I was listening to Think and Grow Rich this morning, as I’ve done many, MANY times.
However, today, a particular sentence stood out to me.
“These 15 laws of success is the equivalent of an insurance policy against failure.”
What a remarkable concept that is – an insurance policy against failure.
Most people don’t take action for the simple fact of fearing failure.
What if I fail?
What if this or that happens?
What if I can’t figure out how?
These doubts paralyze and prevent them from taking action.
But what would happen if someone literally had an insurance policy against failure?
The guarantee they won’t fail as long as they do what they’re told?
How many more people would go after their goals and accomplish them?
All of the above are very interesting questions.
However, the most important question is, “How do you develop an insurance policy against failure?”
I thought about all the things I’ve learned over the years and what has brought me the MOST success.
I came up with the top 3 things that will guarantee MASSIVE progress towards any goal.
…And of course, prevent failure.
It’s going to be tough so only commit if you’re ready.
Here we go!
1) Write a Check
The very first thing you need to do is come up with an amount of money you can’t afford to lose.
Whether it’s $20, $200, $500, etc.; make sure it’s an amount that will hurt if you lost it.
Next, write out a check for that amount and give it to an accountability partner.
Make sure it’s someone you can trust and that’ll follow orders.
This person will have one job and one job only: Make sure you fail!
Their goal is to prevent you from taking action towards your own goal.
Give them these instructions:
“For the next year (365 days starting today) you must check in with me and ensure I’ve taken action towards my goal. As soon as I don’t take action, you can cash the check. This is for my own good so I need you to promise to be tough on me and cash the check immediately if I fail.”
Remember, the amount of money you’ll lose must hurt MORE than taking action.
So when it’s time to sit down and work, but you don’t feel like it, you tell yourself:
“I really don’t feel like working but there’s no way I can afford to lose (insert money here) right now. Let me get to work!”
Do you see how powerful this is?…
This is a guaranteed way to get you to take action and make progress.
No matter who you are and how much money you have, there’s a price you can’t afford to pay.
If Bill Gates did this same exercise and put all of his fortune on the line plus his rights to Microsoft, do you think he would fail?
If you take daily action, for a year, I absolutely guarantee you’ll see progress and avoid failure.
You want results?
Write that check!
I learned this from a business seminar and it works very, VERY well.
The number one reason most people never achieve a goal is lack of action.
Of course, there has to be a way your accountability partner knows for sure you take daily action.
This is something both of you need to figure out together.
Maybe you can Skype or create a video of you working which he can fast forward through later and confirm you worked the 4 hours.
Whatever it takes, do it!
Yes, it sounds extreme and crazy.
…But extreme and crazy is what gets your results, my friend.
You won’t believe how eager and on your ass someone will be when they know they have a check in their wallet waiting to be cashed.
Trust me when I tell you that this works very well.
Of course you’ll be allowed a pass on a particular day if an emergency were to occur.
However, by “emergency”, I really mean emergency.
Not taking action because you’re lazy or don’t feel like it isn’t an emergency.
Make sure you discuss emergencies in your negotiations with your accountability partner.
2) Schedule
Now that you have the punishment in place, and you’re guaranteed to take action, let’s talk about the schedule you’ll need to follow.
In order to get results, you need to commit to a minimum of 4 hours of daily work.
These 4 hours can be spent reading, watching videos, and applying what you’ve learned.
You can spread them throughout the day, although it’s better to schedule them together.
In reality, you should spend more than 4 hours daily, but it’s a good start that will get you results.
…Especially if done daily, for a year.
You’re either going to have to discipline yourself to get up earlier.
…Or go to bed later and give up certain things you do daily.
If you work 4 hours daily for 365 consecutive days, we’re talking 1,460 hours of work.
I don’t care who you are, where you’re from, and how clueless you are about your goal; if you commit 1460 hours, you’re going to make massive progress!
Are you seeing how and why this works incredibly well?
3) One Year Commitment
This will be the hardest part.
To get someone to take daily action for an entire year isn’t easy.
However, if you’re left no choice but to do so, the rewards will be amazing.
So let’s take into account what taking action daily for a year means.
You’ll work on:
- Holidays
- Vacations
- Birthdays (Including yours)
- Weddings
- …And any other social event that may occur.
This means there will probably be days where you’ll be forced to either get up early or go to bed late.
Guess what?
All entrepreneurs go through this.
Something is always bound to come up that requires their time.
However, the fact they take action regardless of what happens or what they need to sacrifice is what makes them successful.
If they have to sacrifice sleep, they do so.
If they have to cancel on friends, they do so.
No matter what it takes, they take action daily!
Yes, this challenge is extreme.
Yes, there will be days that it’ll suck.
But most importantly, yes, it’ll provide you an insurance policy against failure since you won’t be allowed to quit and will also be taking massive action.
I know that probably 3% of the people who read this article will commit to this challenge.
Be one of them.
I promise you won’t regret it and that you’ll thank me.
Success can’t be bought, it can only be earned.
[bctt tweet=”Success can’t be bought, it can only be earned. “]
If you put in the time, you’ll reap the rewards.
End of story.
These three things combined will absolutely prevent you from failing.
If you can’t quit, you can’t fail – no matter how many mistakes you make.
[bctt tweet=”If you can’t quit, you can’t fail – no matter how many mistakes you make.”]
…And if you’re committing 4 hours daily, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to mess up and learn from it.
As you keep learning, you get closer and closer to success.
Until eventually, there’s no choice but to succeed.
That’s all achieving a goal is, my friend.
To your success,
-Alex
PS – Don’t forget to download my Dominant Discipline book. Click here for more Information.
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