“The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.”
–Michelangelo 

The term “lofty goal” can sometimes have a negative ring to it. Such as, “Wow, you think you’re going to get straight A’s this semester? That’s a rather lofty goal, isn’t it?” But the idea of setting high goals should be lauded, not mocked. If the only objective were to simply reach a goal, we could just set a series of goals each day, covering such benign topics such as, “Today I’m going to yawn, eat, doze and smirk.” With such pointless goals, what’s the point? 

When analyzing the lives of this world’s most successful people, there are few commonalities. Most luminaries are so unique that it is difficult to correlate them with their counterparts from other fields. Yet there is one common thread running through the lives of almost all successful people – they refuse to accept mediocrity. Whether they set traditional goals or not, these individuals aim high. They are driven to resist the complacency so many others wholeheartedly embrace. 

Don’t be afraid to aim too high. Shrug off the chains of mediocrity and see just how high you can ascend. You’ll be surprised by the results. Even when you don’t reach a specific goal, you’ll be richly rewarded for leaving your comfort zone.

“For true success ask yourself these four questions: Why? Why not? Why not me? Why not now?”
–James Allen 

It is no coincidence that success favors those who have prepared for it. We must evaluate the purpose for what we desire, then gauge our own relationship to it. As Mr. Allen suggests, asking ourselves “why” is a great place to start. When we understand the benefits and relevance of something, we are better able to work toward it. 

Of course, any proper evaluation requires a look at the flipside. Are there cons to your goal? You should look at the “why not” even more intensely than the “why.” This is because you are emotionally attached to the positive reasons for what you want. You have most likely pondered them in your free time. You owe it to yourself to conduct an honest appraisal of any negatives before proceeding with your plan. 

What makes your goal a good fit for you? Identifying its unique relationship to yourself is crucial for you to believe it is possible. Don’t merely assume that you deserve it—take the time to figure how it will help you and why you are a good fit for it. Solidifying these facts in your mind is important to seeing a goal through to completion. 

The final step is to figure out the timing. Is there any reason not to start immediately? There will always be excuses for a delay, but are they authentic? By laying out an action plan, your likelihood of success skyrockets. Don’t let ambiguity rob you of the success you deserve. Figure out the details of your dreams and take the steps to achieve them today!

The basketball program at St. Anthony High School in New Jersey has seen tremendous success for nearly four decades, mostly thanks to coach Bob Hurley, Sr.

In 35 years as coach, Hurley has led his team to five undefeated seasons and 23 state championships, as well as sending dozens of young men to Division I colleges on scholarships. He did all of this while never being a full-time employee for the school. On August 13, he was formally inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as one of only three high-school coaches to ever be so honored.

Hurley’s creation of some of the best high school basketball teams in the country came without extensive funding and without top-of-the-line facilities. It instead came from dedication, hard work, and team unity. He has been offered the opportunity many times to coach basketball at various colleges, but has uniformly turned them down.

So what can be taken from the story of Bob Hurley, Sr.?

Plenty.

It doesn’t take expansive budgets or the latest technology to achieve success. These young men were able to secure their futures by being part of a proven system and having an effective coach, not because of luck or chance. And sometimes being loyal to and being able to help a small group of people can be more fulfilling and more rewarding than what some may consider more prestigious appointments.

The same holds true in business: quality ideas, proven systems, dedication, and hard work will guarantee success.

A little humor:

“If at first you don’t succeed…destroy all evidence that you tried” Anonymous

“If at first you don’t succeed…skydiving is not for you” Arthur McAuliff

“If at first you don’t succeed…failure may be your style” Quentin Crisp

“If at first you don’t succeed…try try again. Then give up. there’s no use being a damn fool about it”  W.C. Fields

“If at first you don’t succeed…do it like your mother told you” Anonymous

“If at first you do succeed…try to hide your astonishment ” – Anonymous

All humor aside, PMI Coaching is dedicated to success. Let us show you how to make the most of your opportunity.

“Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play.”

