Matt Schmoldt

Everyday I take a break from my work when I get to the point of being tired of what I am doing, and I usually go play basketball. The breaks that I enjoy the most are when I am alone on the court. Uninterrupted.

I shoot, shot after shot. I enjoy trying to perfect my shot. I have an inner desire to become gifted. I have come to the point where I know what I need to do to consistently make shots, but I just don’t consistently do what I need to do.

The rim lets me know how I am doing. I love having it’s instant feed back. The loud clang of the rim challenges me to become better, and the soft swish of the net rewards me.

But today, I realized that the rim’s instant feed back is unnecessary.

I realized that I already knew if the shot was off course even before it hits the rim. I know by how I feel during the shot. I know if it is too short, or sailing wide left, and I know if the shot is perfectly on track.

I realized that I was concentrating on the result and not on how I felt during the shot. I was fixed on making my next shot (the destination of the ball), but not on how I should feel during the shot (the journey).

When I let go of my fixation on making shots and instead focused on how I felt during the shots, an amazing thing happened. I made way more shots. Why? I got rid of my self imposed pressure on the result, and became free to follow how I felt during the journey. I didn’t care if I made or missed a shot; I only cared if I was focused on feeling what I knew I should be feeling during the shot.

Our lives are the same way. We want to succeed so badly that we become fixated on succeeding. Our every thought and desire is to succeed in whatever thing it is. Sometimes we want to succeed badly enough that we do things against our conscience and better judgement. You see this happening in our schools. Students want to pass a class without putting in the work, so they turn to cheating, and when they aren’t caught, they continue cheating.

The world has recently seen what this pattern of cheating leads to in the likes of Bernard Madoff and Allen Stanford. They wanted to succeed so badly in their financial businesses, that they lied and cheated for decades. They took their new investor’s money and gave it to their old investor’s, pretending that this money came from legitimate investments.

They let their fixation on succeeding rule their actions and look what it brought. It brought devastation to thousands of honest people who invested in their lies. It brought families heartache and devastation.

In the words of Joshua Marcus Manuel, “It hurts to look at yourself in the mirror and hate yourself, look into the mirror and wonder what ever happened to that smile that used to shine so bright. When you look at yourself, you see this version of ‘you’ that your mind has created, someone that has become so distant and cold that nobody wants to be around. Empty eyes. Fragile bones. The only thing you have left are the lies you tell yourself everyday to survive, lies that have become your painful reality, lies that will swallow you whole and crush your insides, lies that have turned you into someone you never wanted to be.”

Let go. Let go of those fixations that are preventing you from living a successful life. The way to success and happiness comes from letting go and following your heart, from being in harmony with yourself.

Look at what this did for Mother Teresa. For over 45 years, she ministered to the poor and the sick. She lead 610 missions in 123 countries for people with AIDS, leprosy and other illnesses. She dedicated her life to being in harmony with her conscience; she was her best self.

What things do you need to let go of?

Let go of them.

What things does your heart ache to achieve?

Achieve those things of your heart and live a life of success in harmony and happiness. Remember, “It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve them.” (Mark Twain) and “A great man shows his greatness by the way he treats little men.” (Thomas Carlyle)

About the Article’s Author: Matt Schmoldt currently attends Utah State University in Logan and is studying marketing. He loves life, his family, his heaven, and his sports (golf & basketball). He also runs a necktie website on the side which teaches people how to tie a tie.

Tony’s Comments: If you’re doing the exercises in The Master Key System, then you know that quite often Haanel instructs you to let go, both mentally and physically. This is a method of relaxation, which is somewhat key to truly understanding and getting results from Haanel’s philosophy.

When I am consulting with Master Key Coaching clients, one of the things we often do is practicing letting go. I’ve seen it do some amazing things. As one lets go, they lose the tension and they clear their mind. When that happens, they are not “tied” to the goal in a debilitating way; rather, they allow themselves to move fluidly and with agility.

Try it! Let go.

In The Master Key Workbook, I wrote

Many people dwell on the past. “It’s not my fault, Your Honor. I had a bad childhood.” Have you heard that before? How about “My mother was never there. She didn’t love me enough.” Have you heard a person explain with that excuse why they encounter one bad relationship after another?

