How to Achieve What You Want in Life
When it comes to contemplating what you want to achieve in life, this quote, for the most part, is true.
“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” – Napolean Hill
It’s worked for me countless times in my life, most notably the goal of having a business “just like Early to Rise”.
In 2001 I discovered the wisdom of my greatest business mentor, Michael Masterson (real name: Mark Ford) here at EarlyToRise.com.
Delivering a daily dose of health, wealth, and wisdom on living a better life, it became my blueprint to success.
After a few years of learning from Mark, and even having a few of my health tips published in the daily e-letter, I hired my first business coach, Tom Venuto.
The very first question on the very first call (back in March, 2006) went like this:
Tom: Craig, tell me what you’d like to have your business look like in 5 years?
Me: I want to have something like Early To Rise.
Fast forward 5 years, 3 months, and 17 days to June, 2011. I received a text message from my friend, Matt Smith. He knew about my goal of having a business like ETR, and it just happened that Matt was hanging out with Mark Ford at a small publisher’s conference in Pennsylvania.
The two of them, mutually respectful of one another’s business acumen, had gotten to talking about their future plans. Matt had just sold his main business and was looking around for a new project. Mark was ready to exit ETR and move on to something else.
It was all coming together.
Matt asked me in that text, “If you could run ETR, would you be interested?”
I was amazed. Here was my opportunity to not only have a business ‘like’ ETR, but actually to run the one-and-only original newsletter. I jumped at the chance.
Matt and I flew down to Florida to meet Mark at his office (and the former location of ETR) in Delray Beach the next week. After a nice long conversation on the back patio of Mark’s favorite cigar bar, a deal was struck for Matt and I to acquire significant ownership in the company. We’d take control of the day-to-day operations within weeks.
It required a lot of work, and many, many changes. ETR was not in a good place at the time. Mark’s attention had long drifted from it to his new project, The Palm Beach Letter. Even the team in place at ETR all wanted to be somewhere else, and so when Matt and I took over, they all found new positions in the parent company of ETR, called Agora, Inc. Everyone was much happier, and ETR had a new lease on life.
For the next six months we bootstrapped ETR back to health in lean start-up mode. All the while we believed in a return to greatness for this once-proud brand.
As I traveled to seminar after seminar on my regular schedule, I heard from so many long-time ETR readers who wanted to know how this all came to be. Well, that’s the story of how I achieved my dream.
First, I had my vision. I let my mind conceive it, then I believed it and worked towards it every day for nearly 10 years (since I read my first issue of ETR in 2001).
Every article I wrote better prepared me for my role as editor. Every seminar I attended allowed me to meet more people that would help me on my journey. Every book on selling, coaching, writing, and growing a business primed me for this opportunity.
Second, I shared my goal with positive people, like Tom and Matt, as well as others like Bedros Keuilian, Yanik Silver, Joe Polish, and many other mentors and friends. Only by doing so did this incredible opportunity come to my attention.
Had I remained isolated with my goals, the chance meeting of Mark and Matt would unlikely have led to anything more than a passing conversation about ETR, and both shrugging their shoulders and probably agreeing that, “Well, ETR had a good run,” before taking it out back for the Old Yeller treatment.
That’s why you must not only conceive of and believe in great things in your mind, but you must also find mentors and positive social support systems where you can share your goals. Great places to do so include:
– My www.TTMembers.com forum and my www.TurbulenceTrainingFanpage.com Facebook page, for all of those readers interested in making dramatic physical and fat loss body transformations
– Our ETR Facebook page here.
– At our in person Mastermind meetings – see www.100kinfogroup.com – and at my annual Turbulence Training Summit (next one is June 2017).
These positive social connections will help you change your life and achieve your biggest dreams.
Don’t be satisfied with the norm if you want more. It’s okay to want to achieve special results. The world needs folks who dream and achieve big things.
“The starting point of all achievement is DESIRE. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results, just as a small fire makes a small amount of heat,” says Napolean Hill.
Achievement is success. It means you’ve carried out your plans, reached your goals, transformed your body and your mind.
It’s not easy, nothing worthwhile ever is, but the sheer joy of victory of achieving what your mind can conceive cannot be beat. It doesn’t matter if your goal is about making money, raising a happy and healthy family, or losing 20 pounds, it is all possible when you have a vision, action plan, and social support system in place.
There are good people out there that want to help. There are success blueprints that will show you the way.
Every path to success has already been trod. You just need to keep following the footsteps of past success pioneers, stand on the shoulders of giants, and lean on your network to help you leapfrog your way up the ladder to achieve your dreams.
Napolean Hill was right. Achievement is possible. It all starts with believing, something you can do right now.
Take action. Believe. Plan your path. Stick to your vision. And let your dreams come true. It might not happen overnight, with a long-term vision, resilience and persistence, you can achieve what your mind conceives.
And I can’t wait to hear all about it.
Tell us what you have conceived, believed, and achieved here.