Where Success Happens

What does it take to be successful? What is success? How can I get there?

The best answer to the question of what is success is from Og Mandino: “ Success is meeting your goals.”

The answer to what it takes to be successful and how to get there is a bit longer: Success happens at that special intersection of passion, commitment, talent and persistence. Think of those four as separate paths that flow into one path – one powerful path that leads to success – in it's infinite variety. It's a special place, that path.

That special path is different for each of us. It has to be – everyone of us is so special and different in every one of those four requirements. But we all have the capacity to arrive at our own intersection – again and again. What an exciting thought - that each of us can combine and align our special attributes in such a way to be successful – as we choose to define success.

It's sad that so many people have had experiences that have taught them to be safe, to stay on the sidelines and watch, to hold their passions and commitments in check, to see how the wind blows. What an enormous waste of resources,on a personal level and on every other level. Those are the people that are the subject of Henry David Thoreau's statement: “ The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”

It doesn't have to be that way.

The idea that there is the potential to exceed anything yet accomplished through a process of self discovery, discipline, commitment and passion is really exciting – and scary. What's really scary is that it lies within each of our capabilities to grow and reach that intersection and do it again and again in our lives. We can do it at any age, under any circumstance, at any stage – and it's not magic, it's not a silver bullet, it's not limited in any way.

Let's walk down each of these four paths and see how we can get them to join together to create a level of success greater than any yet experienced.

Passion is the first path for a reason. It's the emotion that leads to commitment. It's the feeling that comes from the heart and provides us with the strength to dedicate ourselves to people, places, things, ideas, processes. It's often the most difficult path to find, but once found, it can be the most sustaining and exciting. Passion is excitement, passion is enthusiasm. It's curiosity, it's wanting to share, it's that spark that lights the fire that leads to commitment. The path of passion runs very close to the path of commitment – their intersection is vital to creating the foundation for success.

Commitment comes in many forms. The qualities of commitment that we are looking for start with positiveness; the conviction that we are committing to a worthy cause; the belief that what we commit to will result in a positive outcome, and will improve our life and the lives of others. There is no place on our path for negative, destructive commitment. Positive commitment sustains, negative commitment corrodes and destroys. Commitment requires that special feeling of being part of something bigger than self. If there is a single tipping point on the path to success, it is when that feeling of total commitment occurs - when, as Goethe wrote:

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy,
the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative there is one elementary
truth,
the ignorance of which kills
countless ideas and endless plans:
That at the moment one definitely commits oneself,
then providence moves, too.
All sorts of things occur to help one
that would never otherwise occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of
unforeseen incidents and meetings and
material assistance which no man
could have dreamed would come his way.
Whatever you can do or
dream you can, begin it!
Boldness has genius, power
and magic in it.

Talent is the path where the rubber meets the road – where things can be done – where action to create success occurs. The belief that anyone can do anything if they put their mind to it may be true at one level, but at the practical level of creating success, it hinders more than it helps. An example: without good eye hand coordination and excellent depth perception, no one is going to be a major league baseball player - nobody. They don't have a piece of the puzzle – the talent - that is critical to success. If they persist in trying to a be a major league ball player, they're wasting their time. Some people learn that lesson the hard way. “Experience may be the best teacher, but only fools can learn by no other” is a harsh reality. Others find out what they are good at, and pursue success from that more powerful place. You can have a passion for and a commitment to baseball, you can manifest that passion and commitment as a spectator, as a sportscaster, as a grounds keeper, as a General Manager or a players agent, or as an employee of the team, but as a player – not. The talent has to be there to be successful.

The good news – and it is really good news – is that talent requirements can be identified, talents already present can be identified, and, in many cases, talents that need to be developed can be – it's exciting. Even more exciting is discovering a passion and a commitment that fits with your unique blend of talents – now that's special. Whether it's through experience, failures, successes, self discovery, or tools to help define requirements and capabilities, this is where the engine of success resides – in the talent to drive that passion and commitment.

And then Persistence, the centerline that keeps the forces generated in the paths of Passion, Commitment and Talent moving toward success. I have a framed saying from Ralph Waldo Emerson that I keep within view. It's a powerful message:

Press On

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not: unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

Passion, leading to Commitment, fueled by Talent, and directed by Persistence – the formula for success. And in this time of uncertainty and bad news, it's so important to find or rediscover our passions and commit or recommit to them, develop the talent – the skills and abilities and motivators we need to make them happen - and then persist in meeting our goals.

