. These however, must be IN BALANCE. You cannot think your way to success. Just as you cannot simply *do* stuff to make you successful.
Success is a balance of both. It’s al about having the right INGREDIENTS.
Enjoy this week’s video – I know you’re going to learn a lot from it. It’s a cracker!
Paul
Hi there, folks. Paul Barrs signing in for another YouTube update. Thank you for joining with me. As you can see, I love our local parks. It’s a resource which really isn’t probably used well by too many. When was the last time you went down to your local park and spent some time where you just chilled out a little bit, maybe sat down with a good book? I have one with me here today. One of my favorites. Og Mandino, “The University of Success.” This is a book I’ve read through many, many times. And some of the lessons I guess as I go through these, they come from this book, also. The ideas that I get for what I call idea starters.
This is the thing. If you would begin on a journey and perhaps from a mentoring point of view, which is something I do more and more of these days, I have to give myself idea starters, thought starters. Where do I begin? It’s the question so many people ask. “Where do I begin, Paul? What do I do?” Well, I mentioned in the last one that it’s a great idea to build a success library of books, learning from other people’s experiences, yeah. Well, I’m doing that. And I use other people’s experiences as idea starters, thought starters, just to get things going. And today I thought it was worthwhile just talking about some of the essential ingredients of success, what makes up success. These would be good things to know. Don’t you think?
Success Comes From Having Purpose
Well, if I were to list them. I’d begin with number one, which is a purpose. Something which drives you. Something which ignites your fire. Something that you have a passion about. The purpose that gets you out of bed. Now, I’m the first one to admit that I don’t always get out of bed too quickly. This morning, got up a little bit earlier than normal, hit the gym. I’ve got one just upstairs. And I truthfully had to say that I lay there for a good solid 10, 15 minutes thinking, “Maybe I could just curl up for another hour and a half.” And you know by the time I even finished, I could have slept in two more hours and sat down with my morning coffee at the same time.
But, I have a purpose. I have a goal which I’m working towards at the moment, physically. That’s in gym time, three or four times a week helps me achieve. So, that is my driving purpose. Whatever your goals are, you need to have an equal purpose, something which is going to get you out of bed, ignite your fire that you can push on with, with a passion. This is incredibly important.
Success Comes from Having a Good Batting Average
Now, there’s another thing. The ingredients of success, number two, if I had to give them numbers. Let’s talk about our batting average. How often do I get out of bed more often than I stay in bed? How often do I work hard in the gym than when I just take an easy day? What’s my batting average like? Do you win more than you fail? Good questions. Because you need a good batting average in order to win. Basically, you need to win more often than you fail. You need to do more often than you don’t. These are the things that will make the difference in success. Now, if you are working on a good batting average, you need to look at your skill level. You need to decide and look at what you’re doing and think, well number one, is this the right thing to do or more importantly, if you’ve got that burning desire and that passion and that fire to do it, then you need to look at your skill level and your ability to do it.
I spoke to someone recently who was off to their singing lesson, their first singing lesson ever. I had a good question for them. My question was. Well, can you sing?” And this person responded, “Well, I think I can. Everyone says I can, actually, everyone says I can’t.” But this person thought they could sing. Now, I said to them. I said, “Well, I don’t know if you can sing or not. I won’t ask you now. We’re in a public area, but you need to find out if you can sing. And here’s the thing. If you can’t sing, are singing lessons going to help?”
Well, if you have a driving passion and a burning desire and that fire is in your belly and you want to be able to sing, it will help you sing. Does that mean you’ll ever sing well? Well, no, not if you’re tone deaf. I don’t care how many lessons you take, you will never be able to sing. Sometimes, we just can’t do things. And that’s because our skill level isn’t yet up to speed with our desires, our passions. So, number two, of course, is to look at the batting average. And you need to improve your skill level sometimes if your batting average is not quite where it needs to be.
Success Has a Cost
Number three, the price of success. Yes, there is a cost. There is a cost that you will have to pay. So, what is that price? Are you willing to pay the price for your success in whatever area it is? Me, am I willing to get up early couple of mornings a week, hit the gym before I begin work? Well, most mornings, yes. Yes, I am willing. I am willing to pay that price. Am I willing to learn more and study about the physical attributes of getting a good effective workout in the gym, a good effective run? Am I learning to swim better, to ride better and more effectively when I’m doing the triathlons? Well, yes. I am willing to pay the price.
But, am I willing to hit the road at 6:00 in the morning and go for an 80 kilometer bike ride? In training in practice, is that a price I’m willing to pay? Yes, but not every fricking day of the week. That’s a bit bloody high, as far as I’m concerned, because I don’t do it for a living. I’m just going to do it from time to time for fun. So, that’s hitting the borderline of my price. I will do that as part of a 12 week intensive training program. But, I won’t do it on a regular basis.
