This is what I did...

At a recent seminar of mine, one of the audience asked me a question; “If there were two pieces of advice I could give to help someone become more successful, what would they be?”

The question made me think – happens sometimes…

The answer I gave was instinctive, however, with hindsight I think that it was the best answer I could have given. The two pieces of advice that I gave, which have served me well so far in both my personal and professional life, were;

1. Show Up – if there is a challenge, meeting, event or opportunity; simply showing up will put you in the top 10% of people. I know that for some of the positions in my early career, I was under qualified and too young – but I showed up when others made excuses about the weather, meetings, and traffic. I have slept in cars and on station platforms to make sure I get to a meeting on time. If you show up you will win – if you don’t you can’t even participate

2. Say Yes – when an opportunity arises, say yes and go for it. I have travelled to 41 Countries, worked 21 and lived in 3. Saying yes to the sometimes bizarre and unusual requests can lead you on a world tour. I have had plenty of people who have read my story, tell me that they wish they could have done it – well they could, they just chose not to say yes when it was their time.

There are many more pieces of advice that I could have given including education, training, dedication and commitment – but I was only allowed two, and those were the two I chose.

I was also asked what my goal was when I was 17 – my goal then was to survive until the next morning without being beaten up. I was advised that I needed to have a BFHAG – A Big Fat Hairy Audacious Goal, and that it would inspire me. Personally I don’t want anything Big, Fat and Hairy and Audacious in my life – sounds like an extra from a Wayne’s World.  My goals are Big, Athletic, Powerful and Inspiring thanks..

Remember that having a definite fixed Goal can be motivating and inspiring, but it can also be limiting – if my goal had remained to simply survive the night, then I would not have said yes to any opportunity that didn’t limit itself to only achieve this.

What have you found works for you - I'm sure there are many different strategies that have worked, and I'd like to hear about them..