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success mistakes: 9 reasons people don’t succeed

success mistakes

Apr 162013

Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…

Success is not some mysterious force.

Success doesn’t care about your race, your creed, or your background.

Nor is success reserved for the rich and affluent.

I think Tony Robbins said it best when he said, “Success leaves clues.“

Having read over 200 books on self-development, marketing and time management, I have seen this concept repeated over and over again.

Just yesterday I was reminded of this very concept when I was listening to a platform speaking program. Dan Kennedy, who is a marketing legend, made the point of saying that a common mistake that poor people make is the “Oh, that doesn’t apply to me” reaction when listening to someone talking about success in another field.

He went on to say that “All principles of success whether you want to talk about sales or marketing have a basis of universal transferability.” So in our search for answers, we need to be looking at what DOES transfer and not why it doesn’t.

But it does take some seeking.

That’s why I created this site — to uncover those “clues” that can make a difference in our lives whether it’s at home or at the office.

I wanted to make this a sort of one-stop success site.

While I believe that niche marketing is the fastest way to get your name out, there I wanted to make this site as a sort of hub for all sorts of ideas.

I seek, then I share.

These days I find it increasingly difficult to share everything I want to share via a blog so have been working hard to boost my social media presence particularly on FB where I can share good quotes, books and tidbits, quickly and easily as well as get my message out there faster.

If you’re not already subscribed to my Facebook fan page and want a daily dose of success click here.

With my fan page, this blog, my podcasts, as well as my YouTube channel and Twitter account I’m doing all I can to share good ideas.

All you need do is think about how these ideas apply to you then go about adapting them to fit in your life.

And yet, at a time when we have access to incredible information from people all over the world, most people fail to achieve their dreams.

I sat down the other day and pondered this question.

I picked up a few of my favorites and came up with this list:

No hard work (no pain, no gain)
Too much hard work (exhausted, low quality)
Try too hard too quickly (you can’t get healthy eating 3oo apples one day a year)
Think they have all the answers (arrogance)
Lacking the 3Ps — plan, purpose and passion (these are magical)
Poor mindset (everything starts with belief)
Short term thinking (life isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon)
Give up too soon (there is such a think as a “Tipping Point” according to Malcolm Gladwell)
Money management (even a person earning a $5,000,000 a year can go bankrupt, all they have to do is spend 6)

As Dan Kennedy stated earlier, too many people believe that their situation is unique and other people’s ideas and strategies wouldn’t apply to their life or business. They have simply closed their minds off to new ideas from other sources.

Having taught thousands of students myself, I have seen this time and time again.

I must admit that I find it interesting that despite how different we all are, we are so similar on so many levels.

Adrian Shepherd

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success principles: the lost art of reading

Expert Perspective

Mar 112013

Reading time: 4 – 7 minutes

The world has changed a lot…

This isn’t much of a surprise to any of us, but to think about just what the world was like just 100 years ago and today is like night and day.

We have gone from horses to cars to airplanes to space travel.

Phones turned into cell phones and now smartphones.

Business has gone global with China, almost non-existent just 40 years ago thanks to communism, taking center stage in the 21st century.

Letters were replaced with emails and now FB has made emails somewhat of a so-last-decade sort of thing.

We had two world wars, a cold war and now the makings of a currency war.

Books, then radio, then TV, video, DVD and now Bluray and 40″ high definition TVs being common place.

Yes, a lot has changed.

But not all change is good.

Today we’re more interconnected than ever before and yet so distance with our friends and family.

Family dinners aren’t as sacred as they once were.

I find myself constantly scratching my head as to why people aren’t getting happier in spite of our incredible technological advancement.

Life is easier, and yet it seems harder.

So many more opportunities and yet people are struggling…

I grew up with TV.

I loved it.

I could never understand why my father would sit in his chair night after night and read a book when the TV and video tapes were there.

But when I ran into trouble a few years back, I turned to books because I didn’t know where else to look.

I did it out of desperation.

I started with authors such as Robert Kiyosaki, Keith Cunningham and Steven Covey.

These authors introduced me to others.

Today I am shocked when I look through my library — hundreds of books and 100o ebooks, over 200 audio programs and tens of DVD trainings.

They cost a small fortune, but they’ve been the best investment of my life.

And one day I’ll be able to pass them to my son. (many of them become more valuable with time)

I think it’s fair to say I taught myself to like reading.

I just wonder why twelve years of school, four years of college and all the teachers I had failed to do this.

I know you can’t make anyone like anything…but having read the books I’ve read, now I realize it depends on what books you read.

For every great book like Jurassic Park or Animal Farm, there are so many that just bomb.

Agatha Christie’s books are still better than nearly every other mystery writer’s out there.

