Have you ever picked-up a book, gone to a course or delved into some content not known exactly what to expect but expecting it to be good?  Then, once you start you realized you just hit the mother load?

That’s exactly what happened to me a couple of weeks ago when I signed up for Darren Hardy’s “Mentor to the Masters” course.  “Mentor to the Masters” is essentially the curation, collation and packaging of Jim Rhon’s life time body of work by those he mentored in the area of personal growth and development.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but since Jim was a primary mentor to Tony Robbins, Darren Hardy, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hanson, John Maxwell and way too many others to name, I expected it to be good and get some value from it. After all, success leaves clues, right?

What I didn’t realize was just how good…and valuable….this course and collection of content really is.

I now see why he was mentor to so many of these well known giants in the fields of personal growth and development, coaching, and success.  Jim’s presentation style and ability to take foundational principles and truths and put legs on them is extraordinary to say the least.

The jewel I found this week was in a bonus section of the course. It was a simple 13 minute presentation featuring interview footage of Jim that appeared to be from the late 70’s/early 80’s. The presentation was entitled “How to Go From Average To Fortune” and is clearly where the title of this post was taken from.

Here were the 5 nuggets he gave along with some additional commentary:

1. Get Serious- 10 years from now you will become someone, the question is “who?” and “where?”. Ten years from now, God willing, you will surely arrive.
2. Get Smart-  Jim said it was much more important to be smart in the present decade then ever before; that was back the late 70’s/80’s! Can you imagine the importance of that today, when we’ve gone beyond the knowledge age into the age of knowledge curation?  Building the discipline of life long-learning…to include journaling and knowledge collection systems…is more important than ever before.
3. Get Started- It’s not enough to just keep acquiring content. To be effective, you have to actually do something with what your learning. This requires both motivation and design.
4. Get Excited- Forget the positive thinking and don’t focus on your circumstances. Instead, get excited about your vision or dream and your agency and capacity to do something about it! Anyone can do something to make major changes to their life. An extreme example would be murder: that is one drastic act that in a moment will forever change your life and the life of others…but in a negative direction!!!  Likewise, there are positive actions you can take right now, both small and large, that can be profoundly life changing. Get excited over your capacity and then direct the excitement toward intentional planning and execution on what matters most. Its about excitement, will, and want to…..and having a dream and vision to pull you instead being pushed.
5. Get Away- This is where you may need to go first to get your dream back or put more defined edges on it. Once done you can set goals around it that then give your dream legs. It’s important that it be life focused and not just work focused; you need to learn how to learn to both live well and earn well. You need to do some growing AWAY from your enterprise so you can come back and grow IN your enterprise. This process of reflection and renewal is pertinent on both a daily as well as intermittent basis.

You may ask “where does the Fortune part come in?!” Good question. Since the concept of “fortune” is similar to “success” and differ for everyone, perhaps the following is the best definition for both: Making progress in the pursuit of meaningful goals. That was Jim’s definition anyway and its one I like it.

Jim’s 5 points are similar to a post I wrote earlier about taking action to get what you want.  The additional insights and perspectives he provides ensure it’s meaningful, sustainable, and energizing. His presentation made these points come alive with through his personality and anecdotes.

The reality is that you can achieve success and satisfaction by taking 5 steps that combine reflection, Hopeful thought, and disciplined action along with regular renewal.

I shared this information with my adult kids during a family meeting shortly after I heard it. The points that made them take sit up, take notice and engage the most were the questions about “who” and “where” they would be 10 years from now.

God willing, 10 years from now you too are going to arrive at someplace one way or the other.  Which of these 5 points do you need to act on now in order to be “who” and “where” you want to be by design when that time arrives? Or do you prefer to just let it happen by default? Think about it, it’s only your future.

Ever reach the end of the day feeling like you’ve been incredibly busy, but looking back you realized you haven’t really accomplished anything of importance….especially your priority items?  It can be incredibly frustrating and even more so when your world seems to get continually busier and busier but you’re accomplishing less and less. A day is one thing, but how about weeks,  months or even a year? That’s when it really gets your attention and moves from being frustrating to disappointing….. and even tragic.

I’ve noticed that my coaching clients and most everyone else who is struggling in this area have a few things in common. While all have unique things they are  looking to achieve, what they are really after comes down to one of three basic things:

• Clarity around a belief, opinion or information.
• Meeting a challenge related to a particular issue, person, organization or circumstance.
• Achieving a “want” related to a goal or something to be gained.

Another common element I see that shows up repeatedly is that while everyone says they’re busy, they aren’t getting the things done that matter the most to them. In fact, despite having important items at the top of their “To Do” list, there are days on end when they never even get started on a single one!  I feel the pain here also because I know that place all too well. I’ve also found a great road out.

Just as there are common elements to our challenges, there are also common elements or steps to getting the stuff done that matters most to you. Here they are:

1. Awareness. Become aware of what you’re really after (not as simple as it may seem). For things to be different, something has to happen. You have to take action.  Most people think that action has to be big and dramatic. The reality is that the first steps leading to Big change are usually small. Remember, action steps can be taken in one of the following 3 realms: Thought; Observation; Doing.
2. Clarity. You have to get clarity on what what, specifically it is that you need to do and in what realm.
3. Decision. Really decide. This is where a lot of people get tripped up; they either simply ruminate or vacillate and never make a decision. Our real power is in our ability to make a decision.
4.  Commitment. In order to be fully committed, make sure your motivation is where it needs to be in order to sustain you. I’ve written about what Drives us elsewhere. Put in simple terms, what you commit to has to be important to you and you have to have a measure of confidence you are capable of doing it.
5. Execution. If you get to this point and no further, you’ll be more frustrated than when you began. Unfortunately and perhaps unbelievably, a lot of people do. They either succumb to the Resistance, fear, or fall prey to the Planning Fallacy. If nothing gets done, then nothing get’s done.
6.  Accountability. Once you execute and take action, you have to complete what you started. Can you complete things without accountability? Sometimes, but the odds go way up when accountability is in place. Another person or group of people are often the most effective for, but having accountability systems in place can also work. Left to our own willpower and “want to” will often leave us “without”.

Knowing these 6 steps is the easy part, but a lot more goes into each one when your navigating them in your own situation…….and it’s a lot messier. Whether your taking that first step, the next step, or navigating the step you’re currently on, sometimes you need the help of a friend, mentor or coach. That particular step isn’t listed here and requires something else on your part in order to take it: humility. Regardless,  successive small steps,  when progressively approximated,  eventually lead to big change.

What’s your framework for taking action? If you don’t have one, what would having one do for you getting your most important stuff done?

What’s the next step for you? Please leave a comment or question to spark the discussion.