Let go of the past. It is gone. Bring yourself into the Now. Why dwell on something that happened many years ago? If you’ve encountered failures, then try something new! The movie Vanilla Sky provides us with a wonder- ful thing to remember.

Every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around.

What goes for the past is true of the future. If you are not making plans, then why are you worrying about the future? Worry and anxiety are some of the biggest wastes of mental energy. They cause us to fear and many times they throw us into a state of paralysis. Keep your thoughts courageous and in the Now. You will be happy that you did.

Letting go may not be easy at first, but with practice you’ll get there. Pretty soon, you’ll be able to let go with ease.

As Haanel wrote, “You will not succeed the first time you try, but practice makes perfect, in this as in everything else…”

I was speaking with a prospective Master Key Coaching client. He was telling me what he wanted to attain and what he wanted to do. As he told me his goals, I noticed something — something just popped into my head.

One of his goals was that he wanted to tithe to his church. He wanted to give a portion of the money he made to his church so that they could perform good deeds.

As you well know, giving is important. The amount doesn’t necessarily matter. It’s mainly the idea that you are putting yourself — and your money — out there so that it will do good for others.

I asked this person, “How much  do you give now?”

His response was, “Nothing. It’s something I want to do when I have more money.”

I responded, “Why not begin giving now? Just give yourself permission to give now. It doesn’t have to be a lot. You don’t have to make a grand gesture. Every little bit counts and as your income grows, then what you give can grow with it.”

This seemed common-sensical to me.

It was a revelation to this person.

What I have discovered from coaching so many Master Key Coaching clients is that more often than not, it’s not that a person doesn’t know how to achieve a goal; it’s not that a person doesn’t have the means; nor is it that the person isn’t willing.

What happens far too often is that the person — like you — is probably just not giving themselves permission to do the thing they want to do!

Instead of just allowing themselves to do or get the thing they want, they make  excuses about why they can’t!

If they want to tithe, they say it won’t be enough.

If they want a new car, instead of investigating the various financing options that are available, they just file that goal under the heading “Pipe Dream” or, even worse, “Later.”

Instead of springing into action on their idea, they over-think things and instead of inventing ways to make it happen, they invent reasons why it won’t work — without even trying!

Stop it! Now.

Give yourself permission to live how you want to live, to do what you want to do, to get what you want to get.

You are ALLOWED to do so!

This is your life. Live it. Own it.

What is the difference between you and the people who “made it,” who succeeded?

Beyond what they did, beyond what they thought, beyond the actions they took and the alliances they made, it was the fact that in the beginning, when they first conceived their goal, they gave themselves permission to go after it.

Far too often, I speak with people who deny themselves their goals and their dreams, no matter how simple they are. And the only reason they do so is because they don’t give themselves permission to just go for it.

So, give yourself permission to chase your dreams. Give yourself permission to catch your dreams. Give yourself permission to live your dreams.

If it helps, I give you permission.

There are many things that you can do today — right now — that will increase your chances for success.

What is the BIG ONE, though?

Is there even a BIG ONE?

I know that there is.

It’s something that most people don’t do.

Why don’t they do it? Is it too hard? Don’t people know any better? What is it?

It’s theoretically simple, but it is a hard thing to do. But, once it is done, then success, while not guaranteed, is definitely closer. Success becomes in reach!

So, what is it?

As I wrote, it’s seemingly simple, but oh so hard to do.

It’s …

DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT TO DO.

See? Simple.

Yet hard.

You have to make the decision that you are going to do something. You must stand by that decision. You must follow through on that decision and see it to the end. When you do that — and as you do that more and more — you’ll find yourself becoming … *gasp* … SUCCESSFUL!

Why?

Because successful people do what other people are either unwilling or unable to do.

Most people are not able and willing to make a decision — to choose a course of action — and stick to it.

Think about how many people declare New Year’s resolutions. Now, think about those people one, two, three months later. They’ve forgotten their resolutions, haven’t they? They’re unwilling and they’re unable.

