THE ACHIEVERS FOUNDATION

The Straightest Road to Success

You know, to be great, I think you have to fight. I very much think that my success is a product of some level of skill, but I do think I win because I outwork people. I really do believe that. I believe that 100%. And let me remind you, I don’t care if you work 18 hours a day. I don’t care if you want to hustle or if you want to buy the Jets. My advice is tried and true; find your happiness to win. I need you to do what makes you feel good. I need you to reverse engineer your own wants and needs.

I’m sharing this story because I’m not sure that if my dad didn’t set that example, that I’d even have the ability to think one could work this hard. The fact that I’ve been working 15 hours a day every day for the last 20 years is easy for me. It’s the only gear I do. I was poor. I sucked shit at school. It was the only gear I have.

You know, I think that you need to recognize that your biggest advantage when you’re just starting out is that you’re hungrier than your competitor. That if you’re not applying your one advantage, which is your work ethic and the hours that you have to put into your business, well, then you’re going to come up short. I sit up here with enormous assumptions around all of you that you’re just too soft to beat me. I obviously don’t think that’s an issue because of most of you don’t want it. But it’s clear that I think you’ve had it better, and that alone doesn’t allow you to beat me.

Somebody will come with a counter point of view and be like, “Gary, that’s cool, but I don’t have to work that hard, because I’m working smarter.” Yeah! Me too asshole. I work hard and smart. Now what? Look, there’s 12-hour, 10-hour, 8-hour, 15-hour work days. You can finish a lot of things in those 18, 12, 9 hours, or you can finish medium amounts of things, or lightweight things. People focus on too many small details.

Way too many people in this room are going to spend the next 30, 40 years of their lives trying to check the boxes of the things that they’re not as good at, and because of that, you’re going to waste a lot of time. I highly recommend for all you hustlers that you go all in on your strengths. Find the thing you are good at, and you love and you want to improve on. I know that a lot of you tell me, “Gary, I do work hard,” and you do. You work for 16 hours. But there are so many of you deploying your energy toward something that you aren’t good at or don’t truly love.

Because listen, there are a lot of things I can’t learn either. I wish I was the quarterback for the New York Jets, but the problem is, it’s never going to happen. No matter how hard I work, or how hard I train, it’s just not in my DNA. I had to accept that and find another way to win.

I was a very poor student because the subject matter bored me. If I was forced to become exceptional at understanding the great artists of the 20th century, I would be in big trouble. I would tell people to bet on their strengths. You need to find what you are good at and don’t give a fuck about what you suck at. You need to put yourself in a position to win with your strengths, because that is absolutely the straightest road to success. Greatness comes from adversity, and looking the challenge in the eye, and having the intestinal fortitude to step up and go after it

Now tell me, is it in you?

All-Inclusive Guide to Presenting Yourself Professionally

When it comes down to deciding which employee is going to get a raise, or who would be most qualified for a particular job, employers look for a specific set of qualities that separate candidates. The goal here is to present yourself in a way that increases the likelihood of the successful acquisition of your goals and desires.

As an example, somebody who presents themselves with an air of calm, cool detachment is going to be seen as self-assertive and in control. There are several methods that can be employed for the purpose of creating a sense of self-image that other people will naturally gravitate to on a psychological level.

In this guide we are going to explore some of the key attributes that lead to a professional self-image that will pay dividends to those who employ it successfully in their day to day life.

The way you present yourself is the way people see you

This is a very simple but powerful statement, and understanding it can lead to a greater understanding of self awareness. Many people go through life without realizing that their posture, attitude, facial expressions, and mannerisms all lead to an outward appearance that other people take into account on a subconscious level and judge your character based on it, whether they are consciously aware of it or not. Usually this judgment is based on other people with similar attributes that they’ve seen in the past.

Here’s a list of helpful things you can do to greatly impact your personal appearance.

If you are scruffy, shave.

If you cringe when people make eye contact with you, put yourself into situations where you have the opportunity to meet new people such as pub socials, yoga class, game nights, etc. Check out local listings for this kind of stuff, there’s always groups in your community where you can get out and socialize.

Practice making strong eye contact. This is a hard one, and doesn’t come naturally for a lot of people and needs to be practiced to become second nature.

If you smell, take a shower. Don’t forget to get behind the ears!

Find clean, professional looking clothing. You can find top quality suits and dress shirts at second hand stores that won’t break your bank but will give you a professional edge over your competition simply through positive appearances.

