The It Factor

Why is it that some people can rise from nothing to something, despite the odds being against them? Why is it that others, who seem to have had everything going for them, are not able to rise to the top?

How is it that someone can be born poor, probably be abandoned at a young age, be an orphan at a young age, go through physical, mental, or sexual abuse somewhere in their life and have all manner of setbacks in life yet still become a multimillionaire?

What is it that these people have that the masses don't have?

Why is this that someone could have their marriage break apart yet still end up having another successful relationship, despite the destroyed trust? What makes someone be diagnosed with a chronic condition yet they still can live life without obsessing and ruminating about their health problems and being stuck at it?

Countless people have turned out to be very successful despite the significant hurdles that they faced in life. Benjamin franklin, for instance, dropped out of school at the age of 10 because he could not afford to pay the fees. Oprah Winfrey, on the other hand, ran away from her home at the age of 13 because of constant child abuse, including rape, at the age of 9.

What do Benjamin Franklin, Oprah Winfrey, Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Branson, Thomas Edison, and many other ultra-successful people have in common that makes them so successful?

I would call this 'the IT factor,' and it separates the very best from the average. The IT factor is what separates those that have a rough time (and probably fall into depression and other destructive behaviors) following the end of their marriages, those that lose the hope to stay alive when diagnosed with chronic diseases and those that are able to bounce back, pick up their pieces fast and live life.

Do you wish to have this 'IT factor'?

Are you sick and tired of settling for less, getting distracted easily despite setting goals?

Are you scared that you don't have what it takes to get through some of the challenges that life may throw at you and want to have the 'IT' that makes you stick through, hold your head up eye, and more?

If you answered YES, keep reading…

You are about to discover how exactly you can overcome all obstacles, even those that seem extremely scary and like a doomsday kind, emerge stronger, more focused, hopeful, and ready to take on the world!

More precisely, the book will teach you:

• The place of mental preparation in developing the "IT" that will get you through anything anytime

• How to catch yourself using preparation as an excuse when you are procrastinating and what to do about it

• How to build the resilience you need to get through any hurdles you may experience when the going gets tough

• How to get through any ceilings you may have put on your potential and soar to heights you've never thought possible, despite your challenges

• How to model your belief-system to support your IT factor to maturity

• And much more!

Indeed, as you will find out, however big a mountain seems, there is always a way around it, even if it takes days, weeks, or months to get around it!

Let's begin!

Table of Contents

The IT Factor

Introduction

Chapter 1: Mental Preparation

Chapter 2: Taking Action Towards The "IT Factor"

Chapter 3: Kicking Ass When The Going Gets Tough With Resilience

Chapter 4: Stop Believing In Ceilings

Chapter 5: Cut The Weak Belief System

Conclusion

The first step to having a strong 'IT factor' is preparing your mind for it.

Chapter 1: Mental Preparation

As Henry Ford aptly put it "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right."

Having the "IT" factor starts with the mind. This is because it takes mental power and capacity to overcome some of your lowest moments and turn into the success you so much desire. And if you think you can do it, your mind will find all the supporting material and stuff to make you believe that you actually can. You will see opportunities where people see risks or problems, will see the glass half full as opposed to being half empty and will have hope even when being hopeless sounds like a good option as well.

On the other hand, if you think you can't, your mind will find all manner of supporting resources to prove to you that you really can't. It will easily spot negatives, risks, problems, hostility, negativity, and just everything that discourages you from taking action.

The only way to turn things around from settling for less and mediocrity is to prepare mentally.

So how do you do it?

To prepare yourself mentally to build the much desired 'IT factor,' you must first face your biggest competitor and critic, who is yourself. The reason for this is that you are the only person who knows your weakness, and you are the only one who can turn the doubt in your head (about you not having what it takes to have the 'IT' into motivation.

To achieve this, you need to bring down your mental obstacles/barriers. These obstacles are related to your behavior, psychology, and overall state-of-mind and include such habits/tendencies like limiting beliefs, paralyzing fears, unhelpful habits, and debilitating emotions.

However, as you'll realize, one of the most potent ways of preparing your mind and overcoming these barriers is addressing (confronting, changing, or optimizing) your thoughts or attitudes.

Negative thoughts can create limiting beliefs; they can create unfounded fears, unhelpful habits, and debilitating emotions- just to say the least.

