There’s a very common understanding floating around among the successful people of this world. It’s the fact that most of the decisions they have made and will continue to make are not the same decisions that the majority of people would make. They tend to stand out in a crowd because they are walking the opposite direction. While everyone else merely chooses to go with the flow, they choose to resist and make their own path.

Here’s some statistics that may shock you a bit. Less than 5% of the people of this world will live their dreams out. Less than 5% will accomplish their goals. So what are the other 95% of people doing? They are probably doing what everyone else is doing, or what everyone else says they should be doing. It just makes sense.

Here’s a question for you: When you hear of a success story, why is it always taking place in the middle of opposition or adversity? Any clue?

This analogy might paint a better picture for you.

Have you ever flown a kite? Please say yes, because if you said no, you missed out on an important part of childhood. What do you have to do to get the kite up in the air? First off, some wind is required. You can still kind of make a kite fly without it if you are sprinting while holding the string, but that’s no fun. The wind is the key to all flight. It’s called resistance. Kites fly their best going against the wind, not with it. It’s the resistance that makes them fly. A kite flying with the wind will just fizzle out and fall to the ground to be tossed to and fro. Against the wind, you can feel the power behind the string and it soars.

The same applies to you and I. If it is success you desire, first understand that if you could obtain it by making the same decisions as everyone around you, then everyone around you would be wildly successful. You must go against the flow. You must think differently. Resistance is a good thing on the climb to success. It builds you and gives you the wind necessary to fly. So if you announce to your friends and family that you intend on starting a business and they all tell you not to do it, know you are thinking and making decisions differently. You are on the path.

Don’t try to avoid resistance. It’s all part of the process and necessary for growth. Try this one on for size. We all know how successful Wal Mart is right? Well, they get sued a ridiculous amount. Is it because they are a horrible store? No! They are just wildly successful and everyone else who is not, can’t stand that fact. So they resist!

In my opinion, if you get something negative written about you on an internet forum from someone you have never met, get told that you will never succeed, placed an ad that didn’t work, wasted money with an idea, have been told you are crazy for starting that business or anything similar, you are doing something right!

If you ever find yourself in the majority, and your goal is to become wildly successful, you are doing something wrong. Making decisions, that are just like everyone elses decisions, lands you right where everyone else is. Choose to go against the flow a bit and see what happens!

Just a little while ago my wife and I were in Flagstaff Arizona and happened to be in the Kohl’s parking lot waiting on a buddy of mine to pick me up. We had planned a trip to LA for a training seminar at the Hubbard College of Administration and were going to travel there together. While waiting there in the parking lot, I couldn’t help but notice an empty parking spot right up front. I thought to myself, how could that spot still be open? There were people coming in and out of the parking lot and it should have been taken by now.

So I strolled over there and noticed a sign posted there at the head of the parking spot. As I got closer, I noticed that the sign read, “Reserved for Associate of the Month.” I stood there in awe for a moment just thinking about the whole thing. I thought to myself how badly I would not want to have that parking spot and I will tell you why. I know that the associate of the month probably only makes around $25,000 to $35,000 a year, tops. That income may be great for a college student or someone who is looking for a job, but not me. I also know the amount of time that associate has put into that job to reach that status and also know that there had to be a little kissing up to get there. They probably get a plaque or a framed picture on the wall in some hallway or break room as well. There is no monetary reward, maybe a promotion in the future is all. The perks involve a first class parking spot and some sought after recognition.

Associate of the Month

All I have to say is WOW! Congratulations to all of you who have ever received an “Associate of the Month” award. You know what it reminds me of? It reminds me of the movie, “Employee of the Month,” with Dane Cook and Jessica Simpson. Funny movie. You should watch it if you haven’t! It made me appreciate where I am in my life even more.

Now, in my business opportunity we also have an associate of the month. Here you also get a lot of the same perks as you do at a retail store. You get your picture put online, you get a video of you and your success to put on your website, your name is announced on a company wide call and you are given the recognition for your success that you deserve. The differences are in the income. The difference is over 6-figures! At Kohl’s an associate of the month may clear $30,000, with this business opportunity one will probably clear $250,000. And this is the crazy thing, they do it in about 20 hours of work per week. That’s probably less than half of the time an employee puts in whether associate of the month or not! It’s amazing what can happen to your income by simply thinking at a bigger level. The bigger level is Entrepreneurship.

Big difference right!? So as much as I love the front parking spot, I think I will stay right where I’m at. What do you think?

A man was walking down a street. It was a very nice street with all kinds of shops, restaurants and people. It was the most prosperous street in town and this certain man was having a fantastic time. He was headed to a restaurant he had heard about and lunch time was approaching. Well, before eating the best meal he would ever have, he looked at a wall down an alley, and read something someone wrote. It said, “This is the worst street in the world. Don’t eat the food, it’s the worst food you will ever have and it costs way too much!” Well, naturally, the guy decided not to eat at the restaurant, which is also the choice that most people would make. Only very few actually go into the restaurant after reading the writing on the wall. These very few are the people that enjoy the best food and will continue to return to the restaurant regardless of what someone else says, because they know first hand and create their own opinions. It turns out, the guy who wrote that comment on the wall, which is graffiti, lives just below it in a cardboard box.