But you are willing and able. Because you were meant to be successful. That’s why you’re here.

Now, please note one thing:

I did not write “DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT.”

I wrote “DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT TO DO.”

There’s a big — huge! — difference between the two.

Some gurus, movies, infomercials, whatever declare that all you have to do is concentrate on the things you want. We all want things. We’re human beings. We want an infinite amount of things. Sitting around and thinking about them all the time is nothing more than mental masturbation. Or, as Haanel would write, “mental dissipation.”

While those things that you want may serve as an incentive, it’s not the thing that will bring you success

Only your actions will bring you success!

Once you begin thinking about what you want to do — whether it be starting a business, changing careers, embarking on a career, helping a charity, going on an adventure, exploring, writing a book, learning a new skill, solving a problem, going on a date — and once you make that decision, then the planning is easy. And when the plan is in place, the doing practically becomes a no-brainer.

Chances are likely that once you decide to do something, you can find someone whom you can model — and perhaps even follow their plan!

If you know where you’re going (what you want to do) and you have a map (a plan), how much will your odds of succeeding increase?

From my experience, I would say a lot. It happens with me — and I see it happen with my Master Key Coaching clients all the time.

So stop masturbating over vision boards. Become the person you want to be by your actions — by the things you do — not the things you own.

People on their deathbeds never regret not having things. They only regret the things they haven’t done!

Decide what you want to do and do it!

It’s the best — and only — way to become successful.

Goals.

If you’ve been into personal development for a mere five minutes then you’ve heard of them. Even if you’ve never cracked a book like The Master Key System or Think & Grow Rich I am highly confident that you’ve not only heard them mentioned, but you’ve even set a few goals for yourself.

I receive emails from people around the world. I recently received the following email from a fellow who needs help discovering what he really wants. He also has a question regarding the number of goals he can set. Here is what he wrote to me.

Dear  Tony,

I have been thinking about this question: What do I really want? Must it be one thing or many things? I had been changing my desire because of feeling like this is not what I really want. How do I find my real inner-most desire?

From my years of studying and practicing and coaching this material, I emailed to him what I think is a good response to a question (to a few questions, actually!) that we all have. What follows is my response in full.

Thank you for your email. Your question is one of the main reasons I have discerned that people don’t succeed often despite their talent, ingenuity, and drive. Without knowing where you want to go, chances are great that you’ll get there — and that “there” may not be where you want to be. So, it behooves you to decide what you want; that way, you can form a plan to attain it.

Must it be only one thing? Yes and no. You see, we can have different goals, or “levels” of goals. I consider business and lifestyle goals to be what I call the “grand goals,” those goals that impact our entire life. If you decide that you want to become a doctor, then that’s a grand goal because every aspect of your life will be influenced by that decision — you’ll have to devote time to school, you’ll have to work to earn money to attend school and live while you’re in school, your friends will become fellow students, your role models will become your teachers and doctors, and your future will be in many ways decided.

You also have a level of goals that are what I consider “secondary” goals. You may want a new car. Well, your grand goal will help you to attain the car (or cars) that you desire. The same for your house and your sundry possessions.

Along with those goals, we also have goals for our relationships, our spiritual life, our hobbies … Everything! Just think about when you decide that you needed a new shirt. Well, that’s a goal! You go to the store and endeavor to find a shirt that you like at a price that is a good deal for you.

What I have found is that the grand goal is the most important one. It’s the one where we are called to stretch ourselves. It should be one that motivates us and practically compels us to take action — lots and lots of persistent action and hard work. That’s why many authors advise people to pick a goal that is not only financially rewarding, but one that we enjoy. (I will say here that just because you enjoy something does not mean that you will earn lots of money doing it. That’s where a person can make a choice between complete enjoyment (emotional reward) and compensation (financial reward). Think about it this way: we all want to be rock stars and movie stars; a lot of people actually embark on making that dream a reality; but very few actually attain that goal and the ones that stick through it even though they don’t “make it” are the ones that truly love the art.)

