 |
Introducing
Brian Tracy. Many years ago, Brian Tracy started off on a lifelong
search for the secrets of success in life and business. He studied,
researched, traveled, worked and taught for more than thirty years.
In 1981, he began to share his discoveries in talks and seminars, and
eventually in books, audios and video-based courses. The greatest secret
of success he learned is this: "There are no secrets of success." There
are instead timeless truths and principles that have to be rediscovered,
relearned and practiced by each person. The central question of Brian's
search was, "Why do things happen the way they do?" And the only real
measures of a principle or practice were, "Does it work? Does it get
results? Is it effective? Is it an improvement on what is already being
done?"
After many years of traveling and working in more than 80 countries,
in many companies and industries, the answers began to emerge. Brian
added several thousand hours of university study and taught his ideas
to more than 1 million people. His programs are now in 18 languages
in 31 countries. Brian's gift is synthesis - the ability to take large
numbers of ideas from many sources and combine them into highly practical,
enjoyable and immediately usable forms that people can take and apply
quickly to improve their life and work.
Brian has now brought together the best ideas, methods and techniques
from thousands of books, hundreds of courses and work with individuals
and organizations of every kind in the U.S., Canada and worldwide. Brian
presents each video seminar with intelligence, humor, energy, insight
and a rare combination of thought-provoking practical ideas. You learn
quickly and easily from each video seminar or audio tape program - and
get immediate results when you apply his time-tested strategies to your
work and personal life. |
| GS: |
How
did you get started in your current line of work? |
| BT: |
I
attended several seminars that I thought were poorly designed and poorly
presented. It dawned on me that I could give a seminar that was better
than anyone else. So I sent out some letters, advertised in the paper,
rented a room and began giving my first seminar to seven people, only
one of whom paid. It took me seven hard years of practical experience,
combined with incredible trial and error, to learn how to speak well
and to put on effective presentations. |
| GS: |
What
were the 3 biggest obstacles you had to overcome? |
| BT: |
The
first obstacle was that I had no idea how hard it was to break into
a new business - especially speaking. You get no support from anyone
who knows you from your previous business experience and you are completely
unknown to the customers you are trying to reach. My second mistake
was assuming that I could make a living as a professional speaker far
faster than it turned out to be possible. In fact, it took more than
two years before I was actually earning more from my seminars than I
was paying out. In the meantime, I learned how to sell again. I sold
my house. I sold my furniture. I sold my car. And I borrowed from everybody
I knew. The third obstacle that I had to overcome was my complete ignorance
of the art and science of professional speaking. It looks easy from
the outside but it takes hundreds, even thousands of hours in front
of critical public audiences to learn this craft. |
| GS: |
The
famous book As a Man Thinketh by James Allen tells us when we "Conquer
doubt and fear.we conquer failure." Let me ask you.What is the biggest
thing you do to help you conquer doubt and fear? |
| BT: |
I
went through many experiences as a young man that were far more frightening
than getting up in front of an audience. Nonetheless, my central focus
has always been on the need to prepare and to over-prepare. I spend
dozens, and sometimes hundreds of hours preparing my talks and seminars
so that I feel very confident when I get up to speak. |
| GS: |
What
2 books have influenced you the most? Why? |
| BT: |
I
have read more than 6,000 books. It is almost impossible to select two
books from that vast library. Nonetheless, there are two books that
jump out at me. The first is a book called Human Action by Ludwig von
Mises. This is the best single book on human behavior, economics and
society ever written. The essence of the book, which runs over 800 pages,
is that human beings always seek the line of least resistance to get
whatever they want as quickly and easily as possible, with little concern
for the secondary consequences of their actions. As a result of this
common characteristic of human nature, successful societies are designed
in such a way that, while people are seeking to fulfill their own needs,
they are the needs of many other people as well. This is called freedom
and free enterprise. It is exactly the opposite of the welfare state,
which is based on expropriation, entitlement, laziness and catering
to the very worst instincts of the largest number of people.
The
second book I appreciate is called "The Sermon on the Mount", by Emmet
Fox, a great spiritual teacher and mystic who wrote and taught in the
first half of the century. This is probably the best spiritual book
ever written, in my opinion. It explains that everything we are and
everything that happens to us is a reflection of the way we think about
ourselves, our lives and about other people. If we change our thinking,
we change our lives. And there is no other way. Emmet Fox explains that
this is the essential teaching of Jesus, and the fundamental teaching
of all religions. |
| GS: |
What
is your greatest Bill Gove story you could share with our readers? |
| BT: |
I
am a big fan of Bill Gove and I consider him to be one of the finest
speakers in America. |
| GS: |
You
have already made your first million. What advice can you give the rest
of us who may still be looking to make our first million? |
| BT: |
Start
off by getting my new book, The 21 Success Secrets of Self-made Millionaires.
Learn everything you can about money. Learn how to spend less by continually
trimming your expenditures and cutting your costs. Learn how to invest
your money better so that it grows at a more rapid rate with a high
level of security. Finally, settle in for the long term and don't expect
to get rich quick or to cut corners. The good news is that, if you save
a certain amount every month, and invest it in America, in the US Stock
Exchange, over time, with the miracle of compound interest and dollar
cost averaging, you will become financially independent, if not a millionaire. |
| GS: |
How
importantly would you rank mental toughness and the ability to communicate
as it relates to your success and why? |
| BT: |
Let
me just say that mental toughness, with the ability to bounce back from
adversity and disappointment, is the most important single quality a
person can develop. The key to developing this quality is to resolve
to bounce back, well in advance of the adverse situation. This form
of mental preparation will enable you to be ready when the setback occurs. |
| GS: |
If
you had to start over again.what would you NOT do again? |
| BT: |
If
I had to start my business life over, the one thing that I would not
do is be so casual and trusting with regard to business commitments
and money. The unfortunate fact is that most people in business are
incompetent in some ways, and often in many ways. 99% of business ideas
fail. To be financially successful, you must guard your financial resources
like a hawk. You must never trust or assume that other people have the
ability to make you any money at all. |
| GS: |
What
is the reason most people don't achieve their major goals and dreams? |
| BT: |
The
first reason why people don't achieve their goals is that they don't
have any goals to start with. They don't achieve their dreams because
they are very fuzzy and unclear about what their dreams really are or
should be. Orison Swett Marden once wrote that the two secrets of success
have always been the same. They are "Get-to-it-iveness and Stick-to-it-iveness."
In other words, get going and keep going. This has been the formula
for success since the dawn of history. |
| GS: |
Who
were your role models/mentors, and what is it that you saw in them? |
| BT: |
Alas,
I had no role models or mentors. I began speaking all by myself up in
Edmonton, Alberta. There were no other speakers and no speaking industry.
I had to figure it all out for myself for the first few years. It was
only much later that I learned about the National Speakers Association
from Og Mandino and I joined. Forever after, I was encouraged to know
that there were so many people like me who were struggling to be successful
in this wonderful industry. The most important qualities of the men
and women who I have admired over the years are integrity, optimism,
intelligence and a sense of responsibility. These just happen to be
the qualities of great leaders - qualities that are sadly lacking in
our national life today. |
| |
|
|
|
|
Contact
Info.:
Brian
Tracy International
462 Stevens Avenue Suite 202
Solana Beach, CA 92075
Toll Free: 1 (800) 432-4243
Phone: (316) 942-1111
Fax: (858)481-2445
E-mail: briantracy@briantracy.com |
