There is only one way to greatness and it’s a process.
It’s the real track to the top and it takes time. You go from ignorance to baby steps, through confusion and around frustration to mastery. It’s not a trick. It’s way beyond the “one secret.” Here’s the good news: it’s definitely possible if you want it bad enough.
There is no plan you can run, or even learn, without massive work. You can hear about it from others, but like swimming, golf, or any other skill, you don’t really learn in the classroom.
- You can learn about it.
- You can study it.
- You can get an overview.
- You can get a picture of it.
But you can’t master it without APPLYING what you learn.
That’s how you take someone else’s explanation of how things work and figure out how to make it happen yourself.
“A good golfer has the determination to win and the patience to wait for the breaks.” —Gary Player
It’s not about LEARNING, it’s about BECOMING.
Let’s use music as an example: You love guitar music and want to learn how to play. You go get a lesson. Can you play yet? No.
You only learn how to play by going home and applying what you heard about during the lesson. You learned some things in your lesson, but your desire wasn’t to go to the instructor and say “Hey, I want to learn some things about the guitar and things about how it’s played.”
You wanted to BECOME a guitar player and you can’t do that without picking the thing up and playing – a lot.
People ask me constantly about the 4 Point Game Plan.
It’s how I launched my business: by starting with 2 serious people in January 1980, and exploding our recruiting so that our little team wound up recruiting 1,800 people by December 31.
It continued to grow with 7,200 more recruited in 1981 and 15,237 in 1982.
The 4 Point Game Plan paid off big for us.
Yet, I first heard about it during a 45-minute presentation.
We got the basics and went to work — massive work. Of course, we were constantly adjusting and refining. But it never has changed much from the original presentation.
I got so good at using it that we did 100 times more with it than the person who showed it to me. Maybe he invented it. I don’t know and it doesn’t matter, because eventually, it became mine. No one understood, or still today, understands it like I do — simply because I used it with a vengeance.
The person who does more than I did become the new authority on it, if that ever happens, and I hope it does.
So, I get questions about it, all the time.
Usually I can tell they are wrapped up in studying, learning and analyzing.
They aren’t actually using it — much. Instead they are piddling around with it — afraid they might do something wrong. As a result, they never do anything right.
They are too worried about “getting it right”.
What I wish I could get through their head is that: it’s only going to happen by using it. Run it morning, noon and night for 90 days, then ask me a question if you must.
Here’s how you REALLY learn things.
It’s all about activity and adjustments. You hear about it, you get a lesson, watch a video, or listen to a lecture. Then you give it a try. Now you start to learn it as you do it. You’ll probably fail a lot in the beginning, but you make adjustments. You find out what you thought you understood, but you didn’t. Then you start to have a little success; you make more adjustments and you have more success. Then you make more adjustments and refinements.
- Eventually you are doing huge numbers.
- Eventually you’re actually playing that guitar.
- Eventually you’re making an impact.
That’s how you learn: step-by-step, little-by-little. Do the work, do the activity, do the repetitions, and set yourself up for success.
Someone told Pro golfer Gary Player they admired his swing.
What they actually said was “I’d give anything to swing a golf club like you.” Gary had heard that comment one time too many. He said “No you wouldn’t. You wouldn’t go out and practice 16 hours a day, 7 days a week for years like I did, etc”.
And then he proceeded to detail the incredible price he had paid to develop that swing – all the work involved. Of course Gary didn’t look at it as work because he just loved golf. He saw it as doing something he loved. He saw it as a step by step process to become better at the game he loved. But it was still work, regardless.
And it took a long time. But once he had developed that swing, he had the tools and skills he needed to build a great life, travel the world, make friends in high places, build his own personal fortune, and own huge ranches in South Africa and around the world.
He also won enough golf tournaments to be recognized as one of the all-time golfing legends and earned membership in the Hall of Fame. It took time and it was work. But it was worth it.
