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Wisdom Note The Go-Giver

A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea


Authors: Bob Burg and John David Mann

Brief Background The subtitle of this book is A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea but you know what, tucked away on page 82 of the version I read (and re-read within 7 days), is a more powerful truth about this Little Story: A genuinely sound business principle will apply anywhere in life in your friendships, in your marriage, anywhere. Thats the true bottom line. Not whether it simply improves your financial balance sheet, but whether it improves your lifes balance sheet. And thats how I will write this Wisdom Note showing exactly how the information contained in The Go-Giver can be applied to our daily life to improve our true bottom line. The Go-Giver follows a wonderful Little Story which contains within it The Five Laws of Stratospheric Success and I will focus this Wisdom Note on those Five Laws. What I will give away about the story line is thisit takes a young man on a journey of discovery with someone I liken to a mentor, in the book he is actually referred to as the Chairman (incidentally the books authors acknowledge Bob Proctor, who as they say is a stratospheric mentor to multitudes as the original inspiration for the Chairman). The Chairman says he: calls these Five Laws my Trade Secret -- So that people will find them so theyll seek them. So theyll place the proper value on them. Adding: The word itself. Secret. Originally, it meant something treasured something sifted, weighed and set apart for its special value. Actually if I had my way, everyone would know these Five Laws. And heres a great thing about The Go-Giver each Law of Stratospheric Success can be followed every day from the get go, right off the bat you can start now. Many personal development books tell us that it takes 30 days to create a habit of success and that is generally good advice but unfortunately we procrastinate and dont always stick it out long enough to get into the new good habit the message of this book serves to gently nudge you from your slumber, its such a pragmatic philosophy. In fact the Chairman says: I need you to agree that you will test every Law I show you by actually trying it out. Not by thinking about it, not by talking about it, but by applying it in your life. And: You must apply each Law right away, the same day you first learn it. I believe I follow much of the guidance in The Go-Giver automatically but when I read it the second time I decided to follow the advice of the book and apply it, by each day following one of the Laws of Stratospheric Success. Well guess what? As my week progressed I felt an added side benefit to following the authors guidance which can be best summed up by this quote from the Dalai Lama: We werent born with the purpose of causing trouble, harming others. For our life to be of value, I think we must develop basic good human qualities warmth, kindness, compassion. Then our life becomes more meaningful and more peaceful happier. Yup I felt happier and as the authors say I felt something on the inside, something thats genuine. The Go-Giver is an inspirational story that promises that you, too, can complete the journey. And

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well like all good stories my eyes glazed over with the beauty of the last chapter, I almost felt a smile that came from the hearts of the authors as they gave there knowledge to aid others improve their lifes balance sheet. I love this book and for many reasons. I hope this Wisdom Note helps you discover the truth in Saint Francis of Assisis prayer: For it is in the giving that we receive. Lets now listen to the Authors wisdom which provides much value. Wisdom Focus on the best in others Ralph Waldo Emerson

Before I get going into the Wisdom following the storyline the Chairman tells his would be a student: You dont have the Power to waste my time, only I can do that. To me that sentence is just pure genius, wisdom of the highest order only we have the power to waste our own timethink about that please. What are you doing to waste your own time? What appointments are you making that are not in accordance with your goals or what activity are you doing that is keeping you from accomplishing what you set out to achieve? I think that line alone has so much significance to it. Okay to start the storyline Burg and Mann remind us of the age old wisdom that: Most of us have grown up seeing the world as a place of limitation rather than a place of inexhaustible treasures. A world of competition rather than co-creation. In life, you often dont get what you want. But heres what you do get You get what you expect. And: What you focus on is what you get youve heard the expression Go looking for trouble and thats what youll find. I guess we are all clear on that and it needs little extra clarification at this point. To turn it around the authors offer this classic line: Go Looking for the best in people, and youll be amazed at how much talent, ingenuity, empathy and good youll find. Thats beautiful absolutely beautiful how about making that last sentence a daily mantra and putting it into practice? If you go looking for the best in people they will respond to it because no matter what were doing on the outside, people primarily respond to how we are feeling about them on the inside. More on this later. And to be successful the Chairman tells his would be trainee, most people are nowhere near as successful as they wish they were. But to get really, really big, to reach the kind of stratospheric success were talking about, people need to have something on the inside, something thats genuine. And this focus on the good in people and by not putting any focus on selfishness and greed is like a healthy immune system. I love that idea think about that for a while when you go looking for the good in people and people feel that this something on the inside is genuine they will likely respond more favourably to you and your own feelings are boosted by a healthy immune system. Gives me a healthy glow thinking about it.
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Next we hear the Chairman telling his would be student: Theres nothing wrong with making money. Lots of it, in fact. Its just not a goal that will make you successful. But the Chairman says what will make you stratospherically successful is; Giving It sound like Leonard Nimoys great advice: "The miracle is this - the more we share, the more we have." Just so we are clear about this the authors say: Successful people keep theyre focus on what theyre giving, sharing and thats what creates theyre success. Recall that earlier sentence: cocreation instead of competition well thats partly what the authors mean by giving and sharing as we are about to discover. Big Point The Law of Value