How can you find your “innermost desire”? I cannot answer your question completely in this email, but I did write a book that will help you find your goals and form a plan for their attainment. It’s The Master Key Workbook and it is based on Haanel’s The Master key System. Here is where you can find it -

http://www.masterkeyworkbook.com (You can also find it on Amazon.com or at any other bookseller.)

The book is replete with written and mental exercises (You can view a few examples here) that will help you discover what you really want. It will also start you on the path for planning the attainment of those goals.

The Master Key Coaching Program is also a great way to define your goals. It is slightly more expensive than The Master Key Workbook (or The Complete Master Key Course, for that matter!), but you’ll get to work one-on-one with a Master Key Coach who will guide you through the goal setting process, the planning process, and whatever else you may need.

I hope I helped you a little with my response. Please let me know if I can be of service to you. All the best!

Walt Disney

Walt Disney said this in 1966:

A person should set his goals as early as he can and devote all his energy and talent to getting there. With enough effort, he may achieve it. Or he may find something that is even more rewarding. But in the end, no matter what the outcome, he will know he has been alive.

In other words: Tune in. Unlock. Attain…

On this date forty years ago, the most significant triumph of mankind–a triumph of thought, will, determination, and execution–occurred. On this day forty years ago, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin alit on the Moon. That object that illuminated our nights and our myths for millennia was finally being touched and explored by man.

Just nine years prior to this most monumental event, President John F. Kennedy challenged America’s best and brightest to “go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

On July 16, 1969, Kennedy’s vision was about to become reality as the mighty Saturn V rocket thundered toward space carrying Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, and Lt Col Michael Collins on their journey to the Moon.

We know the rest of the story. Neil Armstrong descended from the Eagle Lander and uttered the words that would be heard ’round the world: “That’s one small step for [a] man, and one giant leap for mankind.” (Please watch the YouTube video to see this.)

History was made. Man had accomplished the “impossible.”

Celebrate this day. Celebrate the achievement of thought, of rigor, of audacity. Celebrate so that you too can define your own goals and proudly march toward them–and bravely grasp them.

Like the men and women who made this climactic event happen–the astronauts, scientists, engineers, and many others–you too can “tune in, unlock, and attain.”

Every so often I come across something that someone has said that just captures a point perfectly. Better than I could ever write.

I call them “quotables.”

When I find a new quotable, I will share them here with you.

They can come from anywhere: business people, actors, scientists, criminals, politicians, athletes … I don’t care. The only thing that counts is what they said and if it resonates and makes a point.

Here’s something T. Boone Pickens, the businessman and investor, said about pulling “the trigger.”

T. Boone Pickens, business man, investor, and author of The First Billion Is the Hardest.

“I’ve always said that the most important quality of a good leader is that you’ve got to be willing to make a decision. Too often, people fall victim to what I call the ‘ready-aim-aim-aim-aim’ syndrome. Everything has got to be absolutely perfect. The truth is sometimes you’ve got to be willing to pull the trigger. Only afterward does it become apparent that the time was right.”

Is this something that you do? Do you think it is impeding your success and the attainment of your goals?

Are procrastination and being a perfectionist keeping you from becoming what you want to be?

If so, then read through the books of The Complete Master Key Course. Pay particular attention to The Master Key Workbook. I have found often that people fail to act (to “pull the trigger”) because they are unsure of what they want — or that what they want is not what they really want, which creates a disconnect. When you define your goal, the acting — the actions — flow naturally. You not only want to “pull the trigger,” but you need to pull the trigger. You are compelled to do so.

With this knowledge in mind, take the time to define your goal(s), plan your actions, and then act.

Pull the trigger!

[For more information about T. Boone Pickens, I highly recommend that you read his book The First Billion Is the Hardest.]

Here is a short video taken by a fellow from the Italian Car Show in Philadelphia, PA not too long ago. I find the video particularly enjoyable because I own a 1992 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce.

Italian Car Show from Robert Wynn on Vimeo.

It’s nice to watch videos like this. Why? Because it’s nice to dream and to see things that may serve as an inspiration to you. Then, you just may find that those dreams of yours will become your goals.

And that, my friends, is when the “magic” starts to happen.

