Stephen Covey, in his best selling book, “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, urged us to “Begin with the end in mind.” There are only two kinds of people in the world. First, we have the tactical, reactive types, who just react and try to keep up, at effect and subject to the world around them. They are tossed about on the waves of progress and generally make other people rich. Their goal is survival and coping.
The second group are the proactive, strategic types, representing perhaps 7% of the population. They create the world and the environment they want. They are at cause, in control, determining their own future and outcomes. These strategists begin with the end in mind, as did Aristotle Onassis, who said, “If I had no money at all, I would work to buy the most expensive suit and then spend all my time in the presence of wealthy people.” They decide where they want to end up, and package themselves, act, plan, talk and make their choices accordingly. They plan their lives meticulously. They do not succeed by accident but by design. Success comes as no surprise to them.
Somebody once said to me, “Who would have thought you would end up here?” I replied, “I did – since the age of nine years old.” Strategists are like army generals or chess players. They build firm foundations and relationships for their future empires. They take full responsibility. Think of a skyscraper – the builders don’t spare costs on the foundations and the huge billboard with the picture of the future building is a prediction, a prophecy, and a sure thing. One of my nicknames is The Prophet of Profit. I created it, fed it to the press and got it coming back. The name of our business is Elliott Enterprises Inc., but we trade as DollarMakers. Predictive certainty.
If you want to know what you will achieve in the future, look at what you believe and expect. If you want to know what you believe and expect, look at your preparation. When we got to Canada nearly ten years ago, people asked me why we registered for GST and incorporated our business immediately. The reason was we expected to make serious money. We started with the end in mind. Our dream came true because we MADE it come true. We didn’t HOPE it would happen. We didn‘t say, “Well, IF things work out well, we will incorporate…” We put our money where our mouth was. We invested in ourselves because we believe in ourselves. We had not one iota of doubt (one percent doubt, and you’re out!), uncertainty, or reservation. We KNEW where we were going. So we prepared accordingly.
If you intend to build a skyscraper, make sure you have a firm, strong foundation of relationships, support, packaging, and education. If you intend to get wealthy, start to behave and dress accordingly – NOW. Act AS IF it has already happened. Condition yourself to enter every day with the certainty that you have already succeeded and that quitting is not an option. Start with the end in mind.
Robin J. Elliott
www.DollarMakers.com