Note: Your mental approach to life is a combination of your emotions, beliefs, and thoughts. Any self-made billionaire will tell you that by becoming aware of your emotions, identifying and carefully analyzing your thoughts and understanding your beliefs is the key to having the ability to deal with anything coming your way.

So, what does it mean and take to have positive thoughts or a positive attitude to have the much needed/desired "IT factor"?

Let's talk about that.

Changing and Optimizing Your Thoughts to Have A Well-Prepared Mind

Life can be interesting just as it can be challenging. You may be facing some difficult situations but this does not mean you wallow in self-pity and give up. You can become a lot more equipped to deal with challenging situations more effectively simply by developing a positive attitude.

But unlike what some people believe, a positive attitude is not a magical mindset reserved for or possessed by the chosen or lucky few – it is not a birthright for some people. It's something that anyone can achieve.

I know you might be thinking:

A positive attitude is no more than a pure inclination towards positive aspects of a situation, right?

Okay, maybe it's not that simple, so we'll start by looking at what it isn't.

Having positive thoughts isn't just about putting your head in the sand. It's not about being unrealistic about situations, as some people often believe.

A positive person appreciates the negative aspects of a situation but then makes a very conscious decision to focus on the opportunity and hope available.

Think about a situation where your marriage is going through a rough patch and then you are laid off for whatever reason that stems from your marital woes. It is very easy to let yourself sink into depression and hopelessness by thinking to yourself that you are just not good enough for anything. The situation may be worse if your spouse is not supportive and says mean things to you that seem to touch on the very insecurities you may be having… like a drinking problem, money problems, debt problems, ego problems, and more.

Negative thoughts, in this case, may pull you into a negative thinking whirlpool that sinks you further into problems like gambling, further debt, sinking further into alcohol and drug abuse, or even being involved in other vices or crime.

Positive thinking is the only thing that may release you from getting entangled or locked in a loop of negative feelings and lets you move fast towards action and getting over hardships.

Like most things or powerful habits, having a positive attitude takes practice; definitely, you'll have those days when you are struggling to see the bright side, and the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel may not seem reachable. You may decide to pause, wallow a little, and feel sorry for yourself. That's fine. But the question is, for how long would you stay there? How long would you let yourself indulge in the "comforting" self-pity?

It's prudent to always remember that anything that has the potential for a positive outcome is useful and helpful. A healthy mindset is founded on the fact that even when things don't turn out exactly as we'd like them to, at the very least, the positive is that we'd have learned from the experience. Like in our example above, a healthy mindset will probably make you reconsider very many things that you have been doing wrong in the past, something that may, in turn, propel you to pursue measures aimed at making you a better person.

The question is…

So, how can you develop positive thoughts? Let's learn that next.

How To Develop Positive Thoughts

Here are helpful ideas on how to go about developing positive thoughts:

1. Observe your thoughts and separate the facts from the fiction

The first thing you have to do is observe your thoughts for as little as 10 minutes. We are habit creatures, which means that you may be surprised to notice that you have the same negative thoughts creeping into your mind.

It's also important to stop negative self-talk in its tracks because the more you ruminate on negative thoughts, the more potent they become. Understand that most negative thoughts are just thoughts, not facts.

When you get yourself believing the pessimistic or negative stuff your inner voice is saying, you may want to stop and write them down- literally. When you take a moment to slow down your thoughts' negative momentum, you'll be a lot more rational and clear-headed in assessing their legitimacy or veracity.

So, take a careful look at the statements to see whether they're factual. Now any time you see words such as always, never, ever, worst, and so on, you can bet that the statements aren't factual.

Could it be true that you never make any right money decisions? Definitely not!

Maybe you've made many bad decisions and probably have bad habits about money, but that may be just it; you probably have made many other great money decisions in the past. Factcheck yourself.

Are you always making mistakes? If you did, then you'd probably be in a morgue…

If you are always making mistakes, does that mean your spouse whom you loved so much was also a mistake? Well, maybe they were; but was your career choice a mistake? Having kids? The clothes you wear? Your car? Your home address? Are you always making mistakes when you drive, walk, talk etc.? If you did, you probably would be dead already? I can bet that there are so many in your life that are not a mistake. So don't believe that lie!

However, if you still find that your statements seem like they are true, you can take them to a colleague or friend that you can trust, and see whether they agree with you. With a little effort, the truth will always surface.

