Dr. Larry Iverson - Achieving Greatness. The 3 Keys To Rapid Success

When I was growing up, my mother was good friends with a couple in Southern California, that we oftentimes visitedLiz and Gerald Jennings. Mr. Jennings was the owner of the Everest Jennings Corporation which in its day was the largest manufacturer of wheelchairs in the world. One summer after I finished my summer before high school started up again, I drove down to Bel Air in LA, and spent two weeks with the Jennings.

One morning over breakfast I asked Mr. Jennings, How do I get successful like you? He looked at me and kind of laughed and he said, Well, you know there are many things you have to do, BUT, one of the first things you need to figure out is what are you willing to do. Youve got to know what youre willing to do to have all of this. Will you do anything? Well, most of us wont, but you need to think about what you are willing to do to achieve your desires?

He went on to say, The second question, and this may even be more important than the first one, is what are you willing to give up? I didnt really understand what he meant. He said, Do you ever blame other people? Part of what you have to give up is your blame. Part of what you have to give up maybe could be some of your time. It could be you have to give up or spend money on your goals instead of on something else.

Perhaps youll have to trade-off taking that exclusive vacation, so you can use your money on other things. But the first thing you have to do is you have to own your part of it. You have to quit blaming and pointing fingers, and accept your part in that you had a hand in building your reality today.

Whatever your life is at this moment in time, you had a hand in making it what it is. Now, once you accept responsibility you can un-create that if you wish, or you can re-create it and make it even better than it is now. Profound success comes from taking full responsibility for who we are. He paused, and then advised me again, What will you trade off? What will you give up?

A few years later, as I thought about Mr. Jennings input, I decided, its rather like walking down the street and you have two large suitcases. You couldnt carry any more if you had, to because these are big and theyre heavy. And, theyve got all your stuff in them.

As you come down the street, sitting there on the sidewalk is a brand new suitcase you can have, with all this wonderful stuff in it. You can either take the new suitcase or you can keep the old one but you have to put one down. Youve either got to let go of the old suitcase, even though its well worn and you like it, or you can have the new one and what is in it. The key is that youve got to let go, or put something down, in order to have something new.