I received an email from a fellow who wanted some techniques on maintaining focus, especially the conscious focus that Haanel describes in Week Fourteen in The Master Key System.

26. But the thought must be clear cut, steady, fixed, definite, unchangeable; you cannot take one step forward and two steps backward, neither can you spend twenty or thirty years of your life building up negative conditions as the result of negative thoughts, and then expect to see them all melt away as the result of fifteen or twenty minutes of right thinking.

I have three ways or techniques you can use to maintain focus. They are pretty self-evident, but I hope that when you read them here, you’ll see them in a different light.

More importantly, I hope that you will put these techniques into practice.

(1) Practice, man. Practice!

You must be consciously aware of your mental state at all times. Take stock of why you’re feeling the way you are when/if you get down.

Get to the root of things.

It takes serious practice to do that.

The Master Key System is not a pop psych book. It’s a serious philosophy that demands some serious effort. There are no shortcuts in this. Practice is the key way to achieve this success.

(2) Get a better goal (or why)!

If you tend to lose focus, then maybe your goal isn’t a true goal–a goal that you really want. Use The Master Key Workbook to hone your goals so that they are what you really want. It’s funny how when you really want something, many distractions just fade away.

Think of things this way: If you were submerged under water and held there, you would struggle with all your might to get to the surface so that you could breath again.

That’s a goal! That impels you to keep reaching!

That’s focus: when you can think of nothing else but that which you desire.

As long as you truly desire the  goals you set for yourself–and you have compelling reasons why you want them–then the focus you need will be easy to attain–and maintain.

(3) Live up to it!

I’ve found that many folks don’t live up to anything. They don’t have a compelling reason to want to be better.

Think of any bachelor that you know. Their house (or apartment) is a mess, they’re slovenly, unkempt, unshaven. I think you get the picture.

Once they meet a girl they want to impress, though … Wow! Don’t they do a complete 180?

They clean themselves up, get their act together, and try to win the girl.

Why?

They’ve found something they want to live up to.

A leader wants to be the best leader so that he/she can gain the respect of their group. A father wants to live up to being a hero in his son’s eyes. A mother will do what she can to retain custody of her children so that they can stay together as a family.

That is what living up to something means.

To maintain a focus, find or realize all the ways you can live up to things–and then become that person. Maintaining that image will help you to maintain that focus.

I hope that this helps and that it provides a few insights to keeping yourself on track. Focus is something with which most people struggle. As I like to say, all too often life interruptus rears its ugly head.

Life interruptus … That destroyer of time and waster of energy.

Ask yourself how much of your time is interrupted by phone calls, people stopping by, or even yourself getting involved in one distraction or another. If you make your plan and then stick to it, then you are increasing the chances of maintaining your desired focus and therefore achieving your goals.

David Rockefeller would maintain his schedule no matter what. If he scheduled that a meeting would last for one hour, then it would last for one hour. When that hour was up, the meeting was over.

Eliminating life interruptus is often times difficult to do, but it must be done. If you constantly find yourself depleting your energy on useless, unfocused tasks and endeavors, then you will find yourself adrift, not getting to where you want to be.

Use these techniques to maintain your focus. When it all comes down to it, your life becomes what you focus on. Focus on the good things and the good things will come to you.

Luck is something that many people who get involved with self-help and personal development shun. Most shun it with good reason, as the people who say that others are “lucky” tend to do so out of a sense of helplessness or hopelessness. Other people who shun the idea of luck do so without acknowledging that something like luck exists at all.

A classic – and quite poignant – definition of luck is

Luck is when preparedness meets opportunity.

When you prepare yourself for anything, the time will arise when you will have to use your skill or knowledge. And when you succeed, you’ll be called “lucky” because you knew what you needed to know.

For example, let’s say a person studied computers in school. When he went to get a job, chances are pretty good that he got a very decent paying job. People will say he was “lucky” because he prepared for when an opportunity would arise.

Likewise, a person who didn’t even graduate high school, doesn’t practice any trade or skill, will continually decry his “bad luck” as he looks in envy at those who succeed around him – those he calls “lucky”.

