Risk & Business Magazine General Insurance Services Magazine | Page 12

BEING SUCCESSFUL
THE CHOICE OF
BEING SUCCESSFUL
BY: JACK DALY, AUTHOR, COACH
D
estiny 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
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 double 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
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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