Author: Alan M

Young, Ambitious, and Anxious to Share my Tips and Secrets Along my Pursuit of Success. Sharing my Day to Day Life, Motivation, and Experiences throughout Business, Travel and More.

Embrace the Uncertainty

Embrace the uncertainty, because no path to greatness can begin without action.

We talk a lot about being in our comfort zones, and doing what we know, and I know I’ve spoken again and again about getting out of our comfort zone. But today I want to highlight something specific. Embracing uncertainty in life is a key step to getting on a path that enables a climb to success.

Thousands of years ago, we did what was certain, and acted a certain way to stay alive. Nowadays the odds of being eaten by a wild animal because we ventured from the group are slim to nil. Nowadays the fear revolves around much smaller things, we fear our lives will end if were rejected when we try to ask out the boy or girl that catches our eye. We fear the world is ending when we’re presented with a new challenge, and in turn a new opportunity to fail. Failure is what makes great people successful. You have to learn along the way and embrace the uncertainty to grow as a person. Also the law of averages sets in at a certain point. In a sales role this comes with prospecting new business. If the odds of making a sale are 1 sale for every 100 people you speak to, are you going to give up after 10 No’s and wonder what you’re doing wrong? Well to be frank, most of us will, but when you start out that 1 in 100 odds will most likely pay off after the 99th no. You have to push through and eventually, you’ll learn from your mistakes and grow, and as you grow those odds will grow to 2 out of 100, then 3 out of 100. At the end of the day, we still have to keep trying 100 times to be successful whether it’s 1 success, 2, or 3.

Embracing the uncertainty and doing what you’re afraid of is a great thing. If you get rejected, you realize that the world didn’t end! You can try again, and again, and again. Eventually you’ll get a positive response. On top of that you will have gotten better along the way.

Until next time,

AM

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New Month – New Opportunity

Why is it that every January we set new resolutions for ourselves with expectations that we will change our lives overnight?  We as a society are inherently lazy and are looking for any excuse to not have to do the hard work now.  I don’t set my goals based on a year for a New Years Resolution, I set myself a new goal every month.  Nothing crazy, but a small goal with 28-31 days (depending on the month) to hold myself accountable for, and build a new habit!

For February my goal is to track every calorie I eat and work on my health.  Setting a small goal like this gives the month to build the habit with a shorter expectation of myself to hold accountable for.  Once the month is over, it will be second nature to continue this habit.

Try setting a new goal for this month.  A small change that will make a big difference in the long run.   Whether that goal is to read 4 books this month, to spend 1 more hour a week at the gym this month, to leave the office 20 minutes earlier to spend more time at home, or to eat more healthy foods.  A timeframe of one month makes this goal feel achievable and is a perfect timeframe to build a good habit and set a baseline for the future.

Have a great month!

AM

 

INTERVIEW – Allen Hewitt

Today, I’ve had the opportunity to interview a professional that is truly self-made.  Someone who started a company from nothing more than an idea, and has worked his ass off to turn this company into something that not only allows him to be better but also betters the lives of his employees and clients alike.  Allen Hewitt is the Founder and Owner of North Western Synthetic Grass.

Question:

Please describe what you do as your profession.

Answer:

I own North Western Property Maintenance Inc.  We specialize in 3 areas; synthetic grass installation, synthetic grass distribution, and salting/plowing.  As the owner, I motivate my team to drive our company goals and mission.

Question:

What made you want to get into business?

Answer:

In short, it was a complete fluke.  I was fired from my previous sales position.  At that exact moment I told myself I would never work FOR someone again.  With my only expense at that time being a mortgage.  Ironically, I started off doing the very first thing I did to make money when I was 12.  I took my parents lawn mower and started knocking on doors.   When I started the business it was more about proving myself and surviving.  Since the beginning, we have grown to a staff of 12 employees and millions of dollars in revenue, how things have changed.

Question:

What is your biggest motivator day to day?  What keeps you going?

Answer:

There are a few motivators that keep me hustling.

1)    The knowledge that my efforts directly contribute to the betterment of my employee’s kids, wives, and significant others.

2)    Competitiveness, I want our team to be the best.  I want our reputation to be the best.  At the end of the day, we do not want to compete, we want to dominate.  Having these values forces massive action and they act as gigantic drivers for me.

