Achievement is defined in the dictionary as a product of struggle. Struggle is defined as a fight, great effort, labor. Quite simply what this means is that if you want to win then you must also be prepared to fight and do whatever it takes to win. I believe that what really makes this difficult to comprehend these days is that the messages and technology that we see, hear, and use everyday is all about pushing the “easy” button or “nuking” it for 30 seconds. This may be true for some things, but not when it comes to achievement. If you were to study some of the greatest, most wealthy, and business savvy individuals in the past and present you will find that struggle, fighting, effort, and labor are at the core of their story. When you look at the history of our great country and how we achieved our freedom, this was a direct result of winning the great fight against our enemies, and struggling everyday to survive.
My friend, achievement of any degree isn’t easy. In fact at times it can seem downright impossible. But those of us that are able to push through the struggle, and fight till you physically can’t fight anymore are the individuals that will achieve our deepest desires.
Very recently a mentor of mine came to my office in Lexington and spent the day with me to help me better understand and determine who Brian Evans Jr, really is as an individual, as a husband, as a father, as a son, as a business owner, as teacher, as a mentor, etc. And let me tell you, this was not easy. However after about 6 intense hours of “white-boarding” (not sure if that is a word but it sounds good) I have no doubt that this important information was discovered for me. I believe at this time in my life, that I have finally gained clarity on who I really am as an individual, how I want to live my life, how I want to help others, and how I want to be remembered when I’m gone.
Who I am, what I stand for, and what you will learn from me going forward will not under any circumstances be a drastic change from what you have been learning from me in the first place. I am not changing my religion, money making beliefs, doing a 180 on you or doing things any different than I was before, but rather I will be sharing with you a more clarified vision of Brian Evans, and my philosophy. For me clarification is very important, and it is equally important for you as you too seek out and work hard for your achievements in life. Going forward, the vision for my life, and my hope and relationship with you in your life will be focused around 4 simple words: “No Regrets Only Results.” I’ve discovered that this is how I’ve been living my life all along, only now it is clarified and simplified in my mind.
Now when someone asks me who Brian Evans really is, I can say with extreme clarity and confidence that I am the, “No Regrets Only Results Guy.” Because in actuality, I’m really not just the real estate guy, or the speaker guy, or the best selling author guy, etc. Those titles are just vehicles and by-products of the real me. Don’t get me wrong, they are all equally important to what I represent but if you want to know who Brian Evans is really, then all you need to know is that I am someone who has made a clear and definitive choice to live my life with No Regrets and do everything in my power to achieve personally, and help others achieve amazing Results. Hence the birth of: No Regrets Only Results.
When asked by the mentor that was helping me dig deep inside myself to determine who I truly was and what I wanted to be know as, for me it was all summed up when he asked me one little question, “If you could only pass along one message to your son, Ryder, about life what would that message be?”
My response was, “I would tell him to live his life with no regrets and to be the best person he could possible be.”
Why live a life of No Regrets? Because the one thing that scares me more than anything else in this world is that when my time is up and I’m on my death bed and have only my past to think about and take pleasure in for the last few hours of my life. Or, if I’m looking down from heaven at the life that I was once blessed to have an opportunity to be a part of, then the very last thing that I want is to feel a sense of regret for having not done something, or having not at least tried that which I wish I could say that I tried, or having not helped others by sharing my beliefs and skills. Ultimately there is nothing scarier to me personally than living a life of regrets, and I vow to live my life so that never happens. “At least that’s the plan,” I said!
Why live a life for Only Results? In regards to being the best person that my son could be, I’ve clarified this to be the second part of my philosophy, which is, Only Results. Virtually everyday and every challenge in my life, from as far back as I can remember, I’ve always tried to be the best. No matter how big or small the challenge. And even though I wasn’t always “the best” at what I did, I could always say that I tried my best. That to me is what really matters. I’ve never half-assed anything, and I hope that I never will, no matter how big or small the task. This drive and mindset was instilled in me by my parents at a very young age and for that I am extremely thankful. Sure, there were many times that I didn’t like growing up and situations that I didn’t always understand, but I know now that everything was meant to be.
In addition to this instilled mindset, the one thing that stands out in my mind above anything else when it comes to being the best I can be, is a message that was told to me by my Godfather, Tollack, at a very young age. He told me,
“no matter what you do as a career in life, or how you spend your days figuring it out, whatever you do make sure you strive to be the best at what you do. If you want to be a garbage man, that’s fine, just make sure that you are the best garbage man there is. If you want to be a pilot, that’s fine too, just make sure that you strive to be the best damn pilot around. Don’t ever do anything half way. Always give everything you do 100% no matter what. Do this and you will live an amazing life.” Unfortunately he passed away shortly after driving this message into my brain, but neither he nor what he told me will ever be forgotten.
This is why I now choose to live my life with No Regrets Only Results. This is the main message that I want to instill in my children’s head and in your head going forward, because it is life-changing information. And if you take a step back and look at my philosophy from a simpler perspective, you will notice that it can be summed up even more clearly by saying, these are things that I don’t ever want in my life; No Regrets. And these are things that I always want in my life; Only Results.
If you do anything after reading this article, I strongly suggest that you begin to think about what YOUR life philosophy is. Here’s a question that will hopefully help you to move in that direction:
“If you could only leave one brief message to your children, grandchildren, family, or friends… what would that message be?”
May you live a life of No Regrets Only Results!
