Okay, you caught me. Sometimes I borrow inspirational material from other people. When I do, I give credit where it is due – even when it comes from an unusual place.

One night last summer I was watching a short informational piece on the SEC Network (Southeastern Conference, for those non-sports fans out there). This show was featuring the University of Tennessee football team’s upcoming season. They talked with players and coaches, and discussed the team’s goals and challenges.

Early in my Network Marketing experience, I discovered that I could learn Success Principles from anyone, anywhere who was on the Success Path. It could be in politics, religion, sports, traditional business, TV shows – even in the Comics! The source did not matter. What I would learn over many years was that, when I was out there making it happen in my business, I was more open and looking for those nuggets of Wisdom. As a result, I would find them. However, when I was not building my business much, the best, most powerful tips would go right past me, and I would not even hear them. Hopefully you are making things happen for your future and, as a result, will learn from the message I heard that night.

The Tennessee football coach said that he liked to teach using acronyms. (Gee, that sounds familiar.) That year he, his staff, and the players came up with a current-day slang word as an acronym for the players – and coaches – to live by. The message was basically that everyone was committed to doing things “DAT way”:

Details
Accountability
Toughness

Those three attributes – once focused on by all members of the Team, on a daily basis – could lead both the Team, and each individual, to perform at their best. Let’s look briefly at these in your life, as well as in your business.

How well do you keep track of the Details in your life? Do you have a notebook that contains your written list: of tasks, birthdays, prospects? Do you have a system that works for you to help you track your daily and weekly activity? Do you have a way to keep track of your “pipeline”, where people go through the funnel of becoming a prospect, your calling them, your presentation to them, and your follow-ups with them?

You should.

Professionals in every business do. If you want to become a professional in any area of life, you need to pay attention to the Details.

Are you Accountable? If so, to whom? Is it someone who will lovingly hold your feet to the fire, or is it someone who just wants to make you feel like you are becoming successful when you are not? Successful people – in every area of life – have people to whom they are accountable. I heard a story many years ago about the late Billy Graham that demonstrates this fact.

Early in his career, Reverend Graham discovered that there were people who wanted a personal audience with him pretty much everywhere he went. Sometimes they would do some research and discover where he was staying while in town, and basically stalk him at the hotel – sometimes even being bold enough to knock on his hotel room door – and want to visit with him there. Understanding that he was human – and the temptations of having young, adoring fans want to visit with him in his hotel room – he hired two men to travel with him wherever he went. Their primary duty? To stand guard at his hotel room door, to keep anyone from trying to see him in that intimate setting. In that way, Reverend Graham was being accountable to his wife. It would insure that he would never be tempted to commit adultery, and no one could even accuse him of such.

You probably quickly saw the connection between the first two points of this talk and your life or business. But Toughness?

Yep.

You need to become emotionally tough to succeed to a large level at anything. The best books I have ever read about this subject were written by Scott Alexander entitled Rhinoceros Success and Advanced Rhinocerology. He teaches you in those books how to develop a mental Toughness, so that you do not let people’s words, attitudes, or actions get to you. You develop the skin of a rhino when it comes to dealing with negative people.

Never let people who have no dreams stop you from going after yours!

So, are you ready to start building your life and business DAT way? I hope so. Even people who are not fans of the Tennessee Volunteers can learn from this message, and become a more successful person

Go make it happen – DAT way. I believe in you!