This is probably the most often asked question that I get. There is not a day that goes by that someone doesn’t ask me what it takes to become successful. I’ve been a student of success principals for more than 30 years. I’ve read hundreds of books on success, talked to countless successful men and women about the topic and what made them successful, and I’ve documented hundreds of “steps” or “things” that I’ve done right in my life. I’ve also documented several hundred more “steps” or “things” that I’ve done wrong in my life. Both have been very useful in helping me achieve the level of success that I had achieved.

I really don’t consider myself successful yet. Mainly because I haven’t reached all the goals that my wife and I have established for ourselves, our family and our businesses. It’s a “work-in-progress” and it will continue to be a “work-in-progress” until the day that I die!

This morning I met with a young man that I love like my own son. He is a great Christian, newly married, and eager to succeed in life. I’ve been a mentor to him for many months. Every time I meet with him I hear the same old story about what he is doing in his business. He says he needs to make more money. He says he wants more time with his new bride. He says he wants to become financially independent. However what he doesn’t do or hasn’t done is heed the advice that I’ve shared with him about how to improve and grow his business. In other words, he takes the time to meet with me, aggressively seeks out my counsel, and then does not put into action what I share with him. By the way, he and I are both in the insurance business. I am, of course, an Independent Agent and he is a Captive Agent. But, we’re both in the same industry and marketing and selling our services are very similar.

I’ve shared with him, numerous times, the techniques, strategies, processes and systems that I have used to build my insurance practice. He hasn’t done any of them. Of course my Number One question to him was: “WHY haven’t you done these?” All I get in return is a “deer-in-the-heads” look! When it all came down to the one point that was holding him back it was “procrastination!”

Procrastination is probably the number one deal killer to your success. Putting off today what must be done until some date in the future. To me, procrastination is just another word for “not taking immediate action!” You’ve heard me say this many times before, “If you want your future to be worth more than your past, then you have to invest in the present!”

I’m as guilty as anyone of procrastination. It has been the down fall of many great opportunities that I have encountered. You have to ask yourself why do so many people destroy their futures because of procrastination?

Fear is one reason. People are afraid to fail. People are afraid to make mistakes. People are afraid of what others will think about them. People don’t like to hear the word “No.” Over coming fear is a lot easier than you think. One of the best ways to overcome fear is to face, head-on, whatever it is that you are most scared of and do it anyway. Look fear straight in the eyes and move forward anyway. Recently I was talking with a friend who is a highly decorated Special Forces soldier. I asked him if he was scared when he went on these dangerous missions all around the world. He said “Of course I am! But I can’t let fear hold me back. I seek out the missions that are the most dangerous and face fear head-on. In most cases, I find that what I thought I would be most scared of wasn’t as bad as I thought.” This is good advice when it comes to facing fear.

Not having a plan is another reason people are not successful. I have been guilty of this many times in my past too. I cannot say it any plainer… NO PLAN..NO SUCCESS! It wasn’t until I began deliberately planning each area of my life that I began to see real results. You know, the dumb thing for me was that I had been given this advice 30 years ago, but didn’t really begin following it until about 15 years ago. Another one of Larry Ledford’s “dumb, stupid, expensive, painful mistakes!” You must have a plan in your life of what you want to accomplish! And, it has to be written down!

It surprises me that people more time into planning a vacation than they do planning their financial futures. People will go to great extremes to make sure their vacations are well thought out, well planned, and properly written down. But they won’t put the same effort into planning for success in all areas of their lives.

Lack of focus is another reason people don’t achieve success. Last week I spent several hours counseling a client about their business. My advice to this client has been the same since she first hired me to be her coach, mentor and wealth building advisor. “Keep focused on what you do best. Make your current business successful before you go into another venture.” What do you think she wanted to talk about last week? Two more ventures that “offer great potential!” Neither of which has anything to do with her current business. For more than a month she had been focusing on how to make money in these two other ventures. All the while, her primary business, the one she is most passionate about, was losing money.

I own several businesses. My students often say to me, “Well, you have more than one business, why do you tell us to maintain focus when you don’t do it yourself?” This is a very legitimate question and here is my response to them. “I’m not opposed to you having more than one source of income. What I recommend is that you get a good income coming in from one business before you start on another one. Make the first one profitable first before starting another one. Once you get your primary business working properly and you have a positive cash flow business that produces you an income whether or not you’re at work, then, and only then, should you work on another source of income.” This is what I have done in my own life. It works for me. If you maintain this focus there will be a time that comes where you will spend more time working “ON” your business and financial success rather that “IN” your businesses.

My passion is to see people achieve success in all areas of their lives. The way I achieve this in my life is not the “only” way, but “A” way. The advice that I am recommending to you is based on years of making “dumb, stupid, expensive, painful mistakes.” I’m hoping that you will learn from these and develop a plan of action that will put you on the road to success. But more than success, I hope it puts you on a path to happiness!

I believe it was H. Jackson Brown that said: “In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins – not through strength but by perseverance.” Good advice! If you want to be successful…PERSERVERE!!

Be sure to be looking out for future blogs about my opinions on achieving success. I will go into further detail about this soon. Meanwhile, God bless!

MAN ON A MISSION!

Larry G. Ledford

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