11 Keys to Great Success in Life and Business—Key 3: Be Extraordinary

It’s easy to be ordinary (ordinary = with no special or distinctive feature). C’mon … surely you want to be special and distinctive. So surely you want to be extraordinary.

Let’s face it. There’s lots of competition in our industry, and much of that competition is uninspiring to say the least. So what does it take to become extraordinary? The answer may surprise you.

Let’s look at the Olympics. In the 2014 women’s figure skating competition, the gold medal was won with 224 points. The silver medal was won with 219 points. 4th place, which won no medal, scored 205 points. So the difference between gold medal and no medal was 19 points … less than 10 percent difference.

This year, we celebrated a Triple Crown winner in horse racing. But American Pharoah won by only a few lengths of a horse ... only a few seconds ahead of the next three finishers.

The point is that the difference between extraordinary and ordinary isn’t massive. It’s not out of your reach. It’s just doing things a little better—in some cases just a small fraction better than your competition.

Let me encourage you to take a look at the key components in your sales processes and business operations, and find a way to implement small improvements. It’s the small improvements that will take you and your business from ordinary to extraordinary. Being extraordinary is a choice. As Tony Robbins says, “Why live an ordinary life when you can live an extraordinary one?”

Previously, in our “11 Keys to Success” series we discussed:

Stay tuned next time for the 4th key to achieving great success in life and business: start now.