It's been an interesting week. In fact, it's been an interesting week, month and year of self-discovery for Tom Wheelwright. And not just discovery about myself – discovery about other people and how they act and are motivated (or not). Along the way, I've learned a secret to success that I am convinced most people don't understand. I still don't completely understand it's power. I do understand its importance.
The past two years my partner and I have been building a new business. Previously, we had built a CPA (certified public accounting) firm and had been quite successful at it. Even to the point where we were able to largely step out of it and turn it over to others to run on a daily basis.
Our new business is financial education. We have learned so much over the years working with hundreds and thousands of clients that we want to share this knowledge with the rest of the world. And we both love to teach. I love to teach in a classroom and Ann loves to teach through the written word.
In order to help more people, we developed products and services that we can deliver to thousands and thousands of people, unlike the CPA professional services that we have to deliver one-to-one. To get the word out, I have been speaking on large platform stages, such as T. Harv Eker, Robert Kiyosaki, Marshall Sylver and Chris Howard. The presentation I do on these stages is designed first to teach some fundamental concepts and second to offer our products and services so we can better serve the people I'm teaching.
It's been very interesting to watch the participants in these seminars and see what they are willing to do and why they are willing to do it. Almost all of the speakers at these seminars are selling something. Usually it is some way to easily make money, such as internet marketing, real estate or some type of home-based business. People tend to buy when they are convinced that they can do it immediately and they can do it without making much effort.
All of us who have built a business and at any time in our life have been wealthy, understand that the idea of easy money is a hoax. There is no easy way to wealth. It's hard work. Some of the participants understand this. Most do not. That's why there are thousands of home study courses sitting unopened on people's shelves. And among those that are opened, only a very small portion of people make them work successfully. Why is that?
Commitment. This single word is the key to wealth and any other success we want to achieve. Commitment is the difference between the very successful and the less successful. Commitment is what keeps us from being successful at our jobs, in our families and in our athletic/physical endeavors. Commitment is the primary difference between the Olympic athlete and the weekend warrior. Commitment is what has held me back personally from the success I desire for myself, my family and my business.
We must have unwavering commitment to our cause. If our cause is our family, we must have unwavering commitment to them. If our cause is our religion, we must commit unconditionally to our religion. The Governor of South Carolina can tell you all about this. It was his lack of commitment to his family that allowed him to stray from his wife and commit adultery.
When we think of the great leaders of the world, the word commitment describes every one of them. From Mother Theresa to Martin Luther King to Ghandi. Every great leader shows total, undying commitment to their cause.
My great lesson came this week during a midnight counseling session with my older son. I woke up unable to sleep over some business matters. Max was still awake. The previous day, Max had become very angry and frustrated. So we had a little talk. As we were talking, the solution to both of our challenges became clear. We needed to be fully committed to our causes. For Max, it's a commitment to his religion and faith. For me, it's a total commitment to business, family and personal success. We both realized that it was a lack of commitment that was causing our stress.
I urge you to relieve your own stress by committing to your success. Commit to your financial success. Commit to your physical success (your health). And commit to your family's success. It's not difficult. It just takes focus and moving forward on a straight and unwavering path. Stop wondering if you are on the right path. Make a decision and get moving.
Warmest regards,
Tom
