PILLAR 18

Getting off Your “But”

I’ve heard it all: “I want to be successful, but . . .” “I want to lose weight, but . . .” “I want to stop smoking, but . . .” It’s time to get off your “buts.” Let me give you an example that changed my life dramatically. My decision to get off my “but” in this instance is the reason I was able to set up businesses around the globe, make over $1 billion in revenue in the last decade, and write this book today. If I had let this “but” get in the way, who knows where I would be.

A few years after I joined forces with Les Brown, I began to tell people that I wanted to take my speaking career to an international stage. As soon as I said it, I knew it was my responsibility to make it happen. I told everyone who would listen that I was going to be an international speaker by the end of the year. It was my responsibility to stay in position and to prepare for the call. It was my responsibility to take my local message and expand my abilities and enhance my skills so that I could relate to an international audience.

Soon after I started ramping up my outreach, I got a phone call from an event organizer in London: “Johnny,” he said to me, “I may have something for you. There is a seminar coming up: ‘The Mind of an Entrepreneur’ in London. They are looking for three or four American speakers, and they love you. I showed them who you are, and they just love you. But here’s the thing: It’s a showcase, so you will only have 10 minutes. And you have to pay your own travel expenses including your own hotel.”

In essence, what he was offering me was the equivalent of my paying them for the opportunity to speak to their audience. Paying to appear is a game I told myself I would never play as a professional speaker. I wanted to explain to him that I was becoming a big deal in America. People were paying me well, I was gaining a strong reputation, and I had just written a book. I had been working my tail off, and now someone was asking me to work for free.

Les Brown pulled me aside and told me that it would diminish my future value to take this offer. In addition to Les’s concerns, I wondered to myself why would I want to pay for my own plane ride and hotel to work for free, giving up money I could be making at home? My wife also had reservations about the invitation. A lot of our money had gone into the book I had just written, and we weren’t seeing a return on it yet. Money was a bit tight, and she was worried that it would be even tighter if I left a sure thing here in America for a risk overseas.

I listened to both of them, and I said, “I told you I wanted to be an international speaker; here is my chance. The door is open. I need to kick it down.” So I went. At that time my mother-in-law worked for American Airlines, and I traveled standby and booked the cheapest hotel I could. When I got to London, I was overwhelmed. It was a full day of events, and there were news cameras everywhere. All these successful people were milling around as if it was nothing. I brought my box of books and audio coaching programs to sell, just hoping to break even.

“Johnny,” the program directors said when I arrived, “we want to use you last because we like your energy, and you will end things on a high note.” That’s fine, I thought. As long as I get my ten minutes. Well, the speaker before me went over his allotted time by five minutes, and after the transition and introductions, I wound up being left with only three and a half minutes. But I was there. I was about to step onto an international stage—and I was doing exactly what I said I was going to do.

I was surrounded by British people, many of whom can be very reserved. As I was wrapping up my speech, however, my stomach dropped. I had forgotten to talk about my product. I had been holding my product in my hand the entire three minutes, but I had gotten so caught up in fulfilling my purpose of serving the people that I forgot to also serve my own agenda. I never mentioned anything about my product or services, the sales of which would have actually paid for this trip.

After I finished speaking, I noticed that the energy in the room was totally different than it had been before I spoke. The Brits were standing up, and they were clapping. As I exited the stage, they followed me, oblivious to the fact that the emcees were still wrapping things up. Walking in a very fast pace toward my product table, cursing under my breath, I expected to see the few people who had liked my truncated speech. I was shocked to find that the line at my table was out the door. I sold double the amount of product I thought I would sell, and I paid for the trip twice over. At the end of the trip, I was an international speaker. I did what I said I was going to do.

After I got back home, I didn’t hear anything from the “Mind of an Entrepreneur” organizers for months. Then, a month before their next conference was taking place, I got another phone call. The “Mind of an Entrepreneur” was holding an event again in London, and the organizers were reaching out to see if I could come. The call was a little different this time around though.

“They want to bring you in. They want you to be the keynote speaker. They are going to set up a television interview for you. And they want you to speak on the panel that will include local billionaires and celebrities to answer questions. They will pay for your trip and hotel, and you can sell as much product as you want. What do you say?”

I went. I did the interviews. I gave the keynote speech. The lines were out the door for my products. But more importantly, someone in the audience heard what I was saying, saw my energy, and reached out to me personally. This person brought me back to England less than two weeks later, where I spearheaded an entrepreneurship course. Another someone saw the work that I did there and asked me to join him in an international business venture. That very same venture launched my career into the $100 million powerhouse it is today.

