When you book travel, the excitement around taking that trip is immediate. You start to imagine what that time away will look like, smell like, feel like. Your imagination kicks in, you get excited when you start the “reverse engineering” process of planning your trip, making further reservations and plans. I need you to have the same level of intensity and excitement behind building your business. To even have a fighting chance of becoming an ELP, you need to take action today not tomorrow. Book your FLIGHT!

On a broader topic, your life will be made up of a series of “flights”. I started thinking this way later in life so I’ll probably have around 10 or so for the different stages of my growth. You may have more or less, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you teach yourself to enjoy “traveling", right? So, it doesn’t matter where you are right now. Just start and I’ll show you the HOW.

So, you might ask me, “Jim, I understand these characteristics but HOW do I put them all together? Where do I start?”

This is why coaches and mentors exist. Coaches exist to take out all of the noise and “editorialize” the process down to what works. So, over the next few months and maybe until the end of the year, step by step, I will show you “The How”! There is a a formula and I plan to give it to you it in bits and pieces over the coming weeks.

Today, on this MMPT, I want to focus on PATIENCE. The characteristic that inspired this series of calls.

We live in an impatient culture. You can logon to your Amazon app and order anything and have it delivered same day, next day and normally quicker than direct from the manufacturer. You can access Google and get any information you need in seconds. You can have a car pick you in just minutes using the Uber app. "Selling time’ is a huge business if not the future of business. These companies provide a lot of value, save us an enormous amount of time and convenience but they’ve also spoiled us. We expect things quick and we want our questions answered in just moments. It’s extremely hard for an impatient culture to think long term.

In the meantime, we know that “Change is the only constant”. If you don’t consistently pivot, you will fall back to the pack even if you don’t stop doing what made you successful. Your competition will catch up if you if do not INNOVATE. If you have a weakness in your business, you either have to improve in that area or hire someone that “plays” at what you are not good at.

Team, it is that simple. If you want to grow your business, you have to be better version of yourself. You can only earn at the level of your SKILL.

I remind myself daily that SUCCESS LEAVES CLUES. There is always a better way. I’ve also learned through the years that there really are no secrets. I just haven’t read them yet.

CONSISTENCY is created through habits and routines. Darren Hardy goes on to say that “you will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine”. Habits and Routines are necessary to stay consistent on those “small, smart choices”. You have to build bio rhythms that naturally propel you towards your goal. IF you rely on will power, you will fail. Consistency could also be referred to as persistence. Tony Robbins says that “Persistence overshadows even talent as the most valuable resource shaping the quality of life”.

Sometimes we don’t need new knowledge, we just have to be reminded of what we’ve already learned. I was reminded by 75+ year old man who has built an amazingly successful construction company that Amy and I just finished a project with last week. He’s still out on the job every day because he loves what he does, he loves the interaction and he is committed to his clients. He told with 100% conviction “I told my son (who runs the day to day) If you show up everyday, build a good product and take care of your clients during and after the project, you’ll never have to worry about your bank account”. That statement is so simple but so powerful coming from a man who has been building his dream for 45 years. His COMMITMENT to quality is why he has a 2 year waiting list. So sometimes we don’t need new knowledge, we just have to be reminded of what we’ve already learned. Sometimes those reminders come in such powerful ways.

Awareness is to the ELP what maintenance is to the plane. An ELP defines and controls their environment to produce at a high level. Their environment does not define and control an ELP. That seems so simple but think about it. How easy is it to let the negative people and and a stagnant environment dictate how we execute? I personally have been on a mission to delete what I call "negative, stagnant energy" for the last year and a half. I was made aware of this phrase “negative, stagnant energy” when I read the book “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo. Negative, stagnant energy, per Feng Shui, is caused by clutter within your environment. Operating with clutter makes it incredibly difficult to execute on a consistent basis.

During last week’s #MMPT, I revealed a list of characteristics I felt all elite level performers exhibited based on my research and experience. This topic evolved out of a meditation I had just a week prior. I noticed how impatient people get with their lives and business. Life has a way of reminding us that success at anything can take years or decades to accomplish. Being patient is one characteristic of being elite, but not the only one. Elite level producers also have clarity, they’re aware, committed, consistent, they have skill and are innovative. I realized I needed to discuss all 7. Today, I will discuss CLARITY.