The #1 Killer of Success

These days, with so much negative information out there pummeling us every day, it’s critical that we counterbalance all the doom and gloom news with twice as much positive information and stories.

For example, Kim and I spent this past week in Florida. One morning we went yard selling. This particular day, we came across a guy who was selling almost everything he owned. Turned out he was losing his home to foreclosure and had to be moved out in a couple of days.

The guy was so negative we had to stand a few extra steps back to ensure we didn’t catch his negative funk. He blamed his situation on the government, the banks, rich folks, the economy, BP Oil, Presidents Obama and Bush, etc. Never once did he take any responsibility for getting himself into his financial mess.

Here’s the ironic thing: He already had the one tool he needed to dig himself out of his financial hole. In looking through his yard sale stuff, I found a copy of The Greatest Secret in the World by Og Mandino.

Oggie’s book is one of the best self-help books ever written. I think first read it when my mother gave it to me in 1978, and over the years I’ve read it at least ten times. Anyway, I handed Oggie’s book to the man and explained how it could solve all of his problems. Sadly, he wanted no part of it. He sold me the book for a mere quarter. What a deal – millions of dollars worth of how-to-be-successful information in exchange for a single quarter!

Need to point one thing out: Oggie’s book is not about how to be successful. Rather, it’s about how not to be a failure. He points out that “success” is too hard to define because it’s so individual. On the other hand, failure is easy to define: “Failure is man’s inability to reach his goals in life… whatever they may be.”

The biggest lesson I learned from the book is this: Procrastination is the #1 killer of success. We’re all guilty of it. We all know we’re doing it when we do it. It’s putting off until tomorrow what should be done today.

The second biggest lesson I learned from the book was this: The only way to get rid of a bad habit is to replace it with a good habit. For example, I knew a fella who would come home from work, climb into his lounge chair and flick channels until he went to bed. He basically ignored his beautiful wife and wonderful kids.

After a number of heated family arguments, he realized the TV was nothing more than a procrastination machine that was about to cause him to lose his family. He took drastic action. He gave away all of his TVs. He replaced his TV habit with the habit of spending lots of quality time with his family. Today, he and his family couldn’t be happier – and talk about a guy who gets stuff done!

Do you and your family a big favor. Pick up a copy of Oggie’s book. Bet it will be a life changer!

Bill & Kim Cook are a husband and wife real estate investing team. They live in Adairsville, Georgia and have been investing in real estate since 1995. They specialize in buying single-family homes, mobile homes and mobile home parks. They also run North Georgia REIA and teach folks how to successfully invest in real estate.