Brian Evans
Brian Evans is a multi-book best selling author, real estate investor coach, info-marketer, and small business mentor. To learn more about Brian and get a free copy of his flagship book, go to www.FreeBookFromBrian.com or visit www.RealEstateInvestorCoach.com
As you might imagine, with tens of thousands of GKIC Members and actually working first hand with over 100 people in 3 Info-MASTERMIND groups and my personal clients, I see a lot and learn a lot about Entrepreneurs. I was thinking the other day about the traits that the most successful ones have in common and I’ve identified the three most common ones.
HABIT #1:They READ a lot… especially books.
In fact, when I first discovered “Planet Dan” way back in 1995 the first thing that I did when I figured out that this Direct Response stuff really works is to become a veracious reader. I first began with the classics like John Caples, Robert Collier, David Ogilvy, Gary Halbert and of course everything Dan Kennedy wrote.
Back then I got into a habit of reading a book a week and I’ve kept up with two a month even though my schedule has become much busier. For example, as I write this I have this stack of books on my desk:
Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin
The GO-GIVER by Bob Burg and John David Mann
The True Beleiver by Eric Hoffer
Earl Nightingale’s Greatest Discoveries by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
Trump Style Negotiation by George Ross
The Patterson Principles of Selling by Jeffrey Gitomer
Ready Fire Aim by Michael Masterson
As you can see, I keep the topics somewhat diverse and many of the books are ones that members send me. They’re not all about small business marketing and advertising. But I don’t want you to miss the point I’m making here. This is not a habit that is specific to me. It’s a habit that I have identified as common to the Most Successful Entrepreneurs I work with.
HABIT #2: They continue to work on their EDUCATION in live settings.
After all, how did we originally learn? We went to school and sat in a classroom. It’s always amazing to me how many people stop working on their education after they get out of school.
It should not surprise you that those Members who attend our live events and participate in our coaching programs are much more successful than those who do not. I’m not saying this because I’m trying to promote GKIC. This is true of every event I have ever attended. It’s because people who continue to go to school, whether it’s school at a live event, webinar, tele-seminar, or mastermind meeting, work on their continuing education.
And of course the live events and mastermind groups are the best continuing education because you not only can learn from the presenter or leader, but also from all of the other smart people in the room. Once again, I hope you don’t take this a self serving, but I know of millions and millions and millions of dollars that have been made by the networking that goes on at such programs
HABIT #3:They create SMART GOALS for themselves and write them down for everyone to see.
What are smart goals? This is a term that I learned from my own Management Mentor, Vince Zirpoli.
S-M-A-R-T is an acronym for:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time Bound
There is no question that by creating smart goals and writing them down for others to see, you have a much better chance of achieving them. I’m always amazed at how few people actually do this every year and then update them throughout the year.
On the other hand, the successful Entrepreneur almost always does this. It’s important to point out that just writing them down seldom leads to getting them accomplished. Accountability is what gets them accomplished. That’s why you need others to see your smart goals.
I learned this first when I was operating my own Menswear stores. I actually posted our yearly goals and promotions for everyone in the company to see. It wasn’t as much for them as it was for me. Because they saw them, I knew as the leader I had to set a good example and get them done.
Okay, now that you’ve seen what I have identified as “The Three Common Habits of Successful Entrepreneurs” I have two questions for you. You probably guessed the first one, which is:
How many of these three habits are you currently accomplishing?
But the second question will require just a little bit of thought and I’m going to leave you with it:
If you’re currently not accomplishing all (or any) of these three habits, what do you think would happen to you and your business if you did? (Think about it!)
Bill Glazer
Bill Glazer, one of the most celebrated Marketing Gurus in the world, who along with the legendary Dan Kennedy have teamed up to provide advice to over 130,000 entrepreneurs worldwide in every possible industry and profession. Bill is a professional speaker, marketing consultant and coach, and a much sought-after copywriter. His book, “OUTRAGEOUS Advertising That’s OUTRAGEOUSLY Successful,” made four Best Seller’s lists shortly after it’s release in 2009.
Glazer-Kennedy Insider’s Circle, owned and operated by internationally known marketing personalities Dan Kennedy and Bill Glazer, is THE place where truly smart, progressive, aggressive entrepreneurs with a love of marketing, a sincere desire to get rich and richer (with no apologies for doing so), and an optimistic, forward-looking attitude, gather to exchange and share timely information and “what’s working today” strategies and examples. Get Bill Glazer’s #1 Bestselling Book, “Outrageous Advertising” for FREE. Click here.
Achievement is defined in the dictionary as a product of struggle. Struggle is defined as a fight, great effort, labor. Quite simply what this means is that if you want to win then you must also be prepared to fight and do whatever it takes to win. I believe that what really makes this difficult to comprehend these days is that the messages and technology that we see, hear, and use everyday is all about pushing the “easy” button or “nuking” it for 30 seconds. This may be true for some things, but not when it comes to achievement. If you were to study some of the greatest, most wealthy, and business savvy individuals in the past and present you will find that struggle, fighting, effort, and labor are at the core of their story. When you look at the history of our great country and how we achieved our freedom, this was a direct result of winning the great fight against our enemies, and struggling everyday to survive.
In fact, when I first discovered “Planet Dan” way back in 1995 the first thing that I did when I figured out that this Direct Response stuff really works is to become a veracious reader. I first began with the classics like John Caples, Robert Collier, David Ogilvy, Gary Halbert and of course everything Dan Kennedy wrote.
After all, how did we originally learn? We went to school and sat in a classroom. It’s always amazing to me how many people stop working on their education after they get out of school.
What are smart goals? This is a term that I learned from my own Management Mentor, Vince Zirpoli.