But today, books have got stiff competition and they’re losing out to video games, texting, violent sports, gossip magazines and silly video clips.

NOTHING beats a good book.

The key word being good.

It’s so easy to make a mistake, but here are some novels I would consider GREAT.

Atlas Shrugged
Animal Farm
Jurassic Park
Master of the Game
Rage of Angels
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Peril at End’s House
If Tomorrow Comes
Shogun
The Power of One
Angels and Demons
It
Life’s Golden Ticket
1984
The Invisible Man

And for those who are looking for answers to improve their life or business I suggest you start with one of these. I assure you the ideas contained within them won’t simply help you improve your bottom line, but your inner you.

Cashflow Quadrant
Talent Is Not Enough
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
The 5 Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle
He Who Thinks He Can
Conversations With Millionaires
How to Win Friends and Influence People

I never thought I’d find myself itching to get into a new book, but I’ve gotten older…and hopefully wiser.

These days I’d be hard pressed to think of anything more enjoyable than just sitting down, reading a good book and thinking.

Like father, like son…

Reading is a skill, one that can unlock more information than anything else.

The answers to everything you want to know are out there.

It’s up to us to go search for them.

It is my sincere wish you will.

Adrian Shepherd

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success principles: what 12 pieces of advice are the easiest to implement that have the biggest effect on success

Expert Perspective

Jan 312013

Reading time: 5 – 8 minutes

Feedback…

It’s something we all need. As parents, as workers, as children, as bosses, as doctors…feedback helps us know where we stand.

Unfortunately many people avoid feedback because it usually comes in the form of criticism, something many of us have trouble taking.

Too many of us (I’ve been there) look at feedback as some sort of poison pill, when nothing could be further from the truth.

One of my favorite quotes was found in great book, The Starbucks Experience, which said, “Don’t mind criticism. If it is untrue, disregard it; if unfair, keep from irritation; if it is ignorant, smile; if it is justified, it is not criticism – learn from it.”

Criticism is just one form of feedback which gives us the opportunity to improve.

Which brings me to today’s post.

Last week a subscriber sent me a message asking me a question that I have asked myself on numerous occasions: “If someone were to follow 10 or 12 pieces of advice religiously, what 10 pieces of advice would result in the most fundamental success generating results?”

Excellent question.

Step into any bookstore you’ll find tons of books claiming they have the answers to wealth and fortune, health and happiness or the fastest way to master anything.

In the self-development industry all the gurus claim to have THE secret to success.

But there is no ONE formula.

We are as different as the stars themselves and because of our different environments, upbringing, financial status and personal problems, what works for one person might not work for the next.

I’ve listened to all the greats; Tony Robbins, Wayne Dyer, Zig Ziglar, John Maxwell, Brendon Burchard, Jim Rohn, Keith Cunningham, Robert Kiyosaki and so many more and what I’ve found is that despite their different approaches to success the same concepts keep coming up over and over.

I’ve written up copious notes on all their work whether it’s a lecture, a DVD training or a how-to book.

The task my subscriber presented me was an interesting one, but I wanted to take things a step further and make sure they are all easy to implement.

Here is what I came up with:

Get around successful people (aka Mastermind), option 2: read their books, watch their presentations (Ever heard the expression, “Garbage in, garbage out.” Well, a computer is only as good as the commands we give it. The same thing for us, by feeding our mind with good ideas, good stories and good people, there is a high probability that good will come out.)
Analyze your strengths then go to work on them (don’t focus on your weaknesses, outsource them to the best of your ability. We hire a lawyer who knows his stuff, we could care less that he doesn’t know anything about marketing…approach yourself the same way: people hire you for what? work on being the best THAT you can be.)
Chunking (watch TV & do Yoga /eat lunch and read a good book…otherwise known as killing two birds with one stone.)
Plan your day the night before (time management 101)
Don’t accept “Can’t” (Never give up.)
Create good quality products (Too many choices today, if you have poor quality products, the marketplace will punish you.)
Give first, ask later (Today’s environment is all about FREE first…and then later, after the relationship is built, people will buy.)
Ask lots of questions (If you don’t know, ask…LISTEN.)
Say “No” (Best way to free up time, we all NEED free time available to take advantage of opportunities that come along. Think of a cup, if it’s full, you can’t put anything more in it.)
Measure your results and be willing to change (Adaptability is crucial in today’s world.)
Remove or limit interaction with things bringing negativity into your lives (Stress is the greatest killer of dreams and health. By limiting or removing stress from our lives, our productivity will soar.)
Start now (and I mean, right now…every day wasted is one you cannot get back.)