It's possible that when it feels like something never or always happens, it's the natural tendency of your brain inflating the perceived frequency or the event's frequency. You can identify and label your thoughts as just that: thoughts (separated from facts) to escape the negativity cycle, and achieve a more positive outlook.

Remember that when, in the process, you understand which negative thoughts are bothering you, you can begin working on an informed solution to resolve the issue. For instance, if you realize that your stress is about your finances, you'll be better placed to solve it because you'll concentrate your efforts towards boosting your cash inflow as opposed to dividing your attention or energies among overwhelming issues.

Your mind is better able to have positive thoughts and a healthy overall balance when your negative thoughts are (being) addressed – because you know you are doing something about it! Progress will give you hope and make you more optimistic and positive, a key ingredient for having an IT factor that propels you to unimaginable levels.

Yes, you may not have it all figured out, but when you are taking steps that seem to be taking you somewhere (it doesn't matter the direction), you will believe that you are headed somewhere. The path will become clearer with time.

2. Look at the lesson, not the issue (changing perspectives)

We all go through bad and good experiences that we're either in control of or not. What's important to keep in mind is that all experiences are good experiences. Your job is to find the silver lining.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not implying that all experiences have positive effects, but it's how you perceive them or make of them that matters the most.

You'll always get a chance to evolve. If you look a little closer, you'll often find a way to positivity than you'd ever think.

Let's go through one example:

You get diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. You have the option of living a wretched life as you yield to the comfort of considering yourself an emotional wreck, seeing zero hope. On the other hand, you can choose to see the good in the fact that you got to find out about your problem, and have everything you need to find a solution. This simple acknowledgment is enough to make you feel better than you'd imagine.

As David Goggin aptly puts it…

Getting the "positive" perspective, however, isn't something that happens overnight. Good, long-term, and efficient changes take time. However, you should always take each circumstance or problem as a positive chance to change and evolve.

It's always helpful to remember that everything happens for a reason, and you can either find the reason yourself or wait for it to surface by itself after a while.

3. Be grateful

According to research, taking a moment to think about what you're grateful for (something most of us consider a mere cliché) is more than just the right thing to do.

This simple act lowers cortisol, the stress hormone, by 23%. It's one of the best ways to improve mood, morale, and energy, as well as reduce anxiety due to the reduced levels of cortisol. So each day, you can set some time to focus on a few, very specific positives.

Yes, even if your marriage broke down and you got laid off, you can still find something to be grateful for. You can be thankful that it is a time to start again, to slow down, to make a career change, to rethink your life, to break some bad habits you may have had, and much more. Just find something to be grateful for.

You can choose to practice gratitude in the morning before getting out of bed or at night before bed. As an example, when you wake up, you can ask yourself:

What are three random things I'm grateful for today?

Before you sleep, you can ask yourself:

What are three random things that made me happy about myself today?

Or you can generally reflect on your life and think of awesome things that have happened to you that changed your life or just made you happy; even if it's one thing.

This simple routine will create a habit in your mind of escaping most negative thoughts and will attract positive thoughts. For instance, when you wake up in the morning with positive thoughts, you'll begin noticing small details you probably hadn't seen before. It may be as simple as how beautifully large your windows are, how beautiful the day is for running… the yogis will also tell you that this habit is part of living in the present moment.

4. Steer clear of (or practice awareness around) the attitude "germs"

Have you ever noticed that when you're with someone close who is suffering from an emotional or physical problem, you tend to feel bad as well?

Researchers have observed this phenomenon taking place in real-time within the brain using the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine. The scientists have been observing that in close proximity, the machine shows person A's brain reflecting activity in the same area as the other person.

The truth is, emotions are very contagious, and studies have discovered that a simple mimicry of different kinds of emotional expressions stimulate reactions in our brains that make us interpret these expressions as our own feelings. In other words, we're naturally vulnerable to catching emotions and behavior of other people, and this unconscious induction is known as emotional contagion (EC)

As you can imagine, the second-hand stress caused by negative emotions of people around you can affect your thoughts and overall mental state.

What's even worse is the fact that negative emotions are far easier to catch than positive ones, which may be reflective of our evolutionary past where survival was inherently linked with being attuned to the negative emotions of others.

So, what should you do?