“To this day, I don’t like people walking on stage not looking good. You have to look good. If you feel special about yourself then you’re going to play special.” – Benny Goodman

So after you’ve got the look, how do you prove you have what it takes?

Taking the steps mentioned above will have a massive impact on your outward appearance. A small amount of effort toward looking and feeling more professional will lead to massive change in people perception of you.

Appearances mean everything with first impressions, and if you sound like you know what you are talking about, people are going to listen. Be confident in yourself and make sure you recognize your strengths and weaknesses, so you can play to your strengths and work on your weaknesses.

A great deal can come from solid planning, and maintaining a schedule book or other methods like keeping a planner or notebook, can help you stay organized and provide you with a predictable path that you can travel with some degree of clarity. Appearance stands for a lot, but having a plan to back it up stands for just as much.

The way you look gets you in the door, and having a solid pitch is what closes the deal. Keep your head up, but don’t lift your chin too high or people will perceive you as being cocky. The main thing is to look ahead like you know where you’re going, no matter where you are. Don’t ever look at the ground. You don’t want to be on the ground.

I’ve got what it takes; now how do I make a name for myself?

One of the key factors in people deciding whether or not to conduct business with you is your ability to coherently express your thoughts and opinions. It comes down to practice.

It’s always a great idea to consider writing a 30 second elevator speech. This is basically a few memorized sentences about who you are and what you do. Rehearse it over and over again in the mirror, to yourself- until you can say it flawlessly to other people without a hitch. Things you want to include in your elevator speech:

Your profession, and fields of interest

Your career goals / where you would like to see yourself in 5 years

Your qualifications and why somebody would want to hire you

A few brief examples of accomplishments you’ve had and jobs you’ve completed.

Naming a few of your previous employers or referencing colleagues you’ve done business with.

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” – Albert Einstein

There are many ways that you can make a name for yourself, but a professional image and having a solid plan of action are absolutely fundamental when it comes to proving your worth to potential clients and employers. There is no time like the present to begin working on yourself image, and there’s plenty you can do right now to pursue your dreams, one step at a time.

It’s always a good idea to search online for tips and tricks regarding communication strategies because it can’t hurt to have a base level of understanding when it comes to psychology.

Being aware of body language can help you gear your pitch to produce better results when talking to various people. By mirroring and countering body language you can greatly influence the direction of a conversation and steer it towards mutually beneficial agreements between yourself and your clients. This is all part of communication, and a vital part of your outward self image.

Consider looking these things up on YouTube, there are plenty of people who make tutorials and guides on body language, and can provide hundreds of hours of research in a short amount of time.

In a video, it is easy to accurately depict these forms of communication with a short explanation and a visual example. It’s a great idea to look into these videos as they are immensely helpful in steering your body language tendencies into a positive, new direction.

3 Way Of Attracting New Customers For Your Business

Every entrepreneur seeks to increase his/her customer base often. Startups and existing businesses always find it very difficult to generate new customers or keep generating new customers. Amidst factors such as competing firms, people’s busy schedule, buying habits and purchasing power. A business must devise means to easily bring customers’ attention to its products/services. For a business to continue attracting new customers, its messages to individual and the general public must first of all be able to capture their attention. The following steps will reveal how an entrepreneur can increase its stream of new customers:

1.    Keep it Short and Catchy

When using Words of Mouth Learn the ability to easily engage your potential customers easily by first of all having a good dress sense acceptable within the business environment. Then, your verbal approach should be catchy and short, example is: “Good day, my name is…. I work with Tush Magazine, businesses like yours have benefited immensely from doing business with us, please can you spare few minutes for detail explanation?” This way you have ignited someone’s curiosity and most times it will result in him/her giving you listening ears. The advantage of words of mouth is that it gives you immediate feedback and helps you to learn and improve.

2.    Communicate Value When Using Electronic Media

This media provides audio or audio-visual platform for a businesses to reach out to a larger number of potential customers and businesses should cease the opportunity to communicate the strength and uniqueness of their products/services when using any of these platforms.

3.    Keep a Catchy and Interactive Page When Using the Social Media

Using social media to generate new customers requires a business to keep an attractive and engaging page with the focus of promoting your business and what it offers. Posts on social media should be catchy and interactive. A business should take time reply questions and can also create fun or mind games once in a while.

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