3)    Customers – Knowing that we can drastically change any clients yard for the better in less than 5 days ensures I am always in a hurry to help. This helps push me forward.

Question:

What would you say is the key to your success?

Answer:

Four factors have contributed to my success:

1)     Athletics – by treating my body like a Ferrari I can outwork and out hustle my competitors.  My physical and mental health allows my vision/focus to stay clear. This is completed by being physically active.

2)    Went all in –I came across the product (synthetic grass) while walking my dog one evening.  I knew it would be a hit and got in my car and drove to Alberta to visit a supplier the next day.  I then spent the company’s savings on attending a massive home show telling the world that we install synthetic grass.  My ability to control fear and push through resistance guaranteed our inevitable success.

3)    Humility in Success – I still pick up the phone at any given time of the day.  I will still put on work boots and get to the shop floor.  My skill set is not above a broom.  In order to feel the heartbeat of the company, as leaders, we need to be on the shop floor, next to the accountant and in the face of as many customers as we can.  My humility helps to ensure continued success.

4)    Mentors/Good Family – By nothing more than luck I have surrounded myself with incredibly generous (with their time and advice) mentors.  These are the type of people that have “been there done that” owning companies that are generating 20 million + in sales.  To have access to their brains and advice is a huge advantage.  I was also fortunate in having easy going parents (both teachers) and loving/supportive Sisters, Cousins, Aunts Uncles and Grandparents. I was never pushed to succeed but swayed politely to be humble and do the right thing.

Question:

What do you believe the future holds for you?

Answer:

Business:  The path of life will force you to go left or right.  I am certain that I will be steered into another business venture completely different than the one I am in.  I will acquire and or start more businesses and will see NWPM hit 10 million in sales within 5 years.

Question:

Finally, how do you define success?  Is it a dollar amount, a certain lifestyle, something else?

Answer:

That is an in-depth question, that I haven’t, but should put more thought into.  As of today, I would define my life as being successful if I helped people achieve more.

To define the success of my business it would be to hit 10 million in sales.

Money and or purpose are required to be successful.   I don’t care who you run into in life, no one will ever tell you (with a straight face) that they will not take a Rolex watch for free or turn down money offered to them with no strings attached.  Money is important as with it you can do more good than without it.  I’d rather be unhappy and rich than unhappy and poor.

However, in my opinion “next level” successful players in the world have a laser focus purpose (Mother Teresa, Terry Fox..).  If you have a “worthy” purpose you can achieve success without possessions or money.  And without doubt, achieve a greater lasting legacy.

In conclusion, the easy way to ensure a “successful” life in my eyes is to make money, be generous by striving to make others become a greater “them” and if you really want to have the holy grail of success find a purpose that helps people and hit a home run with it.

 

Wrap-Up:

Though we all have different opinions of success, it’s clear that Mr.Hewitt here is motivated by what is inside him, and what he can for the people, and the world around him.  People like this don’t build and scale businesses to make money, they do it to make a difference in the lives of others.  Whether those people are employees or clients, I personally believe that Mr.Hewitt is making a difference.

 

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You can find us on Facebook at Climb to Success (@climbtosuccessca) or on Twitter at @climbtosuccess.

Until Next Time,

Alan

Be Stronger Than Your Excuses

Why is it so hard to get up and do something, yet so easy to make excuses not to do it?

Part of this traces back to the comfort zone, which we spoke about in another recent post, however, as a society we are inherently lazy. This is a fascinating evolution as time goes on, because though I’m no expert, I can assume that our Neanderthal predecessors weren’t making up excuses to avoid going hunting. They knew they needed to go hunt to be able to eat and survive. Why do we not believe that what we strive to do is as essential as finding food?

In this modern era of convenience and technology everything we need to survive such as food and water are readily available to us. So if you have a roof over your head, and have easy access to food and water, then you’re alive and don’t have the sense of urgency of before? We should feel a necessity to not only survive, but to thrive! I feel a constant motivation to be my best self as someone who not only wants to thrive, but NEEDS to thrive in my lifetime.

Be stronger than your excuses. If you let the excuses win, you’ll never accomplish your goals, however, if you can be stronger, you’ll never let the excuses stand in your way.

Until Next Time,

AM