BEING SUCCESSFUL
THE CHOICE OF
BEING SUCCESSFUL
BY: JACK DALY, AUTHOR, COACH
DESTINY IS not a matter of chance; it is a
matter of choice. Your journey is determined
by the choices you make. Your answers are
determined by the questions you ask. Your
destination is determined by the steps
you take. Your future is determined by
what you do each day. This is both the
good news and the bad news.
I’m regularly asked about how to
achieve personal, individual success.
For those people who express such
a desire but tend to blame their
circumstances on things outside of
themselves, the above statements
represent bad news. For those who
look to themselves as the key to their
success, the above statements are the
good news. So, which are you? That’s
where it must all begin. For those still
interested, let’s get started.
Success is all about focus, and the
definition is unique and personal to each of
us. Success goes beyond goals and objectives
(recognizing that they do become important
here). It is more about your intrinsic desire—
your purpose, if you will—which is where
sustainable momentum comes from. It’s
about wrestling down your vision, your
destination, your definition of success. I’ve
found great comfort over the years from sage
advice from Goethe, such as, “Whatever you
can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness
has genius, power, and magic in it.”
As I’m fond of sharing with anyone who
will listen, we are all given the same amount
Jack Daly
of time—168 hours—each week; however,
some are getting so much more out of their
168. Success comes to those who better
manage their 168, as Steven Covey taught us
“doing first things first.” Here, we are talking
priorities, and when we know where we want
to get to, the identification of the priorities
gets so much easier. Then, we have to learn
to say “no” to others more often so that we
can conserve our time and energy for our
priorities.
In my sales training workshops, the largest
measure of frustration for me is knowing
how well what I teach works and yet how so
few “take action.” I tell my audiences—people
who have doubled or tripled their personal
incomes, if not more—to take action on my
teachings. I tell my business-owner attendees
of stories of my clients who have scaled their
businesses at multiple times growth and
profitability. Yet, the overwhelming majority
do not “take action.”
The key to being successful is “activity.”
Activity breeds further activity. For those
who do elect to take action (i.e., activity), I can
almost 100 percent guarantee that they will be
hit with adversity. With obstacles. Those who
enjoy success display grit. They view adversity
more as a challenge, and in their efforts at self-
mastery, they act accordingly and overcome
their obstacles. Successful people are willing
to do whatever is necessary to be successful,
whereas those struggling are unwilling to
stay with it. Rather than waiting until all the
details are figured out, successful people in
Jack Daly is an experienced and world-recognized sales speaker and sales training expert who inspires
audiences to take action in the areas of sales, sales management, and corporate culture. Jack is a proven CEO/
Entrepreneur, having built six companies into national firms, two of which he subsequently sold to the Wall
Street firms of Salomon Brothers and First Boston. His professional sales-trainer know-how has turned him
into an accomplished sales coaching authority and author of books including Hyper Sales Growth, The Sales
Playbook for Hyper Sales Growth, and Paper Napkin Wisdom, all Amazon No. 1 best sellers.
jackdaly.net
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