Roger E. Flax - No Stopping You!: How to Win the Game of Life

Why do some people succeed tremendously while others fail or are just frustrated with where their lives are?

Why do some people feel good about themselves and others simply just dont like who they are?

Why are some people always positive, upbeat, enthusiastic? They cant wait for the next day, while others are down, discouraged, and often feel like going back to bed.

Why do some people attain great self-fulfillment and satisfaction in their lives and eagerly await their next dream, while others sit on the sidelines and watch and wonder, Why not me? Life isnt fair.

And, finally, why is thereno stoppingsome people? Theyre always on a roll, seeking and creating new opportunities, solving problems, and converting potential challenges into huge business opportunities and personal wins. And they have great fun along the way, while others have all the desire, smarts, and talent, yet somehow they never truly experience great success and the feeling of self-satisfaction and winning.

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The people game is an extremely fascinating topic. Something Ive been hugely curious about ever since I was a child.

Ive always wondered why some people do so well and are so motivated and fulfilled while others just cant put it all together and make it happen.

Back in 1970, I took my minuscule $2,200 savings out of the bank and created a consulting firm called Motivational Systems dedicated to learning what makes people tick and helping them maximize their potential abilities and career success. Specifically, to train and develop people in key interpersonal communications and leadership areas. Skills needed to be successful in business, in real life, but for some unknown reason were not taught in school. To this day, I still cant understand why.

Very quickly I learned something that was a bit shocking and totally contrary to what we all were told as kids. That was, the foundation and most important ingredient to optimal achievement and personal and professional success:

did not relate to how brilliant, knowledgeable, or skilled you are.

did not correlate with the high grades you received in school.

had little or nothing to do with whether you had attended a great Ivy League institution, a small local college, or some unknown school in the boonies.

It wasnt how far you went with your education or what degrees you attained or getting As in all your courses or taking advanced-level high-honors courses.

Instead, it all depended upon:

how effectively you communicated with people,

your ability to engage and influence people of all kinds, backgrounds, needs, wants and personality types,

establishing strong chemistry, rapport, and trust with people,

creating mutually beneficial long-lasting win-win relationships with people,

having passion, purpose and energy that invigorates you throughout your life,

how much credibility you establish with people and how skilled you are to leverage and maintain that credibility, and

knowing how and when to play the game.

And not at all whether you got all As or were no doubt a born rocket scientist.

I quickly met with so many people who are running companies and also met with high-potential vice presidents heading to the top. Big shots in my young, inexperienced mind, big-time execs. I was in awe of them. Totally.

I always wondered what they did to get to the top of their fields, and surprisingly, so many of these honchos told me that they had barely made it through college or didnt do that well in school.

Say what?

Running a billion-dollar company and yet a borderline student at best.

How enlightening that was.

More than that, how shocking that fact was.

My father and most of my teachers had constantly drilled the same thing over and over again into my little head: Roger, it is critical to get top grades. It is so important to be at the very top or near the top. And if you want to be successful in life, youd better get all As or almost that, young man.

This completely stressed me out way before the word stress was commonly used and gave me agita as a kid, three decades before the word agita, meaning heartburn or indigestion first appeared in American English. But how quickly I realized what the game of life was all about.

Its not about how much of a genius you are. Nope, not even close.

Not about the teacher telling you, Youre a model student whose intelligence will take you a very long way. Nope.