At the start of this story, all I did was agree to a ten-minute speech, which turned into a three-and-a-half-minute speech. I seized the chance when it was presented to me. It’s a moment I will look back on with awe and humility. That moment turned into $100 million in revenue in more than 50 countries. Because of that speech, I became everything I wanted to be: a successful speaker, a business owner, and a philanthropist. It is the reason I am a first-generation millionaire.

If, however, my response to that first phone call had been, “But I’m making good money here,” or “But I would never work for free,” or “But what will happen if I fail?” I could have lost the opportunity to earn everything I have today. I got off my “but” and changed my entire life.

As a business coach, one of the hardest things for me to do is get clients to believe that they can accomplish something that they have never done before. Many times, we allow our crippling beliefs to stagnate our possibilities because we simply have a hard time believing we can go past what we have already done. In most cases, I would have to use examples of other people who had set out to accomplish something and ultimately achieved what they had set out to do. We use others’ testimonies as the motivating factors.

So many times, when we set out on a mission to accomplish a new journey, we typically are motivated by the success of someone else’s story, someone who has accomplished the exact same thing for the first time. The Roger Bannister story is an incredible an example. He was the first individual to ever break the four-minute mile on record.

As a matter of fact, doctors and other healthcare professionals warned people against even attempting the four-minute mile because of the dangers that an athlete’s heart might explode as well as sustaining many other physical injuries. In 1954, Roger Bannister would break the record proving the professionals wrong. But here’s what’s more interesting. His record was broken just 46 days later. Within a few years, hundreds of people would break his record. Today, it’s in the thousands. It’s as if one man gave us permission to cross a barrier that professionals told athletes was impossible. Sometimes giving yourself permission to succeed is all you need to invite others into your new promised land.

For me, my goal of becoming a first-generation millionaire was basically my saying that I wanted to break a record in my family name. There was no evidence for me to follow. There were no examples for me to lean on in my family. But I met my goal. I believe that being the first one in my family to master the art of having a millionaire mindset will lead to hundreds and eventually thousands in the future who will follow me beyond the barrier that has never been achieved before. I want you to give yourself permission to break a record, to be the first, to establish a new point of no return for generations to come. Waiting for someone else to be first is a crippling mindset, and it is the exact opposite of the mindset of the first-generation millionaire.

To overcome this crippling mindset:

1.   You must give yourself permission to be the first.

2.   You must get off any “but” that you are allowing to hold you back.

3.   You must become your own authority of what you see yourself accomplishing.

I’ve heard so many excuses as to why clients thought they couldn’t be the first to accomplish something. They would tell me, “I’m too young,” “I’m too old,” or “I’m from the wrong side of the tracks.” It was frustrating to me to see them already giving up before they made a move. To every excuse, I would say exactly what Les Brown told me when I came to him full of excuses: “Johnny, if you continue to argue for your limitations, I’m going to allow you to keep them, and our relationship is over.” It made them realize that climbing up the ladder and having that point-of-no-return mindset was the only way they were going to reach their goals.

Think back to the work you have already done. In Pillar 6, you created a plan just in case life throws you a curve ball, and in Pillar 12, you learned how to become a friend to your future self. You already have that forward-thinking mindset. Now is the time to put that into action. Move up. Move forward. You will never achieve that millionaire mindset until that is your only direction.

ACTION STEP

Read the following questions, and answer them honestly. Write down your answers. It’s just you and you now. Be as honest as possible:

Why did you buy this book?

Why have you read to the end?

Why do you want to be wealthy?

Why do you want to take your life to the next level?

My WHY is to empower every one of you to reach your full potential. I want you to experience greatness. This reason—this mission—is going to outlive me. Your success is my success. Now that you are turning the corner to finishing this book and you have invested time, resources, and energy in your future, you are a part of this movement. Thank you for helping me reach my goal, which is to expose the mindset that creates first-generation millionaires.

Before moving on to the absolutely mandatory conclusion, have an honest conversation with yourself about why you are doing this. Once you have your WHY in writing, start your journey. If the door cracked open today, would you have the courage to kick it open all the way?

Find that WHY. I promise you, the door is going to crack. Do the work. Build the pillars of your character. Be prepared for when you are called.

PILLAR 18