Now these seem simplistic but I assure you nearly every thought leader, productivity expert and success coach touches on these to ensure people are on solid footing.

When it comes to time management, marketing, sales, or wealth creation they each have their own top 10 secrets but from listening to and studying from the experts above I assure you that most of them touch on these 12 concepts in one way or another because they know that our level of success is often defined by how strong our foundation is.

One thing I did not mention in this list is the concept of health.

It is worth remembering that we can only be as good as our body lets us be.

As my mentor, Jim Rohn, once said, “Some people don’t do well because they don’t feel well.”

A healthy diet, lots of water and exercise is crucial to keep our body running like a well oiled machine.

Will this satisfy my subscriber? I’m not sure as they are somewhat simple but I’ve found that in life sometimes the simplest things are the most important…and often overlooked.

Just in case, I’ll put on my thinking cap and try and come up with a list for the top strategies in the areas of study I do but that’ll take some time. So stay posted.

For now, get to work on these twelve. You’ll be surprised how hard they are to do day in and day out.

Good luck.

Adrian Shepherd

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success principles: so what if you’re not an expert, use Henry Ford’s secret to success

Expert Perspective

Dec 032012

Reading time: 6 – 10 minutes

$3.46 million…

That’s what the winner paid this year for one lunch with the legendary investor Warren Buffett (all proceeds go to charity).

Why would anyone pay that kind of money?

Sure, it’s for a good cause but the main reason is someone felt it was worth it.

Unfortunately, very few of us have that kind of money just lying around.

Thankfully, we don’t need to.

All you need is $20 and some time.

I’m of course talking about books but not just any books. Many successful people have taken the time to share their ideas to mastery on pretty much every subject available.

Heck, you don’t even need the $20 if you have a decent library nearby.

Just the other day I watched a video about students protesting the price increases for British universities. I feel for them but one sign caught my eye – “Education is a right, not a privilege.” I wholeheartedly agree with the statement but not in the manner in which it was used.

We all have a right to a good education, but not one at university if you don’t have the money.

Colleges are universities aren’t charities, they’re businesses.

If anyone wants a quality education I doubt people could find a better one than at a public library.

At college kids drink, party, mess around and somehow manage to squeeze time in to do some studying…4 years later and a sizable amount of money and time invested, they graduate.

But is it really worth it?

Personally, I believe that the college system worked when the Internet wasn’t around, when information was a premium.

Today anyone with an iPhone has access to more information than my entire high school did.

Any decent-size library has more books than you would ever need to learn anything. The only question is whether you’ll read them..and then, more important, whether you’ll apply what you learn.

You may recall one of my parents’ friends doing just that, in case you forgot the story you can read it here.

The point is you don’t need to be rich to learn the secrets of the rich. And you don’t need to spend a fortune to learn everything you need to succeed in any business venture.

Everything’s already out there just waiting to be found, the only question is, “Are you going to look for it?” which brings me to what I believe was Henry Ford’s #1 success secret.

Many years ago, Henry Ford was involved in a libel suit with the Chicago Tribune.

The Tribune had called Ford a fool, and Ford took exception to this and said in effect, “Prove it.”

The Tribune asked him scores of simple questions such as “Who was Benedict Arnold?” and “When was the Revolutionary War fought?” Ford, who had little formal education, got question after question wrong and became quite exasperated with the whole thing. Finally he said, “I don’t know the answers to those questions, but I could find a man in five minutes who does.”

And there lies the secret: finding the right person.

You don’t need to have all the answers. Henry Ford didn’t…but he knew who to ask.

Now we all know who to ask: Google.

But I get it, when you go to the library or bookstore (I go with Amazon), it’s hard to know where to start. There are just so many books to choose from and picking the wrong one can be quite frustrating.

So here a short list of books to pick up if you’re serious about success:

Small Business Marketing: Guerrilla Marketing
Inspiration: Talent Is Never Enough
Business Management: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Financial Literacy: Rich Dad, Poor Dad
Success: Unlimited Power
Business Systems: The Ultimate Sales Machine
Business Relationships: How to Win Friends and Influence People
Persuasion: Influence
Negotiation: Start with No
Sales: How to Master the Art of Selling
Self-Esteem: The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem
Pricing: How to Sell at Margins Higher Than Your Competitors
Business Creation: Keys to the Vault
Marriage: Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus

For those who learn better via audio or video, and are willing to invest a little bit more money, there are programs with substantial more material available.

Rather than tell you which programs I recommend let me just throw out some people and then let you do your own research.

Marketing: Frank Kern, Dan Kennedy
Business Systems: Brian Tracy
Time Management: David Allen
Small Business Marketing: Joe Polish
Motivation: Brendon Burchard, Wayne Dyer
Success: Tony Robbins
JV Partnerships: Sohail Khan
Mindset: Zig Ziglar, Jim Rohn

If you’d like to hear my comments on their materials just PM on FB.

