One would think the notions of miracle cures and short cuts to success would have been dispelled decades ago. It seems there is always some huckster promising “miracle cures,”
“Do these 5 things and customers will immediately buy—I’ll tell you the secrets to success for $99.95!”
“Say these 5 words to get customers to respond……”
“It only takes 4 discovery questions to maximize your success in engaging customers….”
“Buy this tool to drive response rates up by 500%…..”
Often, accompanying these enticing miracle cures is a picture of some one sitting in a private jet, driving their fancy car, dining at a famous restaurant, celebrating their success on a tropical isle.
We immediately think, “If only I do those things, I could be as successful as these people….”
There are hundreds of more genuine books, articles, courses, outlining the formulas the author has used to achieve success. The claim is, “do what I’ve done, you can achieve the same results.” While the author may have a method that “works,” generally it’s specific to certain situations—markets, customers, product types, or the author’s own ability. Too often, when applied more generally, the approach fails.
As human beings, we are continually looking for the “formula” or “tool.” If we only did these things, we would achieve our wildest dreams. We spend billions, individually or organizationally, implementing the short cuts that have promised success. We invest billions of hours in trying to emulate the lessons taught by these “experts.”
When they fail, we invest more time and money in looking for the next miracle cure–moving from one to another to another.
Sometimes we see temporary improvements. But we can’t sustain them, or our situations are different. What seemed to have been the magic solution ends up being no magic at all.
At least until now…….!
I’m here to declare, I have found the secret to all success. (I’d take a picture in front of my car, but it’s been sitting at the airport for 2 weeks and needs to be washed. Alternatively, in front of my house, but the lawn needs to be mowed……)
The secret to success is “Do the work!”
That’s it, it’s as simple as that—but if you want to send a check for $99.95, I’m glad to accept it and donate it to my favorite charity.
The reality is the real secret to success is doing the hard work, showing up every days, learning how to engage customers, learning how to listen, learning how to help them learn, learning how to create value with the customers, learning how you can help solve their problems, learning how to help them buy–from you.
We learn every day, we get our teeth kicked in, recover/adjust, move forward. Over time, we consistently apply what works, discarding what doesn’t. We refine our approaches, first focusing on effectiveness, then moving to efficiency.
Look at any sustained top performer, in any profession. The commonality between each is they “Do the work.” They put in their 10,000 hours, and keep going, learning, refining, executing.
They do look at what others have done–not searching for a miracle cure, but looking what they might apply to their expert practice.
There’s something magic about “doing the work.” It actually works. It’s not easy, but it works. As we do it more, as we seek to improve, as we learn, it doesn’t get easier, but we execute it with more confidence and success. We refine what we do, accomplishing more and more.
from Partners in EXCELLENCE Blog — Making A Difference https://ift.tt/2wEnfWW
