It’s All About Your Philosophy
Happy Chinese New Year to all my Chinese friends around the world.
Growing up in the USA as an American Born Chinese (ABC), we never really celebrated Chinese New Year that much as a kid. All I remember were the red envelopes with money, a nice dinner and wearing new clothes.
Once in a while my grandparents would clean the house so that we would get a “fresh start.”
And we would wish everyone a “prosperous and happy New Year.”
What Makes a Year Good or Bad?
Recently I started to think, what makes a year “good” or “bad?”
The obvious answer is results.
If you get the results you want, then it would be a “good year.”
If not, then the year would not be as good. If things were tough, then it would be a terrible year.
But the question in my mind still lingered…
What makes a year really good or bad?
I started to take an inventory of the journey through life that I have experienced in the last five years and especially all that has happened in the last three.
Time Flies
Life is funny. Seems like the older you get, the more things happen and the faster time flies.
I used to get depressed or sad as I reminisced about how fast time flies. I felt like my life was just a blur.
But then this guy gave me an entirely different perspective and thinking that brightened up my mood. He said that if time flew by then I should be grateful because I was having fun and getting the most out of life.
If my life was boring and dull, time would drag.
And then I remembered back to my Sundays at New York Chinese School on Mott Street in Chinatown. Oh yeah… time was DRAGGING then.
Talk about boring!
Nowadays, every hour goes by so fast, especially when I apply the time productivity strategies that I teach in my course Extreme MLM Productivity Regimen.
Back then at Chinese School, every hour seemed like an eternity!
Even every 15 minutes seemed to take an hour. I was always dying to get the heck out of there so that I could find out what happened in NFL Football that day. (Remember, this was way before smartphones. You actually had to go find a radio, or wait until the evening news to see who won.)
I hated Chinese school, and it was sooo boring.
But now every hour, day, month, and year flies by so quickly.
So I guess life is good because I am having fun, otherwise it would not go by that fast.
So it is all about perspective and how you look at something.
Copy What Successful People Think
Recently I was at a seminar, and I was reminded of something important.
You may have heard, “If you want to be successful, just copy what successful people do.”
For example, if you want to be a great basketball player, just copy the workouts and practice routines of successful players.
This phrase is also quite common in the network marketing profession, where if you want to be a top earner, you can just copy how top earners prospect and build their businesses.
While the seminar reminded me of this VERY IMPORTANT phrase, it also made me realize that we need to add to the phrase.
If you want to be successful, it’s not enough to just copy what successful people do.
MORE IMPORTANTLY…
you have to copy how successful people THINK!
Copy their perspective and how they see things.
It is their thinking that makes them do what they do.
Their thinking makes them take the CORRECT ACTION.
It is all in their mindset.
By the way, that’s why the #1 Fundamental Skill you have to learn in the network marketing profession is to develop a winning mindset. Without a solid foundation, the rest of the skills are useless.
So copy how successful people think and how they view things.
Examples of How the Superstars Think Differently
Here are a few examples of how successful people think differently in sports, raising children, and in the network marketing profession:
1) Sports
Two examples that come to my mind are the tennis great Roger Federer and the basketball legend, Michael Jordan.
Roger Federer
During his teenage years, he would participate in high-level junior tournaments. They would play multiple matches on the same day and during the breaks, the players would go to a room to relax and get massaged. Players would relax, joke around and talk about their plans for the night, who they were dating, etc.
Federer on the other hand was totally anti-social, sitting in the corner with headphones, watching TV that showed video of his next opponents.
While others were having fun, Federer was studying his opponents, learning their weaknesses, and strategizing about how he could use those weaknesses to destroy them.
Federer just viewed “downtime” differently than the others.
He thought differently and used every second to his advantage.
It’s no wonder he beat his competition easily and became one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
Michael Jordan and Dealing with Failure
Michael Jordan missed tons of basketball shots during his career. But that never stopped him from making more game winning shots than any player who ever played the game.
What made him successful is how he dealt with failure. While many players would let missed shots haunt them, Jordan was able to move on and “let go of his past” so he could focus on the present.
Without the intense focus on what was happening “now,” Jordan would not have had the success he had.
How many of you are willing to let go of your past failures and just focus on the present?
2) Raising Children
As a relatively new father, it is interesting to see the different opinions that parents have on their kids’ education.
I have met many of the “victims” that blame their kids’ lack of success in school on the schools themselves. They put all the responsibilities of education on the schools, which I think is unfair.
A kid spends only about 30 hours a week in school, but 138 hours outside of school.
So the REAL education happens OUTSIDE of the school.
Blaming the schools for your children’s lack of success is an escapist mentality.
It’s no wonder that the parents who complain about the schools are the same people who are not successful and complain about their jobs and their lives.
On the other hand, I have met many great parents who take a proactive approach to their kids’ education.
Not only do they commit time and resources to continue real education at home, but they also start thinking about high schools and colleges years in advance. They have the attitude that they will “make up” for the areas where the schools may be weak. They plan where they work and where they live according to the schools they want their kids to attend. There is no shortcut and no one to blame.
So don’t call me crazy if I am planning for Ethan’s high school and college already!
3) Network Marketing “Failures”
Finally, in the MLM Profession, just like anything else, there are people who face challenges and fail.
The ones that are not successful complain that the profession does not work.
However, I learned early on that the MLM business works very well.
It certainly presents challenges, but when these challenges arise, the successful people challenge themselves to make it work, instead of trying to explain why it does not.
The top earners are looking for the solution, not giving reasons for their failures.
Like Michael Jordan, they are focused on the present, and they let go of their failures.
Was Your Year Really That Bad?
Now that we understand the importance of perspective and how successful people think, let’s go back to your “bad” and “good” years again.
As I have grown, I have realized that the BEST years were the ones that started the slowest, the ones that presented the most challenges.
It’s very similar to my college days.
The classes that I hated the most at Columbia were the ones that turned out to be the most memorable and had the biggest impact.
The easy classes were nice back then, but I got nothing for my money and time.
The ones that I hated, the ones I had to do tons of work for, the ones that challenged me, they were the ones that shaped me later in life.
And the same goes for all the years in our lives.
The toughest years normally contain the best lessons in life, and as long as we see the lessons to learn and apply them, we get wiser and better.
And it’s these lessons that make our successes in life possible.
So if you are experiencing tough time right now, learn to accept that this will be the BEST thing to happen to you if you take the lessons to be learned and apply them.
It’s all about the change in perspective, and once I changed to embrace the tough times and seek out the lessons, my path to success was paved.
What About Your Thinking?
What about your personal philosophies?
Are there any things about which you need to start thinking differently?
The first step is to look at something with which you are not happy.
Then, see if there is someone that you look up to, and find out how they think. Their perspective on your situation may help you see how you can change your perspective.
I changed the way I looked at how time flies, and that transformed me from being sad to being happy and grateful for the life I am living.
What attitude can you change that will make your life better?!
Sincerely,
Simon Chan
P.S. P.S. In the last 10 years, I have read almost every book and listened to every audio on network marketing and then took what worked and did not work and created THE S.O.W. SPONSORING SYSTEM.
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Virginia says
Hi Simon! Your blog always provides so much value to me.
This one personally comes at the right time! Thanks so much.
I can’t wait for your new book!!
Simon Chan says
Virginia,
I’m glad you find it helpful. It’s all about your perspective and how you view things 🙂
Simon
daisy j capati says
Thank you Sir Simon, your blogs alway inspire me to keep motivated on my deepest why , and focus on my present situation not on my past that gives me too much heartbreaks.