Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Success Is Only a Few Degrees Away

Here’s a secret, even the most successful business owners get help with their business. Who mentors you on your business? Me? I go to the very best. Sometimes I do it live and in person, sometimes I only have the time to access to their books. Sometimes I have the luxury of speaking to them directly. But I believe this blog today will help you see the just how close success really is, even to your world and your heap of challenges.

Lee Milteer is the world renowned Millionaire Smarts® Coach. She’s also a personal friend. She’s literally helped shape my business. (photo on this site) While Lee may appear to be smart, drop-dead gorgeous, and that success come simply to her, she has suffered numerous bona fide tragedies in her life that some would cower to even think about. You’ll still hear her Southern “Caint” come out of her mouth frequently, and if she elects to share with you any of her personal life, you’ll hear that she is targeted perhaps that much more because of her fame. And yet she has had her books published worldwide in multiple languages, coached some of the biggest corporations in the world, and continues on…and still continues having struggles just like everyone else. (http://www.leemilteer.com/ )

Dan Kennedy has assisted in creating more millionaires than any research has revealed. He is THE marketing guru, but in such high demand, he’s completely booked at over $12,000 for a few hours of consulting at a great deal of inconvenience to his prospective clients until he retires. Dan was earning 6 figures through his marketing expertise in the seventies. The 70’s folks! That is a lot of money now and it sure was a lot of money then. He was charging $35,000 a year for his coaching services way back then and yet many folks balk at that now. In spite of his grand successes he’s had some extremely tough times as well, including financial set-backs. He’s still managed to conquer alcoholism, diabetes, and in my opinion, the ultimate victory, he’s re-married his second wife, Carla. (http://www.dankennedy.com/) He’s also a vital mentor to my business. (photo on this site as well) While I would go so far as to consider him a friend, Dan has a strict “no friend” policy amongst his clients. *grin* -It’s a positioning thing and it makes for better business in his world. I will say that he is a key advisor in my business success on a regular basis.

George Ross of The Apprentice fame is obviously a keen business man. He’s had some ugly negotiations which is inevitable in the world he plays in. He’s no stranger to struggle. Did you know that more fortunes have been lost in real estate than have ever been made? He says that his biggest mistakes was trusting friends. (Ouch. That has to be a painful one to learn from on so many levels.) And he’s clearly no stranger to success. In my opinion his biggest one is that he’s been married for over 50 years to the same woman. Clearly, he’s also one of my valued mentors. (photo also on this site.) You may be surprised to hear that out of all of the favorite sayings this chief negotiator could have, it’s this, “Failure + Perseverance = Success.” Trivia note: The most common question George is asked is, “Is Omarosa as bad as she appears on T.V.?” His response, “No. She’s much worse.”

The legendary Gene Simmons is anything but a rock star to me. He’s a business man and an ultimate marketer who I watch and learn from intently. The KISS brand is worth more money than ANY other music name in history- yup, even Elvis. Did you know that Gene came to the U.S. at the age of 8. He was born in Israel. He was a straight A student. He speaks Japanese, German, Hebrew, Hungarian and believes fervently in embracing the culture he’s in, in order to ingratiate himself better to them. He doesn’t drink or smoke and he never did drugs?? He used to deliver newspapers when he started his band and was going to school. He practically worships his mother who was in a Nazi concentration camp in Germany. He’s had the same “girlfriend” for over two decades- significantly longer than many Hollywood types “marry.” His father left he and his mother while he was still very young. While I still may not agree with some of his personal choices, I do wholeheartedly agree with his business sense and learn from it zealously. (yup- got a photo of that one too.) (Of course, I have to sensor some of it to get to the business aspect, but that’s my life in the business world in general unfortunately.)

And to balance out the Gene Simmons influence, my world would not be complete without the wonderful Nido Qubein. If you don’t know, Nido is the Chairman of the Board of The Great Harvest Bread Co. AND he is also the Dean of High Point University. HPU has gone from financial ruin and horrible student statistics to being one of the most expensive, illustrious, and most competitive universities to get into nowadays. The majority of their students graduate, which means that the majority of their students continue re-enrolling as well! This man came to this country with very little English, virtually no money in his pocket and nothing but a dream. He’s a genuine story of the American Dream. He made his first million by age 30. He has a vocabulary of 3,120 words and yet most people have use of a vocabulary of 5,000 and yet he’s more successful using 70% less vocabulary than most Americans are. Look at what he’s accomplished??! And yet he even spends an average of $30,000 a year to improve his mind. What an amazing influence he has had on tens of thousands individuals both in and out of business. I just finished being mentored by him personally over the last 4 months, and I also get the benefit of countless of his CDs and several of his books. (of course I have a pic of him on this site too.)

My point is if you want to be the best, you need to learn from others who have paved the way before you. You’re not going to learn business success from animals or by watching T.V. You’ll learn from getting our hands dirty, activating your mind and genuine interaction with humans. And even though some humans that you would love to learn from seem to be untouchable because of where you think you are now, you are mistaken.

There’s a difference of only a few degrees in an airplane’s coordinates between a safe landing and a horrific crash landing, right? The opposite is true as well. There’s a difference of only a few degrees between floundering and flourishing. The difference is what we do with the trials, what knowledge we seek out and implement. Contrary to your belief, even famous people are not untouchable, perfect people. They are real people with real life stories you can relate to and learn from. They will not have done exactly what you will do, because you are unique and you have your very own path to walk. But you do not have to walk our path alone. In fact, you get to walk it with other great and courageous individuals like some that I have mentioned.

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If you would like to know how you can dramatically improve the state of your entrepreneurial efforts through Kellene’s coaching, check out
www.moneymindmarketing.com.

If your organization would like to host Kellene as a speaker in exchange for a donation to The Children’s Miracle Network, e-mail Kirsten@3MMastermind.com

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A Worth-While Cause...

A Worth-While Cause...
Kellene with Marie Osmond, Co-Founder of The Children’s Miracle Network and Creator of the beautiful Marie Osmond Dolls. (Be sure to catch Donny and Marie’s Show in Vegas beginning Sept. 9, 2008!)