So, one of the most common questions I get is, Antonio, can you give me that one piece
of advice which will set me on the path to success?
Guys, it doesn't work that way. That, I don't like that question because is this
basically, you're looking for a shortcut you're looking for a hack and in life there
aren't hacks. We all have to go through this. I understand the importance of great
advice of having something to remind you of deeper meaning.
I've reached out to some of my friends across the web, I'm talking millionaires, I'm
talking warriors, I'm talking successful men who have shared with me, so I can share
with you their words of wisdom, so that you can be successful.
So, first off on this list the plan is nothing,
but planning is everything and I'm going to attribute this one to Mad Dog Mattis. Gen.
Mattis, I served under him when I was with 3rd Battalion 1st marines over in Iraq. I
can tell you this guy is he's a hard charger. And every marine under him understood that,
hey, mission comes first. What I learned and loved about the United
States Marine Corps is that we were adaptable. We oftentimes come up with these grandiose
plans, these things of how we see things are going to unfold and then life happens. I think
it was Clausewitz that talked about, you know, every plan is great until it has a -- until
contact with the enemy. And, that's going to happen with you throughout
life. You're going to have an idea of where I'm going with college or where I'm going
to go with my job and you walk in and day two you're fired. What happens? And when
you go back and you realized you know the plan is nothing, but the preparation to getting
yourself in order. So, when you're running that roadblock you get fired on your second
day you say, you know what? This is not a reflection of me, the company was downsizing
and I have a lot to offer. I'm going to use this as an opportunity to go off and start
my own company. The quality of the people in your organization
matters. That's from Brian Scudamore over at 1-800 GOTJUNK. So, when I read this quote
when I'm looking over it and I'm reading what he wrote and by the way, I've got a
great support article, I'm going to link to down in the description. But, as I'm
going through I'm looking at this, I'm thinking, gosh, that is so important. I talk
about this how we become the average of the people we surround ourselves with.
And where do we spend the majority of our time? At work. And if you think about who
you surround yourself with? If it's your company, what kind of people have you built
in there? If it's not your company, how have you made a conscious decision to surround
yourself daily with these people? Are they bringing you down? Are they inspiring you?
Be a person of value and that's from John Lee Dumas over at Entrepreneur On Fire. And
I think he took that from I think it was Albert Einstein talked about being a person of try
not to be a person of success, but a person of value, something like that quote.
What I see and what who I find that I resonate with or other people who stand for
a bigger mission. They're really trying to change their industry for the better, they're
trying to add value, it's not, yes, money is nice and it's a great score keeper and
it pays the bills, but it's not the biggest thing. And when you realize that and you get
really passionate about what you're doing and you work to become the best everyday and
add value, you find that success just follows you. It's an amazing concept. And by the
way, if you haven't checked out John Lee Dumas, you want to go check him out. I served
with the guy over in Iraq, amazing warrior. Fail your way to success and I'm going to
attribute that one to Aaron Marino. Now, I can't tell you that Aaron has said the exact
thing. In fact, when you watch his video you'll probably be a little bit surprised. But, I'm
going to link over to his Darkest Days video. And what I love about this is he's very
vulnerable and he reveals how he failed so many times before he tasted success.
People see that he was on Shark Tank twice, but what they don't see is everything he
went through. How many times he had to wake up super early in the morning for years. He
was, you know, getting paid less than minimum wage trying to run multiple businesses which
went into the ground by no fault of his own and how he just said, you know I failed and
I'm going to fall I'm going to get up and maybe I'll fail again. But, all of
these failures he learned from, he got better, he got sharper, he got harder, he got stronger.
And that's how he was able to build himself up.
Change the people around you, Peter Shankman. So, if you're not familiar with Peter Shankman,
I know he first popped on my radar whenever he own the company help a reporter out. He
turned around and he sold that and now, he runs like Shankminds and I think Faster Than
Normal and some other pretty cool websites, I'll link to down in the description.
But, this guy is always when I look at him, he seems really hyperactive, he seems like
someone that's always on the go. And he was talking about how he was complaining to
a skydiver at just about like who who he's surrounded by how he can't change
their minds they're not listening to him. And he, the old skydiver is like, well, if
you can't change the people around you, change the people around you.
So, literally if you are not having an effect on the people and you're speaking with them
intelligently, you're logically having a conversation and that is having no effect,
physically remove yourself from that situation. You may have to leave that company you may
have to remove the people who are working or you or you're managing, but if you can't
change them literally change out the people. Mediocre execution beats a brilliant idea.
