Life without dreams is like a bird with a broken wing - it can't fly.
Dan Pena
Constantine 'Costa' Gratsos had made his fortune as a lifelong associate of shipping icon Aristotle Onassis. He took a liking to me, became my first mentor, and showed me how to swim in the deep, dangerous waters of business.
I may be wrong, but I am never in doubt! And anyone who has been around me for even a minute understands that my self-confidence and self-esteem is sometimes overwhelming!
Jim Newman, the business visionary who created the term 'comfort zone,' showed me how to expand my horizons. Thanks to Jim, after I attended one of his PACE Seminars in 1978; I moved out of my comfort zone at Bear Stearns and became a super successful oilman.
The road to success is always under construction... there are lots of pot holes but no traffic jams.
Good lawyers win so-so lawsuits. Great lawyers can win lawsuits in which you have little or no chance to win.
Jerry Ormand was already a legendary Texas oilman when I met him. Yet he took the time to introduce me to the fine points of the oil business and how to survive and prosper amid the chaos of a rough-and-tumble industry.
A famous man once said, 'A sure formula for failure is to try and please everyone.' Some might say I built a career on doing just the opposite of pleasing everyone.
Progress often masquerades as trouble.
I have said many times: We have self-esteem or don't, based on how we were raised! Self-esteem is normally produced in your first 7-8 years of life.
I have written and said countless times it is not what happens to you in life that makes a difference! It is how we react to what happens to us in life that creates our history and - more importantly - our future!
The truth is, successful people are not ten times smarter than you. They don't really work ten times harder than you. So why are they successful? Because their dreams are so much bigger than yours!
People regularly practice playing a sport like golf or basketball - but few people think about 'practicing being successful.' I had practiced meeting the Queen of England - what I would wear, how I would stand, the handshake - so when I did meet her, I was comfortable - for I had practiced the moment for years.
It took me 8 years to graduate from undergraduate school because I kept 'communism from your door steps' for 3 1/2 years in between while serving in the U.S. Army.
Entrepreneurship is enduring pain for a long time without relinquishing.
I, like Don Quixote, have fought many a windmill.
Wishing, hoping, and dreaming without an action plan - is nothing more than a pipe dream!
As I have said many times - no 1 loves me as much as I love myself! And if you can't really love yourself, you can't love anything you do!
If you want to make more money, you'll have to do things differently. You will have to do things you never even thought of doing in the past. You will have to do things out of your comfort zone.
Year-end goals are terrific! Affirmations with goals are even better! And goals, affirmations, along with visualization is even more effective!
Super-success is not for everyone, and you will endure weeks and months and years of hard work, obstacles, failures, victories, pain, and any manner of 'negative' experiences to reap the rewards of success, drink from the golden goblet, own the brass ring.
We cannot change the past, only recover from it. And perhaps learn its cruel lessons.
When I volunteered for the draft as a 20-year-old, mischievous guy at the height of the Vietnam War, most thought I was destined to pass from this earth early!
Virtually all big law firms have good to super-good lawyers. All big law firms don't have great litigators.
When I came back from the military and completed a 4-year degree in 2 1/2 years, I developed the extraordinary habits needed to get a lot done in a very short period of time!
In late May 1993, I gave my first QLA Seminar at the Sheraton Hotel in Los Angeles.
Our lives are a series of lowered expectations year after year. We got pounded by everything around us. Just like our parents and their parents. We are products of our social and economic milieu.
Next time, you question what you are doing - ask yourself? What could I do more? In most cases, extra time will be the greatest leverage you can apply!
Of course I have said, till I am blue in the face - people don't lack goals, passion, grit, or drive - they lack leadership!
I can work 5-10 hrs. straight with no problem, though I do take towards the end of a 6-8 hr. work stint some time out to beat myself severely in the gym with weights/aerobics, including intervals!
Now, admittedly, my power of concentration is and always has been extraordinary since my army training! In fact, other people say it is legendary and almost cosmic!
Once you learn to make money, it is not that hard... what's hard is to stay excited about it.
You would think that American educators would want our kids, especially our kids from poorer families, to hear what top-rated Oxford students hear. But you'd be wrong. American schools now hide their students from ideas like mine if they don't approve of the man or the message.
We all have baggage from our upbringing! That's life!
All you need is the desire, passion, and will to fulfil your dreams!
Remarkably successful people habitually do what other people won't do. They go where others won't go because there's a lot less competition and a much greater chance for success.
We must all remember life doesn't have to be fair for us to succeed if we take change and become masters and creators of our own destiny.
When you truly believe in your idea or your company or yourself, then you don't need to have a huge ego or a huge personality.
All my life, I was always in a hurry! I was always hustling!
The world is full of people who want their ears tickled on strategies for wealth creation and protection and so-called revealed secrets to wealth creation. And there are plenty of slick 'business coaches' who are more than willing to do just that - for a fee. This is the world of the seminar guru.
Fear of failure is caused by lack of self-esteem and confidence. Dealing with fear is the key to super success.
My candor has gotten me in a lot of trouble over the years!
We're all self-made, but only successful people admit it.
As I have often said, I would rather be lucky than smart! But it is even better to be lucky and super smart!
You have to have faith in people.
I coach my mentees to act as if they are invincible - to act as if they could accomplish anything!
The Internet has allowed even more growth possible than in the bricks and mortar industries that I dealt with years ago. It is easier to get a business to a million dollars/pounds in revenue on the net! It is not easy! But it is easier when compared to construction, etc., though all businesses use the Internet to enhance marketing.
QLA is not about filling your brain with information - it is starting a fire within your heart and soul!
Good leaders make sense of change in the world... then imparts that insight to the team.
By definition, to work with me, you need thicker skin and must be OK with a certain amount of verbal abuse!
