“More important than doing things right is doing the right thing.” – Peter Drucker
You intend to be successful. Do you intend to be really successful—to the extent you will retire independently wealthy?
When I ask that question during my travels around the country, 100% of people say the answer is yes. But what do you see when you walk downtown? Why aren’t the streets filled with 65-year-old independently wealthy people? What happened?
Statistically, here’s what happened:
- Five percent actually do retire independently wealthy.
- About 43% get by: they don’t get ahead but they don’t get behind either.
- The rest are broke.
Everyone started with high ideals and a commitment to hard work, but at retirement age, only five out of 100 people retire independently wealthy. And unbelievably, right here in America—in the land of opportunity, the richest country in the history of the world—about 52% of people leave the American
workforce requiring some form of government subsistence to survive. How can that be? What did the 5% get that the 52% missed? What did the five learn that the other 52 either failed to learn or learned and ignored?
The answer is: the basic laws of success.
It’s true that hard work is the foundation of success but it’s not only how hard you work, it’s also how you work hard. If hard work is the foundation of success, how you work hard is the structure
or the framing of success. I call these techniques “success tactics,” and they are the basic laws that drive success.
In this article, we explore these 10 basic laws of success but remember, they come with this warning: Everything on the list is easy to do. That doesn’t sound like much of a warning until you hear the rest of it: Everything on this list is also easy not to do.
The difference between success and mediocrity or failure is rarely the act of doing the one-time huge tasks. It is absolutely about being willing to do, every day, the little things that are easy to do—but also easy not to do.
So, here’s the list we talked about at the National Club Con- ference in Charleston in May. This is what the 5% got and the 52 missed. The question is, what will you do with it?
- Always Take Notes.
Create reminders. Don’t try to remember everything. Keep a pen and paper or electronic device with you always, ready for notes
and reminders. An excellent place to keep your note-keeper handy is by your bedside. Occasionally, late at night after you’ve turned out the lights and said your prayers, you are rewarded with a great idea. As one of the five, when this happens, you turn on the light, make the note, and turn off the light, drifting to sleep comforta- ble in the knowledge that the idea will be right there for you in
the morning. One of the 50 will try to remember the idea—but of course, they will not.
Another great place to keep note-keepers handy is in the bath- room. In case you haven’t noticed, many of your really great ideas come to you in the bathroom. Having a real-time way to safe those BFOs (blinding flashes of the obvious) will pay you big dividends.
2. Hang Around the Right People.
When I talk with groups, especially younger groups, the number one question I’m asked is, “Bert, is there a silver bullet to suc- cess?” Turns out, there is a silver bullet and here it is: If you want to be successful, hang around successful people. As a matter of fact, who you hang around determines where you end up in life. If you want to be rich, hang around rich people. If you want to be respected, hang around respected people. And if you want to be successful, hang around successful people.
Hang around people who have things you aspire to have, do things you aspire to do and hold positions you aspire to hold. Hang around these people and listen.
That’s the silver bullet, But the gold bullet, the one that is crit- ical to anyone’s success, is this: While you are hanging around the right people, find a great mentor. Your great mentor will have four basic attributes:
- A sincere interest in you and your personal success.
- A demonstrated track record of success (if not, why would you listen?).
- Knowledge or expertise in your specific area of interest.
- Peer respect. The greater the respect for your mentor by his or her peers, the greater your chances of success.
Found your great mentor? How do you engage? Simple. Just ask. Great mentors are always on the lookout for emerging talent. You’ll be surprised that he or she will be honored you asked and delighted to do it.
Here is an important tip: Occasionally, when you are hanging around the right people, they will do something nice for you. Write thank-you notes! Many women do this instinctively; most men do not. The fact is, thank-you notes set you apart. When I receive a thank-you note from someone, I immediately lift that person out of the crowd and put them in a special place. Most substantial people do the same. They write thank-you notes in the big leagues and you should never pass up the opportunity to do the same.
3. Be Honest.
Long term, in business and in life, you cannot be dishonest and survive. The key words are “long term.” There is a lengthy list of people who appeared eminently successful—right up until the time they checked into prison. Their success was short term.
Understand that dishonesty may not catch up with someone today, tomorrow, this week or this year, but eventually the truth always comes out. Honesty is, in fact, the best policy and you must respect that fact to be successful, long term, in business and in life. Honesty is actually easier than dishonesty. Abraham Lincoln was right when he said, “No man ever got lost on a straight road.”