In this situation, the most obvious thing would be to surround yourself with positive, progressive people- and most experts advise that. However, we have to be realistic about the fact that that may not work in some cases. That's why the perfect solution is ensuring you're highly attuned to the impact of other people's emotional states as you take care of yourself for your own well-being. The key is awareness. Always pay close attention to how you're feeling in different settings and when you're with different groups or individuals.

As Jim Rohn aptly put it, you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. This essentially means if you spend time with people that just suck out energy and positivity from you, the chances of you getting out of the 'hole' that they put you in are likely to be slim. What you need to do instead is to find more positive people – people that have a positive outlook towards life. Their positivity, hope, and determination to become better versions of themselves will 'catch' you, and soon, you will find yourself thinking about how you too can become great. The "IT" factor can only be built and nurtured by surrounding yourself with people that help you develop and sustain that "IT" factor. It is not just spending time physically with such people- you can find these people online, through books, watching inspiring shows on TV or YouTube, and in so many other places. When you see how people have overcome huge challenges and emerged victorious, you too will stop looking down on yourself and have hope that you can achieve anything you want. And the more you do it, the more you model yourself to become the person you actually desire to become who has the "IT" factor.

Some of the most inspiring personalities that you can check out include:

• David Goggins

• Tony Robbins

• Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

• Johnny Wimbrey

• Arnold Schwarzenegger

• Jack Ma

• Reggie Batts

• Mark Cuban

• Steve Jobs

Your mindset will definitely be transformed if you apply what you have learned in this chapter. And with that, your journey to having the "IT factor" will, without doubt, be a success when you have the right mindset.

So I gave you a bunch of information and hypotheticals. So let me tell you about my journey. For almost a decade I was in a really dark place. In 2004 my parents moved me from Georgia to Colorado, right before my senior year in high school. Halfway across the country to a state where I had absolutely nothing. I HATED my family. That hate festered into a lot of negativity.

Fast forward to 2010. I had dropped out of college, failed to make it into the NFL, I bounced from job to job, and my marriage was failing. My ex-wife blackmailed me into paying for an abortion, and that was the tip of the iceberg. I had my first attempt at suicide. Pistol in my hand, clip loaded. I sat in my car, at what I thought was my lowest. I pulled the trigger. CLICK. The gun jammed. I decided that if I were to ever try again, I wouldn’t rely on a man-made weapon.

Over the next 3 years I attempted suicide one other time. The 7 years since then? Zero. How did I get from there to here? How do you? Don’t worry we’ll get you there. Next, we will be learning how to tell when you are procrastinating, in the name of preparing to have the "IT."

Chapter 2: Taking Action Towards The "IT Factor"

You can only have the much desired "IT factor" by taking action.

You have to take action:

• To be more positive

• To stop negative thinking

• To build a positive mindset

• To start consuming more positive stuff

• To avoid negative people

• To be self-disciplined

• To build self-confidence

• To build your self-esteem

• To stop complaining

• To be more grateful

• To be resilient

• To get stuff done

And so much more that needs to be done to have the IT required to excel in life.

It is through doing that you sharpen your "IT" factor to a point where you do stuff naturally.

But as you well know, they say failure to plan is failing to fail. If you subscribe to that school of thought of planning, you need to be weary of something - the obsession to spend too much time planning or preparing at the expense of you taking action.

As William B. Sprague aptly put it, "Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot, but make it hot by striking."

While preparation is important, it is sometimes the biggest hindrance to success. One of the most important lessons most successful people have learned is that you can't always wait for success to come your way.

If you've been keen, you must have heard many times how extreme preparation gives Olympic athletes and film stars a winning edge.

Unfortunately, the lines are blurrier in most other areas of life. For instance, starting a company without enough prior planning is detrimental. Starting a huge project without enough forethought is often an unwise move.

At the same time, innovation is often slowed down by spending too much time getting your ducks in a row; it prevents you from taking action in the first place!

Let me tell you an open secret: Getting your ducks in a row is a big myth

First of all, remember that the moment these proverbial ducks get in a row, they'll get out of alignment again. It is how life works; remember that ducks have a mind of their own. So if you get obsessed with worrying about the preparation process, getting things organized and perfect before digging in, and taking action, you might just have to wait for a very long time and before you know it, the issue will have morphed into procrastination.

