The Secret Sauce
for Business Success

© 2005 David Newman

You ready? Here it is... the secret sauce... what separates the men from the boys... the magic bullet for any success in any field: STAMINA.

Face it: doing anything worthwhile takes forever. 90% of what separates successful people and failed people is time, effort and stamina. Success means you’ve got a long road ahead of you. And either you have the rocket fuel of originality, passion, purpose, and love or you have the rather lame motivator of money. Who do you think will last longer in that race?

Stamina is utterly important. And stamina is only possible if it’s managed well. A number of years ago, when I was sharing my big plans for launching my speaking and seminar business (with my personal version of the circle of friends in The Big Chill), one friend asked me, “But how are you going to build a business like that?” and another friend, wisely and quietly offered words that I’ve held in my mind almost every day since then... “He’s going to do it one client at a time.”

A common theme I hear from my clients when we start to ramp up their sales efforts – doing research, doing intelligent prospecting, coming up with remarkable products and services, focusing on narrow niche markets is “But David, that’s a lot of work.”

My answer: Welcome to the world of sales!!

People think all they need to do is endure one intense, hungry, bootstrapping, go-for-a-few-months-with-no-commission ramp-up period and their dreams will come true. They’re wrong. Business success is a marathon, not a sprint, and you have to have the stamina for it. And, as the people who have been in this game for a while can tell you, no matter how much success you achieve, resting on your laurels will only give you leaf-shaped impressions on your butt. You have to keep moving, growing, and doing better.

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