–Mike Singletary 

True champions realize the opportunity to compete is a reward in and of itself. The results may vary, but the result never will. And what result is this? The learning and growth that come from the opportunity. Even the most crushing defeat brings with it a broad range of lessons. For this reason, challenges shouldn’t be feared. Regardless of the outcome, they’ll provide lessons crucial to your development. You should actively seek out opportunities to compete for this very reason—you need the lessons and you need the growth. 

The ability to learn from disappointments is essential to success. It’s no coincidence that so many champions rebound from defeat with some of their greatest performances. Drawing inspiration from defeat and then applying the lessons learned is a powerful recipe for success. The key is to not get lost in the negativity. Dwelling on failure is easy, which is why so many people do it. Pushing yourself to rise above the gloom takes true discipline. 

By seeking out new opportunities to learn and grow, you will join an elite group of entrepreneurs. Much like their athletic counterparts, they love to compete and thrive on the complete experience provided by each competition. Your record of success may not immediately rocket to new heights, but you’ll be laying a solid foundation for future success. As you broaden your skills and seek to enrich your background, challenges will lose their intimidation factor. They’ll be exposed for just what they are—golden opportunities.

“Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.”

–Oprah Winfrey 

When you look at incredibly successful people like Oprah, it’s easy to forget that most of them were once struggling entrepreneurs. They experienced years of failure and frustration before reaching their elite status. For example, Oprah was born into poverty and had to overcome years of abuse before achieving what she has today. True entrepreneurs know that overnight success is extremely rare and that mistakes and failures are necessary to their development. The secret is to engage, do your best with each challenge and then trust that it will put you in a better place. 

Business success is all about tenacity. As an entrepreneur, you are responsible for your own success. A strong work ethic is necessary to stay motivated and on task. It can be helpful to break up large projects into smaller, more manageable tasks. The immensity of a project is often an illusion created by the randomness of its components, so if you take the time to break it down into manageable “moments,” you’ll be amazed by how much you can accomplish. 

Take the time to identify the biggest obstacles to your success and then focus your energies where they are truly needed. It’s important to remember that anything worth doing is going to take work. By identifying your challenges and finding solutions, you’ll be putting yourself in the “best place” for what comes next.

“A man should keep on being constructive, and do constructive things. He should take part in the things that go on in this wonderful world. He should be someone to be reckoned with. He should live life and make every day count, to the very end. Sometimes it’s tough. But that’s what I’m going to do.”

–J. Willard Marriot

Mr. Marriot attributes much of his success to his childhood in rural Utah, when his father often placed significant amounts on responsibility on him at a young age. “He would tell me what he wanted done, but never said much about how to do it,” Marriot would later recount. “It was up to me to find out for myself.” By the age of 13, Marriot was running his own lettuce business and in one year earned $2,000 for his family.

After finishing up his college education, Marriot moved to Washington, D.C. to open an A&W Root Beer stand. He and a partnered raised $6,000 to buy the equipment and rent space on 14^th street, where they hoped to have access to throngs of thirsty tourists. Business was brisk and they soon expanded the operation to include a menu of Mexican food. After opening two more locations, the Great Depression hit Marriot hard and he had to sell all three restaurants. When his bank closed, Marriot also lost $8,000 in savings. Refusing to quit, he reconfigured his business model and opened new restaurants in multiple locations.

As his restaurant business grew, Marriot was diagnosed with having malignant cancer of the lymph nodes and was given between six months to a year to live. Not letting this medical nightmare derail his plans, Marriot worked feverishly to expand his business operations to include motels. His admirable focus allowed him to accomplish great things despite his diagnosis, and he would eventually outlive the doctors’ predictions by half a century. At the time of his death, the Marriot Company operated an astonishing 1,400 restaurants and 143 hotels.

Paul Newman may be one of the most iconic actors of all time, but few people know that his first film performance was so lackluster that he took out a full-page newspaper ad to apologize to those who watched it. The nine-time Academy Award nominee made his debut in The Silver Chalice (1954) and honestly felt that his acting was poor enough to warrant a public apology. And rather than let it end his acting ambitions, Newman rebounded in 1956 with a riveting performance in Somebody Up There Likes Me.