Education is a right. And that right is staring us in our face every time we stand in front of a library.

Untapped knowledge at its finest.

The only question is whether we will use Henry Ford’s secret or keep on walking.

The choice is ours.

Adrian Shepherd

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success principles: looking for inspiration for your next big idea, look no further than these 5 sources

Expert Perspective

Oct 082012

Reading time: 6 – 10 minutes

Always look at the source…

I talk about this in my book, iSucceed, because many people make the mistake of treating all information equally.

What’s worse is often people have the habit of trusting information acquired from friends and family, rather than professionals or people with firsthand experience.

Information is only as good as its source.

Say we’re talking about marketing, who would you trust?

Your professor at college or
The lady who just made $1,000,000 on her last campaign

What about education?

Your mother or
The man who has been at it for 22 years and is passionate about the subject

Stocks?

Your local financial advisor or
Warren Buffet

I’m hoping you went with number two in every case…otherwise I guess I’ve failed to convey this message on this site or in my book.

When it comes to information we want:

Reliability
Recency
Excellence
Passion

What do I mean by these? Well, first off we need to know that our source is reliable. How do we do that? Simple – Google is your friend. Unfortunately, even the best get bad press (often more so) but assuming they have evidence to back up their claims and a large following you’re likely in good hands.

Recency requires them to be in the game today. So what if you were a big hot shot way back when, the question should always be – what have you done for me lately? We want to know they are pursuing excellence today, not just resting on their laurels as is what often happens to many talented sports players.

Excellence requires dedication and hard work. If they have a website, are they constantly sharing ideas and information? Are they giving lectures as well as attending trainings to stay on top of their game or simply just coasting along.

And when it comes to excellence I do believe that every successful person is deeply passionate.

Take me, I’m passionate about 3 areas: English, success and finance. I can talk for hours upon hours on these topics and people know exactly where I stand on each of them. I really like basketball, comics, movies and magic but they’re just not on the same level.

I think you’ll agree – i’s rare to find an indifferent success.

To me, while you can somewhat fake excellence (because people are easily fooled by qualifications), people can’t fake passion.

They either have it or they don’t.

So that’s how I judge my sources. Whether you agree with my criteria or not, I hope you have your own process of weeding out sources.

Which brings me to today’s post: inspiration.

When it comes to success inspiration, or ironically desperation, plays a critical component.

You either get pumped up, or scared to death, and decide to make a change in your life.

My path consisted of both inspiration, in the form of mentors, and desperation, in the form of a giant tsunami bearing down on me.

While both are powerful, on this site, I like to focus on inspiration because I have greater control over it.

So here are 5 sources that I believe everyone could use to inspire themselves:

Shark Tank (TV show)
Fancy.com
Books
Facebook
Tony Robbins (audio, dvd and books)

Let me explain. Shark Tank is a show about budding entrepreneurs seeking investments in their businesses. What a fabulous show to stimulate your mind about just what people want and how you can turn even the simplest ideas into a cash cow.

And if we’re talking about ideas, be sure to check out fancy.com, a site that I came across recently. Simply fabulous products from the cheap, $15, to the expensive, $150,000. You find clothes, furniture, watches, books and so much more. It’s amazing just to flip though your interests to see what is available and it does give you ideas.

Books, don’t think I need to say any more about this as I’m constantly harping on the importance of reading. Let me just say that there are books on every subject matter imaginable from some of the greatest minds that have ever existed, and yet many people never bother to read them.

Whether you’re looking to get a leg up on your competitors in business, as a lawyer, as an entrepreneur, or in the medical field, books are a great place to start.

I always remember Jeffrey Gitomer saying something along the lines of, “When I’m looking for a new idea, I read a book over 50 years old.”

I hesitate to put Facebook on my list of sources because it can be a time-vampire…sucking your life away from you if you’re not careful. But having said that, it is a great way to reach out to people all over the globe (FB just hit 1 billion users) and used correctly you can gather information on restaurants, books, experts, movies, jokes, health and pretty much anything and everything.

My final source of information is Tony Robbins himself.

When it comes to the self-development field it’s hard to find anyone more passionate than Tony Robbins and despite everything he has achieved, he does get a bad rap from time to time.

Just the other night I was talking to a few friends and his name came up. A few of them had heard of him, a few hadn’t. But I’m the only one who has actually gone through his material.

That didn’t stop one friend from saying that he had read some “interesting” things about him.

Is he perfect? No…no one is. What he is, and what he has done stand for themselves.

