I have long believed in the wisdom of learning from highly successful, world-class leaders and achievers. If you really want to achieve greater success, why not study and learn from those who’ve gone before? Why not look at their habits and glean insight from their experiences?
One such world-class achiever is internet entrepreneur Jeff Walker. Over the past 18 years Jeff has created a thriving and extremely profitable business that has put millions in his own pocket, and to date has directly resulted in over $500 million in sales for his clients and customers. No matter how you measure success, you must admit that’s impressive!
What’s even more impressive is it all started as the dream of a humble full-time stay-at-home dad hoping to make some extra income for his family. So how did he get here from there? Like any great accomplishment: patience, hard work, and perseverance!
In an article for Forbes magazine a few years ago, contributor Eric T. Wagner wrote about Jeff Walker and 7 lessons we can learn from him. Those lessons are still absolutely relevant and applicable. Here they are, along with selected quotes from Jeff:
- He who dares—wins. “Getting started is key. The SAS, which is the British Special Forces equivalent of the Navy SEALS, have a saying: ‘He who dares, wins.’ And I think when you’re starting out, you have to dare. You have to say, ‘I’m going to change my life.’”
- Baby Steps. “It’s about baby steps and moving towards your goal. First having the guts to even have that goal and then steadily moving towards it… I think a big part of it is the ability to delay gratification—being willing to put in the work now knowing it’s not going to pay off for three months or six months or two years.”
- Relationships and Connections are EVERYTHING. “My business in terms of traffic is largely driven through joint ventures—through partners who drive me traffic. One of the things I’m good at is building relationships with people… I’m one of the most networked people you’re going to find in this business.”
- Focus on Your Unique Abilities. Jeff is so serious about this that he schedules specific days every week where he just focuses on leveraging his unique abilities: “I mean literally—they’re on my calendar. They’re my focus days and my whole team can see them and know the house better be burning down if they’re going to contact me. My goal is to truly focus on my ‘unique abilities’ during those days. Completely focused, no interruptions, not looking at anything else.”
- Give First, Then Receive. “I call it abundance juice, and it’s about investing a lot of time in relationships and helping people before I ever ask them for anything… So being able to give first, then wait to receive is key.”
- Opportunity Discernment. “Once you get some success, then the most important thing is opportunity costs and selecting the right opportunities. Because as you gain more success, more opportunities start to come your way… so picking the right one, picking the ‘right horse,’ is extremely important to your success.”
- Never Stop Learning. “Part of my success is a result of my desire to keep on learning and studying. I mean I’ve studied incessantly over the years. And I still study incessantly… And having coaches and mentors is also a part of that… Having mentors, coaches, and role models is critical. Absolutely critical.”
Excellent lessons from a highly successful, world-class leader and achiever!
Anyone can dream. But in order to achieve, you must dare. You must take baby steps and persevere. You must invest in relationships, focus on your unique abilities, and give, give, give before ever receiving. You must weigh the cost of new opportunities and carefully select the right ones. And perhaps most importantly—you must never stop learning.