The First Law of Stratospheric Success according to the authors is: The Law of Value. Did you notice on the first page of this Wisdom Note I highlighted the word value several times? Since reading The Go-Giver its become a kind of personal quest of mine. Im constantly asking: what value am I giving. To get us thinking about what value we are giving Burg and Mann teach: Everyone likes to be appreciated, and thats the Golden Rule of business All things being equal people will do business with and refer business to those people they know, like and trust. And to emphasise this the authors advise that much of that appreciation comes down to what may seem like small details but are highly relevant towards a human beings feeling of being appreciated. Details such as their husbands or wives names, childrens names, pets names, favourite cartoon heroes. You get the picture. Those are highly important details one of my own Mentors taught me very early in my business career: If Im not interested in remembering a persons name. Im probably not really interested in the person as a person. The authors tell us that: It never hurts to be kind to people. Im reminded of the Stoic Philosopher Seneca who said: "Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness." Okay so now you have remembered key information about people what is this Law of Value? well the authors spell it out as: The first question to ask is Does it serve? Does it add value? If the answer to that question is yes then you can go ahead and ask, does it make money? But the point isnt to have them pay you more, its to give them more. You give, give, give. Why? Because you love to. Its not a strategy, its a way of life. And when you do, then very profitable things begin to happen. What they authors are indicating is that by always giving your very best, you are also improving and as you improve your service continues to improve, so you are profiting by the effort to me this is psychologically as well as financially profiting.

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Lets listen to what Napoleon Hill had to say about this: Make it your business to render more service and better service than that for which you are paid, and lo! Before you realize what has happened, you will find that the world is willingly paying you more than you do! And lets go back to our authors: All the great fortunes in the world have been created by men and women who had a great passion for what they were giving their product, service or idea than for what they were getting. And many of those great fortunes have been squandered by others who had a great passion for what they were getting than by what they were giving. Back to Napoleon Hill who said rather bluntly: Oh, you foolish and short-sighted seekers after wealth, who are returning from the daily chase empty-handed,- why do you not take the lesson from men like Henry Ford? Why do you not reverse your philosophy and give in order that you may get. Phew - Lets re-read what Burg and Mann have to say on the matter: You give, give, give. Why? Because you love to. Its not a strategy, its a way of life I think thats quite clear dont you? So what is the First Law? Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment. This is simply outstanding advice. What if we ask ourselves in every relationship what value am I giving? and remember the authors advice to us its not about thinking it its about doing it! Big Point The Law of Compensation

As The Go-Giver progresses we often find the student being reminded of Aesops wisdom that: Appearances can be deceiving and the: Truth is they nearly always are. This also reminds me of the sage advice by Plato in his Phaedrus: Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many. And if you need further convincing then why not make a note of the sublime philosophy of the Gaelic Proverb: Do not judge by appearances; a rich heart may be under a poor coat. Hope we are all clear on that its for a good reason that we should never judge a book by its cover especially when it is in reference to people and this is certainly one of the underlying philosophies of The Go-Giver. The second Law of Stratospheric Success as outlined by the authors is The Law of Compensation. Lets listen to how the authors introduce it and expand upon it. We hear the student saying (now remember hes learning the Five Laws so if this sounds simple its because it is): I always thought it seemed so unfair how movie stars and top athletes pulled down those huge salaries. Or how corporate CEOs and corporate founders could marshal such gigantic earnings But people who are doing such great work, such noble work like school teachers never get paid what theyre worth. It always seemed arbitrary. But what youre saying is, its not just a question of their value. Its a question of impact. The authors then say: Find a way to serve more people, its that simple. And they also give the example of the CEO of the company that the student is talking to say: We expect to touch the lives of twenty to twenty-five million kids. And later adding: All I could think about was how much good

