Did you ever hear of the tale of the lion, field mice, and the antelope? The lion must eat to survive, but it must choose what to hunt carefully. Field mice are easy to catch and plentiful, but each mouse takes more effort than the food it will provide the lion. The antelope is much larger and much harder to hunt and kill than the field mouse but will fill up the lion's belly and provide lots of energy.
If the lion only hunted field mice (small targets) it would eventually starve to death, but if the lion hunts antelope (big targets) it will flourish. Are you spending all your precious time going after small targets or big targets? Sure, getting wins is nice—it makes you feel good and you're making progress, right? Or are you actually just starving to death in life and business because those small payoffs aren't carrying you through?
Each day you need to keep your eyes on the big prizes, asking yourself:
“Did I spend today chasing mice or hunting antelope?”
Nick Saban, a massively successful football coach, tells his team not to worry about mouse droppings when you're up to your ears in elephant manure. The small problems don't matter if you don't handle the big problems first.
Whether we’re talking about opportunity or dealing with problems—small is small and big is big. You need BIG. You need to go after big opportunities and big problems and quit focusing on the small stuff. Take care of the elephant manure and go get the antelope, forgot about hunting the mice or dealing with the mice droppings.
Taking care of the big problems in life will render all the rest of your problems as either easier or completely—100%—irrelevant.
Here are 4 big wins you need to have in life that you need to focus on:
Big Win #1—Get a job in the right vehicle: The rich get in with the right company where there is an opportunity for growth. My VP of sales Jarrod Glandt started working for me 7 years ago for $2500 a month. He wasn’t making anything but he was in the right vehicle. He grew his skill set and has been able to multiply his monthly income many times over because he knew I was looking to expand. Too many people just look for a “job”. You need a job, but you need the right vehicle.
Big Win #2—Make an investment that will provide you with an additional flow of income: After you get a job where you get paid enough to actually save anything substantial, you can then have enough to make an investment in something that will pay you every month. The most successful people use multiple flows of income to create financial freedom. Prior to creating my real estate business, the flows of income from my businesses created overages. This allowed me to start saving and eventually capitalize on real estate ventures and create passive, no effort incomes.
It’s a big win to have additional checks coming in every month, to get off the hamster wheel of paycheck to paycheck.
Big Win #3—Choose the right spouse: A life partner is more important than a business partner so it is important to choose wisely. Write a list of qualities you want in a person and include both the superficial things along with deal breakers. You must find a good fit here or your life will be an uphill climb. A Rolls Royce Wraith doesn’t belong in the same garage as a Honda Civic. If she is happy with 50K and a white picket fence and you want $100 million and to travel the world, then you’ve got a problem. Make sure you get with someone who’s on the same page.
Big Win #4—Feel good about you: How you feel about yourself cannot be underestimated when it comes to quality of life. Confidence is priceless. Many people go through life complaining that they aren’t happy and, instead, look for things that make them “feel good” temporarily. As a younger man, I was always doing what made me feel good for a moment but unhappy for any long duration of time. When you are ethical with yourself, you begin to feel good about you. Quit trying to impress others and impress yourself!
Are you lacking any of these big wins in life? You are the lion. It's an eat-what-you-kill world. Don’t go after the mice. Set your BIG goals and pursue them!
Be great,
GC
Grant Cardone is a New York Times bestselling author, the #1 sales trainer in the world, and an internationally renowned speaker on leadership, real estate investing, entrepreneurship, social media, and finance. His 5 privately held companies have annual revenues exceeding $100 million. Forbes named Mr. Cardone #1 of the "25 Marketing Influencers to Watch in 2017". Grant’s straight-shooting viewpoints on the economy, the middle class, and business have made him a valuable resource for media seeking commentary and insights on real topics that matter. He regularly appears on Fox News, Fox Business, CNBC, and MSNBC, and writes for Forbes, Success Magazine, Business Insider, Entrepreneur.com, and the Huffington Post. He urges his followers and clients to make success their duty, responsibility, and obligation. He currently resides in South Florida with his wife and two daughters.
