One of my favorite Jim Rohn books is the Seasons of Life. You can turn to just about any page and find Jim’s profound wisdom on the “set-up” of how natural laws and life work. So after two days of 3-5 inches of rain where I live, to see the sun shining this morning and all the green starting to appear tells us clearly that spring time has arrived! Jim called spring time “opportunity” and reminded us that all the rewards and harvest we reap in the fall come from our spring efforts.
A few months ago I started a book where I share lessons I learned from Jim and so many of his contemporaries like Zig Ziglar, John Maxwell, Brian Tracy, Harvey MacKay and Les Brown I had the great fortune to work with. I’m putting 52 of these ‘lessons’ together. So today in the spirit of spring time and planting seeds, I thought I’d share a great lesson from Brian Tracy. It truly did have an impact on my thinking and how I approached a unique opportunity that I was given.
It was 1989 when I attended my first Brian Tracy seminar. Brian was this relatively unknown speaker who had the great honor of being the opening act for Zig Ziglar. Brian would speak in the morning and Zig in the afternoon. Being hungry and wanting to learn as much as I possibly could, I arrived early so I wouldn’t miss any of the day.
Brian spoke on the topic of The Psychology of Success that day and I easily took over 25 pages of notes. The ideas and concepts flowed like a river and my excitement kept rising with each new insight. Little did I know that just a few short years later I would meet with Brian at his home office in La Jolla, CA where we discussed doing seminar events all over the country.
One of the MAJOR lessons I learned from Brian early in our relationship, and it has served me so well the past 22 years, was the concept of getting the plane off the ground. Brian shared that the amount of energy and fuel required to get an airplane going down the runway at 85 mph, off the ground and into the air was 10 times that of what was required for that same plane to cruise at an altitude of 30k feet going 400 mph. He said in his experience that the majority of people in life, much like a plane on a runway, go at a speed that is fairly fast but never quite fast enough to actually lift off. And they repeat this their whole lives.
He told me if I was to be successful, that I needed to commit 2-5 years of over-the-top activity in my business to make sure I not only went fast down the runway but also had enough momentum to launch into the air and ascend. Once I was able to get the plane off the ground and reach cruising altitude then with much less effort I could actually get greater results. I believe his admonishment and this principle was one the main contributing factors in how quickly I was able to build my seminar business. Just a few short years later my wife and I would move to a new city every 2-3 months and start from the ground up making thousands of calls and speaking at hundreds of meetings to market a big event. As Jim Rohn would say–MASSIVE action! Repeating that process over the next few years yielded amazing results and even more amazing opportunities, including relationships with mentors like Brian, Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, Og Mandino and so many others.
My goal then and now has never been to make work my main priority but rather let it be a vehicle that allows me the freedom to pursue so many other values and things in my life. I will be forever thankful for Brian’s accurate analysis and wise advice to not just go through life working hard enough to make a living but to pay the extra price during the critical time of launching a career making sure I did what was necessary to get the plane off the ground!
What makes this story extra special for me is in the coming weeks I’m hosting the Brian Tracy 3 Day Weekend Event – The 20 Year Anniversary of the Success Mastery Academy (a program Brian and I co-created and I promoted all over the country). We will have some amazing special guest as well (many who attended the SMA 20 years ago) including Darren Hardy, Vic Johnson and many others.
Join Brian Tracy, Darren Hardy and Myself for the Event of 2016!
You will never be the same!
To Your Better Future,
Kyle Wilson
To receive your own FREE lesson each week from Kyle’s book, 52 Lessons I Learned from Jim Rohn and Other Great Legends I Promoted! click here.
Kyle Wilson is the founder of LessonsFromExperts.com, Jim Rohn International (JimRohn.com) and YourSuccessStore, he also is the co-author of Chicken Soup for the Entrepreneur’s Soul. To learn more about the Lessons From Experts Network click here! To connect with Kyle through social media click here.