What you should do instead:

Taking action

According to Ryan Holiday, author of "The Obstacle is the Way", action is the way to success, even though, as he asserts, there's a difference between action and the right action.

Again, let's start with what action isn't to set things straight.

Action is not mindless flailing. That would waste your energy and take you back to your starting point. If you fail to learn from your actions, you'll never become more effective. If you fail to direct your actions with heuristics, principles, or aims, you'll not have a lot to say about where you end up.

Secondly, action is not about becoming a peppy machine that goes about breaking everything along the way.

Instead, you have to rebalance your understanding and appreciation for the strength of action with your tendency to over-plan, overthink, and otherwise waste your energy in abstraction.

Taking action involves creating a plan, but refining it beyond rationality or necessity is a perfect example of inaction.

You'd be taking the right action by pushing toward something you normally avoid; by edging closer to what is generally uncomfortable or scary. Right action is mindful.

So how do you get started?

At this point, I'll share with you how to force yourself into taking action to prevent a possible excessive preparation or procrastination.

• Make mistakes as you make the action provided that the pain isn't irreversible

Maybe you don't know what the most appropriate option is. Maybe it's safer to wait, maybe acting now is the best thing. You cannot know, but if you set action as your default, you'll win in the long run. You create your own luck because "the harder you work, the luckier you get."

Let me clarify something first:

Action is usually against an impulse. My sister who is living with me has the entire house stocked with cakes. I'm getting into my third day of healthy eating and working out. This is a serious form of torture, but resisting the urge to think that I can always start my weight loss journey another day is taking action. Giving in and stuffing my face is inaction.

Pain is good as long as it's not irreversible. As most successful people will tell you, our lives get better the more discomfort we go through. It's not about putting your health in danger, but your comfort, routine, and ego!

Here's an excellent example of how practical this is.

You've been squatting with weights to improve your core strength and legs. Last week, you did a series of 8 sets with 80 pounds. You're still a beginner and generally do badly at compound exercises, but your target is 10 sets.

But you notice the point at which you give up, regroup and double your effort to push into the 10-set mark, and you do it! Just when you think you can't do it when you reach the eighth set, the inaction makes you switch into action mode and actually do it. And you smile at the fact that you're still alive and breathing.

If it's a company you want to start, spending a lot of time on tasks that don't matter could be a signal of underlying inaction, and would mean that you need to step back. Some of the fairly useless things you may be doing to "prepare" may include conducting endless customer interviews, reading over 20 books, and attending every conference in town.

The truth is, like most people, you'd know when you're spinning your wheels and know you have to do something about it. Using this example, what you could be avoiding is the weightier entrepreneurial work. However, once you see this pattern, you can take some time looking at what exactly you're avoiding. When you understand your urge to delay, you'll be able to create your action plan.

Whatever the case, there is always a sweet spot between preparation and action, and it looks different for everyone. But you can always find the intersection for yourself.

After kicking your inaction out of the way and cruising into action mode, the next thing you should work to nurture is your resilience because without it, having the much coveted "IT factor" would be a dream for a very long time.

Personally, for me getting into action meant getting around people who could lift me up instead of pulling me down. I found a mentor. Two actually. One I personally met, the other who’s story resonated and influenced me. The first was Coach Dave Watson. Coach Watson taught me that I needed to have a why, a reason bigger than just money or fame. A purpose. The second was Johnny Wimbrey the author of From the Hood to Doing Good. Johnny is probably the most electrifying speaker I have ever seen. His book is the catalyst that took me from the brink of suicide to where I am now.

The next chapter will focus on resilience.

Chapter 3: Kicking Ass When the Going Gets Tough with Resilience

Challenges are here to stay in our daily lives, be it in business or personal lives. You can be very good at what you do, but if you cannot handle the occasional punches, or get up when knocked down, you might never achieve your goals.

Resilience is the quality that will makes someone file for bankruptcy because of the failure of their business, yet go on to start another business that ends up being successful. Resilience is the quality that makes politicians to campaign and to lose many elections but never give up – until they are finally elected. Resilience is the quality that makes athletes to keep trying until they win their gold medal. It is what makes people to go through hardships and 'never mind' because they know the bigger picture is bigger. It is what separates the 25% of the 1000-1500 recruits who go through Navy SEAL's BUD's training until the end and the 75% that drop out.

Resilience, the innate ability to bounce back or get up, is what has kept every successful person going.

