One of my mentors, Alex Mandossian, gave this book to me as a gift not too long ago. I finally got around to reading it and it’s amazing. The chapters are amazingly easy to read and comprehend. If I only have a few minutes during the day, it’s something that I can pick up and start reading with the knowledge that I’ll be able to complete a chapter quickly.
While reading early this morning, I came across a chapter from Harvey Mackay’s book that really hit home for me. It hit home for me because it made me realize the importance of time in our lives and just how precious it is. It also made me realize the importance of doing work that is not only significant to you, but also life changing and impactful on others.
Each day the minutes are ticking down on our lives. Every day we’re dying. With that said, is what you’re doing on a day-in day-out basis in alignment with your dream, vision, purpose, and mission for your life?
Exerpt taken from Harvey Mackay’s book “The Mackay MBA of Selling in the Real World“.
Flea trainers have observed a strange but predictable habit of fleas. Fleas are trained by putting them in a cardboard box with a top on it. The fleas will jump up and hit the top of the cardboard box over and over and over again. As you watch them jump and hit the lid, something very interesting becomes obvious. The fleas continue to jump, but they are no longer jumping high enough to hit the top.
When you take off the lid, the fleas continue to jump, but they will not jump out of the box. They won’t jump out because they can’t jump out. Why? They have conditioned themselves to jump just so high.
People very often do the same thing. They restrict themselves and never reach their potential. Just like fleas, they fail to jump higher, thinking they are doing all they can do.
Your past is not your potential.
In the words of Charlie Brown, “The greatest burden in life is to have a great potential.”
Far too many people exist in a world of “what is” rather than applying their energies to “what can be.”
To reach your potential, the primary ingredient is desire. Many people fail to succeed because they don’t know what they want or they don’t want it in the worst way. In other words, they aren’t willing to work for it… they don’t want to pay the price.
It’s like the woman who said to a world-class musician, “I’d give anything to be able to play like you.” And the musician said, “I don’t think you would, because not many people are willing to make the commitment.”
Desire isn’t enough. You must have the will to prepare. Preparation means yearning, learning, reading, listening, organizing, and expanding your thinking. It involves rigorous training of your mind and body to achieve success.
The playwright George Bernard Shaw understood this. A reporter interviewed him shortly before his death and asked, “Mr. Shaw, you have visited with some of the most famous people in the world. You’ve known royalty, world-renowned authors, artists, teachers, and dignitaries from every part of the world. If you could live your life over and be anyone you’ve known, or any person from history, whom would you choose to be?”
Shaw replied, “I would choose to be the man George Bernard Shaw could have been, but never was.”
When you look at yourself in the mirror at the end of the day, what type of person could you be, but have yet to become?