The Graffiti Restaurant

The internet is a wall full of graffiti from people who have been offended, found fault, found what they thought were greener pastures or just plainly quit. That’s why it is there. They can’t blame themselves for their own failure. That would be crazy right?! So they make their blame public by using the internet.

I mean, someone could walk into paradise and still find something wrong with it if they were looking for it. Right!? Thus is life. As an example, I live near Phoenix Arizona. I’m not saying that Phoenix is paradise okay, but when it rains, it cools off the entire town, and for a brief moment, can be paradisical. It only rains a few times a year there and people were actually complaining about the rain, wishing it would stop. This is proof that people will complain about anything, regardless of what a blessing it is.

Ten times out of ten, the guy to listen to is definitely not the guy who moves from one opportunity to the next, hoping that it will be better than the last. And ten times out of ten, the ones to listen to are not the bums writing graffiti in forums. The ones to listen to are the people who have created success. It just makes sense! You just have to ask yourself the questions, “Who do want to become like?” If you want to be a graffiti bum, take advice from the graffiti bum. If you want to be outrageously successful, take advice from the outrageously successful. Simple!

I eagerly await the day when the majority of the people take the advice of someone successful over the opinion of 30 people who are not. Following the majority has never been the way to create success in life. Otherwise, everyone would be outrageously successful. If you are following the majority, chances are, your results are just like the majority, average! Ask Albert Einstein if he followed the majority, Abraham Lincoln, Michael Jordan. There a leaders and there are followers. A follower, is not a leader.

It turns out, the restaurant owner in the story decides to leave the statement on the wall that deters so many people and is glad it is there. Why? It’s because he now gets the perfect customer. The customer who is loyal and returns often and tells all his other loyal friends about this great restaurant. The statement on the wall keeps out the ones who would have found fault, even in paradise! It keeps the ones out that are “wishy-washy” in their decisions and jump from one thing to the next. It keeps out the ones who are terrified to experience change. It keeps out the followers of the majority. The graffiti bum has actually done the restaurant owner a huge favor!

You, the one reading this, might be the one who bases decisions on what the graffiti says. If it is you, I hope you are enjoying “average!”

Choose to be the one out of 30 who can see past the graffiti and the bum living below it, who was the author of it.

Have you ever sat there just wondering what might have happened if you would have done one thing or another different? Have you ever asked yourself the question, “What if?” What if I would have gone out for football when I was a senior? What if I hadn’t injured my knees my junior year in basketball? What if I had started that business I was thinking about starting a while back? The questions could go on and on and if you are a normal person, you have asked yourself similar questions throughout your life.

Now, in a sense, these questions can also be considered as mild regrets. It’s not that your life would have been completely different with some of the choices you wonder about, but with others, your life would be on a completely different track. So are all choices important? Absolutely they are, and it kills me to see people who are so undecided when faced with a choice to act. Indecision is still a decision not to act. If a person never acts, they become victims to the term, “Whatever happens, happens!” They are not in control of where they end up.

Now for me, I love being in control. In fact, I spend time every day to visualize my life in the near and distant future. I know exactly where I am going to end up. I devote time to knowing where I will be. Then I choose to act on the things that will move me closer to where I already know I am going to be. It’s simple really and just a matter of knowing.

This question can also be used in direct correlation to fear. What if I fail at this new business, what if I make the wrong decision, what if everybody hates the way I sing, what if nobody likes the subjects I blog about. I read a quote yesterday from Dr. Seuss that read, “Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”

My goal is to have the lowest amount of, “What if’s” in my life. If you think about the path you have traveled in your life up to this point, how would it be different if you had made some different decisions? What if you would have married that other girl, what if you had gone out for sports, what if you had chosen a different major, or what if you had started that business when you had wanted to? Your life would be on a different path, a worse path or may even a better path.

Here’s my advice, make your decisions, and make them quickly. Success is all about momentum. Don’t waste away your precious time thinking about things. That will only kill your momentum and thinking will not get you anywhere. Acting on those thoughts is the secret.

Be decided, always. You are either on one side of the fence or the other. There is no middle. Indecision is a decision not to act, thus staying on your current path of being tossed to a fro by the wind of life. Decisions are the rudders on your ship. Use them to chart your course to your predetermined, premeditated destination. Don’t be the one sitting around months or even years from now asking yourself the question, “What if!”

I little while ago I had promised you, my readers, that I would finish the Philosophies of the Ant series. I apologize, my worst enemy showed up in my life for a bit and I just got rid of him. His name is procrastination!

