Expecting to Win
When you think of your business in 10 years, what do you see?
In Arnold Schwarzenegger’ s book Be Useful, he talks extensively about visualization and the importance of seeing yourself achieving your goals.
He said in an interview,“ Visualizing became a normal thing for me. If I can see it, then it must be a reality, and I can make it a reality, so then it was only a matter of following through with the work.” Schwarzenegger used visualization to become Mr. Universe, a highly successful movie star, and the governor of California.
I think too many people go through business, a sales career, and even life VISUALIZING FAILURE and problems, not seeing success. Because of this, they PRACTICE failure in their minds. All they see is the prospect saying no, the employees screwing up, the customer not being happy, the empty bank account, the bills piling up, and, more importantly, their life staying exactly the same. Because that’ s what they see( and focus on), that’ s what they steer into and GET.
I often see MSP owners lower their own expectations of what they can achieve in business as a perverse means of feeling better about their failures and bad situations. They don’ t expect to win because they CAN’ T see themselves winning.
That’ s why I started running the Better Your Best competition 18 years ago at TMT ' s annual Boot Camp( www. RobinsBigSeminar. com). I wanted to showcase successful MSPs in TMT ' s membership so those who were new or struggling could see“ ordinary” MSP business owners just like them— with similar backgrounds, similar situations, similar problems, and similar starting points— making BIG leaps in income.
There’ s POWER in a good example.
Roger Bannister made history when he became the first human being to run a sub-4-minute mile. Prior to this, it was believed that the human body could not complete such a feat, even for the most well-conditioned athletes. Many believed it would lead to the person dying, with one prominent doctor at the time proclaiming that if a person were to attempt it, their heart would literally explode from the exertion.
Julio Lopez, CEO of IT for Education, takes the crown— and the Tesla Cybertruck— after being named TMT ' s 2025 Contest Winner and Spokesperson, pictured here with Robin Robins.
Yet 46 days after Bannister made history, a second runner beat his record by a few seconds. Since then, thousands of athletes have broken the 4-minute mile. I think you’ ll agree that seeing someone achieve that goal, then very quickly other athletes achieving that goal, spurred many to believe it could be possible. To SEE themselves doing it.
Obviously, this is still an incredibly difficult accomplishment that will require dedication, discipline, and hard work, but knowing it can be done is half the race won( pun intended). As you read the story of this year’ s Better Your Best winner, I hope it inspires you to see yourself winning and achieving whatever goals you may have lost hope in or given up on. Maybe even some goals you never dared to dream, thinking them impossible.
Sincerely,
Robin Robins Founder and CEO, MSP Success
Robin Robins is the CEO and Founder of TMT. TMT is the parent company of MSP Success.