Comfort is the Enemy of Accomplishment

……………………..He who is content with what has been done is an obstacle in the path of progress

It’s out there right now. Lurking in the shadows of your success. Hiding where you least expect to find it.. It is the silent business killer that strikes without warning and can bring even the biggest and the brightest companies to their knees. What is this hidden terror of which I speak? Complacency.

Don’t think it can happen? It does, every day. It happens to small businesses. It happens to the big and mighty. It cares not of your size, length in business, or otherwise. It cares only of the cold, hard reality that while you were satisfied with what you did this week, somebody else was not and they took the same thing we taught you and they did it better, faster, and have passed you like you are sitting idle on the Indy 500 track.

The truth is anyone can come in here and learn the All Star Motivation business model and in as little as a year be on your way to every dream in your brain.  It really is that easy.  Proof?  I personally watched Billy Nolan move into an apartment, put every $cent he had into making All Star Motivation a reality.  We put our business model to the test.  We made mistakes, we altered the model, then we perfected it.  In one year All Star Motivation was well on its way to success.  By Year 3 it was moving so fast it was hard to keep up, by year 5 we doubled in size and now in year 10 it will be our year to win!!  There is no Plan B!

All Star Motivation is not a place to wait for your “if only”, it’s a place where complacency will kill your business.  Avoid complacency always. Avoiding complacency is essential to any business’s long-term longevity. Here’s how you avoid it:

• Practice reasonable paranoia–Someone is always coming for you. Someone is always figuring out how to beat your office. So practice reasonable paranoia. Don’t lose sleep over the fact that once you are Rocking someone will always be looking to knock you off that top spot. Nothing should ever quench your thirst for success.  Practicing reasonable paranoia will keep your business fresh and out in front of the competition by ingraining into your business that you must always strive to be better because someone else is right now. They’re out there. Trust me.
• Look in the rear view mirror–When you’re in the lead it is often difficult to see who is behind you. So what? Look anyways. Who is your closest competitor? Your closest three? Five? What are they doing now and what are they planning? Don’t obsess. Ultimately you have to run your business. But that does not mean you cannot take an occasional look over your shoulder to see what they are up to so when someone starts gaining on you your company will be ready to react.
• You can (and should) always do better–But if you always wait to react ultimately there will come a time when you will not be able to do so in time. As such, you must always recognize that you can do better. No one’s perfect. If you ever get to the point where you say it is 100% perfect the way that it is you’re not looking hard enough. We are always adjusting, making moves, plans, something. Be proud of what you accomplish but always look for ways to improve at every aspect. But staying out in front is about challenging yourself to find better enhancements, better or cheaper service, and to strive to always do better even before you are forced to react.
• Listen for fresh ideas–Think you know it all? Wrong. Anyone who does will fall to the complacency bug. Rather, solicit ideas from others in your company and existing customers alike. They’ll tell you want they like and, perhaps most importantly, what they do not. For in the end if you are too busy patting yourself on the back you can’t hear the next great idea which may not even come from you. Great ideas can come from anywhere, anytime, anyplace, be ready!

Wherever you find success you’ll find complacency. But you have the ability to control your situation –– if you have the will and desire. It takes so much to become successful, why bring yourself down. As Benjamin E. Mays, the minister and educator, said, “The tragedy of life is often not in our failure, but rather in our complacency; not in our doing too much, but rather in our doing too little; not in our living above our ability, but rather in our living below our capacities.”; the real opposition lies with yourself. Complacency is the enemy of success.