Yes, resilience is built by learning to face and cope with challenges; it is also a process of positive adaptation in the face of tragedy, trauma, or significant stress. If you really think about it, you can never learn how to get up well enough if you don't get knocked down enough- so it's helpful to have a responsive approach to challenges. Successful people have a well-honed ability to embrace challenges because, anyway, each crisis presents a new level and opportunity to learn and grow.

"Life doesn't get easier or more forgiving; we get stronger and more resilient." - Steve Maraboli

So definitely, you cannot achieve true success without mastering this skill.

The question is, how can you build your resilience and grow beyond any form of crisis that would otherwise hold you back? Let’s discuss that.

1. Reframe your perception of stressful situations

The way you look at a potentially stressful situation determines whether the crisis will be worse in your mind or bearable. Also known as cognitive reframing, this concept involves viewing things in a way that creates reasonably less stress and promotes a higher sense of peace and control. You can alter your perceptions and relieve your stressful feelings through the simple act of reframing things positively.

How does it work?

This simple mind trick is generally geared towards changing your physical responses to stress since your body's stress response is triggered by perceived stress. Put differently; if you constantly feel like there's a looming crisis, your body will react as though that's actually true, and your innate fight-or-flight response will be triggered.

How well do you think you'd fair in such a disposition?

We talked about this earlier but it's worth repeating. You need to be very aware of how you think about things, especially challenges or unexpected setbacks. Try to avoid slipping into very negative thinking patterns but try to see the difficult situation as a learning experience, something that will increase your ability to overcome similar situations besides the situation itself because, anyway, you're very capable of overcoming it.

Let this quote inspire you to believe that you can face anything and get out of it unscathed:

"The human capacity for burden is like bamboo- far more flexible than you'd ever believe at first glance."

― Jodi Picoult,

2. Take action

So what do you do when you face a crisis or a trauma? Do you allow yourself to become paralyzed, detached or numb? Do you constantly remind yourself that you're at the mercy of events beyond your control? Or do you take decisive action, regardless?

It's easy to feel paralyzed and powerless at the face of a disaster or a negative experience, but by initiating action and taking the first simple step, and the next one, you can gain the confidence to take more giant steps.

That critical decisive action during critical situations is the underlying common factor among all self-made billionaires.

Losing a considerable amount of capital in an investment calls for a quick, decisive reaction in small, steady steps to recover, and not a holiday of mourning or lamentation. As a resilient person, you immediately consider the most appropriate steps you have to take to put yourself in command of that particular situation instead of waiting for someone else to bust in and save the day.

The question should always be:

How can I pull myself out of this dilemma or disaster?

While you can't avoid the immediate negative feelings when disaster strikes, you can make yourself feel better and actually do better by empowering yourself and harnessing the force of your determination to make the necessary adjustments and rectify the whole negative situation.

3. Accept that life wouldn't be without change

Most of us spend our lives evading change because the prospect of facing change leaves us fearful of the unknown. However, change is inevitable and eventually catches up with us, and surely, it leaves the ignorant ones on their knees.

One of the most fundamental ways of building resilience for any form of change is accepting that the change will come.

A resilient person focuses on being prepared for change and learns to adapt and adjust especially when change is imminent.

There are many ways of getting yourself to accept change, but most successful people try looking at change as a necessary component of revising old aspects and taking up innovation. They also understand that change is a constant part of life, and being oblivious of it is highly dangerous.

They then prepare to devise ways to deal with change as it comes and continue to move forward through it all.

And you can do it too!

Just ensure you first focus on how you respond to stress feelings brought about by change and work to reframe how you perceive change. As always, in any new development, see the possibilities and opportunities because they're always there waiting to be seen. Being able to have your eyes open for possibilities and opportunities in times of change or adversity is an IT factor that can set you apart from the masses.

Chapter 4: Stop Believing In Ceilings

When you reach success, you shouldn't stop there; you have to continue advancing by building and branching out, while appreciating that you can only do so by seeing your barriers (be it mental or economic) and breaking through them.

In other words, you have to realize that true success has no ceiling. That’s an important “IT factor” you MUST strive to sustain – all the time!

When we achieve success or the point where we've finally achieved our original dream or goal, we tend to slow down or even stop and operate within a certain "safe" range.