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we could accomplish. Think about those last sentences and the key words touch- and in the previous sentence impact those are powerful words. And then lets repeat All I could think about was how much good we could accomplish. And that in a nutshell is the Law of Compensation: Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them. Lets listen to the CEO almost repeating those words again: Your compensation is directly proportional to how many lives you touch. I love this idea value, serve, impact, and how much good you can accomplish. We are reminded that: ..there are no limitations on what you can earn, because you can always find more people to serve. The reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. Another way to say that might be, Everybody can be successful because anybody can give. Or how about thinking it like this as the preeminent psychologist Carl Rogers said: "In the early professional years, I was asking the question; How can I treat or cure or change this person? Now I would phrase the question in this way: How can I provide a relationship which this person may use for his own personal growth? Imagine if we thought like that how much impact we could make, how much good we could do. And while you think about that think about this wisdom from Rajeev Dewan in his magnificent book Be, Do. Live: This philosophy is about serving from a place of no ego, and with the absolute purest intentions. What is also important to remember is that your belief systems are the only limitations you have, and to remind us the authors say: My old belief system was getting in the way. It wasnt serving. So I decided to change it. And for good measure they add: Being broke and being rich are both decisions. What you focus on is what you get. We have heard this wisdom from many. Recall Bhagavad Gitas: Man is made by his belief. As he believes so he is. And what about Robert Kiyosakis: The most powerful form of leverage in the world, your mind, has the power to make you rich or make you poor. So go ahead and change your way of thinking. Wisdom Survive, save and serve

There is a wonderful interlude in the middle of the book as the student has a discussion with an employee of the Chairman, who they are discussing, and where the employee tells the student: Have you noticed how energetic and enthusiastic he is? How curious and wellinterested he always seems? And then: Of course he seems relaxed. He is relaxed. Whoever said being anxious gets more accomplished? Go back and re-read that section with me please, and slowly consider the wisdom let it sink in and think how you act today what can we take away from that? A lot of if you ask me. Energy, enthusiasm, curiosity, interest in others, worrying wow packed into a couple of sentences. We all know enthusiasm is contagious, the more you have the more it genuinely rubs off and that is a killer sentence: Whoever said being anxious gets more accomplished? We then hear the Chairman speaking about three universal reasons for working:

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Survive, save and serve. Survive - to meet your basic living needs. Save to go beyond your basic needs and expand your life. And serve to make a contribution to the world around you. Most people spend there entire lives focusing on the first. A smaller number focus on the second. But those rare few who are truly successful not just financially, but genuinely successful in all aspects of their lives keep their focus squarely on the third. This principle is similar to Maslows Hierarchy of Needs with the third type being what Maslow termed Self actualizing people of whom he said: Have a deep feeling of identification, sympathy, and affection for human beings in general. They feel kinship and connection, as if all people were members of a single family. And he also said: You will either step forward into growth or you will step back into safety. I love this idea and Ive never read it so thoughtfully and simply put as is in The Go-Giver. Im all for striving squarely on the third. Big Point The Law of Influence

The Law of Influence is one which we should think about very carefully. With this Law the authors introduce us to the fact that a personal network is a key for stratospheric success: You need to know how to develop a network I mean a network of people who know you, like you, and trust you. They might never buy a thing from you, but theyve always got you in the backs of their minds. Theyre the people who are personally invested in seeing you succeed and of course thats because youre the same way about them. Theyre youre army of personal walking ambassadors. I liken this to the great advice in the book The 12 Factors of Business Success by Marti, Hogan and Lakhani the authors say: Success is often dependent not on who you know but who the person you know can introduce you to. Developing a network of friends, acquaintances, and business connections is one of the fastest ways to achieve success. And for good measure they add: The thing that makes a network work is reciprocity. Take a little, give a little more than you get. When I read the section in The Go-Giver about networking I thought very carefully about whether or not I had an Army of personal walking ambassadors. Personally invested in seeing <me> succeed and me them. Its quite illuminating actually how about you? Do you have an: army of personal walking ambassadors? Once your clear on your ambassadors The Go-Giver provides this magnificent wisdom: Stop keeping score. Dont keep track. Thats not networking thats poker. You know how people say win-win Most of the time when people say win-win is just a disguised way of keep track Even Steven. I scratched your back, so now you owe me. When you base your relationships in business or anywhere else in your life on who owes who what, thats not being a friend. Thats being a creditor. Wow think about how often you hear people say in business and their personal life Ill call so and so he or she owes me Ive certainly done that. And to help you think about this consider this wise quote from Tony Robbins: Some of the biggest challenges in relationships come from the fact that most people enter a relationship in order to get something: they're trying to find someone who's going to make them feel good. In reality, the only way a relationship will last is if you see your

