Dan Kennedy: There Are Two Basic Ways

Dan Kennedy, The Millionaire Maker

There are two basic ways people can react, when they are have-not’s, observing have’s; when they are not doing nearly as well as some others in their field, industry or community. One is to justify their unsatisfactory results, make excuses, blame others, and develop resentment toward the exceptionally successful. The other is to study those who are achieving, seek information about their methods, accept full responsibility for results, and ultimately lift themselves up.

There are two basic ways people can react when they face adverse circumstances – anything from a slump in the economy making selling their wares or services more difficult to something more serious and personal, such as diagnosis of a debilitating disease. One is to surrender. The other is to acquire important ‘how-to’ information, aggressively make changes, develop personal motivation, and be a warrior.

There are two basic ways people can react, when they encounter subject matter they find difficult and complex, and that they don’t easily and quickly understand. One is to turn their back on it. Put the book away. Quit the course. Leave the group. Go in search of something easier, simpler and less demanding. Even insist “it doesn’t work” despite abundant evidence that it does.

The other is to re-double efforts, get help from a tutor or mentor, burn the midnight oil, be creative, persistent. In essence, you can either move yourself up to a higher level of know-how, skill, capability and, thus, value, or you can settle into a more comfortable, less challenging, thus less rewarding routine and rhythm of living. The most basic example of this: two people reading a book come upon a word they do not know the meaning of. One skips over it, and if he encounters too many ‘difficult words’ he sets the book aside. The other gets a dictionary and looks up the unknown words in order to improve himself. One stays put where he is intellectually, the other moves up.

The most important word in all of the above words is: can.

There is always something you can do about anything, in order to improve your situation. You aren’t a tree. You’re a human. You can move. When you walk past a Mrs. Fields Cookies store in the mall, know the entire company exists because, when nobody was coming in to her first store, Debbi Fields did not sit there – she put fresh-baked cookies on a platter and went out onto the street. When you walk past the Kenneth Cole shoe store, know that exists because, when lacking money to exhibit his line at his first trade show, and told by New York City he could not park a truck-based exhibit outside the hall in the street, he did not take ‘no’ for an answer and persisted and figured out a creative way to station that exhibit out on that street, and launched his line.

After years of lackluster sales in department stores, the manufacturer of a little counter-top grill moved it to TV infomercials and hired George Foreman as its pitchperson. Jeff Bezos moved the bookstore to the internet and birthed amazon. Subway moved from just another fast food choice to being a weight-loss program with Jared. Jean Nidetech moved diets from the doctor’s office and drug-store to classes in living rooms, and created Weight-Watchers. Countless people have moved from ghetto, from orphanage, from bankruptcy, from scandal to success, wealth, prominence. Limited space here forces me to cut the examples short.

Years back, a book given to just about all wet-behind-ears sales rookies was written by Frank Bettger, a baseball player turned insurance salesman. Its title was: How I Raised Myself From Failure To Success In Selling. You need never read the book to know the first and most important “How”. It, Frank deciding that he could, and accepting responsibility for doing so.