John C. Maxwell - Success Is a Choice

I want to say thank you to Charlie Wetzel and the rest of the team who assisted me with the formation and publication of this book. And to the people in my organizations who support it. You all add incredible value to me, which allows me to add value to others. Together, were making a difference!

Where does success come from? French poet and dramatist Edouard Pailleron pointed out, Have success and there will always be fools to say that you have talent. When people achieve great things, others often explain their accomplishments by simply attributing everything to talent. But that is a false and misleading way of looking at success. If talent alone were enough, then why would you and I know highly talented people who are not highly successful?

Talent is never enough. Peter Drucker, the father of modern management, said, There seems to be little correlation between a mans effectiveness and his intelligence, his imagination, or his knowledge... Intelligence, imagination, and knowledge are essential resources, but only effectiveness converts them into results. By themselves, they only set limits to what can be contained. If talent were enough, then the most effective and influential people would always be the most talented ones. But that is often not the case. Consider this:

• More than fifty percent of all CEOs of Fortune 500 companies had C or C- averages in college.
• Sixty-five percent of all U.S. senators came from the bottom half of their school classes.
• Seventy-five percent of U.S. presidents were in the Lower-Half Club in school.
• More than fifty percent of millionaire entrepreneurs never finished college!

Clearly talent isnt everything. So what makes the difference?

So what does it take to succeed? Can anyone be successful? And where does talent fit in at all? Heres what I believe:

People have equal value, but not equal giftedness. Some people seem to be blessed with a multitude of talents. Most of us have fewer abilities. But know this: all of us have something we can do well.

In their book Now, Discover Your Strengths, Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton state that every person is capable of doing something better than the next ten thousand people. And they support that assertion with solid research. They call this area the strength zone, and they encourage everyone to find it and make the most of it. It doesnt matter how aware you are of your abilities, how you feel about yourself, or whether you previously have achieved success. You are who you ae, and you do have talent, which you can develop.

If I asked you who would be more successful, the person who relies on his talent alone or the person who realizes his talent and develops it, the answer would be obvious. Then Ill ask you this question: Why do most people spend the majority of their time focused on strengthening their weaknesses?

One thing I teach people at my conferences is to stop working on their weaknesses and start working on their strengths. (By this I mean abilities, not attitude or character issues, which must be addressed.) It has been my observation that people can increase their ability in an area by only two points on a scale of 1 to 10. For example, if your natural talent in an area is a 4, with hard work you may rise to a 6. In other words, you can go from a little below average to a little above average. But lets say you find a place where you are a 7; you have the potential to become a 9, maybe even a 10, if its your greatest area of strength and you work exceptionally hard! That helps you advance from 1 in 10,000 talent to 1 in 100,000 talentbut only if you do the other things needed to maximize your talent.

So if you should focus on developing your best talent, and not your weaknesses, where should you expend your energy? On your choices. The key choices you makeapart from the natural talent you already havewill set you apart from others who have talent alone. Orator, attorney, and political leader William Jennings Bryan said, Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.

Success is your choice. If youre willing to commit yourself to making the right choices, you can achieve success. Ive discovered fourteen key choices that can make a difference.

• Commit to Choices That Bring Success
• Believe in Yourself
• Fire Up Your Passion
• Initiate Action
• Focus Your Energy
• Value Preparation
• Embrace Practice
• Embody Perseverance
• Demonstrate Courage
• Become More Teachable
• Develop Strong Character
• Cultivate Good Relationships
• Commit to Responsibility
• Lean In to Teamwork

Make these choices, and you can become the successful person youve always desired to be.

I believe the ideas in this book can help you. Life is a matter of choices, and every choice you make makes you. What will you do for your career? Whom will you marry? Where will you live? How much education will you get? What will you do with today? But one of the most important choices you will make is who will you become! Life is not merely a matter of holding and playing a good hand as you would hope to do in a card game. What you start with isnt up to you. Talent is God-given. Life is doing a great job of playing the hand you have been dealt. That is determined by your choices.

If youre willing to commit to making the right choices, you can reach your potential and fulfill your destiny.

I was reading a book by Dr. Seuss to my grandchildren called Oh, the Places Youll Go! In it, I found a wonderful truth. It said,

You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself

Any direction you choose.

I believe that with all my heart. My prayer is that this book will help you steer yourself in the right direction and make right choices that will empower you to become a success.

The first and greatest obstacle to success for most people is their belief in themselves. Once people figure out where their sweet spot is (the area where they are most gifted), what often hinders them isnt lack of talent. Its lack of trust in themselves, which is a self-imposed limitation. Lack of belief can act as a ceiling on potential. However, when people believe in themselves, they unleash power in themselves and resources around them that almost immediately take them to a higher level. Your potential is a picture of what you can become. Belief helps you see the picture and reach for it.

I dont know what your talent is, but I do know this: it will not be lifted to its highest level unless you also have belief. If you want to become your best, you need to believe your best. You need to...

Your potential is a picture of what you can become. Inventor Thomas Edison remarked, If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves.

Indian statesman Mohandas Gandhi said, The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the worlds problems. Closer to home, it would also suffice to solve most of our individual problems. We must first believe in our potential if we are to do what were capable of.