The Table

Have you ever seen a table before? That is a silly question for most people because the answer is most certainly yes.

Now let's think about the table, any table, for a moment. What is a table good for? Well it provides a stable platform where one can rest something on making it easier to handle certain objects. Would you agree that it is easier to go to a restaurant and eat at a table than to have to hold your plate in your hand and eat from an elevated position? If you would agree to that then maybe you would also agree that it is easier to utilize a table as a support while signing contract and writing any other documents?

What makes the table steady? It is the legs or supports under the able and the surface those legs or supports rest on.

It is the same with success. We all look at success and can benefit from it but what is it that supports success? We can not take success for granted, but we must peer underneath success and see what in fact is allowing success to be realized.

I submit to you today that the table of success is supported by the following legs: (1) education, (2) planning, (3) execution and (4) timing.

Education - you must be knowledgeable in certain areas and build a team of people around you who are also knowledgeable in many areas as they pertain to your business or life. It is always helpful to have a mentor who has either ran a succcessful business or life and possibly is still running something successful.

Planning - anything that isn't plan has a 90% rate of failure. There must be a plan to anything that is done - marriage, business, family, budget, etc. This plan will surely evolve as time passes, technology advances and you as a person change but you must have a basic plan in place for every area of life.

Execution - planning is absolutely no good without doing it. Nike coined the phrase best - "Just Do It". How will you know if it really works or not until you just do it. Your education including your team and mentor along with proper planning will make the execution part a bit easier if you are scared. And it is OK to be a bit scared - we all were scared at one time or another, but many of us took action to balance out our fears. You must do the same.

Timing - someone once said that the "T" in timing is more important than the "T" in talent. Timing is essential, you want to know that you are engaging something within the right timeline for the situation. For instance you would not want to open an landscaping business in the northeast US in the middle of December. Nor would you want to sell winter coats in California in the middle of the summer. Timing is everything. Again this is where you leverage the knowledge base of your team and mentor to determine the timing of a matter.

Success has support and it is education, planning, execution and timing.

Remember that you might bump into Failure on the way to Success, they are neighbors. Make sure you go to the right house.