Monday, April 1, 2013

We're All Born Scared & Naked, What Next?

    All of us come into this world with differences, social, economic, demographic and so on. However we are all born scared & naked, the difference is what happens next. Yes, obviously some of us are born with all the cards; wealth, good looks, great parents, intelligence and some with the stack against them; poverty, broken families, neglect, bad health. Yet we all have a choice of where to go from there. I’m sure you all have heard the story of someone who came from nothing and against all the odds became immensely successful and I also know you have heard of those who come from extreme wealth and throw it all away, so what’s the difference that makes someone successful?

    There's as many opinions on this as there are answers so I’ll just try and focus on one concept, it’s fear or lack thereof. Fear can be a debilitating factor to many in this world, however it can also be the driving force to your success. According to Anthony Robbins, “Average people are afraid of failing if they attempt to succeed, while successful people are only afraid of not succeeding”, I love this, I think it’s the simplest explanation of this theory I’ve ever heard and yet it explains it quite clearly. The difference of how you look at things can be the greatest difference in your life, many of the best life coaches call this your “Mindset”, I call it your “Choice”. You can either choose to be content with life the way it is or you can choose not to be. That doesn't mean that you have to be miserable if you haven’t achieved what you want, it just means that you can always choose to strive for greater things.

   For an example on a different way to look at this, the person that comes from nothing and made themselves a success felt they had no choice other than success. The only way out of their situation was to change it, they didn't allow themselves to be defined by their circumstance, they made no excuses and focused on the solution. They felt that they were on a sinking ship and learned how to swim, they were afraid of remaining where they were in life, much more than failing. In a way you can say they actually had everything going for them, because there was no way to go but up. On the other hand you have those that seem to be born with everything; money, education, great family, yet they make nothing of themselves. They had too many choices and felt no need to do anything about it. Their back wasn't against a wall, so they have no drive to make anything of themselves. This is why so many families of great wealth, seem to fall apart after a few generations. So there is always two ways to look at things, it all boils down to choice.

   Just take a look at professional sports, yes there are exceptions to every rule, however for the most part, the vast majority of those who achieve the greatest success came from meager and troubled beginnings. They felt that this was their only way out, so they didn't even consider failure. They had the drive to train everyday of their lives, to the point of complete exhaustion and got up the next day and did the same. You may say that it’s a matter of physical ability not just desire, yet I can assure you that for every success there are dozens of those who had the same ability and just didn't have the same drive, they gave themselves too many choices. 


Floyd Mayweather Jr. 8 Time World Champion
Lets use Floyd Mayweather Jr as an example, from Wikepedia, in his own words; "When I was about eight or nine, I lived in New Jersey with my mother and we were seven deep in one bedroom and sometimes we didn't have electricity, when people see what I have now, they have no idea of where I came from and how I didn't have anything growing up"It was not uncommon for young Mayweather to come home from school and find used heroin needles in his front yard. His mother was also addicted to drugs, and he had an aunt who died from AIDS because of her drug use. "People don't know the hell I've been through", he says. about his youth and his father, "I don't remember him ever taking me anywhere or doing anything that a father would do with a son, going to the park or to the movies or to get ice cream", he says. "I always thought that he liked his daughter (Floyd's older stepsister) better than he liked me because she never got whippings and I got whippings all the time", Floyd could have easily given himself many excuses, that because of his circumstance he could never achieve anything, thankfully to us boxing fans he did the exact opposite. Floyd is an 8 time undefeated world champion, with a 43-0 record and holds belts in 5 different weight classes, hows that for success.

    Another way to look at this is there are 2 types of people, those who find problems and those who find solutions. It’s the same thing, just how you perceive it. Yes the obstacle is still there, just some focus on the obstacle, while some don’t waste one moment on anything other than finding there way around, over, under or through it. My all time favorite quote is “In the midst of difficulty, lies opportunity” - Albert Einstein. What he meant by this is that when there’s difficulty in life it presents you with an opportunity to find a solution, for some of us that challenge is half the reward, not half the battle, for others the challenge becomes overwhelming, giving them an excuse to quit. I always have believed if you look for something you will find it, if you look for a problem it will appear, yet if all you look for are solutions, you won’t even notice most of the problems. So having the right attitude wins half the battle every time.

    So stop focusing on the wrong things, were all born scared & naked, what are you going to do next? Don’t give yourself any choice but success and you're already halfway there.

Thank you for reading and the best of luck in all your endeavors, 

+R. Michael Gonzalez
MiamiMichaelG@Gmail.com

Please ask questions or leave opinions in the comment section, as I welcome any outside opinions and will answer any questions that are made directly and honestly.

If you found this article helpful, please show your support

4 comments:

  1. Hi Michael,

    Excellent post! No matter what our circumstances are we all have the ability to be successful. We cannot make our past responsible for our future.

    Some of us are just too quick to make excuses. Our backs aren't against the wall (yet) or we are too comfortable where we are. That's why they say "get out of your comfort zone." You cannot grow if you don't at least stretch it a bit.

    If you ask anyone (who wasn't born with a silver spoon in their mouth) how they reached the level of success they are in, you will find that there was some amount of pain and really hard work that got them there.

    Thanks for sharing that great piece!

    Ilka

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello Ilka,

    This was actually an article I had half written, like so many others, lol. After watching the Anthony Robbins video on one of your posts I thought I would finish it.

    I really like Robbins he can take almost any topic and break it down to the basics. Life can get complicated if you let it, but if you keep it simple, things can go much easier.

    Thanks for the comment,

    Michael

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Michael,

    Thank you for the information on your blog! I (a Dutchie living in Spain) have been looking at ACN recently as a possible business opportunity but haven't made up my mind yet, your information has been very useful though.

    Can you tell me where I can find proper (in dept) information about the products and services ACN supplies to clients (the end user) and the support involved? Most information available is focused on how to 'work' your team and how to network your way down the different levels. I need to be sure and convinced of the product or service I recommend to clients (and potential IBO's) and know there is a good customer service support that I can rely on to get answers from or get help from to get problems solved. Are there client reviews or surveys from ACN clients? I am curious to the actual experience of clients who have bought from or have switched to ACN.

    I have a marketing background and am also sending you this email to give you a tip for your blog (am not trying to be a smart ****). The white text on the black background starts hurting my eyes after reading a few seconds (no matter how interesting the text) and I have to look away and stop reading (not good if you want to keep attention to your blog). It is actually proven that white type reversed out of black is harder to read (see the book: How to Design Money Making Ads)! The only exception to this is when the text block is very small (for example in very very small advertisements).

    Another thing that may help readability of your blog is to use a serif font for the body text, serif fonts are 5 times easier to read than sans serif fonts.

    Thats all, many thanks again for the information about ACN and keep it coming. I will do a little more research before committing...

    Un Saludo,
    Feyoena

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Feyoena,

      Thank you for you comment, you can go to my direct services site and see what services are available in Spain. Just go to the link and find the flag of the country you wish to find services for at the bottom - http://michaelgonzalez.acndirect.com/

      I also have been working on redoing my blog in WordPress with a whole new design, just been too busy recently. Actually the white screen hurts my eyes, so I have to find a solution for both.

      As for customer reviews, I can only say that the customers I have signed up are very happy with the services, but I will look into finding other customer reviews to add here. Unfortunately happy customers don't take the time to right reviews like the complainers do.

      Once you join IBO's can contact ACN with any questions or concerns and they are very helpful. The best way is to connect with them through their instant chat. I contact them all the time with questions.

      Thank you,
      Michael

      Delete