Philosophies of the Ant – Remain Loyal and Honest

In my industry you have people come and go, I mean, it’s a fact of life. Some people just can’t stay in one place for very long. I don’t know if it is lack of an attention span, boredom or the fact that they want to stay distant and never establish a connection or relationship with others. Maybe they always feel that the grass is greener on the other side of the river. Who knows? But what I do know, if you are having success on one side of the river, the grass is seldom greener on the other side of it. In fact, it’s probably wilted and a little tainted.

So here’s the point I would like to make: You will become more successful, you will grow more and help more people become successful with a firm foundation than you ever will without a foundation. Find a business that creates the success you desire and then stay put! Strengthen your foundation and as you do, you will have the ability to support more.

Take a look at a colony of ants. Can any ant just up and leave and set root with some other neighboring colony? If you’re a red ant can you just shack up with a colony of black ants? No! The ant would be killed, torn apart! Ants are very loyal to their colony. They die building it, supporting it and then protecting it. They have a place there I’m sure take ownership in the colony. It is their colony!

Whatever business you decide to get involved in, once you create your success, stay put. Strengthen your foundation right where you are, take ownership in the company you are with because you are the company. You are stock, and as your value increases, so will the value of the company and as that happens, new heights will be reached. Records will be broken and you, along with all the others next to you, will set the standard for everyone else.

By moving around, you are choosing to be selfish, only thinking about #1, yourself. Sure, you may have success, but with no foundation, and without a foundation, your business will never have the success it should and would. What happens to a tooth that is moved around a lot? The root shortens and by doing so, the tooth becomes weaker. The same happens to Entrepreneurs.

On top of being loyal, the only kind of business to do is honest business. Without honesty and integrity in foundation, your footers will turn to sand and your enterprise will collapse. It’s like forgetting the one component in cement that, over a short period, turns solid.

Practice honesty and integrity in everything you do, not just business. True depth in any business comes from respect and a good name. You get that by remaining loyal and honest, always.

What do you think it means when you see or hear the phrase, “Take Control of Your Life?” First off, does it resonate with you at all? Are you inspired to make it happen, to take control?

Well, either it does or it doesn’t. Either you completely understand or you don’t at all. There is no in between on this one. And if you don’t understand, that’s alright. I am here to educate you, to open your eyes a little and to show you the life you should be living, but have simply not yet chosen to.

Take Control of Your Life

So what does “Take Control” truly mean?  Taking control involves actually getting off your butt and doing something about your situation. It entails going where you want, creating what you want, making sure you get what you want and having the foresight to even see what you want before you create it in reality. That is control and any variance if it puts you in in a situation where you are being controlled by something else.

For instance, someone might decide to take control in their own life by going out and making it happen by finding the job or their dreams. Now, what have they just done? They took control, went up to another person/company and handed them the reins and said, “I would like you to control my life for “x” amount of dollars!” Taking control is not going to a job so that someone else can tell you how to live your life. Taking control involves you making the big decisions, not someone else.

How do you know if you are in control? What did you do today? Were you in control of your time, your money, your life, or was it a boss or punch clock at work. Think about it. What have you given control to? Did any of your action and decisions today move you closer to your ultimate lifestyle, or did it just move your closer to paying the bills knowing that it starts all over again tomorrow?

The good news is…..it’s temporary. It can be changed.

Quick story: This is how we finally decided to take control. At first, I thought taking control was getting my dream job, because that is how I was raised. I soon learned, through my training in the military, my dream job was going to give me absolutely zero control over my life. I wanted to be a helicopter pilot. So, we started this business after a long lesson from the Army. We initially spent around $1500 to get started. That was a big deal to us, but not really, now that I look back. $1500 is not a lot of money! If you think it is, you have not yet decided to take control of your financial life. I knew what income I wanted, and at this stage, it would take another $20,000 to reach it.

So here Amy and I were. We were at a crossroad. We didn’t have $20,000 in the bank to invest. We had two options: We could allow our circumstance to dictate us, which was a lack of money, or we could continue to move forward and stay in front of the steering wheel. Now, I could see very clearly what my life would be like if I could just get to that next level. To do that, I had to find the $20,000. Yet, I was still in my situation. I didn’t have the money, but what did I do? Did I hang my head and droop my shoulders and give up the control? No!! I figured it out and found the money! I took control of my own life and did something about it. I made sure my life went in the direction I wanted it to. I paved the road with my own two hands and then I walked! I took action. I made sure it would happen! I did! Not someone else. I did.

Taking control of your life may be, and most likely will be, uncomfortable. It’s uncomfortable because it involves change. Changes, out of ambition, that you make to your own life are always good, regardless of how uncomfortable it gets. You should get comfortable doing the uncomfortable.

Think about what you truly want. Make a plan to get there. Then take MASSIVE action and ensure that it happens. You are the only one that can, and the only one willing to do it! Make it happen. It’s your life. You’ve only got one!