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Secrets to Success John-Paul Micek |
Set the rules, and
you’ll win the gameTo win in any game, you have to know the rules first, right? Then you have to play by those rules and improve your performance within those parameters. This is true in every game we play ... but it's not true about business or life. Business is the only game in life where you can set the rules. As a matter of fact, if you've structured your business on other people's rules, you're bound to fail.
Too many business owners think just because companies within their industry have always done things a certain way, that's the way they have to run their business. All that gets you is the same results the majority of people in your industry are getting. Let me an example from one of my past businesses.
When I was 24, running my second business (a landscape contracting company) I remember sitting in a seminar sponsored by a professional organization. One of the presenters was speaking on sales skills and let loose with a comment I'll never forget. He said quite plainly, "After all, none of you got into this industry to become a millionaire. If you did, you're in the wrong business."
I sat back, stunned that someone would make such a comment, and said to myself, "No way that's true. It can be done." I didn't realize it then, but I was doing what I had done for years; I was setting my own rules. I spoke up, stated my viewpoint of how hypocritical it was for a "motivational speaker" to be saying such things. But I didn't make much headway with him.
What I did do is go out from that seminar and make significant headway in my own life. In less than 10 years, I spun off a second company, built both companies up to serve specialized niches generating substantial cash flow and then used that cash flow to purchase more than a million dollars in real estate. In the following two years, I sold both businesses (for more cash flow) started an international small business coaching company and relocated with my wife (and partner) to beautiful Hawaii.
I don't share this to impress you, but to impress upon you the importance of setting your own rules. My rules allowed me to break free from the constraints that so many business owners in that industry are still trapped by. It's the same in every industry. If you doubt me, just look at what most other business owners are doing and saying in your industry.
It's not that you have to make a shift in industries; I did that for personal and lifestyle reasons. The shift you need to make is in your mind, in your thinking about what it is you do -- right now, where you are at in your life. You can boost your profits and your personal fulfillment at the same time by setting the rules of your own game.
If you want to win big in life, stop playing your game by other people's rules. Life presents enough challenges. Why create more by trying to play by other people's rules? Step up and take a look at the game you're playing. Confirm you're on the right field then reset the rules. If you're not on the "right field" playing a game that's really in alignment with your in-born skills, talents and passions, create a game that works for you.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
John-Paul Micek is a small-business strategist
and chief operating officer at RPM Success Group.
Reach him at JPM@RPMsuccess.com
or toll-free at (888) 334-8151.
Deborah Cole Micek, chief executive officer
of RPM Success Group, is a business success coach
and life strategist. Reach her at DCM@RPMsuccess.com
or (888) 334-8151.