The Universe Does Not Like Wimpy Goals
Posted: Thursday, April 10, 2008
by Jeff Brown
Inner Projection
In order to find success, Bill Zanker, owner of The Learning Annex, had to push himself out of his comfort zone into territory so frightening, so terrifying that he had to run to the bathroom to throw up. His body manifesting what his mind had just revealed to it.
What had caused this? Let's backtrack for a moment to set up this painful yet highly enlightening, even priceless epiphany.
He did well and developed his dream into a modest $5 million dollar per annum business. But one day, he decided to hire Donald Trump to come to his annex and teach. This single event would not only transform his business but his life and ultimately the lives of all he would touch. But there were complications.
At first, he offered Mr. Trump $10,000, that which to Zanker "was an enormous amount of money" ( Trump, Think Big and Kick Ass; Harper Collins). In response to the request, Trump's secretary said little and quickly hung up the phone.
Some time later he offered $25,000.
"Nope. Not interested."
Certainly Trump would accept $100,000, the most Zanker had ever offered a speaker.
The secretary's response?
"No way. Donald still couldn't do it."
Zanker was stunned. What could he do? Should he simply give up on his dream, a dream that dictated to him it was one he must follow. He sat back and contemplated his next move and thought of a comment Tony Robbins once made: "If you want to make it big, you must push yourself beyond your limits." At this point, Zanker took what millions had heard Robbins say into action, that which few of Robbins' followers ever take beyond mere pondering.
But he did it. He moved forward.
"I decided I wanted to be big. Donald Trump was the ultimate Mr. Big. If I wanted to play in the same arena with him, I had to push myself to a new level. I pushed my chest out, took a deep breath, and gathered all the energy I could muster.
Zanker called Trump's secretary and offered One Million Dollars.
"That's very interesting. I'll talk to Donald about it."
Mr. Trump called Zanker himself, and after he picked himself up off the floor, Zanker heard Mr. Trump say he would do it. Under one condition, that he get 10,000 people.
The classes at the annex averaged 500 to 700 people. How was he to get 10,000? His detractors told him he'd be lucky to get even 5,000, never mind 10,000. But Zanker did something few do. He accepted Trump's request and moved forward with fear and trepidation but not without a deep ceded understanding that this was what he had to do. No looking back. "No" being stricken from his vocabulary.
"I started doing things I'd never done before. I started thinking on a much larger scale."
And becasue of this push into the unkown, this doing of the "never done before," not only did the requested 10,000 show up, but an additional 21,500. Not only did Zanker exceed his expectations, but he was able to pay Trump from the proceeds without going broke or out of business, a real possibility for a company that had never made more than $5.5 million in one year.
So what happened after all this pushing, pushing, pushing?
Zanker's company moved from a small $5 million in sales to a whopping $105 million.
"The experience proved to me beyond any doubt that when you think big, big things come to you" (Zanker).
T Harv Ecker, author of The Secrets of the Millionaire Mind, tells us that unless you increase the size of your basket, the universe will not give you any more than you want or can handle. If you do not believe or are not prepared for an increase, you will not get it. Zanker believed, but not without great trepidation. Nevertheless, he pushed forward to achieve.
But is money all there is to this principle of stretching oneself? Let's have some people who've been there tell it like it is.
"The ultimate reason for setting goals is to entice you to become the person it takes to achieve them."-- Jim Rohn
"Take chances, make mistakes. That's how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave."-- Mary Tyler Moore
"Twenty years from now you will be disappointed by things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sail. Explore. Dream. Discover."-- Mark Twain
"Why not go out on a limb? Isn't that where the fruit is?"-- Frank Scully
"Always do what you are afraid to do."-- Ralph Waldo
"Great minds have purposes; little minds have wishes. Little minds are subdued by misfortunes; great minds rise above them."-- Washington Irving
"Life is a series of experiences, each of which makes us bigger, even though it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and griefs which we endure help us in our marching onward."-- Henry Ford
"If a man does only what is required of him, he is a slave If a man does more than is required of him, he is a free man."-- Chinese Proverb
"You will not grow if you sit in a beautiful flower garden, but you will grow if you are sick, if you are in pain, if you experience losses, and if you do not put your head in the sand, but take the pain and learn to accept it, not as a curse or punishment but as a gift to you with a very, very specific purpose."-- Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
We can see that by pushing ourselves, getting outside our comfort zone that we grow. Growth and the giving of ourselves to others are the only reasons we are here, for if our purpose were simply to gain riches, titles, social ranking, material goods, then upon death these things would come with us. They do not. And they are soon forgottn by the world, but all of merit, that of long-lasting effect, is in our actions, words, and deeds. And that is what stays . . . in droves.
So if you want to be sad and unfulfilled, stay as you are, never venturing, never gaining. But if you seek to stand with your back straight, your eyes forward, with little understanding of fear for through your efforts its grasp was weakened releasing you long ago, and if you desire to be "brave" and "grow," to be "bigger," and you desire to find that stellar "person it takes to achieve" greatness, to taste of life's great "fruit," to not find disappointment and regret upon your deathbed "by things you didn't do," to wield a "great mind," to "develop character," to not "be a slave," you must push yourself, and push hard, at times suffering great "pain . . . [and] losses . . . [but] not as a curse or punishment but [rather] as a gift to you with a very, very specific purpose," "for the world was build to develop character."
May you push and unwrap that gift and, as all gifts should be, pass it on to one, and then another, and another, sharing that great purpose, joy, love of self, a foundation to bless others with the same in kind.
This Article has been viewed 1,153 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Wonderful article, Jeff. I wish I could have had advice like that when I was much younger. There are so many things that I feel I 'could have', 'should have' done; but I guess I fall into the category of wishful dreamer. As they say, hind sight is 20/20. Thanks for the great article. SEGSandra, Yes, some come to this understanding and act upon it when they are 15, some 30, 40, 50 or later. Most never do. I wish I had gotten started on the path much earlier myself. But later is usually better than never. Thanks for the kudos!
hi jeff, this was such a well written, interesting article. filled with many truths i have been exposed to, and believe in. sometimes i take my own advice, sometimes, i don't. :) thank you for sharing, best regards, sue thomSusan, Yes, some really come together well, others don't. This article just dropped out of my head pretty much as is. But that's writing, isn't it? Thanks for dropping by!
Yes, I liked the article. Think big and certainly many do but do not have the resources to get the ball rolling. If you share you may lose. If you wait it may pass you bye. I find it is, like you say, a matetr of money,a s always. If you have it you can tickle the right noses, if not, well continue blowing. best Wishes RTMRobert, Many say that it's a matter of attitude: scarcity or abundance. And where you set your financial radar will determine your ultimate success, regardless of where you start. Interesting to note that the majority of the successful I've been reading about began with nothing or living on PB&J's in a cheep one bed room apartment (Tony Robbins) or losing their family and becoming street people and alcoholics (Og Mandino) only to pick themselves up and build themselves to great success. Amazing what the mind can do. Thanks for dropping by and God bless.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.