When you’ve been the leader of an entire industry for over 20 years, you know you’ve done something right.

There are so many nuggets of wisdom contained in his audio programs or books that they pay for themselves many times over.

Let me just say this – to ignore such valuable information on hearsay baffles me.

In the end, it’s your life, so you choose the sources that you feel suit you best.

Are these my 5 main sources of information? Not at all, over the years I have changed sources to cater to my needs at that time. Starting out though, it’s good to start small which is why I selected these 5 sources for you today.

Give them a shot. I think you’ll be glad you did.

Adrian Shepherd

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success principles: 20 quotes to live by – Tony Robbins

Expert Perspective

Oct 022012

Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes

A legend…

Tony Robbins has been the face of the self-development movement for pretty much the past 25 years.

In the 80s, you couldn’t turn on the TV without seeing one of his infomercials.

But as is the case with all fame, he had his doubters.

Unlike psychology, philosophy, and education, there is no course in self-development at university making it a field that is often scrutinized. Ironically, the most popular course in Harvard is no longer Economics 101 but Happiness.

In spite of all the negative publicity self-help has gotten, the facts speak for themselves. Today it is a billion dollar business with thousands, if not millions, of people swearing by it.

Back in college I remember a friend telling me how much fantastic Tony Robbins was…I just laughed it off.

To me self-help was for people who were lost. I just thought it was some new age psychology to help people deal with their emotional pain.

Today I realize it’s much more than that.

Self-help is all about you, fundamentals and thinking. But if you were to ask me why I can’t get enough of it I’d have to say that it’s because the best speakers and thinkers in the field are usually excel in 4 areas:

Passion
Inspiration
Entertainment
Thought provocation

And when it comes to passion, Tony Robbins is head and shoulders above the rest. He lives and breathes what he talks about. And you can absolutely feel it in his events and speeches.

His material is so good that it’s hard to choose just 20 quotes from him but here goes.

If you can’t you must, and if you must you can.
The path to success is to take massive, determined action.
When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears.
I believe life is constantly testing us for our level of commitment, and life’s greatest rewards are reserved for those who demonstrate a never-ending commitment to act until they achieve. This level of resolve can move mountains, but it must be constant and consistent. As simplistic as this may sound, it is still the common denominator separating those who live their dreams from those who live in regret.
If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.
It is your decisions, and not your conditions, that determine your destiny.
Focus on where you want to go, not on what you fear.
Why live an ordinary life, when you can live an extraordinary one.
Success in life is the result of good judgment. Good judgment is usually the result of experience. Experience is usually the result of bad judgment.
Its not about the goal. Its about growing to become the person that can accomplish that goal.
In life, you need either inspiration or desperation.
People are not lazy, the simply have impotent goals..that is..goals that do not inspire them.
It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It’s what we do consistently.
The past does not equal the future.
The quality of your life is in direct proportion to the quality of your relationships.
You become what you do most of the time.
It is not what we get. But who we become, what we contribute … that gives meaning to our lives.
If you talk about it, it’s a dream, if you envision it, it’s possible, but if you schedule it, it’s real.
Success is doing what you want to do, when you want, where you want, with whom you want, as much as you want.
Every man dies. Not every man lives.

I could go into explaining each one but I’d be here till the cows come home. Instead, sometime in the next few days, I’ll work on a podcast where I’ll go into a few of them in a little more depth.

For now, I’ll let you just chew on them.

After all, it’s not really important what they mean to me, but what they mean to you. Nevertheless, it’s always good to get another person’s perspective from time to time and as Tony’s schedule’s pretty busy, I hope I’ll be able to fill in for him.

Adrian Shepherd

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success mistakes: 5 lessons learnt from losing $180,000

success mistakes

Sep 262012

Reading time: 5 – 8 minutes

Losing sucks…

No one likes to be on the losing end. Whether it’s losing a board game, losing a partner, losing a job or losing money – it all hurts.

But it seems that in order to win, you must lose a little.

All the best have experienced tough times. Michael Jordan’s team was mired in mediocrity for years. Roger Federer constantly lost his composure as a teenager. Tony Robbins was on the verge of bankruptcy. Donald Trump almost lost it all. And yet, all of them went on to succeed many times over.

More personally I’ve had my share of loses but nothing that dire.

A few years ago I lost $4,000 in a ponzi scheme. It was painful but a good lesson: never invest in anything you don’t truly understand or is too good to be true.

I felt it was an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a growing business with the possibility of a high return. Speaking to people in the organization, it sounded as if it was truly a great opportunity with a unique business plan. But isn’t that always the case. I did have my doubts but in the end I decided to go for it anyway.

