or lack of it?  There’s only one.

I’ll bet you’ve got it all figured out.!  You’re smart.  You work hard.  In fact, you work real hard!  You start early.  I’ll bet you even work later than most!  You’re pleased with your effort. And everyone knows that when you work hard, the payoff is big!  Right?  Right!

                OK, then why aren’t you getting promoted; closing the big deal; being assigned to high profile projects, getting that business loan for your new business?  It could be a hundred different reasons, but there's only one?

               Maybe your business or job is going well, and being good is good enough.  Then, maybe things aren’t going like you think they should, and you’re getting uncomfortable with the lack of progress.  Why?   It could be a hundred different reasons, but there's only one?

               Does this sound familiar?  It happened to me just a few years ago.  And I review the question every now and again as a measure of checks and balance.  I look in the mirror.

               There are a thousand different factors that can impact our successes or failures.  We can seldom point to one single external factor that leads to either.  If you really think about it, the only reason we succeed or fail at anything is largely dependent upon us (you or me). 

               I used to look everywhere for the reason I hadn't progressed any further with my company.  I was a team player; worked hard to take care of my customers; came in early; worked late; yet I was getting passed over or around or ignored for the high profile assignments.  I wasn't looking in the mirror.
               I was ignoring the one thing that could impact my success quickly and decisively, ME!  A personal crisis was lurking and it was when I saw what I had to do for me, that I learned what I could have always been doing for me.  Now, I do, daily!  
               The company is going to break through this year and I can attribute it to me!  Yes, I set myself up to succeed.  That is just so cool when I look back to what might have been!
               Don't wait for a crisis, or someone else to do it for you.  They won't and they shouldn't.  We reap what we sew and that's just the way it is!  It's up to you; always has been and always will be!
               
              Ron Tanner is a business development specialist, whose company, Accelerated Marketing,  provides coaching, mentoring, consulting, training, workshops, and seminars in the areas of sales, marketing, creativity, and web integration.  You can contact him at ron@sellitforever.com and www.sellitforever.com