FIG. 20 The Success Habit unlocks possibilities.
Extraordinary results require a Great Answer.
Highly successful people choose to live at the outer limits of
achievement. They not only dream of but deeply crave what is beyond
their natural grasp. They know this type of answer is the hardest to
come by but also know that just by extending themselves to find it,
they expand and enrich their life for the better.
If you want the most from your answer, you must realize that it
lives outside your comfort zone. This is rare air. A big answer is
never in plain view, nor is the path to finding one laid out for you. A
possibility answer exists beyond what is already known and being
done. As with a stretch goal, you can start out by doing research and
studying the lives of other high achievers. But you can’t stop there. In
fact, your search has just begun. Whatever you learn, you’ll use it to
do what only the greatest achievers do: benchmark and trend.
A Great Answer is essentially a new answer. It is a leap across
all current answers in search of the next one and is found in two steps.
The first is the same as when you stretch. You uncover the best
research and study the highest achievers. Anytime you don’t know the
answer, your answer is to go find your answer. In other words, by
default, your first ONE Thing is to search for clues and role models to
point you in the right direction. The first thing to do is ask, “Has
anyone else studied or accomplished this or something like it?” The
answer is almost always yes, so your investigation begins by finding
out what others have learned.
One of the reasons I’ve amassed a large library of books over the
years is because books are a great go-to resource. Short of having a
conversation with someone who has accomplished what you hope to
achieve, in my experience books and published works offer the most
in terms of documented research and role models for success. The
Internet has quickly become an invaluable tool as well. Whether
offline or online, you’re trying to find people who have already gone