What I did learn is that high return always, despite what people tell you, equals high risk and in this case I lost.

But that’s nothing compared to my father.

My father was big into funds but in 2008 when Lehman Brothers went bankrupt my father’s finances took a devastating hit to the tune of $180,000.

That’s not chump change for anyone. In fact it almost forced my father to sell his house and move back to England.

But like most families, my parents shielded me from this.

It wasn’t until my father passed away and I was put in charge of my mother’s finances that I was able to understand just what had happened.

My father had invested his money with a well known financial firm and entrusted them to invest his money for him, assuming they could help him navigate the financial waters and grow his money.

Turns out he was wrong.

Over the next three years I did some studying of my own and what here are the 5 lessons I learned:

Financial advisers are more often sales people in disguise
The world has changed
Education is critical
Learn to take the loss
Look to the future

Now let me elaborate on each of them. First off financial advisers.

As I talk about in my book, iSucceed, the advice we receive is only as good as the people we choose to work with and just as not all teachers are created equal, the same is true for financial advisers.

A critical point is that you must be sure to go with someone who has skin in the game. As such the first question you should always ask is what investments are they themselves doing (not the firm). This is something most people never ask but it’s a critical point to consider.

Another point is that many financial advisers speak jargon and dazzle their prospects with charts and technical analysis.

You need someone who can explain things to you so you understand. If you don’t, keep asking.

The second point is that the world has changed. Most people I talk to today disagree with me on this one but I stand by my belief.

The system itself is broken. Housing has not recovered despite the incredible amount of money being thrown at it by governments. Banks are struggling and despite record low interests rates most people are unable to get a loan. Governments are incredibly indebted and many of the so-called first world nations of the world are stuck in a recession.

Solutions that have worked in the past, aren’t working today which is why # 3 on my list is an absolute must in today’s world.

Regardless of how much money you have to invest, we should all get educated.

As Earl Shoaff said, “It’s the plan that counts.” Jim Rohn, my mentor added, “If you’re struggling with money, start a wealth plan. If you don’t feel good, start a feel good plan. If you can’t, start a can plan.”

Education today is practically free thanks to libraries and the Internet. That’s where I started.

Today I have a collection of over 300 books on the topics of finance, success, marketing, time management and more. Why? Because I decided that I could entrust my future to other people, or I could grow up and take responsibility for my life and my future. I chose the latter.

The final two lessons are interlinked. I addressed the issue of failure earlier and a big way to do this is to look to the future. What’s done is done. As the saying goes, “It’s no use crying over spilt milk.” Pick yourself back up, appreciate all the fantastic gifts you have in your life (friends and family, all your favorite toys) and then start all over again.

One thing’s for sure, there are no shortage of opportunities. Watching a show like Shark Tank and listening to all the entrepreneurs who come on the show talk about their new invention is truly eye-opening.

It may be hard to believe but one man turned his idea of using two industrial magnets and two pieces of metal into a multi-million dollar business on the third season. Thanks to the Internet and a growing population, all it takes is one idea and the right marketing and you, too, could be the next millionaire.

So there you have it, 5 simple lessons to remember whenever you decide to invest in anything.

Thankfully, I learnt them vicariously through my father’s experience.

I hope these lessons will help protect you from making the same mistake.

Adrian Shepherd

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success principles: of the 6 human needs, what drives you?

Expert Perspective

Aug 072012

Reading time: 5 – 8 minutes

What drives you?

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to help.

Maybe it’s because I like to feel like I’m making a difference. Maybe it’s because I don’t like to see people struggling. Maybe it’s because I like to feel needed. All I know is that with my friends, in my businesses, and in life it’s always the same – I just want to know I’m doing my part to make the world a better place and not wasting what little time I have on this earth.

In a word; contribution.

Each and every day I try and put myself in other people’s shoes and see how I can of service to them.

I imagine what “me” other people want.

Some people love my humor, so I set out to make them smile and laugh. Other people want insights into success, so I do my best to do that. Other people ask me how I have such a good relationship with my family, so I share that with them.

I used to be somewhat one dimensional with English as my only skill, but have worked hard to develop myself and now am well versed in a few different areas. All of which have the potential to help others.

I know I can’t be everything for everyone, but I can be important to some people. And my goal is to simply make that group of people bigger each day.

That’s why I run my business, wrote my book, create posts, podcasts, and youtube videos. I’ve added a financial seminar to my repertoire and hope to add a success seminar next year. People might think it’s all about money, but it’s not.

I do admit that I don’t give all my stuff away for free. I share part of what I know, but I do keep some tricks up my sleeves.

I mean, what good would it do a magician to reveal all his secrets?

While I want to help a great many people, I don’t want to help people who aren’t serious.