That's the package. Now's the time. It's not easy – nothing worth doing ever is - but it's worth it – in so many ways. Have a great 2009, and the best of success to you.

Written by Andy Cox, President
Cox Consulting Group, 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: www.coxconsultgroup.com; Blog: http://multiplysuccess.blogspot.com
Copyright© 2009 All Rights Reserved

Fail Often To Succeed - Says Who?

I don't know who started it, but the idea that you must fail in order to succeed didn't do anyone any favors. Unfortunately, it's become a firmly imbedded belief in the hearts and minds of millions.

We hear the Babe Ruth stories about how many more strikeouts he had than home runs; Michael Jordan, and the many times he missed a critical shot; every successful salesman that has heard "No" so much more often than he has heard "Yes." Out of that comes a message that we have to fail often to succeed once. But I suspect, if you were to ask Michael Jordan, or Babe Ruth, or a top salesperson, they would all tell you they went into the batter's box, or the game, or the sale, fully expecting to succeed - to win the game, hit a home run, make the sale - every time. They didn't start from the belief that they had to fail often to succeed once.

It's a bad message - it's not true. It's one that has kept expectations down for generations of strivers, in almost every kind of life's work. Think about it - your first day on the job, and you're told to be patient, you need to pay your dues, you have to fail often to succeed once - just keep plugging away. Not too inspiring.

How about beliefs that say stay in play; persist; good things will happen to you - expect them as a result of your hard work and persistence. Believe the next sale is right around the corner. Believe you learn from every action, and apply all that growing and learning to the next opportunity. Believe failure only happens when you quit - or when you don't reach your own goals.

Studies have shown that sales trainees learning from successful salespeople with an optimistic approach achieve substantially higher sales performance faster than trainees taught by the gotta pay your dues, expect a long period of preparation, fail to succeed messages given that have held back so many people.

Which message would you want to receive - a message of possibilities, or a message that says you're going to fail often, so get used to it?

Who's to say, on that very first sales call, the new salesperson meets someone who just has to have what they are selling, and despite the lack of experience and knowledge, they connect. Is that possible? Sure it is. It happens all the time - but only to those who deal in possibilities.

This sounds like splitting hairs - it isn't. Success in any endeavor is separated from lack of success by little things. And how each possibility is approached is just a little bit different for the successful and the not so successful. One looks at it as a opportunity - I can win; the other looks at it as a jeopardy - I could lose.

The other thing that a "fail often to succeed once" message can send is that you are not worthy of success, that you are not able to achieve success. While those worms aren't true - I've never met anyone not worthy of success, and only a few people not able to achieve success, they do exist in all of us - to some degree. If you provide the fuel of "fail often to succeed once" to these two worms, your own belief in your ability and worthiness are reduced. Provide the optimistic fuel of possibilities and watch your personal beliefs and success grow.

When things are tough - and they will be tough, from time to time, the only thing that can sustain you is your own sense of possibilities, and your own sense of your worth and ability.

Listen to your own self talk. Is every at bat, every shot, every sales call an opportunity to succeed? Or is it a chance to fail? If you're looking at things pessimistically, work on the belief that the next ball gets hit out of the ballpark - the next shot wins the game, the next call has sale written all over it. Start giving yourself those positive messages and see your success grow - I guarantee it.

Written by Andrew Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group LLC, 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: www.coxconsultgroup.com

Copyright 2007 All Rights Reserved

The Positive Power of Music

I was was totally focused on tying a new flyfishing pattern yesterday - concentrating on getting it right.

A tune came on the radio, and, bang, just like that, I was back in Kansas City in the 60's. Driving to work on a cold rainy day in February. 5 AM - going to open the labor office for temp day laborers that was part of my Manpower Inc branch. Not looking forward to it. Life hadn't been very good for a while. My wife had been sick for a long time - in and out of hospitals. The Manpower Inc branch was stuck in low gear. I was opening the labor office because the third manager I had hired in the last year hadn't worked out - so there I was - looking forward to another 14 hour work day followed by making dinner, getting our little girls to bed, doing the laundry ---.

