Very Good Words From a Very Good Vlogger

One of the vloggers that I follow, PhillyD, made a very good post to his blog on motivation today. In it, he says “Keep in mind, just because you want something, everything will not fall into place. If you want something don’t walk, RUN!”

That got me thinking on the essence of our successes and failures in business and in life. There are different types of personalities when it comes to motivation:

1. There are those who believe in chance; that ultimately we are ruled by luck and coincidence. Serendipity, if you will.
2. There are those who’s motivations are ruled by faith in God.
3. There are those that believe that success is a product of action (a point which Phil makes very well in his post)

Now, me, I’m a mixture of 2 & 3 for good reasons.

But my wife pointed out an interesting statistic she discovered online. She’s passing into her 14th year in business, a feat that many businesses can only dream of. But the interesting fact that she pointed out to me was that of all the small businesses that are started every year, only a small 4% make it to 10 years!

That’s an incredible fact!

It’s in these insurmountable odds that many of us go into business and seek to be successful. Motivation and hard work are the keys to being in the minority. Does that mean that all businesses that fail do so because of their lack of motivation or because they don’t work hard enough. No. There are always circumstances that can cause difficulties for businesses, but it is the willingness to get back up after you’ve been knocked down, that drive to get up every morning and make your day the way that you want it. It is refusing to succumb to normalcy and strive for something greater that makes successful businesses.

You have to be in it to win, even when it doesn’t look hopeful. I work with real estate agents every day and it is an inspiring thing to see these agents become nimble and seek new creative ways to market listings and fight to become successful. It’s a difficult market right now for them with optimism waning and external market forces trying to work against them (although locally, we have one of the best markets to be in). They are striving to be different and working hard at it. That’s the motivation that makes you successful.

So I’ve just got to ask: what’s your motivation? Where do you see yourself 10 years from now? And more importantly, what are you going to do to make it to 10 years and beyond?

Visualizing your goals and then PUTTING THEM DOWN ON PAPER puts you way ahead of the rest of the crowd because you begin to know and understand what it will take to get you where you want.

If you want something… really want it… do as Phil says, “don’t walk, RUN!”