Success

Prep To Destroy

Garth Beyer

Have you ever realized how much you have to prepare to destroy something?

Before a house can be torn down, you have to call two – five different “garbage” companies: one for the glass, one for the metal, one for the wood, one for the crud left inside and one for whatever is left.

Figuratively speaking, you even have to prepare for children to kick down the tower of blocks they made. They need to make sure they hit it at an angle that the blocks don’t go flying and hitting the cat or ending up under the couch.

It takes even more preparation to destroy part of something. If you need to do that, you’re better off starting from scratch. The time and effort you have to invest to prevent the parts you want to keep from falling down with the rest can be better spent building something better, more creatively and with a stronger frame.

A bridge won’t last if you only fix up half of it. That is like putting a band-aid on something that needs to be stitched. It may hold for a short period of time but with too much use it will tear open and bleed.

Simply putting it, destroying half or part of anything; a brand, a business, or a tower of blocks will not make you more successful. It will only postpone the total destruction, if not make it worse when it occurs.

There are two points to the “Prep To Destroy” concept.

1. The more simple and less time you put towards building something, the easier it is for someone to tear it down. The smaller and less stable it is, the less time someone has to put toward preparing to destroy it – survival of the fittest (the weakest are attacked first). Build something stable, don’t just focus on the infrastructure, focus on it all.

2. The time it takes to build something is relative to the time it would take for it to crumble down and be destroyed. It may take you 10 years to write that book you want, 20 to start the business you want or 30 to teach and build a team of incredible people but no one will spend that much time trying to tear any of that apart.

 

Stay Positive & Create Something Indestructible

Garth E. Beyer

How To Raise A Successful Kid

Garth Beyer

Raise kids by rewarding them each time they take a risk and reward them just the same when they fail.

 

Stay Positive & Do The Same For Yourself While You’re At It

Garth E. Beyer

Mentors Can Be Unnecessary

Garth Beyer

As long as you still have evaluators.

It’s your responsibility to jump the gap, exceed expectations and take risks.  You don’t need anybody telling you how or what to do – you make the process your art, not theirs.

However, you still need to be held accountable for current improvement and future success, so evaluators are necessary. Lucky for you, there are 7 billion of them.

 

Stay Positive & You Get A Perfect 10 For Trying

Garth E. Beyer

 

Lessons From Heartwood

Garth Beyer

A couple of months ago, on our way to Heartwood, a lodge in Northern WI, I and another arrived to an entrance full of trees just starting to turn green. However, as we entered the path that lead to the resort, it was blatant there was deforestation taking place. Amidst disaster, unnatural processes pushed by society, and all other god awful setbacks, there always lies something mentally, spiritually and emotionally laminating. The result itself – the lodge – was paradise compared to everything surrounding it. It was as if the lodge had taken its stance and would not let government actions or economic pressures (is there a difference?)  remove it from its place.

There are two noteworthy explanations to this occurrence. The first is that it is never too late to stand up against society, the status-quo, or even your parents. It is never too late to mutter the words “enough is enough” and to carry on with what was once considered your dream. This stance is life changing. It is for this exact reason that I will go back to the resort even though I have to drive through all the killed trees. That lodge is  a symbol, one that you must take from and put into your life.

The second item of importance was a particular epiphany I had after noting the symbolic meaning of the lodge. For those who think it is too late to get up, declare your goals and to go out and achieve them, the moment when you think it is too late is actually the best time to announce your revolt to tradition. See, had the lodge declared it’s excellence 3 years ago while all the trees flourished surrounding its area, it would be devoid of much meaning. People would think, how could you place a resort in the middle of a forest? The area should be natural, filled with tents and campfires. The area should test the survival skills of humans, not the industrial revolution. However, having the resort in the middle of a circumference of destruction has made it indispensable and all the more successful.

If you think it is too late, stand up and declare yourself as the next world champion of public speaking, raise your hands in the air and announce that you are the next Picasso, let everyone know that you will be driving to the bank in 1 year to deposit a 25 million dollar check from selling a company you started up, for the lodge’s sake, create a revolution. If for any reason, do it because when you think it is too late, it is actually perfect timing.

Stay Positive & Destruction Creates Opportunity

Garth E. Beyer

My Secret Obsession: Starbucks (Not their coffee…well..that too)

Garth Beyer

I was in New York last week for Seth Godin’s Pick Yourself event. Instead of writing a post about that, (which I will soon), I couldn’t help but write about the one thing that you see every 72 steps in any direction: Starbucks

1 out of 3 Baristas laughed. 2 actually thought I was named Voldemort

Guy Kawasaki, a likely idol of both of ours, had written an article telling how important mantras are and that the shortest are often the sweetest. The example he used for the greatest mantra from the greatest company on the planet is  Starbucks – “Rewarding Everyday Moments”

I apologize for those who disagree,  I can’t help but side with Guy. Starbucks is the the real deal, the perfect role model and incorporates every trademark of a successful company. For example, my friend (who works at Starbucks) had told me this story the other week.