Then this tune came on the radio - Ray Stevens singing "Everything Is Beautiful, In Its Own Way." And suddenly everything looked a little bit brighter - a little bit more optimistic - a little more hope in my life. I can remember it as if it were yesterday. I smiled and felt a real surge of positiveness and energy and those words - "Everything is beautiful in its own way", became a sort of mantra for me. From then on, when things got tough - or tougher - I would think of that song and it helped me endure, survive, hang in there and celebrate life. Those words reminded me that there is beauty in everyone and everything - and to look for it. Wow!!

Life got better. My wife got better, our girls grew up and are beautiful, successful women with families of their own. But that special song remains as powerful a message to me now as it was then. It always will. Thanks, Ray Stevens - for your particular genius.

Do you ever notice how a song you haven't heard for years, can, as soon as you hear the first few notes, take you to a place, and have you singing the lyrics as if it were just yesterday when it was popular? I marvel at our ability to keep those special tunes in special places and bring them out with the tiniest of promptings. To me that speaks to the power of music, but more to our own power - our power to take a message, accept it, make it our own, and have it with us the rest of our lives.

I keep looking for those messages of optimism and hope, and those messages that take me back and remind me how far I've come in life. I hope you do that too. Life's a journey - so many little experiences that can have huge possibilities for us - listen for them.

Written by Andy Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group LLC, 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: www.coxconsultgroup.com

Copyright 2007 All Rights Reserved

Confusing Hope and Intentions With Results

I recently bought, at a garage sale, an almost new Nordic Track Achiever Cross Country Ski exerciser. Perfect condition, hardly any wear on it all all. Still stiff from not being used. Paid $40 for a $500 machine - great deal for me!! I wonder just how many millions - possibly billions of dollars have been spent on exercise machines that now occupy the furthest corners of basements and attics and garages ? I call them the "feel good" machines.

The purchasers really felt good when they bought them. The act of buying had value in itself. They were on their way to better health, weight loss, attractiveness.

They were all bought with the best of intentions and expectations. Buying them was the first step to the result of self improvement. Then, for 90% of the purchasers, the next step, persistent action, proved too difficult, and the machines were left in place until facing them and failing to use them became so burdensome that they were hidden away. Some got sold to second hand stores, some given to Goodwill, some sold throught ads, some at garage sales. All of these exercise machines have one thing in common - the purchasers confused hope and intention with action and results. Their purchases were emotional - based on the best of reasons, and then abandoned to the scrap heap. I wonder what I would have to pay to corner the market on gently used Thighmasters?

There are lots of other examples of this behavior - purchasing something to give ourselves the feeling that we had taken action to solve a problem. I 'm looking at software to learn Spanish and French - I installed it on my computer - I wanted to learn two foreign languages - that's as far as I got. They've been on my computer for two years now - I still haven't studied them.

How many books have been purchased based on the emotional appeal of losing weight, getting rich, investing like the pros, becoming a successful leader, or being able to raise kids the "right" way? Every purchase represented hope - hope that the contents will improve the readers condition. But, just like the exercise machines, that's as far as most people get - and the second hand stores are full of barely opened copies.

Companies are no different - take safety as an example. Rersearch has shown that 90% of accidents at work are due to unsafe acts, but most safety expenditures are for equipment, not to develop safer behaviors.

Cars are another example - more and more safety equipment, more and more regulation designed to make driving safer, and yet the primary reason for accidents remains unsafe acts by the nut behind the wheel.

So what's this rant about? It's about recognizing that the purchase of something is a good thing - if it leads to commitment and resolve to see your hope and dreams through to completion. It means I won't be finding many more $500 Nordic Tracks for $40, and a lot more Thighmasters will break from use, but that just means more people translated dreams into realities - and good for them!

Look in your own bookcases, in your attics and garages and basements, then resolve to use what you bought when your were full of hope. Do it - today.

Written by Andy Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group LLC, 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 Ph:602-795-4200; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: www.coxconsultgroup.com

Copyright 2007 All Rights Reserved

The Status Quo In Sales - The Real Competitor

Here's the real secret to success or failure in selling - be it selling your ideas, or your products, or your services. The secret to success is being there when the prospect's continuing to do things the way they have been done - the Status Quo - isn't working.

How often have you been faced with a prospect who you are convinced could benefit from your product or service, only to have them decline to buy? What do you do about it? If you are smart, you hang in there. Circumstances have a way of changing.

