Just Because You Have the Tools...

This seems to be coming up a lot lately, so I thought I'd blog about it.

You know, just because you have the tools to be successful, it doesn't guarantee anything. Nothing. Nada. Zip.

Some get the tools and never even remove the shrink wrap.
Some get the tools, try them out a bit, but never read the manual and give up.
Some don't even understand hte manual, but fail to ask for help.
Some use the tools incorrectly and can't see where they went wrong.
Some forget they even got the tools and keep doing things the hard way.
Some only use the tools until it gets too hard, then they quit.
Some get the tools expecting them to do all the work for them.

And a few...just a precious, persistent few!...will use the tools beautifully, persist without exception and truly shine. These are the successful ones.

What kind of tools do I mean?

Knowledge. Wisdom. Connections. Resources. Ideas. Skills. Energy. Power. Information. Partnerships. Software. You get the idea.

Here's an example everyone can relate to.

Everyone knows how to lose weight. EVERYONE. Yes, there are a million different theories, but at the very least, most people know you can exercise more and eat less to lose weight. Yet look at the number of obese Americans that claim to want to lose weight! Knowledge is clearly not the issue. The knowledge is there, but hte results don't come from just acquiring the knowledge - you've got to actually USE it.

You know, that whole 'take action' thing I'm always preaching? Exactly.

I hired an internet marketing coach to help me take my book (and a number of other ideas/projects) to the next level. His program is pretty exclusive - limited to 30 people at any given time.

I have been in contact with him every day (sometimes more than once a day) since I signed on. When he makes a suggestion that makes sense to me, I take action immediately. Sounds simple, right?

Well, one day it dawned on me that he was spending a fair amount of time working with me. I'm paying the same amount (presumably) as his other coaching clients, so I got to wondering, "is he spending this much time with everyone?" Because if so, he's spending an awful lot of time on this one project for a fixed amount of money.

Rather than jump to conclusions, I decided to get the facts. (Funny, I was just teaching that same concept to my daughter tonight. We were reading Chicken Little, so the conversation seemed a natural segue.)

So I asked my coach. How many others are as involved as me?

Turns out, very few. Not that it surprised me. I figured it would follow the 80/20 rule at best. In fact, 20% have signed up and paid him and haven't even contacted him yet or responded to his emails.

The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Of course it is. It's had decades of programming convincing it that it's not worthy, that it's bad to be rich, that it doens't deserve to be paid for its efforts. Can't just flip that like turning on a switch. I've spent the past few years working specifically on raising my prosperity consciousness in order to be able to receive the fruit of my efforts...ALL of it.

So my question for you today is this:

What tools do you have in your possession right now that you haven't bothered to use? What's in your arsenal just sitting there, waiting to be utilized? What exactly are you waiting for?

Now get going. Your life is waiting for you!