“Greatness doesn’t come from what you do, but from who you are.” — Marie Forleo
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Marie Forleo on her lessons learned in life.
Marie is a best-selling author, speaker, online-entrepreneur, Nike Athlete and Master Trainer, fitness personality, dancer, and choreographer.
Her style is a compelling combo of humor, wit and wisdom, and she delivers her insight in a down to earth way.
In fact, Tony Robbins interviewed Marie as part of his DVD series on the world’s leading internet marketing experts.
Her mission is to help women entrepreneurs live rich, happy, and hot.
She’s all about empowering women with tools to create financial, spiritual, and emotional wealth through entrepreneurship.
What I like about Marie is that her approach is more holistic.
It’s about getting results across the board, and living with zest. She’s a modern day Renaissance Man (… er, Renaissance Woman), and pushes the bounds of life possibilities.
While we all have to figure out our own recipes for winning in life, we can draw from the lessons of others.
Without further ado, here is Marie …
These are the 8 Best Lessons I Learned for Life…
Here are the top eight lessons I’ve learned.
Lesson #1. Everything is figure-outable.
Do you ever find yourself with a genius idea, but paralyzed by thought “Yeah, but I don’t know how to do that…”
Here’s the deal. 99% of what you need to do to grow your business or grow your life requires you do something you’ve never done before. It’s the beautiful common denominator of self-evolution.
That’s why everything is figure-outable is my default mantra.
If I don’t know how to do something, I’m pretty sure there’s someone else on the planet who does. I Google. I pick up the phone. I ask for help from everyone I know.
Never before has such vast knowledge and deep know-how been so readily available, 24/7 and largely, for free.
Trust me when I say if you can dream it, you can make it happen.
Lesson #2. Build at your own pace.
Don’t get seduced by the “overnight” success stories. Most of them are total B.S. My financial and business success has grown slowly, steadily and organically over time. I’m not willing to sacrifice my quality of life to impress people I’ll never meet with “how fast” I can go. Discover your own rhythm.
Lessons #3. Never do anything ‘just for the money.’
Do it to make a difference. Do it because your soul says so. Do it because you love it so much that you’d do it for free if you could.
Either love what you do whole-heartedly or don’t do it all. Anything else is madness.
Trust me when I say nothing will cost you more in terms of spiritual and financial wealth than saying yes to sh*t you really don’t want to do.
The exception here is when you’re first starting to build your business.
Like me, you may need anywhere between 1-4 jobs to pay your bills while you get your business up and running.
But love the bejesus out of your job/s every single second you’re there. Why? Because it’s funding your dreams and more importantly, it’s the right thing to do.
Lesson #4. Go pro or go home.
This idea is from Steven Pressfield’s insanely inspiring book, The War of Art. In any given moment, you’re either either operating like an amateur or a pro.
An amateur does things half-assed. She treats her business like a hobby. She doesn’t suit up and show up every day – no matter what. She lets her bullshit (albeit very seductive) thoughts like, “This will never work….no one cares what I have to say anyway. It’s all been done before…” stop her dead in her tracks for days, weeks and months.
A pro, on the other hand, does everything with excellence.
She treats her business with dedication and respect.
She’s playing to win: financially, spiritually and emotionally. She, of course, hears the same fear-based, BS thoughts in her head but says, “Thanks for sharing,” and then gets back to work.
Unlike many things in life, going pro is something completely within our control. It’s an attitude.
A way of being.
A daily and sacred soul practice. And when you practice long enough, it becomes a way of life.
Lesson #5. There is no one-size fits all system.
I once heard Seth Godin say, “The only thing successful people have in common is that they’re successful.”
Too many of us get lost in someone else’s blueprint or system.
Leverage the experience and wisdom of others, but chart your own course.
Lesson #6. More sex = more success.
I don’t have research to back this up. I speak from my experience and those of hundreds of women I’ve worked with. When the sex is regular, success flows.
Sadly, many of us high achieving women are getting this sex thing all wrong.
The busier and more stressed we get, the less we want to have sex and consequently the more off balance, burned-out and disconnected from our genius we become.
Regular sex unleashes your full creative power. It syncs you up with your personal wellspring of inspiration, insight and pure money-making magic.
Lesson #7. Comparison kills.
Comparison is creative kryptonite and a huge time-suck. If you really want to ensure you accomplish nothing and simultaneously, feel like utter crap for days, spend most of your time looking around at other people’s stuff.
No other person ever has, or ever will, have the unique blend of talents, strengths and perspective that YOU have.
Like a snowflake, you are utterly unique.
Don’t spend time comparing yourself to others. Stay in your own game.
Lesson #8. Marketing is love.
Love = connection, compassion, honesty, understanding and generosity. When you love your clients, marketing becomes a vehicle to express that love in such a way that you inspire them to action.
Action that ultimately, is in their best interest.
Great marketing leads us. It show us the way to change, grow and become who we ultimately want to be.
You can follow Marie on her blog at MarieForleo.com and you can check out her best-selling book Make Every Man Want You: How to Be So Irresistible You’ll Barely Keep from Dating Yourself! on Amazon.
You Might Also Like
Gretchen Rubin on 10 Lessons in Happiness
The Best Tony Robbins Quotes that Will Empower You
The Best Lessons I Learned from Oprah Winfrey
My 10 Best Life Lessons for Success
The Best Lessons I Learned from My Mom
