Aristotle said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit." How true that is! If we make good habits, they invariably make us.
In the fall of 1996 I received a phone call from an unforgettable young man. He introduced himself as Matt Ghaffari, and went on to tell me that a few months earlier he had won the silver medal in Greco-Roman wrestling during the 1996 Summer Olympics. He said he wanted to stop by while he was in Chicago, and I said, "No problem. I'd like to meet you."
A few hours later my receptionist called saying my guest had arrived. I walked to the lobby and there he was...6'4" tall and 286 pounds of solid muscle. He had a huge smile on his face as we walked back to my office.
When we sat down, he said, "Mr. Anderson, I've come to thank you because you and your company have made a difference in my life." Then he reached into his left pocket and pulled out a green felt cloth, which he then opened. And there it was, his silver medal. It was beautiful! Then he reached into his right pocket and emptied the contents onto my desk. Amid his change was one of the brass medallions that we had created at Successories with the words "Expect To Win."
He said, "Mr. Anderson, I've had that medallion in my pocket every day for three years. For the past four years I've worked ten hours a day, six days a week to train my body to be an Olympic champion. But I knew the difference in winning and losing was not going to be training my body; it was going to be training my mind to think positive, powerful thoughts...to believe I could do it. And the products you've created at Successories have helped me to think like a champion."
You see, winners like Matt Ghaffari are never complacent. That is why they're winners. They understand the power of discipline. They understand one of my favorite laws in life- you cannot get what you've never had unless you're willing to do what you've never done.
Are you willing to make the sacrifices required to make your dreams come true?