A friend of mine said there are two kinds of prospects that you will sell to - the inspired and the desperate. Whether they are inspired or desperate, something has caused them to decide that where they are now is not where they want to be. That's where sales are made - when the status quo is seen - by the prospect - as no longer an acceptable place to stay.

So the real challenge is to work with the prospect to uncover situations where change can be identified as good, and the status quo unacceptable, and the potential for gain exceeds the risk of loss. Many times that isn't possible - at least in the short term. But those special four letters from Mandino's book, The Greatest Salesman In The World, come back to me - "This too shall pass." You gotta stay in play. How often have you seen things turn around and what seemed impossible one day becomes not just possible but necessary the next?

That's where the sales person that understands the Status Quo as the real competition will prosper, and the one that doesn't - that sees today's rejection as personal, or absolute, will fail.

Stay in the game.

Written by Andrew Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group LLC, 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: andycox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: www.coxconsultgroup.com

Copyright 2006 All Rights Reserved

Persistence, When It Becomes a Weakness

Persistence becomes a weakness when you are beating your head against a stone wall, and:

You're beating your head against the wrong wall
Somebody took the wall away, or moved it, and didn't tell you
You haven't looked up lately to see if you are headed toward the wall
Another wall of greater importance has been created and you haven't adjusted

- and/or-

You continue to do things the same way and expect a different outcome

When was the last time you persisted in meeting a goal, or keeping a promise you had made to yourself or to someone else, only to find that it no longer had the importance it had when the commitment was made?

Have you ever had a salesperson just keep calling and calling, and then finally you buy - or, more likely, don't buy. If you are in sales, have you ever vowed to yourself that you were going to close a particular sale, and you persisted, and did, and never got another order from that person?

Have you ever pressed on in the face of feedback that changing course should be considered, but you just kept going - convinced of the rightness of your way?

There is a fine line between persistence and obstinancy - or obsessive behavior - or bull headedness, whatever you want to call it. And knowing when that line is crossed can be very difficult.

We've all been told that quitting is bad - and it is. We've all been told that success is only 5% away - and it may be. We've all been told that persistence is a strength - and it is. But we've also seen persistence end up in frustration and failure

Persistence is a strength, but it's use is very much situational. An example is the saleperson selling a transactional item - one that is a single buy on a single sales pitch, as opposed to a salesperson in relationship selling - selling a big ticket item to an organization where the decision to buy is made at the end of a lengthy discovery and planning cycle. A transactional salesperson better not make 15 calls on one person to sell - better to spend the time in prospecting for additional transactional customers. The relationship salesperson, on the other hand, may find a hundred calls to seventy five different people in a single company over a period of years to be necessary. In the one case persistence is defined in prospecting, in the other persistence is defined in building relationships over time. The thing both salespeople have in common is working through discouragement, delays, bad news, competition, unforeseen circumstances, to reach their goal - sales revenue.

How can we know when we have let our persistence get in the way of our success? For many people, the answer is easy - "You'll know it when you see it" That's not always true.

I suggest you ask the following questions - of yourself and others, at defined steps in whatever project or endeavor you are in - even the ones that seem to be going well.

1 - Do we have a stated, commonly agreed to goal for this project, and do we regularly examine it , refine it, amend it to meet realities - (If you don't have the goal, don't go any further until you get it)
3 - To what extent can we measure our progress toward our goal ?
4 - Does this project represent a worthy goal for the organization - today?
5 - Have things changed since this was started that may affect outcomes and requirements - have adjustments been made to reflect the changes ?
6 - When's the last time we evaluated this goal, and its value to the organization?
7 - What are the positive outcomes as a result of meeting this goal?
8 - What are the consequences of not meeting this goal - personally and organizationally?
9 - What changes can we make to the goal, or to the actions to support the goal, to be successful?
10 -Does everyone working on this goal agree this is a worthy goal?
11 - Is how hard we work - measured in time, used to measure success? If it is, can we change that so results are the measure of success?

There is no score for this set of questions. The answers will tell you when you have crossed the line from persistence to spinning your wheels, and help you get back on track. And if you don't have a clear goal, get one or look other places to use your persistence.

Written by Andrew Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group LLC

4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail:andycox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: www.coxconsultgroup.com

Copyright 2006 All Rights Reserved