As you prepare yourself to handle different situations and events, as you continue learning and meeting new people, you’ll be ready for those times when opportunity presents itself.

Why is it that the people who win massive lotteries eventually return to the same dire financial straits they had before they won?

Not only because of their mental attitude (or lack mentality), but because they were not prepared to deal with wealth of that magnitude. Hence …

Not only is a fool and his money soon parted, they were lucky to ever get together in the first place!

Keep yourself prepared and ready for the opportunities that life presents. Plan your goals and prepare for them well before you reach them.

A writer is a person who writes daily; he will have a portfolio ready for when an editor needs a sample.

A singer will be ready to audition at the drop of the hat.

A salesman is always on and knows how and when to close the deal.

Opportunities present themselves all the time.

The only thing that isn’t always there is one’s preparedness for those opportunities.

One of the best ways to approach goal setting that I ever heard was from a speaker named Fred Gleeck. He is a speaker who holds seminars about sundry topics from how to be a professional speaker to how to market different products. In addition to that, he is a pretty cool guy. If you get a chance to attend one of his seminars, I highly recommend it.

When he begins his seminar, he talks a little about goal setting. Basically, he says to plan your ideal day or how you would like to live every day. Many people don’t like their average day and instead live for the weekend or those days when they can “do what they want.” That isn’t much of a life, is it? Our goal should be to have every day be a good day – a day to which we look forward. It all begins to defining what that day would look like.

Now, we have to begin by being completely honest about it. Let’s face it, many right now would say that they want to relax by the pool and do a bunch of nothing, but that would not last too long. Why? We would get bored! Look at how many retirees go completely nuts because they have nothing to do! Or worse, look how many basically opt to die because they aren’t useful anymore.

Furthermore, it has been found that work-related stress is not the killer it was once thought it was. It has been found that stress in those situations actually improves one’s life! As a healthy human being, one needs to struggle, one needs to compete, one needs to set high goals and work to attain them.

These are the things that not only define us and give meaning to us, they give us life.

So, with that in mind, define what you love to do. List those things that you absolutely love and would like to do every day. Maybe you’d like to awaken at eight or nine and relax with a cup of coffee or tea whilst reading the paper or listening to the news. Afterwards, you work – either you go to a job that you enjoy or you have a business. Perhaps you’d like to workout or go to the gym; maybe even take a sauna or steam. Do you want to prepare dinner at home? Go out to eat? What do you want to do in the evening?

In other words

What would be a perfect every day for you?

You see, as you hone what you want and what you are passionate about and as you get that clear picture in your head, you will discover the ways and the means to make it happen. It may not happen over night, but by keeping your eyes open to the possibilities around you, you will attain that day – every day.

Plan your perfect day. Find the ways and means to make it happen. And live it every day.

A Zen story goes something like this:

A student was having a meal with his Master. When they were finished eating, the student asked his Master, “What should I do now?”

The Master replied, “Clean your bowl.”

At that moment the student was enlightened.

This story illustrates one of the most important ideas that we all should take to heart: whatever we start, we must complete. Leaving a task undone, unfinished, or incomplete is the surest path to failure. Success in life can be summarized in a sentence:

Show up and complete the job.

It’s amazing how few people fail to do those two seemingly simple things. That is what separates the winners from the losers.

In Week Four of The Master Key System, Charles F. Haanel held no punches when he wrote:

12. Unless you do this, you had better not start at all, because modern Psychology tells us that when we start something and do not complete it, or make a resolution and do not keep it, we are forming the habit of failure – absolute, ignominious failure. If you do not intend to do a thing, do not start. If you do start, see it through even if the heavens fall; if you make up your mind to do something, do it; let nothing, no one interfere; the “I” in you has determined, the thing is settled; the die is cast, there is no longer any argument.

As Haanel stated, not completing something forms within a person the habit of failure. Once a person begins to quit the things he endeavors to do, he finds that it becomes easier and easier to quit the task at hand rather than complete it. In the end, then, what does he have? Nothing.

If man had stopped at the launch pad rather than launching and landing on the Moon, would we have that amazing accomplishment to inspire us?

