by: Rasheed Ali
Have you ever wondered if there was a way to apply the Pareto Principle or 80/20 Principle to success or rather becoming successful?
If you’re a reader of the Conquer Your Adversity Newsletter, then you should be familiar with this principle from my article Achievement & Happiness The 80/20 Way – www.rasheedali.com/8020.htm
In the past what I’ve found is that most people don’t hesitate to point fingers at whom or what they think is responsible for their failures or lack of success in life. The problem is that they never look in the mirror and see that the main problem is them! At that time I believed that there were two groups of people, successful and unsuccessful.
Recently however I came across another group of people who all want to be successful and realize that they must change. When they ask me how they can achieve success, I give them all the same answer. I’ll get to that in a minute, because first I want to tell you why.
When I was a baby about two months old, my parents sent me from New York to the island of Trinidad to live with my Grandparents. During those early years, I was given love, attention and I was taught the importance of hard work. You see, my Grandfather and all of his brothers for that matter were entrepreneurs. My Grandpa was a poultry farmer. He raised chickens! Not just any chickens, but the best tasting, natural chickens around. Not just a few chickens, but anywhere from 20,000 to 40,000 at a time. Not only that but, he still worked at his job as the Pay Master at the Texaco oil refinery.
To little me, Grandpa was the strongest man in the world and he knew more than anyone!
Over the course of the years I would be taken away from my Grandparents many times by my parents, only to be sent back again. Each time I would learn something new. I learned how to run a poultry farm and business, how to handle money, how to deal with customers, how to give a quality product, the importance of learning by doing and most of all what I tell my clients and people wanting success.
No, I’m not going to tell you yet! ;-P
Fast forward to 1990-91 and I’m homeless on the streets of New York. Of course my Grandparents had no control over these events. It was my parents that left me no choice.
There I was a skinny 15 year old with big glasses, no money and nowhere to live. I had lived in fear for so long in the past that I looked like an owl on crack!
I had no clue what to do and I had already been on the streets a couple of weeks. I was hungry, cold (it was winter) and tired.
As events unfolded a severe beating by four 22 year olds, put me in the hospital near death and I would later end back up on the streets. This time I had learned of other options by listening to other peoples’ conversations. I had heard about a place called Covenant House in Manhattan. It took another week or two before I ended up there because I didn’t trust that anyone would help me.
The people at Covenant House took me in one cold night and gave me a place to stay, warm food and counseling.
There I met a 17 year old guy who would become a big brother to me for a short while. His name was Tony. He as it turned out was in New York because he was running from some very dangerous people in Florida who killed his friend. Tony was a “metal-head,” head-banger type but was a good natured person and took a liking to me. He protected me from the other kids who were in gangs and were too rough and dangerous for me to handle at the time. He taught me how to fight, how to think on the streets, and the same thing my Grandpa taught me.
No, I won’t tell yet.
That wasn’t the end of my street life but, that’s where we’ll fast forward into my twenties.
My mind had been made up since I was a child that deep down I really wanted my own business. So I went out and did what any normal kid would do. Go to college right!
Well after a few semesters, I realized that I was really in for long frustrating hours of studying things that I did not want to know. So while still in school and working full time, I started to self educate myself with self improvement books and business books.
Needless to say, I got hooked! Paycheck after paycheck I would buy and read these books, online and offline. Wow I really knew my stuff I would think. Then I would look at successful businesses and say, “Wow I still have a lot of learning to do.”
So I started out on my quest to conquer the internet. Or so I thought.
Again, I purchased and read many e-books, reports, software and services and began to build a small income online.
Thousands of dollars and some successful clients later, I had very little to show for it other than all of the money I made others and the vast library of knowledge in my head. (I do have a pretty big head ;-D )
Then one day through world famous internet marketer Jo Han Mok, I met Mike Litman, then Dave Lakhani & Steve Watts. Mike and Dave showed me what I was doing wrong, what I needed to know and how to apply it. Most importantly they showed me what they had learned so that I didn’t have to make the same mistakes.
If you fast forward to today you will see that I’m now helping change the lives of thousands of people around the world through my newsletter and coaching system and I’m well on my way to creating millions in revenue!
So what’s the 80/20 Success Secret?
It is….
Finding Mentors or Coaches and learning everything you can from them.
Instead of investing tons of money in books and programs, invest in a mentor and you WILL get the most results!
Remember very few actions generate the most results. Instead of taking 1,000 steps and many years to achieve your desired results, you’re only taking one step and very little time to get your results this way. You’re paying them to learn from their mistakes and successes.
No book or program can offer you that!
So when you’re ready to leap towards success and break through your obstacles, seek out your mentor(s) and be ready for anything!
Copyright 2005 Rasheed Ali