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relationship as a place that you go to give, and not a place that you go to take. Burg and Mann go further with this inspiring advice: Make your win about the other person, go after what he wants. Forget win-win focus on the other persons win. We clear on that? .Good. Now lets hear why Burg and Mann say we should; If you place the other persons interests first, your interests will always be taken care of. Always. Some people call it enlightened self-interest. Watch out for what other people need with the faith that when you do, youll get what you need. And that leads us to the Third Law of Stratospheric Success: Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other peoples interests first. For good measure the authors of The Go-Giver tell us: Have you ever wondered what makes people attractive? I mean, genuinely attractive? Magnetic? They love to give. Thats why they are attractive. Givers attract And thats why the Law of Influence works. Because it magnetizes you. Big Point The Law of Authenticity

Lets just jump straight into the Law of Authenticity: People remember this: no matter what youre training, no matter what your skills, no matter what area youre in, you are your most important commodity. The most valuable gift you have to offer is you. Reaching any goal you set takes ten percent specific knowledge or technical skills ten percent, max. The other ninety-plus percent is people skills. And whats the foundation of all people skills? Liking people? Caring about people? Being a good listener? Those are helpful, but theyre not the core of it. The core of it is who you are. It starts with you. Im certainly a firm believer that people skills are an extremely valuable gift and I am also a firm believer that one of the biggest areas we fail in is, we cant truly focus on results or others, because too often we are focused on ourselves. The Authors tell us that: The most valuable thing you have to give people is yourself. No matter what you think youre selling, what youre really offering is you. and Its inside that makes you beautiful, not the wrapping. The Fourth Law of Stratospheric Success is: The most valuable thing you have to give people is yourself.

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And the outcome of offering yourself is; Authenticity. When you put these Laws together and really start living them after a period of what the authors call cleansing pain of honest selfreflection I am sure that you will start living authentically and giving people yourself. Big Point The Law of Receptivity

I believe that this Law is often the hardest for many to do, but I am a strong advocate of following it, although I have to admit it took me a long time to do so. Lets listen and I urge you to really listen carefully to the authors as they expound on the wisdom of the Law of Receptivity: All the giving in the world wont bring success, wont create the results you want, unless you also make yourself willing and able to receive in like measure. Because if you dont let yourself receive, youre refusing the gifts of others and you shut down the flow. Trying not to receive is not only foolish, its arrogant. When someone gives you a gift, what gives you the right to refuse it to deny their right to give? Receiving is the natural result of giving. If you give and then you try to stop the receiving that comes back, youre like King Canute watching the tide roll out and commanding it not to come back in. It has to come back in, just as your heart has to contract after relaxing. I think thats pretty clear and what a beautiful way of showing the logic in this reasoning, and for added emphasise the authors say: In fact, every giving can happen only because it is also a receiving. Read that again with me please - In fact, every giving can happen only because it is also a receiving. Does that sound like a paradox? It does to me and the authors explain why superbly with: Inside every truth and every appearance, theres a bit of opposite tucked inside. Lets listen to what Carol Adrienne in her book The Purpose of Your Life has to say about lifes paradoxes: The reality of life and the underlying universal laws are usually formed with a paradox which means both/and rather than either/or. To be on the path of your life purpose is to learn to be comfortable with paradox. And just to add further clarification the authors of The Go-Giver tell us that: The Law of Receptivity and the glorious irony of creation that tucks its greatest truths carefully inside of paradoxes. To conclude this Wisdom Note I turn to the student for the final words of wisdom: Every giving can happen only because it is also a receiving. So the secret to success, to gaining it, to having it, is to give, give, give, The secret to getting is giving. And the secret to giving is to make yourself open to receiving.

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A Reminder of a selection of Inspirational Quotes from The Go-Giver.

Go Looking for the best in people, and youll be amazed at how much talent, ingenuity, empathy and good youll find.

You dont have the Power to waste my time, only I can do that.

Whoever said being anxious gets more accomplished?

All the giving in the world wont bring success, wont create the results you want, unless you also make yourself willing and able to receive in like measure. Because if you dont let yourself receive, youre refusing the gifts of others and you shut down the flow.

Its inside that makes you beautiful, not the wrapping.

Colin Lewis. Personal Transformation Guide and Author of Wisdom Notes. Colin teaches spiritual, business and personal transformation. Through his work he assists individuals and groups achieve a higher level of consciousness by removing self-imposed barriers caused by self-deceit and ego. By living from this truth, he helps clients inner understandings become the source of their external actions. His message is about living your life from the heart, with love and integrity (for self and others), openness and awareness (presence) and self-discipline, which leads to creatively and successfully contributing to the world. Subscribe at http://www.wisdomnote.com

Colin
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