Put yourself around successful people and learn...
 

In the thread below, re: Joe Karbo, you'll read that both myself and Don Alm have put ourselves in the presence and company of successes.

It has to be a conscious decision, they aren't going to knock on your door and ask, Whatsssup?

I love the mailorder guys and direct response marketers because I've been involved since I was 15 and it is an awesome model for the lone wolf or small potatoes guy who wants to fly low and collect the dough.

But, you should meet your area's successes too.

Burt Morgan, co-founder of one and founder of another Fortune 500 companies probably makes most of our mentors look like small potatoes. To be a Fortune 500 Co. in the days of manufacturing was a
big deal. Today, Internet Co can get on pretty quickly.

Burt left millions of dollars to a foundation and circulated millions of dollars through our area. And he was a delight to lunch with, built a restaurant in his bank just so he didn't have to leave the building.

His Concepts Development Co. still exists anf provides guidance for Entrepreneurs.

Ed Barr was a serial Entrepreneur who owned restaurants, retail stores, a stable and race track, and many natural gas wells and oil wells on Ohio. He used to bake strudel with me in one of his restaurants.

The point is, if you want to meet successful people, go out of your way to do so. As Don and I discovered, if you make the effort, they reciprocate with their time and share their knowledge.

Make a list of people you would like to meet and take action, being around success is one of the best things you can do for yourself.

Even those no longer with us, get to know them through the work they left behind.

I share Elton John's thought on Marilyn Monroe, "would of liked to known you, but I was just a kid"...

So take some time to meet with those you would like to know.

Gordon

What can you learn from successful people? This...
 

Hi Gordon,

I have to agree with your advice!

One question is... Does this only work in business?

The answer is... No! It also works in every field...

How? Here's an example.

As some here may know, I used to work in the world of physics. When I was doing my Ph.D. in physics, my grandmother sadly passed away. However, she left me a little bit of money (I think it was a few thousand dollars), with the instruction that it was to be spent on education...

I thought that this was a great opportunity to learn from some great physicists. I made a list of 10 physicists, in order, whose research groups I would like to visit, to spend some time learning and possibly working with them. My reasoning was, if the first guy rejects me, I'll email the 2nd guy... and so on down the list. My "pitch" to them was that I would fund myself - I wouldn't cost them anything if they let me visit! (That's where my grandma's money came in.)

I wrote an email (this was back in the early 1990s) to the first physicist on my list, and he said yes! (He's not really well known outside of the physics world, but in physics, he's quite well-known...)

So, I headed off to the University of California, Berkeley, for six months. Through him, I also met Charles Townes, a Nobel Prizewinner (and my office at Berkeley was just a few doors down from his).

It gave me a good boost in my physics career... :)

Where else would it work?

Probably everywhere... Including in business...!

So, what can you learn by doing this?

One of the most valuable things, I think, you can pick up from the right people, is how they think... If you can understand that, then you've often discovered one of the real secrets to their success... :)

Best wishes,

Dien

Re: What can you learn from successful people? This...
 

Dien,

I believe you just disproved the saying:

In the beginning was the word

You hit the nail on the head when you said learn how to think. That's important.

Is thinking a thought process? Yep.

If that is true, before you utter a word you must think it. So that means:

In the beginning was the thought

and not a word.

What do you think?

Re: Put yourself around successful people and learn...
 

Certainly it makes sense to hang around the successful in order to be able to "model" their success but I'm oft reminded of what Dan Kennedy says about hanging out with the successful is that you find out that they aren't any smarter than you are and many times they're less so, but they've managed to find one area (usually one small area) they've managed to make money in and then they simply repeat the process over and over and over again.

The point being that one shouldn't be intimidated by someone else's success because many times those folks are not superior to you.

Re: Put yourself around successful people and learn...
 

Hi Michael,

That's really good advice!

I think I'm generally not too intimidated by people... But I know some people who are, and it holds them back. They can never bring themselves to ask anyone advice, and they seem too intimidated to "hang out" with people more successful than they are, even when they have the opportunity, and they avoid those people instead... I try to welcome such opportunities (and try to overcome any intimidation I feel), because I often find I learn something...!

I find the more "successful" people you know, and the better you get to know them, the less intimidated you are. They are human beings like you and me, and they all also have their flaws, just like everybody on earth...

Thanks Michael!

Best wishes,

Dien

Where to hire
 

Does anyone have a list of agencies for hiring help?

Might be a good info product Rob
 

I think there would be a market for an information product on this.

HMMMM.

Gordon

Oops ... wrong thread ... meant to respond to outsourcing
 

Yes, Gordon ... that would be a good review / top ten type website