Most people call this level the "glass ceiling," but this barrier is often not the best description of the biggest challenge. Technically, having such a barrier means that you can see the next level, but something is keeping you from forging ahead. That's easy to break. What's often more challenging to break is what is referred to as the "crystal ceiling," which denotes less obvious economic and psychological factors that often stop people who reach success from advancing.

While my ideas will help you break both, they'll mainly focus on the crystal ceiling, the more difficult barrier to break through.

NOTE: If you reach the crystal ceiling, you can see what life can be like for you beyond the barrier, where you're A LOT more successful; the problem is that the picture is slightly distorted. You don't know what to do to get to the next level.

What's more problematic is the fact that you may try to break through this ceiling with the same attributes as ones at the next rung of success, but sadly, you fail because the qualities you used to get to your current level are holding you back.

So, what do you do?

1. Don't just have a solid work ethic

A solid work ethic is great; it will give you success, but the success will get stunted eventually because you're merely "putting in the work."

Without a doubt, a solid education, hard work, commitment to your career, and dedication to executing the necessary tasks can assist you to get to the top 1% of earners. Ironically, you have to leave some of these skills to reach the top 0.1 %.

As an example, if you're planning on doubling your income and generate your first 2 million, you cannot simply purchase ten more franchises. Your time may be limited. There also would be reduced returns based on how efficient you'd be in terms of management if you increased the number of locations and staff, not to mention the financing limitations on the part of investors or banks.

So how should you overcome work limitations? Simply power up your success by looking for ways to transform someone else's problem into your solution.

Let's take a look at an example to see how this works:

There is a company that deals with LED lighting. It had a strategy to partner with water-efficient toilet manufacturers a while back.

The toilet firm had already helped cut their customers' spending by lowering the expense of water, a basic utility. However, as soon as the problem was solved, the toilet company didn't have anything else to sell.

The LED lighting company came in and offered to refer their customers to another way to save on another basic utility: lighting - at a "referral" fee.

That's a win-win situation which helped the LED Company get someone else to solve its problem by solving their problem- and this "branching out" is not so common -with companies so focused on their primary services.

When you try to look for someone else who would want to connect with your clients and what your clients may require, you'll see a creative way to get other people to solve your problem- without any costs of advertising or staffing.

2. Don't just fit in

Being relatable to sell to your customers, inspire your employees and convince investors is great, but it can only get you so far in terms of success, simply because innovation is done on a unicycle, and not a bus.

The most successful people reach "higher" success by being "different." They create a new product, exploit new distribution systems of reach new market segments and more “different” stuff. They're not like everyone else, who are "beige."

When you pick a random group of people and ask them to choose a color for a wall or a couch, you're most likely going to get beige. No one loves it; no one hates it; it's just safe and uninteresting.

In business, therefore, you can break through this barrier by stopping to ask for group consensus, and following your vision. While advice is valuable, a consensus is always detrimental to innovation, which is the key to unlimited success.

So, you're in charge, what color do you prefer?

3. Stop playing fair

While there are a few exceptions such as Walmart, which makes cash by marketing directly to the people (the masses), the vast majority of businesses run by the top 0.1% generate their revenue from the top 1%- the ones just below the ceiling.

The top 0.1 % don't cheat, but take advantage of every single advantage they have:

• They look for hard-working high earners and pay them well as a way to assure their own success. In this regard, the 0.1% own businesses that employ the 1%.

• These individuals invest in businesses run by the 1%.

Ask yourself, where do the 1% get capital to start their businesses? Apart from a couple of crowd-funding ventures, most of the cash comes from the more successful people. They have to give up equity or pay high loan rates to fund their growth.

That's why, according to research, the top 1% earn only 14% of their total income from investments, while the top 0.01% earn 68%. While it may take cash to generate cash, it does take cash to make a lot of cash.

And this is not just about business – this principle applies in relationships, personal growth, personal finance, habit building and in literally every facet of human life. You simply need to look keenly to find how this principle applies in different situations.

The bottom line is, success knows no ceilings; if you want to be truly successful, you've got to do more. Start by facing the simple fact that it's normal to hit the ceiling, but getting stuck there is a result of ignorance or settling for less and means you don’t have the IT factor needed to become the 0.01%. Try to move away from relying on the things that made you successful in the first place and look for ways to leverage your knowledge, time or, efforts of others.