What price are you prepared to pay? Are you prepared to give up time with your family? That’s a good one. Are you prepared to work for nothing for a little while, while you build your business? Can you afford to? That’s a good one. These are the decisions you need to make. Let me just throw in something here from personal experience. There is a saying, ladies, I don’t know if this applies to you, but I know it applies to so many men that I have spoken to and also for me. And it has caused me great pain. I used to say, “I’m just working now, honey, if I can work this now, then we’ll make this money and then, well, we’ll have it all.” Two words, bull shit.
Sorry, that is not true. And this is just me, this is just me, my own personal experience has said to me now that, that is a price I am not willing to pay. You know, I have someone special in my life and I have some wonderful friends. And they let me know if I’m just putting them aside for this thing, in pursuit of success. What are you willing to pay? What is the price?
Success Must Be Enjoyed
Now, number four, if I had to give these numbers, I’ll say number four and I’ll say, OK, success is meant to be enjoyed. Do you enjoy what you’re doing in pursuit of the happiness that you’re looking for? Good movie, yes. Do you enjoy it? Because, it’s meant to be enjoyed. The path, you’ve heard the saying, it’s not the destination but the journey that is important. Well, no point in doing it if the journey isn’t fun, I believe. What do you believe? Do you think it’s OK to slave for a year and not enjoy yourself, hoping that you’ll find the enjoyment at the end. I don’t. But, maybe you do. But, whatever it is, you need to decide for yourself. I believe number four is that success is meant to be enjoyed. It’s meant to be fun.
Now, do I enjoy getting up at 6:00 in the morning? No. Anyone who knows me knows that I do not enjoy getting up at 6:00 in the morning to go training. But, there is something magical about once you get started and the adrenaline starts flowing, the endorphins kick in and whacko, I enjoy the workout. It takes no more than probably five, ten minutes during my warm-up, just to start enjoying it. And, I love that feeling. So, yes, I do enjoy it. I love it when I go for a ride and I’m training. I’m doing 50Ks or more. I’ll use my watch, and I track myself on the laps where I train. And I love being able to maintain or push that just a little bit better each time. Now, you might look at me and think, “Paul, you’re crazy. I wouldn’t enjoy that.” That’s OK. You don’t have to. But I do, especially, if I’ve got to get my ass out of bed early in the morning. My earth, I want to enjoy it. So, success must be enjoyed.
Success Comes from a Higher Calling
And here, I guess, number five, the ingredients of success. Number five is I believe, I truly believe and I can’t answer this one for you, but I believe it should have a higher calling. Something above ourselves. Something that will impact upon others more than ourselves. Some might call that a spiritual element. And, I don’t mean a religious thing, absolutely not. But a spiritual element, appealing to a higher sense of self, a higher calling, a higher something, beyond yourself because when we go from doing things, triathlon crap, for myself. OK, it’s crap, hey, it’s just physical stuff. I’m doing it now because I can. One day I won’t be able to. So, it’s a measurable goal, and it’s worthwhile doing now, but I won’t be able to do it forever. So, there has to be something beyond myself.
So, maybe, it is when I’m training with the team. Maybe, it is when I’m working with others. Maybe, it is the lessons that I learn that I can share with you. Perhaps, I’m doing something beyond myself. It’s a hard one, but one of the most difficult lessons for me to learn and I’m still learning it. And I don’t think I’ll ever learn it, but I’ll work on it daily, is just to try and not be so selfish. I put my hand up. I am a selfish so-and-so. I have been most of my life. And I have to consciously think sometimes to do things for other people and I hate that about me. It’s not something that I like. But I believe, in here, I believe that of the five ingredients of success, number five is to do something for others. To make it beyond yourself, to make it outside, hey even if no benefit to you. Imagine that. Well, these are things that I work towards.
I’m just sharing here with you ideas that I get from my experience, that I get from other people’s experience. These are not the be all, end all. These are not the answers. They’re just ideas. They are thought starters for you, I hope, as you endeavor and move towards on your journey of success, whatever that may be for you.
And, of course, I hope you’ll leave a comment here and share with me. How are you going? What do you think? Do you think I’m just blowing smoke up my backside [laughs], as the saying goes? Oh, we’re a bit more flippant here in Australia and we probably do have a few sayings that, whatever, OK, I don’t care. But am I blowing smoke up the quazoo? What do you think of these ideas? Can they give you some ideas, some thought starters because that’s why I record these videos. It’s a beautiful day here. Honestly, I’d rather be down the beach, but I just had the inspiration, the fire in the belly today to get out with my camera and record a few videos. So, I’d love to hear your thoughts down below. Please, leave a comment and let me know what you think.
All right, this is Paul Barrs signing off. My website, PaulBarrs.com. I hope you’ll look it up. That’s P-A-U-L-B-A-R-R-S.com. If you’re watching this video somewhere else, please stop by. I’d love to have you come and join me in this wonderful journey, what I call personal business success. You take care. Bye, bye.
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