4. Keep a Great Attitude—Always.
If you forget everything else in this piece, remember this: Your attitude is the single most observed thing about you! More than your flashy car, more than your fancy clothes and more than your amazing good looks, your attitude is the single most observed thing about you.
People with great attitudes are a magnet for great experiences.
People with bad attitudes are a magnet for bad experiences.
When we were together at the National Club Conference,
I told the story of my friend Jim Hosseini, who occupies a senior position with Waffle House. Jim embodies all the characteristics we’ve discussed—so his success isn’t a surprise. I talked about the time Jim got the flu and went to the doctor. When the receptionist and the nurse asked how he was, he replied, “Great!” The reason he did that was the receptionist and the nurse weren’t responsible for his flu and couldn’t solve it—there was no reason to ruin their days. But when the doctor asked how Jim was, he said, “I feel like hell.” He’d finally reached the guy who could do something about it.
Keep a great attitude always. It’s the single most observed thing about you.
5. Get Up Earlier Than Your Friends.
And if you’re in business, get up earlier than your competitors. You may think early rising is a pain in the neck or you may have even a lower opinion of it. The fact is, getting up early is a habit that’s easy to get accustomed to. Unfortunately, so is sleeping in; all other things being equal, first one up wins. If this were true, there would be an age-old proverb about it, and there is: The early bird gets the worm. The good news is, you don’t have to be the first one up. You just have to get up before everyone you want to beat.
6. Learn to Say Yes (and) Learn How to Say No.
But don’t ever say something like “Okay, I’ll do it. But I really don’t want to.” When you say that, you make two people unhappy. You’re unhappy because you’re doing something you do not want to do and the other person is unhappy because they think you’re not going to do a good job.
Sometimes, people say yes because they don’t know how to say no, or they think it’s not okay to say no. “No” is a perfectly appropriate answer when someone randomly asks you to take on a task you either clearly should not be doing, don’t want to do, or simply don’t have time for. The trick is to say no with a great deal of charm. Your response should sound something like, “No, I’d love to help you out but I can’t. There is something else I have to
do that will keep me from doing the, but I hope you find somebody else real soon.” Say it with a smile and let the words roll right off your tongue. Once finished, shut up. The next one who talks loses, and if you say your piece and keep quiet, expect to hear something like “Oh, okay. Thanks anyway.”
Practice saying “No” until it flows like water. Chances are good you’ll have an opportunity to use it tomorrow. Of course, if the request comes from your thoughtful and very competent boss, the correct answer is, “I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do.” Then figure out how to get it done.
7. Nourish Yourself.
There are three things you can nourish: mind, body, and soul or spirit.
For the mind: read. You must read something—anything—every day. If you read something every day and I read nothing, in 20 years, all things being equal, you’ll know a lot more than I do. Also for the mind: listen. Realize you have two ears and one mouth for a very good reason. Listen twice as much as you talk. When you talk, you’re saying something you already know. When you listen, you have the opportunity learn something.
For the body: You must eat something for breakfast every morning. If you don’t eat something within about 90 minutes after you get up, about 10:30 or 11 in the morning, the body sends a message to the brain: “Hey, this fool didn’t eat breakfast!” The brain sends a message back to the body to move to Plan B, which means the body starts infusing directly into the bloodstream an alternative emergency fuel: adrenaline. But there’s a problem with this adrenaline—it’s not our regular fuel. This is like high-octane JP-8 jet fuel, which is why you get jittery, and all those cups of coffee you had are probably piling on.
What happens those days when you sail right through the morning and forget to eat lunch? About two in the afternoon, the body sends another message to the brain: “Hey, this fool is trying to kill us.” The brain says, “Go to Plan C,” which is when the body starts stripping fat and light muscle fiber from the upper arms and legs. The body is literally eating itself to survive—ask your doctor friends. There is a medical term for this phenomenon: Your body has entered into a mild form of shock.
Now, how can a leader make decisions in the best interest of their people if they’re in shock? You can’t—at least, not very well. What does it take to shut this process down? Within 90 minutes after you get up, get something in your stomach. That will start you on a normal day.
