Are YOU Prepared For Success?

Watching Sylvain Chavanel winning the seventh stage of the 2010 Tour de France to claim the yellow jersey for the second time in the race, I was struck by the thought that:

Success is what happens when preparation meets opportunity!

And, yes... this is a slight corruption of what Seneca the Younger (5 BC - 65 AD) is reported to have said: 'Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.'

Think about it, YOU and I know that we have absolutely no chance of winning a stage on the Tour de France this year as Chavanel did... because we were not prepared for it.

Chavanel was prepared for it!

He had clearly peaked in his training for this race.

He saw the opportunity. Piled on the pressure. Rode through some intense pain on some steep climbs.

And SUCCESS was his reward.

So (note to self), where YOU are looking to succeed, to achieve a worthwhile reward for your efforts - are YOU prepared for it?

Have YOU put in the work?

Are YOU putting in the work?

Are YOU putting the work in at the same level that these super-achievers put in just to qualify to ride in the Tour de France?

Should YOU be doing anything less?


Let's close today's thought with an 'interview' comment or 3 from the fifteenth of our potential virtual Board of Advisers:

Howard Schulz - CEO Starbucks; Billionaire; Entrepreneur; Author - Pour Your Heart Into It:

1. quote: 'I saw Starbucks not for what it was, but for what it could be.'
   
2. quote: '..to reassure people to have the courage to persevere, to keep following their hearts when others scoff. Don't be beaten down by naysayers. Don't let the odds scare you from even trying. What were the odds against me, a kid from the Projects?'
3. quote: 'Five million people a week - customers who return several times a week - are not just coming for the coffee. They're coming for the feeling they get when they're there. They want a break from the negative noise that inundates us all.'

Today's thought is brought to you by:
WISDOMS - Powerful PEAK Performance Program

Do YOU Compete In A Volatile, Dangerous, Stressful World?

Watching Lance Armstrong compete on the 5th day of the 2010 Tour de France it is interesting to read of the 'volatile, dangerous, stressful' first four days that he experienced... and his thoughts on his young rival - Alberto Contador.

Clearly, there is no love lost between the two... and that clearly comes from the stress of competing.

Let's face it, being a super-achiever is not for the faint-hearted.

Life is not a spectator sport.

If YOU are passionate about who YOU are... and what YOU do... YOU will upset others.

As long as YOU don't do it intentionally and YOU play fair... don't beat YOURself up about it.

Compete..!

Enjoy YOUR life at YOUR pace..!

Don't wait up for others to catch up. Let them ride in YOUR slipstream if they can/want... but if they can't, let them pedal on at their own pace... and don't worry about their criticism.

YOU're competing - enjoying YOUR life to the full. Compete..!

Sometimes passion will flame/inflame YOUR likes and dislikes.

That's life... make it work YOU... and move on to achieve what YOU want to achieve.

Of course, if YOU want a break (like Lance is looking forward to on the beach next year)... enjoy that with the same gusto too... put YOUR feet up and relax... at the slowest pace YOU can... compete at being the most chilled YOU can... ;-)

Let's close today's thought with an 'interview' comment or 3 from the fourteenth of our potential virtual Board of Advisers:

Peter J. Daniels - from 3 times bankrupt to Australian Property Billionaire; Entrepreneur; Author; Speaker

1. quote: 'Success presupposes the willingness to bear pain'.
   
2. quote: 'Beyond the pain threshold often awaits the prize.'
3. quote: 'Do not waste time on little dreams.'

Today's thought is brought to you by:
WISDOMS - Powerful PEAK Performance Program

Cadence, Consistency & Courage - Do YOU Have It?

Watching Lance Armstrong get back off the ground again on day 3 of the 2010 Tour de France and fight his way back to within a minute of the leaders reminds me of his liking for a high cadence, his tremendous consistency at the front of the pack of super-athletes for a good 10 years at least, and his clear courage in the face of adversity.... both in his life and his performances in the Tour de France.

So here's the question... what is YOUR cadence, consistency & courage like in YOUR life... YOUR business... YOUR challenge?

Let's close today's thought with an 'interview' comment or 3 from the 'baker's dozen' position number thirteen of our potential virtual Board of Advisers:

Richard Branson - Billionaire; Entrepreneur; Industrialist; Philanthropist; CEO: Virgin

1. quote: 'A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts.'
   
2. quote: 'I never get the accountants in before I start up a business. It's done on gut feeling, especially if I can see that they are taking the mickey out of the consumer.'
3. quote: 'I have no secret. There are no rules to follow in business. I just work hard and, as I always have done, believe I can do it. Most of all, though, I try to have fun.'

Today's thought is brought to you by:
WISDOMS - Powerful PEAK Performance Program

What Do YOU Do When YOU Fall Off Your Bike?

What do YOU do when the wheels fall off?

Watching Lance Armstrong in the first 3 stages of the 2010 Tour de France (he says it his last at 39 years of age)... the answer is clear.

In these first 3 days of the 'tour' it seems that we've seen more bikes crashing to the ground than we have in the last 3 years of the race.

And what do these professionals do?

They get straight back up, grimacing with pain... get on their bikes - if they can - and get back to their task of attacking the race - and this included Lance on Day 2, who now has his right arm heavily bandaged to protect the bare skin.

And so Lance Armstrong attacked life when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer in the early '90's... he got back on his bike and won his 7 Tour de France yellow jerseys.

