This article was shared from PPAI.
"Success means doing the best we can with what we have. Success is the doing, not the getting; in the trying, not the triumph. Success is a personal standard, reaching for the highest that is in us, becoming all that we can be."
-Zig Ziglar
Achieving Your Personal Best
I recently found myself on a business trip to Chicago. When I landed at O’Hare and jumped in a taxi to head to the hotel, little did I know that the real ride was just getting started. My taxi driver sped out of the airport and down the freeway, weaving in and out of traffic as the speedometer reached almost 85 mph. While I was stunned, I sat quietly, taking in the blur of buildings as we whizzed by. We finally reached the Gold Coast district and as the taxi came to a red light the driver turn around and said to me, “Well, I just reached my personal best. O’Hare to downtown in 18 minutes.”
How about you? In your business world, have you reached your personal best? If not, what will it take to get there? Promotional Consultant Todayshares what it takes to make that leap from good to great, from communications consultant Bill Lampton.
I recently found myself on a business trip to Chicago. When I landed at O’Hare and jumped in a taxi to head to the hotel, little did I know that the real ride was just getting started. My taxi driver sped out of the airport and down the freeway, weaving in and out of traffic as the speedometer reached almost 85 mph. While I was stunned, I sat quietly, taking in the blur of buildings as we whizzed by. We finally reached the Gold Coast district and as the taxi came to a red light the driver turn around and said to me, “Well, I just reached my personal best. O’Hare to downtown in 18 minutes.”
How about you? In your business world, have you reached your personal best? If not, what will it take to get there? Promotional Consultant Todayshares what it takes to make that leap from good to great, from communications consultant Bill Lampton.
If you are silently yearning to move from being merely good to becoming recognized as great in your profession, think of the incentives you would need to prompt you to move forward and upward. If you aren’t sure what those motivators are, look at the case of Bill.
Bill, a retired advertising salesperson, said his awakening came when he reached his 50th birthday. The occasion prompted him to review his financial picture. “I woke up to the realization that I had accumulated very little money, though I had been a better-than-average advertising salesman for my employer, a publisher of trade magazines. Further, this company’s retirement program was iffy at best.”
So Bill set up his own firm as a publisher’s representative. One of his first clients was his former employer. Others came along fairly soon, and it was not long before he started saving for the future, with the intense purpose of saving for retirement. It was his motivating force, leading him to attract more clients and grow his team. Today, Bill enjoys life at his retreat-style mountain home—part of the reward for establishing his entrepreneurial firm.
Here are some other motivating factors to consider:
Serving as an excellent role model. This could be as a parent, a friend or even a nationally known individual in your field.
Your reputation and legacy. Yes, you want to establish a record that your contemporaries and your successors will admire and emulate.
Internal rewards. You experience well-merited pride and serenity when you are sure you have reached your highest potential in performing a task.
Family responsibilities. Your drive for success is not selfish, but is geared toward the well-being of those dearest to you.
Get started today. List the people, circumstances and ideas that encourage you to set new goals, adopt more productive habits and steadily move from good to great. Keep the list handy for daily review, as a reminder of why you work—and why you are determined to expand your expertise and emerge from the pack of the also-rans to become a winner.
Source: Bill Lampton, Ph. D., is a communications consultant and speech coach
Compiled by Cassandra Johnson
Bill, a retired advertising salesperson, said his awakening came when he reached his 50th birthday. The occasion prompted him to review his financial picture. “I woke up to the realization that I had accumulated very little money, though I had been a better-than-average advertising salesman for my employer, a publisher of trade magazines. Further, this company’s retirement program was iffy at best.”
So Bill set up his own firm as a publisher’s representative. One of his first clients was his former employer. Others came along fairly soon, and it was not long before he started saving for the future, with the intense purpose of saving for retirement. It was his motivating force, leading him to attract more clients and grow his team. Today, Bill enjoys life at his retreat-style mountain home—part of the reward for establishing his entrepreneurial firm.
Here are some other motivating factors to consider:
Serving as an excellent role model. This could be as a parent, a friend or even a nationally known individual in your field.
Your reputation and legacy. Yes, you want to establish a record that your contemporaries and your successors will admire and emulate.
Internal rewards. You experience well-merited pride and serenity when you are sure you have reached your highest potential in performing a task.
Family responsibilities. Your drive for success is not selfish, but is geared toward the well-being of those dearest to you.
Get started today. List the people, circumstances and ideas that encourage you to set new goals, adopt more productive habits and steadily move from good to great. Keep the list handy for daily review, as a reminder of why you work—and why you are determined to expand your expertise and emerge from the pack of the also-rans to become a winner.
Source: Bill Lampton, Ph. D., is a communications consultant and speech coach
Compiled by Cassandra Johnson