Want to have more - then be willing to change

HTG member Alex Ziogas from the windy city recently shared these thoughts with members of his peer group. I thought they were worth repeating so take a moment and read…..

Jim Rohn originally said this:

“Here's the great challenge of life - You can have more than you've got because you can become more than you are. I have found that income seldom will exceed your own personal development. Once in a while income takes a lucky jump, but unless you grow out to where it is, it will go back to where you are. Somebody once said if you took all the money in the world and divided it among everyone equally; it would soon be back in the same pockets. However, you can have more because you can become more. You see, here is how the other side of the coin reads - unless you change how you are, you will always have what you've got. The marketing plan won't do it. It's a good plan but it won't work without you. You've got to work it. It is the human effort that counts. If you could send a sales manual out to recruit - wouldn't that be lovely? The major thing that makes the difference is what YOU do.

In order to have more, you need to become more. The guy says "If I had a good job I would really pour it on, but I have this lousy job so I just goof off." If that is your philosophy, you are destined to stay there. Some people say if I had a lot of money I would be really generous, but I don't have much so I'm not generous. See, you've got to change that philosophy or you will never have "the lots of money." Unless YOU change, IT won't change. Amazingly, however, when we throw out our blame list and start becoming more ourselves - the difference is everything else will begin to change around us.”

Now for my commentary: I think this captures a lot of what we see in the world around us. People want to sit back and let someone else deal with the tough problems. A few sign up for that task, and most of them end up running a business and becoming the folks who make America work and keep the country growing. It doesn’t get better if we keep doing the same things the same ways. If we do that we get the same results. WE have to CHANGE. None of us like that word, not really. But it is critical if you want to earn more, have a better job, retire happy – get over it and embrace the need to change. You have to develop yourself – your boss can’t do it for you. Bosses can assist by investing in training, encouraging you, allotting time and so forth, but I see far too often that even when those things happen people won’t go to the work of improving themselves. It is work, but that is what we are supposed to be doing isn’t it. That is what we get paid for. I am amazed at some of the comments I hear around training and personal development. “Well I am not going to do that – it just benefits my company. Or maybe this one….why would I spend my own time to get better and learn more”. Hello – here is a news flash – if you don’t want to get what you have always got – you have to CHANGE. YOU have to CHANGE. No one can do that for you. Not even the government. So get over the idea that anyone else is responsible for your situation and get to work becoming more than you are today. Every one of us can learn something that makes a difference. If you can’t, that means you are dead. See you at your funeral!

Are you ready for Summit

Today we had our first day for the HTG peer group meetings here in Dallas ahead of the SMB Summit. People are arriving and activities are picking up. We had an HTGALL reception tonight at the Texas Grill and had a great time connecting with each other. Each of the five groups met individually all day today and will repeat the tomorrow. We heard from HP - Dan Smith and Pradipta Dutta - over lunch and then in HTG1 this afternoon. There are some exciting announcements for SMB partners that were announced last week. Things are looking up. We sent these guys back with a list of tasks that would make working with HP a little easier for us as partners. If you have feedback, please send it to me. As I sit on the HP SMB advisory council, I want to be your voice to our friends at HP.

Far and away the funniest thing I heard today was from Alex Ziogas, HTG7 member from Chicago. Alex is such a timid young man but he provided the analogy of the week, month and maybe the year. Pay close attention to what he said: "Buying from Dell is like being married to a wife that cheats on you all the time". Maybe not exactly verbatim but you get the drift. HP is far from perfect but at the end of the day they really are our choice in the channel. OK - IBM and Lenovo and a few others fit the bill too, but Dell - now that is like loving a cheating woman. The one thing that was so obvious from the discussion - very direct and somewhat heated at times - is that doing business with HP is too difficult. If they can just get that part fixed they can own the channel completely.

Sonicwall is here doing a CSSA training. Part of the challenge today was the offer to give a free firewall to anyone who smoked one of the units. Of course, one of the creative HTG members was able to give everyone a good laugh with his digital smoke. Check out the photo of Eric Adkins and the SW he was working on.

I want to alert you to the HP cocktail party that is being held on Friday night - opening night at the Summit. It will be held from 7:00 - 9:00. Drinks & Desserts will be served in Salon C. Hint - there will be a ticket for this in your badge holder so don't lose it!

See you in Dallas!