Lastly, nourish the spirit: pray. This is not a religious issue, but in case you haven’t noticed, we are not in charge. Every culture in the world acknowledges there is a greater force at work in this world than you and me and it is called by so many different names: God, Jesus, Rahman, Allah, Mohammed, Buddha. Every culture in the world recognizes that we are not in charge. We are not even trusted with the really important stuff! When was the last time you told your heart to beat? Do you tell yourself to breathe?
Can you remember ever going to bed at night with a problem heavy on your heart and no solution in sight? You go to sleep and somewhere in the middle of the night, a solution comes to you. You wake up the next morning, have the answer, and you still don’t know where it came from. You are not the only one who has experienced this. Help is available if you ask for it.
8. Learn to Manage Your Time.
We all get the same amount of time: 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. So why do some people accomplish more than others? They’ve learned how to manage their time more ef- fectively. Here are three skills you must learn to do just that.
- Know where you want to go—you must have goals. Goals define your purpose in life. If I handed you a basketball and gave you 10 chances to make one lay up, you could probably do it. But
if I blindfolded you and turned you around a few times, could you do it then? “No fair,” you say. “How can I hit a goal I can’t see? That’s a good question. Here’s another one: How can you achieve a goal you have not set? Goals define your purpose in life. The most important goals are the ones that can have the greatest impact on you. You have to know where you want to go.
- To achieve your goals, you must have an action plan. Incredibly, some people spend more time planning a party than a life. Consider your goals, marshal the resources, set deadlines and live by them. Nothing takes place in business or in life until there is an action plan in the execution phase!
- Finally, learn how to avoid distractions. There are about 1,000 distractions a minute in the world, but you have to press through them and stay the course. Here’s the story of the seed sower out in the village fields with the sack of seeds. You and I are the seed sower and, as we sow those seeds, we look back to find a few birds pecking at some of the seeds. You, as the seed sower, at this particular time in your life, have one decision to make: Do you want to be a seed sower or do you want to be a bird chaser? The smart seed sower knows while some of those seeds will fall on barren ground and some will be eaten by birds, most of the seeds thrown out will get down into the ground, germinate and grow the crops the village needs. The smart seed sower also knows that 100% of the seeds left in that sack at the end of the day are definitely not going to grow—better to be a seed sower than a bird chaser. Bird chasers are not known for great achievements and seldom even catch birds. So, stay the course and ignore distractions. You cannot major in minor affairs and be successful in life and business.
9. Give Away All the Credit and Take All the Blame.
People who do this are called leaders; people who do not are called followers. Eventually, everyone figures out who was really respon- sible for success or failure. Let them discover it on their own. Toot- ing your own horn diminishes your success and if you shirk blame that’s rightfully yours, people see you as a minor leaguer who can’t take criticism. Self-promotion is a product of personal insecurity and is as transparent as excuse making. Men and women who lead successfully don’t engage in either weakness.
10. Give Away Anonymously Things of Value.
This is the most powerful of the basic laws. In Charleston, I talked about the family I know who calls the local elementary schools on the first freezing day of winter to find out what children arrived without coats. They get these children’s names and genders and sizes and they go shopping—buying jackets, taking them home, and pinning a child’s name to each one. Then they put the coats into big plastic lawn bags and take them to school. They give the bags full of jackets to the receptionist at the front desk and ask that they be given to the principal. And then they leave knowing no one knows who they are.
What kind of positive power follows them all that day? If these anonymous acts of selfless kindness are frequent, imagine the pos- itive power in their lives.
Certainly, there are other laws of success but these 10 are the most basic. Numbers one through nine will organize you, and number 10 will give you power you never dreamed of. All are easy to do—and all are just as easy not to do. Here is wonderful news: You don’t have to do everything dis- cussed here. You don’t even have to do any of it very well. The first few fumbling efforts at any of the 10 will give you amazing and dramatic results. You just have to try.
Bert Thornton attended the Georgia Institute of Technology on a full football scholarship, served two years with the U.S. Army, joined Waffle House as a manager trainee and retired more than 40 years later as president and chief operations officer. He is currently retired vice chairman emeritus of Waffle House and author of Find an Old Gorilla: Pathways Through the Jungles of Business and Life, and High Impact Mentoring: A Practical Guide for Creating Value in Other People’s Lives, co-authored with Dr. Sherry Hartnett.