Audiences remember Newman for his memorable performances in The Hustler, Hud, Cool Hand Luke, The Towering Inferno and Slap Shot. He often played tough, persevering character that mirrored his own personality. After introducing his charming rogue persona in Cool Hand Luke, he perfected it in his two collaborations with Robert Redford, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting. These films remain American classics and have inspired generations of actors.

In 1986, Newman reprised his original role from The Hustler in Martin Scorsese’s The Color of Money. Praised for his powerful performance, he won the Academy Award for Best Actor at the age of 62. His last film role was in the Tom Hanks crime drama Road to Perdition, for which he received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Newman is also remembered for his legendary philanthropy. In 1982, he started his own line of food products, appropriately named Newman’s Own. Initially, the brand was known for its salad dressings, but later expanded to include salsa, pasta sauce and many other products. All after-tax proceeds from Newman’s Own go directly to charity, which is remarkable when you consider that the brand has donated over $300 million to thousands of different charities since its inception. It’s a fitting legacy for a man who has always cared for others.

“Make your customers comfortable and they will give you their lives.”

–Paul Orfalea

Paul Orfalea founded Kinko’s in California 40 years ago. Borrowing from the efficiency of fast food restaurants like McDonalds, he emphasized friendly service, space utilization and recognizable uniforms. His company is now one of the largest business services chains in the world, with over 1,800 locations.

What makes Mr. Orfalea’s accomplishments so impressive is that they have come despite his well-documented struggle with dyslexia and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Rather than viewing them as disabilities, he considers them blessings which have granted him a different perspective of the world than his peers. This positive thinking has allowed Mr. Orfalea to overcome the obstacles associated with both conditions. In his own words:

“Because I couldn’t read, I learned from direct experience. Experience is a harsh teacher, because the test comes first, followed by the lesson. But lacking the ability to learn by reading, I embraced every chance to participate in life. I started businesses, like my vegetable stand. I skipped school to watch my father’s stockbroker at work. I learned early that I would only get through school with a lot of help from a lot of people. This dependence taught me how to ask for help, and how to provide what help I could. I learned to appreciate people’s strengths and forgive their weaknesses, as I hoped they would forgive mine.”

Mr. Orfalea has authored multiple books, with the most well-known being his autobiography, Copy This! Lessons From a Hyperactive Dyslexic Who Turned a Bright Idea Into one of America’s Best Companies. His contagious optimism and unique business strategies have made him a true leader in the industry. He and family have devoted great energy into philanthropy. Many of their charitable projects are dedicated to children, such as providing educational resources for inner city youths and those with learning disorders.

“Without promotion something terrible happens…nothing!”

–P.T. Barnum

Phineas Taylor Barnum was born in Connecticut during the summer of 1810. By the age of 20, he had founded a weekly newspaper and was a successful business owner. In 1834 he moved to New York City to begin his entertainment career. Barnum purchased Scudder’s American Museum, renamed it after himself and brought in strange and exotic exhibits from around the world. As his reputation as a bold entertainer grew, Barnum’s museum reached a point where it was drawing an impressive 400,000 visitors a year.

Though he was pejoratively referred to as a showman, Barnum was a man of great depth and served two terms in the Connecticut legislature. A proponent of equal rights, he offered this bold statement regarding African-American suffrage: “A human soul is not to be trifled with. It may inhabit the body of a Chinaman, a Turk, an Arab or a Hotentot – it is still an immortal spirit.” He later served as the mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut and then as the president of the local hospital, which he also founded.

Barnum’s legacy is inseparably tied to his legendary circus, billed as the “Greatest Show on Earth!” Interestingly enough, he didn’t even enter the circus business until his sixties. There were few paved roads in the United States at the time and he revolutionized the industry by transporting his circus by train. He was the first circus owner to purchase a train, and despite fires, train crashes and other setbacks, Barnum’s circus traveled the world and entertained millions.

In 1891, Barnum passed away in his sleep. Just before his death, he requested that his obituary be printed in the Evening Sun so he could read it. He was buried in Bridgeport, the town he had served as mayor. And he was well-acquainted with the cemetery where his body was laid to rest – he’d personally designed it several years earlier.