So, what do YOU do when YOU fall of your bike... or when the wheels fall off?

What do YOU do when life throws curve-balls at YOU?

Get back on your bike... and ride like the wind!

Let's close today's thought with an 'interview' comment or 3 from the twelfth of our potential virtual Board of Advisers:

Warren Buffett - Top List: World's Wealthiest Individuals; Investor; Industrialist; Philanthropist

1. quote: 'I always knew I was going to be rich. I don't think I ever doubted it for a minute.'
   
2. quote: 'Risk is a part of God's game, alike for men and nations.'
3. quote: 'There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult.'

Today's thought is brought to you by:
WISDOMS - Powerful PEAK Performance Program

Spend TIME With Robert Kiyosaki & Lance Armstrong

Well, as I watch Lance Armstrong's final Tour de France (day 1) appearance (so he says), what an eye-opening week it has been getting back into the re-reading of Rich Dad, Poor Dad and following through on Robert Kiyosaki's latest thoughts.

Take a look at his July 2nd, 2010 comment on George Osborne as the new UK Chancellor of The Exchequer and how this event relates to the revelations in Conspiracy Of The Rich.

Take a look at Robert's video series on The New Rules Of Money:

New Rules of Money, Part 1/7: Conventional Education Vs. Financial Literacy

New Rules of Money, Part 2/7: The CASHFLOW Quadrant

New Rules of Money, Part 3/7: Why Savers Are Losers in This Economy

New Rules of Money, Part 4/7: Assets Vs. Liabilities

New Rules of Money, Part 5/7: Good Debt Vs. Bad Debt

New Rules of Money, Part 6/7: The Difference Between BUY - SELL - FOOL

New Rules of Money, Part 7/7: Focus! Why Diversification Is A Mistake

Let's wrap up this week's theme with a link to TIME Video's - 10 Questions for 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' Author Robert Kiyosaki

I see that Lance Armstrong is on TIME Video too - 10 Questions for Lance Armstrong

10 Questions for Lance Armstrong

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,28344410001_0,00.html#ixzz0siR2yWEa

Perhaps timely to add Lance to our interview list for our Board of Advisers. He is a specialist in endurance (hanging in) and 'cadence' (maintaining momentum).

Let's close today's thought with an 'interview' comment or 3 from the eleventh of our potential virtual Board of Advisers:

Lance Armstrong - Cyclist, Cancer survivor, Businessman, Team Leader.

1. quote: 'Through my illness I learned rejection. I was written off. That was the moment I thought, Okay, game on. No prisoners. Everybody's going down.'
   
2. quote: 'Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.'
3. quote: 'If you worried about falling off the bike, you'd never get on.'

Today's thought is brought to you by:
WISDOMS - Powerful PEAK Performance Program

Master the Book, Master The AUTHOR - Re-read A Good Book (part 6)

A quick thought further to -

Take A Good Book & MASTER It - Re-read A Good Book (part 5) - and that is, perhaps we have to take a good look at mastering the author that catches our attention.

For instance, following Robert Kiyosaki's latest thoughts on - www.conspiracyoftherich.com/exclusive-12 - I was interested to read of his concerns regarding the worldwide growth in urban slums... and his comment on Cape Town in this regard, bringing it close to home.

YOU will smile at his comments on www.conspiracyoftherich.com/exclusive-13 where he berates oneJames Press - deputy chief executive Chrysler - who he says did not attend a course on... 'How to survive on a multi-million dollar salary without needing your bonus.'

He concludes: 'Can you imagine a man in such a high level position of a major corporation being so foolish with his money?'

You can follow Robert's thought too.

Let's close today's thought with an 'interview' comment or 3 from the tenth of our potential virtual Board of Advisers:

Bill Gates - Founder: Microsoft; Top List: World's Wealthiest Individual/s; Author, Philanthropist

1. quote: ' Life is not fair; get used to it.'
2. quote: 'Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself.'
3. quote: 'We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don't let yourself be lulled into inaction.'

Today's thought is brought to you by:
WISDOMS - Powerful PEAK Performance Program

Take A Good Book & MASTER It - Re-read A Good Book (part 5)

I am officially changing the opinion/position that I made/took in - If YOU Knew Then... What Can YOU Do Now To Make Good Money .

This has been such an eye-opening, whack-on-the-side-of-the-head, mind-blowingly stimulating exercise of re-reading Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad that I can no longer advocate that YOU only take one day to re-read it.

I believe that YOU will find that when YOU do it (as I did) that YOU will experience insights that YOU never saw before on your first reading.

I am NOW stimulated to get into the MASTERY of a good book... and am beginning to think that this will be a 7-day to 30-day exercise, at least, if done with an objective of total internalisation and action-oriented implementation of the good points, that YOU want to try, into YOUR life.

Take a good book and MASTER it. Master the thoughts of the author. There is an opportunity in this thought somewhere!

Let's close today's thought with an 'interview' comment or 3 from the ninth of our potential virtual Board of Advisers:

Tom Peters - Management, Change, Brand Consultant; Executive Leadership; Author

1. quote: 'All business success rests on something labeled a sale, which at least momentarily weds company and customer.'
   
2. quote: 'Excellent firms don't believe in excellence - only in constant improvement and constant change.'
3. quote: 'Test fast, fail fast, adjust fast.'
   

A good book to master: The Pursuit of WOW - Tom Peters


Today's thought is brought to you by:
WISDOMS - Powerful PEAK Performance Program