If Jonas Salk never completed his investigations into disease, we would still be suffering with polio (and probably other illnesses) to this day.

When the going gets tough, we are often told, then the tough get going. They don’t “get going” the other way, though; they go toward the trouble and get the job done.

A good analogy to illustrate these points is to think of your life as having a checking account. Every time you set yourself to do something and you attain your goal, then you deposit money into your account. You become richer. You’re life becomes fuller. You have bettered yourself. When you leave something incomplete, when you quit before you’ve attained your goal, then money is removed from your account. You are a little less than you were before you started. You’ve attained nothing, but lost the time you put into whatever little efforts you made.

A friend of mine made it his goal to become a master parachutist. (Please excuse me, but I do not know the proper term for someone who completes one hundred parachute jumps. “Master parachutist” will serve the purpose for this illustration, though.) He went through months of training and finally went on his first jump. After the jump, someone asked him how he liked it. My friend said that it was “the worst thing he ever did” and that he “couldn’t wait until it was all over.” He was then asked why he would keep on jumping if he hated it so much. He answered that he had to complete what he set his mind to.

Once he made his one hundredth jump, he quit jumping and has never done it since. He had attained his goal and in the process set himself up for future success. (He currently owns his own company and is very successful.)

Life, when all is said and done, is about the things we’ve done and the things we’ve accomplished and attained. Even something as little as buying something, if left incomplete, would leave us lacking in some way or other. Imagine needing a television, but never leaving the house to buy one or never committing to a particular model. You’d be inconvenienced for a very long while.

Complete your tasks; complete your goals; attain all that you can. Life might be a race, but it is a race of endurance, not speed. It matters not how we finish something nor how quickly. The fact that we finish is all that a person needs to be on the path to success.

Segal’s Law states this:

A man with one watch always knows what time it is.

A man with two watches is never sure.

Many have heard this before reading it here. What does it mean, though?

In a nut shell, it means that when one pursues more than one goal or aim, he rarely achieve either. One’s efforts become too dissipated and he rarely (or never) allows himself to focus on just one thing – quite possibly the one thing that would make for him his fortune. 

All of us have talents and skills, wants and needs, goals and desires. That is normal that is what makes us a human being. If we look around us, though, and look at those who achieve and attain, we will notice a startling thing. That thing is the fact that those who attain massive success, achieve that success in one thing – one specific thing.

Bill Gates achieved his success in the computer industry. Rush Limbaugh attained money and fame through radio. Tiger Woods mastered the game of golf and succeeded massively.

One thing. These people – and others like them – took one thing and ran with it. They ran with it until they achieved all of their goals.

Most of us fritter our time and talents by leaping from one toad stool to another. We never settle on any one. We jump around like lost frogs looking for the next fly to eat.

The smart frog, on the other hand, finds his place and lets the flies come to him. And come they do!

It has been postulated, and in my experience proven very true, that it takes ten years of doing something before any kind of success or mastery is to be attained. A person studying for a black belt in karate will study that long before they attain that vaunted level of skill. Microsoft went public as a company in 1986 and it grew through the nineties, but not until the later half of that decade did Microsoft really become a household name.

It takes time and patience and persistence – and more than a little perspiration – to achieve a goal.

What many find the most difficult, though, is finding just that one thing to do.

The greats were in many ways most fortunate because they found their passion early. Tiger Woods, Ludwig Von Beethoven, and others like them began studying their crafts while exceptionally young. That is one answer as to why they were hyper-successful.

That begs the question, if one is getting off to a “late start”, does that deny him from the race?

Not at all. Albert Einstein was 26 when he published his Special Theory of Relativity. Babe Ruth was older when he became the home run king. Many CEOs and executives work many years through the ranks before they begin to see the fruits of their labors.

In other words, age is rarely of consequence.

The hardest battle one will fight with himself is deciding what that one thing is!

Take the time to discover what it is exactly you want to do. I wrote The Master Key Workbook to assist you with that “great battle”. It’s a step-by-step guide to discovering what is important to you and how to form a plan to attain it. Most people have found that once they decide definitively on something, whether that goal be tangible or intangible, it is often times easier to achieve than they thought it would be when they were merely musing and day dreaming.

