Edwin Sprague - The Z Factor: How to Get the Life You Dream of With The Law of Extraordinary Effort

This edition first published in 2013 by Career Press, an imprint of

Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

With offices at:

65 Parker Street, Suite 7

Newburyport, MA 01950

www.redwheelweiser.com

www.careerpress.com

Copyright 2013 by Edwin J. Sprague

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Reviewers may quote brief passages.

ISBN: 978-1-60163-245-6

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Sprague, Edwin J.

The Z factor : how to get the life you dream of with the law of extraordinary effort / by Edwin J. Sprague.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-60163-245-6 ISBN 978-1-60163-553-2 (ebook)

1. Achievement motivation. 2. Struggle. 3. Success. I. Title.

BF503.S668 2013

650.dc23

2012023413

Cover design by Ian Shimkoviak/theBookDesigners

Interior by Eileen Dow Munson

Printed in the United States of America

IBI

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

www.redwheelweiser.com/newsletter/

For Jo

Still crazy...after all these years.

Love Always

I. Me. My. Three little words with enormous potential to rub people the wrong way. We all know the dude at the party who double-parks his sports convertible at the end of the host's drivewaythe same self-absorbed, back-patting specimen who winds up double-parked in your grill.

Periscope up! Searching...searching...searching. Over here! HELP!! Someoneanyoneplease MAKE HIM STOP!

I think this sufficiently defines the challenge ahead of me. I have a lot to share, and these three little words not only have the potential to rub you the wrong way; they rub me the wrong way, even as I try to explain my use of them. There you have it: all three. Unavoidable, I'm afraid. So as I move ahead I'll try to keep in mind my buddy John, who likes to joke, Well, enough about me. What do you think about me? I'll do my best to offer the humble perspective of an average guy who has made a life out of taking a shot at something more than average livingwithout rubbing you the wrong waythe sort of everyday dreams and extraordinary journeys of an ordinary man ride-along. Even so, these stories of lessons learned and principles applied force me to give you the dreaded I treatment. So if you can swallow this preamble as a preemptive apology for my own unavoidable back-patting then perhaps you'll find this to be, at the very least, entertaining. But maybe, just maybe, these stories of everyday imaginings and the extraordinary journeys they have launched will inspire, teach, and drive you toward that which is worthwhile in your lifetoward getting the life you want.

Try this on for size:

When I grow up I wanna be ________________.

Go aheadfill in the blank. What was it you wanted to be?

Fast-forward to today. Now let's try this one:

What I really want is ______________________.

What do you really want? And, how's it workin' out?

I keep hearing on the news and reading in the papers that the American dream is in danger. NEWSFLASH: The American dream has always been in danger. Always will be. The American idea is an evolutionary blossom that has taken life and limb to be. So, yeah, there's danger.

Early explorers faced death and certain calamity not only on the open seas, but also once they landed. News of their unrelenting hardship and misfortune put the dream of voyaging to the New World in jeopardy all over the Old Worldfor some, but not all. Revolutionaries suffered and perished. The Great Depression saw suicide, famine, and unemployment. Wars shook not only our nation, but the planet. Real estate, banking, and dot-com bubbles burst. The American dream is always in danger! How much depends on just how dangerous the times are. But never, ever have the times kept dreamers from taking a shot at carving out a piece of the American pie. Scores of ordinary people like you and I have fearlessly settled land; amassed influence and fortune; become musicians, inventors, authors, actors, and athletes; and found the success they've once imagined in both calm and decidedly dangerous times throughout our historyeconomic or otherwise. So let's drop the danger bit. It's melodramatic. We may be in some difficult and dangerous times these days. But if the times keep you from going after what you want, you weren't all that committed in the first place.

Dad...now would be the best time to go out there and play, said my son, peering out through the driving rain as booming thunder clapped and bolts of lightning raced across the sky. Thirty boys, six coaches, one umpire, dozens of parents, and one nasty odiferous concoction all hovered beneath a narrow overhang in front of the snack-bar seeking shelter from the danger that lurked. Play wasn't in danger; only the time to play was dangerous. People beneath that overhang were afraidbut not all. Not my 9-year-old.

Hmm, I huffed, as first base, lifted by the torrential downpour, floated off into the dugout.

I want so bad to go out there and slide, Dad.

Who are you?

Are you someone seeking shelter from the storm, or someone looking to get out there and play? Because I have to tell you, now may be the best time to play. And regardless of the times, the question will always remain:

What do you really want?

This book is about that: It's about getting what you want. Not about world-class talent, explorer-like fearlessness, or an indescribable Trump-like influence very few possess. But rather, about the elements that make up that talent, fearlessness, and influenceand more. Elements we all possess. This book is about your Z Factor.

Zif you engage it, you can get anything you want. Z is the concrete force that drives the elusive, hard-to-describe influential power found in what we've famously come to call the X factor. Not many people have the X factor. You only need watch the television show to realize it. The Z Factor is anything but elusive or indescribable. Z is the extraordinary effort ordinary people generate that produce quantitative results guaranteed to outperform the abstractions in such things as the Law of Attraction and the X factor. Z is your ballsy [ball-zee] quotientyour ZQ. Simply put: You have to Get Ballzee to get what you want. And you don't need to be living in the best of times or have experience to get your Z.

Webster defines the X factor as a hard-to-describe influence or quality; an important element with unknown consequences. Z is a quantitative influence or quality; an essential, fundamental element with known consequences. Unlike the elusive X, Z isn't something very few are born with; it's something everyone hasjust something we need to draw out. Z is what creates the influence or effects of X. Master Z, and you don't need X.

So, if you wanna be whatever it is you dreamed you'd be when you grew up, or you're not getting what you really want, today it's time to raise your ZQ. It's time to harness the absolute power of Z. Time to Get Ballzee.

I suppose you're wondering what my qualifications arewhat makes an ordinary guy like me an expert.