I don’t want to waste their time but, more importantly, I don’t want to waste mine.

86,400 seconds is all I get each day and I don’t want to waste them on people who have no interest in applying the ideas that I have to offer.

To me, it’s about seeing the change in people that really excites me.

Now that doesn’t mean I want people to do everything I say, but I do want people to come away with something valuable. Even if all that is is to go in search of more ideas.

Seeing good advice fall on deaf ears just isn’t my thing.

I want to spend my time with those who do want to listen and are committed to making a change in their lives. And crazy as it sounds, money somewhat guarantees that.

When I spend my hard earned money on anything educational, you can bet I have a stronger desire to actually study than had I gotten it for free. The more I spend, the more focused I become and sadly that is the case for most people.

Most people have too much on their plate to make a serious commitment of study but add in a largish amount of money and somehow, by some miracle, they are able to find some time. Moreover, they seem to be 10x more focused on the subject matter.

So while I don’t do it for the money, I do believe that money is a necessary requirement and it should be for you.

Never be ashamed of asking for money for your skill that you have devoted countless hours developing.

And the more money I make, the more power I have to get my message out there and the more time I can devote to helping people.

In the end, everyone wins, I get what I want in the form of monetary reward as well as knowing I’m helping doing my part to make the world a better place and my clients get the knowledge that they signed up for.

Tony Robbins talks about 6 basic needs that shape our lives in one form or another. They are:

Certainty/Comfort. We all want comfort. And much of this comfort comes from certainty. Of course there is no ABSOLUTE certainty, but we want certainty the car will start, the water will flow from the tap when we turn it on and the currency we use will hold its value.
Variety. At the same time we want certainty, we also crave variety. Paradoxically, there needs to be enough UNcertainty to provide spice and adventure in our lives.
Significance. Deep down, we all want to be important. We want our life to have meaning and significance. I can imagine no worse a death than to think my life didn’t matter.
Connection/Love. It would be hard to argue against the need for love. We want to feel part of a community. We want to be cared for and cared about.
Growth. There could be some people who say they don’t want to grow, but I think they’re simply fearful of doing so—or perhaps NOT doing so. To become better, to improve our skills, to stretch and excel may be more evident in some than others, but it’s there.
Contribution. To help shape the world.

So contribution (and to a lesser extent significance) drives me, but what about you?

Understanding just who we are and what we want helps us focus our energies and allows us to live a more fulfilling life.

Take just 10 minutes to consider carefully which of these needs drives you, it could very well be the best 10 minutes you spend all month.

Adrian Shepherd

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success principles: what does a good teacher cost and how do you find one?

Expert Perspective

Apr 262012

Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes

Something must be wrong.

According to my passport I’m 37. That means that I’ve been an educator in one form or another for over 21 years.

Wow.

How did I get into teaching? By accident really.

Back in high school I needed some extracurricular credit in order to graduate, so rather than be a camp leader, I chose to be an assistant ESL teacher.

Surprisingly, I thoroughly enjoyed it and have been hooked ever since.

I think that’s one of the reasons I chose to make Japan my home. Here, teachers are referred to as “sensei” (which means teacher) which is also used for doctors.

Imagine that. Me, a doctor…crazy?!

In contrast, in the West we say such things as “Those who can’t, teach.”

A teacher may not have to do life and death surgeries, they are instrumental in shaping their students’ minds and helping them reach their potential.

Teaching, to me, is a very serious responsibility.

In my case, most of the students that I teach have made the decision to learn themselves so they’re serious. And as they improve, I’m always asking myself, how can I take them to the next level?

Whether I’m teaching English, success principles, time management, marketing or finance I’m always on the lookout for new ideas and different ways to present the material.

I ask two questions in the title of this blog:

What is a good teacher cost?
How do you find one?

Before I answer these let me start by asking an even more important question – What makes a teacher good?

I have come up with 10 qualities from my own experiences and those of my friends:

Sincere
Admit mistakes
Constantly learning
Never satisfied
Fair
Tough but kind
Strict
Funny
Open to new ideas
Passionate

Most of these should be self-evident but I would like to address a few. In my experience the best teachers are humble. They’re always willing to admit they made a mistake. That doesn’t mean they won’t give up without a fight but they encourage their students to prove them wrong. I know I love it because the smarter my students become, the smarter I become.

Unfortunately, not all teachers agree. Some believe admitting mistakes is a sign of weakness. Nothing could be further from the truth. Students respect those teachers who are “man enough” to admit they are wrong.

Another item on the list is something that many parents seem to have an issue with these days and that is of strictness. Personally I think the better we get, the stricter our teachers must be otherwise we won’t learn.

