1. What level of risk are you willing to take?
2. What are you doing to nurture your network?
3. What are your 25-year goals?
It’s amazing what you can achieve when you address those three questions. It is easy to rationalize why you’re not successful and make that why it’s ok to accept being average as good enough. Average is what other people do, but it’s not what you do. Watch me expand these three questions in this video!
If you answer these three questions, the trajectory of your career and life will dramatically change. These questions are inter-related, too. There are few people with real 25-year goals. What people have is 25-year dreams; however, a dream without a plan is just a dream. The level of risk that you’re willing to take typically aligns with the people you interact with. Let me tell you that how you answer one question will determine how you answer the other two. Another words, cautious people tend to associate with cautious people.
First, answer the last question: what are your 25-year goals? It will blow your mind if you start thinking 25 years into the future. Most people overestimate what they can get done in a week or a month but underestimate what they can accomplish in a year. Take that comment and expand it to 25 years. Few people develop practical 25-year goals. Now, I am not expecting you to lock in your 25-year action plan and vow to never change it. No! That’s where the other two questions come into play: the stronger your network and the greater your tolerance of risk, the more your 25-year goals will change and most likely become bigger.
For the second question, I recommend following this strategy. First, never allow a week to pass without helping another person in your network. Second, create a list of 25 people that you would like to have in your network, but you don’t know now. When building your list, think big and then even bigger. If you want Richard Branson in your network, write his name down. If you want Sheryl Sandberg, add her to the list. Those 25 people are not ones you’re going to meet in the next month and may may take years to meet them, but that’s the best part about it! If you want Richard Branson in your network, I doubt you could call him up and say, “Hey Richard! Let’s grab coffee.” That won’t happen. I’m sorry. What you can and will do is start a journey to meet others that do know Richard. When you put a high-profile name on your list, you’re telling yourself that you will continue to add other people of great influence. As you work toward connecting with your super list of 25, you’ll end up meeting others that will just make your world significantly bigger.
Finally, let’s look at the first question: what level of risk are you willing to take? Your tolerance of risk is directly proportionate to whom you associate. Think about your list of 25 people: each one is probably a big thinker who has taken risks to achieve their level of success. This means that these people have most likely surrounded themselves with risk takers, too. Do you see what I’m trying to get at? As you expand your network to reach your super 25, you’ll find yourself with risk takers and the natural outcome is you becoming more risk oriented.
Now, I bet you’re asking what is the definition of risk? The best answer is any result that goes beyond what you think is possible. The beauty of this definition is that as you do one thing that seems impossible, you become comfortable and suddenly you’ll find yourself taking even greater risks. The best way to feel confident in doing this is ensuring you have “risk-confident” focused people in your network. These people are defined as those that don’t shy away from challenges but rather, step into them knowing that they will find a way to make it work.
Success is completely up to you, and it begins by digging deep into these three questions. Ready to go deep? Check out my video on the issue here!
Copyright 2019, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results
