Excellence is a better teacher than mediocrity. The lessons of the ordinary are everywhere. Truly profound and original insights are to be found only in studying the exemplary.

Warren G. Bennis

One of the best reminders I got from yesterday’s podcast, was that you need to be careful who you take advice from, especially in business.

My husband is building a new dental office.  If you’ve been reading my blog for very long, you know that B.J. is not an ordinary dentist, or an ordinary person for that matter.  He loves dentistry, will probably die over top of a patient, and many of us would trade a limb to have his drive and passion.  He’s the only person I know who has been in the same profession for over 25 years and, God willing, will be doing it for another 25!

One lesson that he has taught me is that you can’t do things like everybody else and expect greater results.  If you want to be the best, you have to put yourself around the best, find out what they do, and then, to the best of your ability, copy them.  One of my favorite college professors told me, “”Tis better to copy genius than create mediocrity.” 

B.J. spent the first 18 years developing his clinical skills, and while that certainly paid off it its own right, it wasn’t until he started doing things from a business perspective like the greatest in his field do it that his business really started to take off.  Now, he is a brilliant business man as well as a fabulous dentist.  He attributes his continued success to systems, and the copy genius philosophy.

His clinical skills are so extraordinary that he has former employees who now work in other practices but send their friends and family to him when they need dental care above and beyond the routine cleaning.  We’ve had team members leave our office for personal reasons, but then beg to return because after working for the best, they couldn’t stand to work in a “regular” office.

When you sincerely strive for excellence, it shows.  And although you might miss the mark a few days here and there, it is your attitude and desire for being the best that others will see in you and make them want to be around you and do business with you.

So how do you get there?  Isn’t everyone trying to do their best?

Actually, it goes a little deeper than just wishing and hoping.  Personally, the biggest copout I hear is, “Well, I’m trying to do my best, and if that’s not good enough . . .”

Striving for excellence means investing in yourself and your business.  But you can’t just throw money at something and expect it to succeed.  You have to search out the genius, and eliminate the mediocre.  A wise business person, as Diane said yesterday, will talk to consultants and experts in the field to find out how to best invest those dollars.  From my personal experience, the best advice comes from those who are achieving your desires right now – the exemplary.  They are 3 to 5 rungs ahead of you on the ladder of success and this is by your evaluation, not someone else’s.  You know how successful you are based on how successful you feel; and only you can know that.

With all that being said, here are 5 tips on what to watch out for when receiving advice.

1. Surround yourself with the best in your industry.  This has been invaluable to both me and my husband.  This means going to seminars and lectures and instead of being the first one in line at the cash bar, network with the speakers and other top names attending the same event.  You’ll be surprised at how open they are to share their “secrets” with you.  A lot of people think, “He probably gets tired of having his brain picked all the time just because he’s successful.”  Or, “I bet he would charge me to give me any real advice.”  In reality, neither of these statements is true.  Most people, if you approach them nicely with a specific question, are more than thrilled to talk about how they climbed the ladder of success and what they learned along the way.  Remember, people love to talk about themselves, especially if the other person seems genuinely interested.  In the rare event that you come across someone who doesn’t want to talk, just leave them alone – they probably have their reasons.  You’ll find someone else; just keep at it.  Trust me; this works.  I approached Brian Tracy after one of his seminars once and he was so nice!  So was Nido Qubein, Jack Canfield, Jerry Hicks, Bob Bly, Alan Weiss, Patricia Fripp, Tom Antion, and many others.  I have met, and would be comfortable approaching again, some of the most successful people in my industry.  So has my husband.  Have you?
    

2. Copy genius.  Once you get those golden nuggets of success, do them.  If the most successful person in your industry has 20 assistant and attributes that to his success, go out and hire 20 assistants.  One at a time, of course, but you’ll get there.  See, if you keep doing things like the average Joe, you’ll continue to be average Joe.  Remember the definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over again expecting to get different results.  What you want to do is find those systems that achieve the results you want, and then do those over and over again.  What successful systems are you using?
    

3. Don’t listen to those with no experience.  One of the biggest mistakes business owners make is taking advice from friends and family.  Unless they are in the biz, or are willing to do some serious research, they are not going to be able to help you.  All they are pulling from is their own experience and it is true - “The lessons of the ordinary are everywhere.”  They falsely perceive someone else as “doing alright” and think that means you should copy what they do.  If you were to talk to that person directly, you would probably get an entirely different story.  So know where the research and advice are coming from before you act on it.  Are you acting on any ordinary advice right now?
    

4. Don’t listen to those who don’t know you.  I was seated next to a lady on a recent flight who, after finding out that I’d written a book, decided to give me her advice.  She’s never written a book, but has read about people who have.  (!)  She told me I needed to start speaking on topics related to the book in order to promote it.  (!)  Then she suggested that I get a website. (Again, !)  I didn’t have the heart to tell her that my book came from my speaking experience and was created to support it, and that I’d been blogging for over a year and had had a website for two.  But this is what friends and family will do as well.  They still see you as the snotty-nosed kid you were when you were 10.  They rarely truly recognize your accomplishments because they “knew you when.”  The closer the friend/family, the less they see who you have become and are becoming.  Do you see your close friends and family as they really are?
    

5. Have faith in yourself and your calling.  Sometimes family members will discourage you out of their own sense of fear.  You need to know that while they mean well and don’t want to see you get hurt, you must not let their fear hold you back from the success you deserve.  If you feel a sincere calling to do something, that is your Source energy, the God-force part of you, calling you toward it, and it is in everyone’s best interest that you follow that calling of Source.  To what mission is your Source calling you?

I am very excited about my husband’s new building and am very proud of how he is handling things.  We have had some major obstacles, but he has definitely kept the faith.  Wednesday, after ordering over $200,000 in equipment, the bank reneged on $50,000 in promised funding.  Not to worry:  BJ is so focused on his calling and our overall well-being that another funding source immediately stepped up to fill the gap.

See, when you’ve tuned in to your life’s calling, the universe will fulfill every need as designed by the Almighty.  But you have to keep your eyes looking upward; look to those who are above you on the success ladder.  Don’t model those below you, unless that’s where you want to be.  Eventually, you will become the model for those looking up to you.

Until next time,

Find a genius to copy!

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