Three Driving Forces

Restlessness and discontent are the first necessities of progress.”

Thomas Edison

What drives no limits people? That’s what I wanted Jim Newton, author of Uncommon Friends to reveal. He didn’t disappoint me.

I met him thirty years ago when he was in his late seventies. During his early twenties his circle of friends was Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Nobel Prize Winner Dr. Alexis Carrel and Charles Lindberg.

This group has been called the men who invented the 20^th Century. During the hundreds of hours he was with them, he took notes, actually five or six boxes full of them. This treasure trove became the basis for Jim’s book, “Uncommon Friends.”

Of my many conversations with Jim one is a standout. I learned one of the biggest lessons in my life. I said, “Did these great high achievers have any common driving forces?”

Three interlocking and self-supporting forces, he explained, motivate these high achievers. First of all, no-limits people are inspired by an unshakable sense of purpose. This sense of purpose supports and reinforces (and is supported and reinforced by in turn) two more driving forces. The no-limits person has an unquenchable spirit of adventure and a desire for continued personal growth. These people know they don’t know it all. (Anyone who does think he or she knows it all is in what we used to call “the graveyard spiral” in the flying business.)

As I say, these three motivations don’t operate in a vacuum. Although the sense of purpose (which is sometimes described as a “sense of mission”) initiates the cycle, it connects with each of the other two motivations, and is constantly strengthened by them. Take a look at the diagram, which I developed after a discussion with Jim. It makes the process a little easier to understand.

The cycle starts in the middle—the no-limits person has developed an incredibly strong sense of “what needs to happen and why.” This is the awareness and planning stage, the part of the cycle where goals are developed. Without a firm sense of purpose, without a mission, without a strong goal orientation, there is no such thing as a barrier-breaker.

So the goal’s established and a plan is in place. Then the no-limits person launches that plan and embarks on the adventure of actually achieving the goal. Of course, there are challenges and temporary setbacks along the way; problem solving is part of the adventure. This is the second phase of the process, and it’s very exciting.

Even after the goal is achieved, the no-limits person is motivated—this time, to prepare for the challenges of the future. That third element, the desire for continued personal growth, is a commitment not to “rest on laurels” or “stick with the formula” because it’s always worked before. No-limits people are about positive change, positive growth, and forward movement. For them, the cycle is not complete until there’s evidence of renewal and new understanding.

All three motivations support and reinforce one another. All three are essential forces for the development of a no-limits life.

These are the driving forces that no-limits people use to put their lives into “afterburner” mode, to use Air Force terminology. With practice, you can use these forces to change your life, too!

Immediate Action: Review the three forces that drive no-limits achievers. Jot them down on a separate sheet of paper.

Point to Ponder Before You Go On: No-limits people are those who commit to pushing themselves outside of the comfort zone, those who know what they want and are willing to commit fully to the adventure of achieving their goals, and those who are willing to say, as my friend Jim Rohn says, “In order to do more, I’ve got to be more

The Courage of a Five Year-Old

Some people are content with just wishing for things hoping that the Fairy Godmother will drop it in their laps but she never does. Then these “wishers” get depressed because once again, the Fairy Godmother has let them down. But it wasn’t her that let them down, was it?

Like me, you’ve probably walked in to a sales office and there’s a salesperson reading the local sports page or perhaps doing something that is really mentally taxing such as playing Solitaire on his computer. Hanging above his desk is a picture of a Rolls Royce.

When I ask him what’s the purpose of the picture, he answers proudly, “That’s my goal!”

At this point I like to ask the “wisher” this question, “What do you have to do extra today to make sure that it is in your driveway someday?” The answer is generally, “I …I don’t know. Somebody just told me to hang that up there and one day it would be in my driveway.”

High achievers know that you have to work hard and smart. You have to step out courageously, with creativity, and perhaps sell others on helping you achieve that important goal.

My Grandson, Rex, was five and in Kindergarten when he was overtaken by a serious case of Spring Fever. He walked in to the kitchen and said to his mother, “Mom, it’s too beautiful a day to go to school. Let’s go to the beach!”

She said, “Look, Rex, I’ve got to go to work and you’ve got to go to school.” The little salesman decided to up the ante. “Then let’s go to Disneyland. Think of the fun we could have there today.”

Frustrated with his persistence she said, firmly, “Rex I’ve got to go to work and you’ve got to go to school.”

Good salespeople hang in there, always ask good questions. He looked up at her and said, “Why?”

She decided to appeal to his sympathies. “If you don’t go to school, they could put me in jail.”

He looked at her for about two seconds, put his hands on his hips, tilted his head and asked, “For how long?”

Rex knew to achieve a goal you have to pay a price. And that’s the same for all of us.

The best is yet to be!

Danny

P.S. Take a look at the "Fearless Leader Kit" on the Home Page of my web site. Scroll down for link to my web site.

STAYING POWER

Timeless wisdom is tested. It's hidden treasure and just as valuable, if not more, today.

William Ellery Channing, who wrote "Staying Power" that you see below was a popular minister of a church in Boston.

He was born in Rhode Island three years before the Revolutionary War ended. His grandfather was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. When Channing was 32 the War of 1812 began. That was the war where the English burned the White House. It was also the war that inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star Spangled Banner."

This eloquent and wise man who lived through such tumultuous times passed "Staying Power" along to us. You'll see why I describe it as timeless wisdom.

Whom do you know that needs a copy of this?

The best is yet to be!

Danny Cox

STAYING POWER

Every condition, be it what it may, has hardships, hazards, pains. We try to escape them; we pine for a sheltered lot, for a smooth path, for cheering friends, and unbroken success. But Providence ordains storms, disasters, hostilities, sufferings; and the great question whether we shall live to any purpose or not, whether we shall grow strong in mind and heart, or be weak and pitiable, depends on nothing so much as on our use of the adverse circumstances. Outward evils are designed to school our passions, and to rouse our faculties and virtues into more intense action. Sometimes they seem to create new powers. Difficulty is the element, and resistance is our true work. Self-culture never goes on so fast as when embarrassed circumstances, the opposition of others or the elements, unexpected changes of the times, or other forms of suffering, instead of disheartening, throw us on our inward resources, turn us for strength to God, clear up to us the great purpose of life and inspire calm resolution. No greatness or goodness is worth much, unless tried in these fires.

Wm. Ellery Channing