Step

11

Don’t get advice from people you’ve never met or who are dead

I’ve spent years around many successful individuals and organisations that, if you want to remain a failure, I strongly recommend you stay away from (I did it purely for the purposes of research, you understand). For example, as a professional speaker, I’m often on stage with well-known and prosperous entrepreneurs. It just can’t be avoided. The conclusion I’ve come to is that, without exception,they are all stark staring mad. Not only do they have beliefs about life and business that are wildly different to the majority of the population, like there’s no such thing as failure, but they also take advice from dead people. That’s right. When faced with a problem, or opportunity, they often ask one of their heroes from history for advice. If they wanted the advice of someone sparky and extremely positive, they might consult with Mozart, who has beendescribed as a pathological optimist. How, you may be wondering, do they communicate with Mozart? (Who, just in case you missed the news, has been dead for a few hundred years. As Tom Lehrer said: “It is sobering to consider that when Mozart was my age he had already been dead for a year.”) The answer is that they talk to him inside their heads – I told you thesepeople were crazy. The theory is that although they know, in reality, they are simply talking to themselves, because of their in-depth knowledge of Mozart, his personality and his life, they can come up with new insights and solutions filtered through his unique point of view. I for instance quite often talk toMuhammad Ali, the boxer. Now,imagine if you started consulting with a similar Mastermind Group of your own, what that might do to your thinking. So don’t do it.

As well as talking to dead people, successful folk also seek advice from people they don’t know but know of. Having asked them how they do this, typically the answer is that, over the years, they have built up a vast library of success. Try this for yourself. Find any successful person and ask them: “Do you have a library?” They almost always say “yes”. Then ask them: “What kinds of books are in your library?” and they’ll tell you mostly biographies and autobiographies of successful people. Rather than invent the wheel, what these people do is model success. By the way, if they live in a big house, with a big library, ask them: “Which came first, the books or the library?” and they’ll usually tell you it was reading the books that enabled them to afford the library. Or who do you follow on Instagram, YouTube and the like, and what do you learn from them? And no, I don’t mean those arses, sometimes very big arses, who are flaunting unrealistic images and lifestyles in order to influence you into buying something you don’t want.

So remember, when you are unsure of something, don’t ask for advice, especially from dead people. Still, can I ask your advice? Have you any idea why the number of this step isn’t pronounced ‘onety one’?