Even before I finished my analysis of the data I gathered in my five-year Rich Habits Study I began sharing it. At first, I gave free learning sessions. The attendees ate it up. After about six months, some of the attendees in the first learning sessions started sharing with me some of the changes that were taking place in their lives. A few had increased their income significantly and others lost a lot of weight. There were a few who landed good jobs as a result of the volunteering/networking Rich Habit. There were many stories.
A few of these early attendees began harping on me to write a book about the Rich Habits. I was reluctant at first because I had never written a book before. I told them I’m a CPA, not a writer. But these attendees were relentless and they had planted a seed inside my subconscious which began to take root. So, I wrote Rich Habits, which was released in March, 2010. Now what to do?
I then embarked on what can only be described as the pursuit of success. Other independent observers might describe it instead as watching a grown man drown. Hard thing for anyone to watch. Everyone around me, including my own family, told me to quit.
When you write a book, you are essentially manufacturing a product. Success in any industry that sells products, is measured by how many products you sell. You can have the best product in the world but if you have no idea how to sell it, no one will be interested in buying it.
My pursuit of success was really a lesson in learning what to do and what not to do through the school of hard knocks. I made many mistakes. I failed often. I was filled with doubt almost on a daily basis. I felt lost at sea most of the time and cursed myself for writing that book. But something inside me kept me going. I was passionate about helping others succeed in the same way those learning session attendees were succeeding. I guess that kept me going.
So, I persevered. And persevered. And persevered. In 3 1/2 years of trying to promote my book, I sold less than 1,000 books and spent nearly $70,000. At one point, I came within a hair’s breath of quitting on my dream. It was at this low point that success visited me for the first time. That one success event opened up the floodgates.
Rich Habits went on to sell tens of thousands of books in a very short time and became an Amazon bestseller in three countries. I found myself on national T.V. and radio, in newspapers and in magazines, not only in the U.S., but in 23 countries around the world.
Success, I learned, hides behind a mountain of your mistakes and failures. Life wants to see if you have what it takes to overcome every obstacle it puts in your way. But most of all, life wants to see if you deserve success. You are much more than you ever imagined. You only find out how amazing you are when your back is up against the wall and your dream feels like it’s collapsing under the weight of all of your failures and mistakes. When you are about ready to quit, that is when life blinks. And what a blink. It is always some unintended great thing that happens. Something completely out of the blue that you never expected and never imagined. When you persist, life eventually bends to your will. It goes from adversary to ally in an instant.
About Thomas C. Corley
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