“The other day in the drive through this woman wanted a small but ordered a venti because she thought it meant a small. When she was shocked at the size and the price, my manager told me to  just charge her for a tall. So many other places you just don’t do that. It’s always a pleasant surprise to people you meet at work when you get to be nice.”

Starbucks revolutionized coffee and the experience of getting it. Put together a CEO and marketing mavens and you get a company like Starbucks; who defy all logic and assumptions and who have altered the beverage marketplace by defining quality, creating convenience and most importantly, having heart.

That is why I couldn’t complain after every 72 steps when I would look up at see the Starbucks sign. The beauty of Starbucks is that it is available to the masses – “from the student who wants a latte to the CEO who needs it.” More importantly, it represents that you can find generosity, people who care, tentativeness and truly great people – in abundance. Simply walk 72 steps in NYC and you will know what I mean.

Starbucks also signifies risks.

“When Starbucks and other companies made stock options grants back in 2008, there was no guarantee that the companies would succeed. Performance was not a sure thing,” says Starbucks spokesman Jim Olson.

It was less than a sure thing, it was unexpected. It was an occurrence that only the greatest companies could actually leverage. In this case, Starbucks succeeded and continues to do so.

Stay Positive & I Solemnly Swear That Starbucks Is Up To Too Much Good

Garth E. Beyer

The Tragedy Of A Glass Half Full

Garth Beyer

Sure, the glass can be half full but what is it filled with?

Darren Hardy, Publisher of SUCCESS magazine had posted an article regarding Wolf Blitzer and how he is hurting America. I had no choice but to pull this following segment from his post. Feel free to visit the full article here.

Your mind is like an empty glass. It will hold anything you put into it. You put in sensational news, salacious headlines and talk show rants and you are pouring dirty water into your glass. If you’ve got dark, dismal, worrisome water in your glass, everything you create will be filtered through that muddy mess, because that’s what you’ll be thinking about. Garbage in, garbage out.

You can flush your dirty glass with clean, clear, pure water. What is clear water? Positive, inspirational and supportive input and ideas. Stories of aspiration, people who, despite challenges, are overcoming obstacles and achieving great things. Strategies of success, prosperity, health, love and joy. Ideas to create more abundance, to grow, expand and become more. But it’s a constant battle as we are surrounded by those who want to spew dirty water into our glass constantly.

With that I would like to bring up the solution to the problem by introducing the concept of fasting. while fasting means to abstain from eating, it is better defined as the action of abstaining from [insert anything] for a period of time. In the following personal story, fasting holds true to both drinking and eating. Toward the end of the post, you will be acquainted with mental and social fasting.

A Glass Of Dirty Water

A while ago I was feeling a bit sick. I told my friend that I wasn’t going to eat or drink anything. She asked, “How are you supposed to feel better if you don’t eat anything?” I described how my stomach was like a glass of dirty water. If a glass is already half-way filled with dirty water and you put clean water in it. What do you have?

A glass full of dirty water. Now, you can add as much pure water to the glass as you want and it will overflow but still remain dirty. In my case, I was going to let my stomach get rid of and deteriorate all the stuff that was causing me to feel sick before I would fill it with more food and nourishment.

I used the analogy with my stomach sickness as a vehicle for the glass of water. I rather like Darren Hardy’s direction towards your mind being the glass that is filled with water. I have always loved the idea of a glass half full, it’s the worldwide mark of an optimist. Mistakenly though, I see a countless number of people trying to better themselves but only having more problems. While they have good intentions, they are fighting a losing battle. No matter how much pure, clean and fresh water you put in your glass or how much colorful positive assurance you pour into your mind, you are just adding more to what is already tarnished.

This means that before you can start living a life full of positivity, of a determined attitude and excellence, to truly have a “glass half full” life, you must first empty your glass.

Stay Positive & Start By Destroying Bad Habits

Garth E. Beyer

Success Isn’t How High You Bounce

Garth Beyer

They say “Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom”, I say that success is taking the risks you took that made you hit bottom. How high is completely dependent on how hard you hit the ground. In fact, even if you didn’t bounce back when you hit the ground, you are still successful. You took a risk. You took a fall. You took a failure. That is something only rare people do, something only successful people do and something this world needs done more often.

After all, look at Galileo. He became famous for dropping things and letting them hit the ground. You can too.

 

Stay Positive & Bouncing Back Is The Unpronounced Law Of The Universe

Garth E. Beyer