I'm going to attribute this one to Rob Adams over at the University of Texas. He's in
charge of Venture Labs. He was a mentor of mine when I was at the University of Texas
getting my MBA and first starting on the path of entrepreneurship.
But, I remember going through his book, A Good Hard Kick In The Ass, it's a great
book by the way. And, what Rob talked about is brilliant ideas are dime a dozen. Everyone's
got an idea everyone's got a concept, it's about who actually takes action on it and
executes. And I know now as a business owner having worked for many, many people, we talk
about ideas all the time. If you really want to have that idea, go to the next level or
if you want to differentiate yourself in a company, be someone who is going to go that
extra mile who will start to execute even if it's something that you're just doing
a preliminary, but you're actually putting forth some of the effort you're going to
have something to show let's get into taking action and execution.
Don't stay in the same industry. John Rampton, he's the founder of Due. So, I really like
this quote because it applies to me and I think it applies to a lot of you all that
have dreams that have aspirations to do something in an industry that you have no experience,
you have no degree. My degree? Origins of Behavior which is a
soft science, Philosophy, and what was I supposed to do with that? Oh, I went into the United
States Marine Corps, then I ran a non-profit in Ukraine, and then I went into the style
industry, you know, oh, and I had a business school stop like where in the world? That
isn't a normal path. And I want that to be inspiration for anyone
that wants to do something that's a little bit off the wall that wants to do something
that they may be didn't go to school for that they have no formal training because
that's where the magic happens. When you go from if you look at the way I create
style, I bring in a lot of science. Do you think that happens because I love science,
I used to read science news as a kid. I, you know, I would study science in college, I
would read scientific papers, so it just made sense to me to apply that to style. And because
I came from a different industry, I had a different approach, I was able to bring it
make it relevant to people in a unique way. Be an all star or move on and that's from
Nick Loper over at Side Hustle Nation. I really like this one because you have to be true
to yourself, you have to realize, okay, maybe I'm in the oil and gas industry, maybe I'm
in the shoe industry, maybe I'm in the web, you know, I'm building out websites, but
this isn't really what I like. And because of that, I'm never going to be super at
it I'm never going to be one of the top people.
Now, here's the thing with careers with success with distribution of money. If you're
not in the top 5% when it comes to producers when it comes to sales when it comes to all
these industries, you are not going to make the lion share of money. You want to find
an industry that you can go into and, yeah, you may start at the bottom, but you're
so passionate about it you love it and you realized you've got a natural knack for
it that you can immediately rise to the top. And when you can get to that 5% that top 2%
that top 1%, all of a sudden you're able to earn the rewards you're able to be that
all star and you're able to dominate. Work smarter not harder. This one was sent
to me by Ray Higdon over at Forever Wealth Club. And, Ray didn't come up with this
one and he freely admits, he actually remembered this Duck Tales episode which I was a huge
fan of Duck Tales. And Scrooge McDuck has to get a whole bunch of coal into a fire,
so he takes a bicycle and creates this machine which automatically starts throwing the coal
in. And he says that episode just had a profound
as a kid he just always remember that there were smart ways to do something and I think
that we get so busy with what we're doing, the projects we're working on that oftentimes
we forget what is the end goal. We get so wrapped up in the process, we lose sight of,
you know, can it be something very simple that we could do it.
One exercise that I do with my company any my people is oftentimes I take away a lot
of resource. I give them an impossible task that forces them to cut away 90% of everything
else they're doing and focus in on well, is there a way to do only what Antonio's
asking us to do. Always be asking what is the end goal, look at it and make sure that
you're not getting lost down in there in the trees and that you're going in the right
direction. All right, gentlemen. Now, it's your turn.
I want to hear from you down in the comments what did I miss what quotes would you add,
what piece of career advice have you heard and given, read in a book that you would add
to this list. And if you want more, go check out the support
article. In the support article, we go into we have more quotes over there. We got
into a lot more detail, I talk about the stories. I also link over to all the entrepreneurs
who by the way I'm going to link to down the description below. So go check them out
some amazing people. I think they've got a lot of great advice whether you're looking
to start a podcast or an online company or you're just looking for someone to be inspired
by. And I do want to thank [Brendan Allen Barred],
he's the guy that helped me with his guest post. He came to me with the idea and he's
a he's viewer he's a reader just like you. So, if you ever want to do something
on Real Men Real Style, you want to contact me, don't be afraid to reach out I've
got a great contact form over at Real Men Real Style. I love interacting learning from
you guys and I really appreciate you. I'll see you in the next video. Take care.