This chapter ties closely to the next one – a strong ‘winning’ belief system that propels and sustains your IT factor to push through everything.

Chapter 5: Cut the Weak Belief System

"The most powerful is he who has himself in his own power." Anonymous

We all need a personal philosophy, a belief system, or a set of values and code, lest we wander, respond to random stimuli, and slow down or plateau.

Many models look at what drives successful people, and a good approach talks about the recognition of their belief system, and how it translates into a behavior- in pursuit of success.

Successful people have certain beliefs about what they think is important in very specific areas of life, which includes what success looks like in those areas, and how they need to behave to be successful.

Therefore, these beliefs create a code that they live by, or which facilitates the translation of these beliefs into behavior. In essence, they do what they think will help them be successful that is consistent with this code. They keep pursuing their route and do everything they can to achieve what they believe is success.

What this means

A belief system goes beyond what a person would think is important in life. It also involves elements of how it is important to carry oneself to achieve these things.

For instance, different people may say that what they believe is important is having a multi-billion dollar business, doing satisfying work, and making worthwhile contributions to the planet. People will, however, have different beliefs about how these things should be achieved.

Some will believe in establishing a successful company first, doing work that satisfies them, and generating enough cash to support these things.

So to be successful, you have to start from your belief system and then focus on how you can translate this into behavior in-route to success.

As an example, you can follow this layout to establish the groundworks

• Explore what you believe is necessary to achieve in a specific area, including your image of success

• Explore what you believe is necessary to achieve this image of success

• Explore who you believe has to do what and how you need to behave in order to achieve the image of success

• Explore when you believe these things need to happen to achieve the image of success

Next, clarify your beliefs

• Describe clearly the particular area of life on which you'd want to put your focus

• Describe what you believe is necessary or important in this area, which includes how you perceive success, and how you have to behave to achieve success in this area.

A few decades ago, successful people used approaches from sports psychology to clarify what they believed in. According to this technique, they had to recall their best performances and explore how they could follow some of those principles in future.

In essence, the values that they embodied became the guiding compass for their businesses.

You can use it too to build a value-driven business or life; focus on living the values, instead of just laminating the values.

Another approach you can consider that encourages "hungry" individuals to build on what they believe in is appreciative inquiry. It invites them to start by isolating a certain topic that they'd love to explore, like how to tackle a certain challenge or how to perform optimally.

The questions that follow are as follows:

What similar issue have you tackled in the past and performed excellently?

What are the principles you followed?

How can you follow these principles again, along with other skills to help you perform even better?

This approach that enables successful people to build on what they believe in is remarkable, and in the creation and clarification of your belief system, you can use it too.

You'd appreciate that it's great to use as a basis where you've succeeded in an area before to create further, long –term success.

As I close, you can build on the previous exercise by doing the following, keeping in mind the specific life area you're looking to succeed in:

Describe clearly the things that will be happening, including how you'll be thinking, feeling, saying, and doing that will show you that you have indeed succeeded in that particular area.

When you do, you'll have a better understanding of what you want and the specific actions to take to reach success.

Lastly There is an illusion of nice. What’s that exactly? Everyone believes you should be nice in the world. But that, in all honesty, could not be farther from the truth. Nice is not understanding nor compassion. Nice is a mask in which people had their true feelings, or even let themselves be walked over for reasons they cannot begin to understand. Breaking the fallacy of nice will help you not only understand yourself but others and their true intentions.

Conclusion

So, what makes some people extremely successful, no matter what happens?

They overcome all the obstacles, starting from their minds; they set up the groundwork for resilience, a clear and strong belief system; they break the defeatist mental models hindering action, and when they succeed, they break ceilings.

Love yourself! No one will love you like you can. Don’t be afraid to have enemies. Confidence comes in strides, forgive yourself for you past actions. And never be afraid to seek help. Truly it’s ok. I mean it brought you here.

That's the IT factor.

I hope this book has inspired, challenged, and motivated you to work on your IT factor in whatever areas of your life you want to have the IT.

Nothing comes easy. You have to work at it! And we will definitely help you get there. The biggest message I learned from Johnny Wimbrey. No one is qualified to tell you how to do you. Never let someone build your world for you, they will always build it too small!

You’re ready! Now it is your turn to take action!

Next up Perception of Success: Breaking the Glass Ceiling coming soon!