78 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 2
cause what cannot go wrong, will go wrong.
Things go wrong. And so, I am the kind of
guy, where I look at 'what’s going to go
wrong here?' Not only what can't go wrong,
but what if this thing that I think can't go
wrong, goes wrong? What would I do then?
So, when I go in to a situation, the more I un-
derstand those aspects, the less I am wor-
ried about failure because I have a back-up
plan. If some piece of it fails.
And so, for those of you listening
to this. Don't be
afraid of failure.
You need a lot of
grey hair to under-
stand this, and I
have a lot of grey
hair. Failure is not a
bad thing, if you treat it right. Failure is truly
about learning experiences, and using those
learning experiences to succeed. I am not
my failures in life. I am the sum total of my
successes. And those failures help me
achieve those successes.
Neil: It’s a great philosophy. What skill if you
were excellent at it would help you the most
to double your business?
Ivan Misner: I am not usually stumped on
questions Neil, that’s a great question. So, I
will tell you why, there is a television series,
that I really like, I don't know if you have it.
Myth-busters, have you ever heard of Myth-
busters?Neil: Yes. I have yeh.
Ivan Misner: Ok, so there is a phrase in
there, I don't know if its Jamie or the other
guy that says, here's the phrase. "I reject
your reality and substitute my own" Adam
Savage of MythBusters. I love that phrase, so
with your question, 'I reject your reality and I
substitute my own.' And here is why. I don't
think there is any skill, that I need, to take on
that would double my business and here is
why. I don't need to have every skill; I can't
possibly have every
skill.
So, what I need, is
to find somebody
who is excellent
and has that skill.
And so, we are
talking entrepreneurs, and so entrepreneurs
you don't need to be everything to every-
one. But you need to surround yourself, with
a team of people who have skills that are in
your weaknesses. That your strengths maybe
their weakness. But their strength is your
weakness.
And if you surround yourself with people like
that, that’s the way you start to leverage
your business and leverage your time. Run
with those skills, sure work on your weak-
nesses. But don't worry about having every
skill possible. You are just never going to do
it, nobody can. Surround yourself with peo-
ple with skill and you can double your busi-
ness.I am not my failures in life.
I am the sum total of mysuccesses. And those failures help
me achieve those successes.