I push my clients hard. And that’s why they choose to work with me. I know what to expect from them and if their work is below their own standard then I point that out.

Good teachers never expect anything less than the best from their students, and more often than not, they get it.

Finally, I do believe that teachers should also be learners as people learn best by example. Seeing a teacher constantly trying to improve themselves is inspiring for their students.

So back to the two questions I posed. What is a good teacher worth?

That all depends. To me a good teacher (and I mean really good) is priceless because finding someone that is just right for you isn’t always easy.

Thankfully in today’s world we have access to some of the greatest minds out there in the form of books, audio lectures and DVDs.

I have no qualms about spending $1,000 for a good DVD training set. Shelling out $5,000 for a 4-day seminar by people like Tony Robbins, Frank Kern and Brendon Burchard or other experts in their field of expertise is not unheard of. Heck, I even heard of one 9-year old earning $800 per person offering seminars to teachers.

Just keep one thing in mind, the better you get, the more you’ll have to spend to find good teachers.

People often think that a good teacher needs to be right there with you. I haven’t found that to be the case but if you’re lucky enough to know a good teacher then stick with them.

As the expression goes, to find your prince (or princess as the case may be) you have to kiss a lot of frogs and the same can be said for teachers, too.

Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are great places to ask around. I’m sure that someone in your network knows a good swimming coach, a good English teacher or math tutor.

Experts in marketing, business management, website design and the like may be harder to find, but you’re bound to find someone that suits you and your needs if you keep at it.

When it comes to finding a good teacher, one piece of advice – don’t try to get them on the cheap.

Good teachers are good for a reason, they work hard to be the best. They invest a lot of money to improve themselves and deserve to be rewarded if they help you achieve your dreams.

Teachers may not be quite on the same level as a doctor, but they often play a big part in our success.

“Sensei” – I like that.

Adrian Shepherd

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success principles: Tony Robbins meets Oprah Winfrey

Expert Perspective

Mar 212012

Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes

Don’t you just love Youtube?! I know I do.

Getting access to shows such as Friends, 24 or House in Japan is a breeze thanks to iTunes or the local video store (do we still call it that these days?).

But what about those one-off episodes?

When I heard that Tony Robbins was going to be on Oprah, I thought about asking a friend to TIVO it for me but then I realized that all had to do was wait.

Lo and behold, a little while later guess what popped up on Youtube?

Woohoo.

The show is good regardless of whether you’re a Tony Robbins fan or not. It is insightful and it will make you think. (I’ve embedded the first part below, there are 11 in total).

Oprah herself admits that she intended to stay only a few hours but ended up staying there the entire day so that says something.

As I have nearly all of his products, much of what I heard on the show was review for me but that didn’t stop me from taking notes.

This time round what stood out to me most was when he talked about our basic needs, or to put it a little more strongly – our drives.

Robbins talks about 6, of which each of us has 2 that predominately motivate us.

They are:

Love
Certainty
Uncertainty (or to put it another way, Adventure)
Significance
Growth
Contribution

After talking about them with his audience, he asked everyone to discuss with a partner which were their two dominant needs. As Oprah talked with her friend and coworker, I thought about which were mine.

It didn’t take me long to realize that mine were contribution and love.

Contribution probably being the stronger of the two.

That’s why I write this blog. That’s why I wrote my book, iSucceed. And that’s why I’m busy working on my seminars.

I feel so much pride when I hear that I’m able to be a positive influence in the lives of others.

Watching my clients grow into stronger, wiser and more successful individuals, really excites me. It drives me to look for more answers because the better they get, the better I must become in order to keep helping them.

I never want the day to come that people think I’m replaceable. Just the opposite in fact – I strive to be irreplaceable.

A while back I heard Keith Cunningham talk about how the Nobel Peace Prize came about.

Nobel and his twin brother had been known as the creators of dynamite but upon his brother’s death, he was forced to ask himself how he wanted to be remembered.

Not wanting to be remembered for all the destruction he caused, he set out to change that.

Today, very few people are aware that Nobel did anything other than create an award for good.

When I heard this story I decided to ask myself the same question, “How do I want to be remembered?”

My answer – I want to be remembered as someone who cared. Someone who cared about his family, his friends and his clients.

That’s what gets me up each day; to see if I can make a difference in someone’s life.

People who know me know I’m not always easy to deal with. I’m tough. I expect a lot out of people. I expect results.

But what I hope is that everyone knows that I do what I do out of love.

Because I love them, I push them to be the best they can be.

In other words, “Tough love.”

Like a parent with their child. They must be both loving and tough.

I know that’s not for everyone but that’s me.

Contribution and love.

What drives you?

Adrian Shepherd

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