A person merely “wanting a job” will often find it difficult to obtain a desirable position. The person who declares “I want to be an engineer!” will practically have their path laid out for them.

A person who wants “somebody – anybody!” in his life will more than likely by mired in bad relationship after bad relationship. The person who takes the time to define exactly what they would like in another person will eventually find that person and enjoy a sublime happiness.

You who would like to own a prosperous business must take the time to decide what you want to trade. Once you have that, you can then form you plan. And then you implement. And then you persevere. And then you prosper. If you jump from one plan to another or one industry to another with no good reason, though, then you will never gain the traction you need that will propel you to success.

Once you have that one thing in mind, then you can put into practice what Haanel wrote in Week Seven of The Master Key System

Visualization is the process of making mental images, and the image is the mold or model which will serve as a pattern from which your future will emerge. 

Make the pattern clear, and make it beautiful; do not be afraid – make it grand. Remember that no limitation can be placed upon you by any one but yourself; you are not limited as to cost or material; draw on the In?nite for your supply, construct it in your imagination; it will have to be there before it will ever appear anywhere else. 

Make the image clear and clean-cut, hold it firmly in the mind and you will gradually and constantly bring the thing nearer to you. You can be what “you will to be.” 

Decide! Decide! Decide! Find that one thing and pursue it with every fibre of your being! Don’t relent and never surrender. Time is running short. Run with your dream or else your dreams will run past you.

A man lived in a small town. He played the violin. More than that, his passion was the violin. He played and practiced day and night. According to everyone in town who heard him play, he was a master – he was great!

One day, this man heard that a great virtuoso violinist would be giving a concert in the town’s concert hall. The man was excited. Not only would he get to see a living legend and one of his personal heroes play, but he would also take the opportunity to play for HIM after the concert. That way, he could get some valuable advice from the Master himself.

The concert came and the virtuoso performed. The music was spell-binding. The playing magnificent. Everyone who attended sat awestruck at the musical abilities of the Master.

After the concert, our young man went backstage, violin in hand. He approached the Master and said, “Maestro, would it be OK if I played for you so that you could let me know if I have what it takes to become a virtuoso such as you?”

The Master replied, “Please! I would love to hear you play.”

The young man tucked his violin underneath his chin and for five minutes he played with all of his heart and all of his soul. Those who heard this impromptu audition were amazed by the talent this young man possessed.

All the while the young man was playing, the Master merely sat with his eyes closed showing no signs of emotion.

When he was finished, our young man asked the Master, “Well? How was I?”

The Master replied, “You play excellently, but you haven’t got the fire.”

The young man nodded, said thank you, packed his violin in his case, and returned home. He proceeded to get for himself a respectable position in the local bank and worked his way to a position of responsibility. He married and had two children. He never played the violin again.

Ten years had passed since that fateful day and once again the Master returned to town to play a concert. Our young man went to see him and was once again rapt with awe at the Master’s playing. After the concert, the young man once again went backstage and approached the Master.

“Sir,” said our young man, “I played for you many years ago right here. Thank you for telling me I hadn’t the fire or I would have foolishly continued to dream about being a virtuoso rather than working on the life I now have. I owe you a lot.”

“Ah, yes,” replied the Master. “I remember you well. If you had continued, you could very well have been a virtuoso. You were an excellent player.”

The young man became angry at this point. He raised his voice and yelled at the Master, “WHAT! YOU told me that I didn’t have the FIRE! Because of that I quit! YOU heard me play. Why didn’t you tell me that I could have become a virtuoso? Why did you tell me that I didn’t have the fire?”

Calmly, the Master replied, “My dear boy, I tell every one who auditions for me that they don’t have the fire. If they truly do have the fire, then they disregard what I say and continue to play; if they don’t, then they quit and never play again.”

The young man was humbled and said nothing.

“You see,” continued the Master, “I was right. You didn’t have the fire. If you did and playing the violin was your passion and your love, then no matter what I had said or what anybody had said would have deterred you from playing.”

###

In the words of Winston Churchill:

“Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense”