How to Be More Than Average

Pacing the SUCCESS Live stage with confidence, Michael Bernoff, founder of the Human Communications Institute, sets a lofty goal for himself: “My job is to destroy, in the next little bit, your old program, your old way of thinking?and apply a new one in a 27-minute period.”

Related: 6 Mindset Shifts That Will Improve Your Life

To start, he addresses something we rarely think about when it comes to motivation, drive and hunger: growing up middle class.

Whether you’re in the upper, middle or lower of that bracket, Bernoff says it’s a category that churns out thousands upon thousands of average people. You had everything you needed growing up, so is being successful really a do-or-die thing?

MICHAEL BERNOFF ENCOURAGES THE SUCCESS LIVE LONG BEACH CROWD TO GO BEYOND THE ORDINARY. (COBA IMAGES)

The first step to shattering this mentality, he says, is to find someone (in book or human form) who has already done what you want to accomplish. For Bernoff, his personal breakthrough came in the form of  Dale Carnegies’ How To Win Friends and Influence People.

“Fine and OK, they fit in a box, and we’ve got to step on it?meaning that if you’re not where it is that you want to be right now, our job is to make that place be bigger.” ?Michael Bernoff

Related: Watch more powerful SUCCESS Live videos here.


Explore more SUCCESS Talks videos by topic on SUCCESS magazine”s YouTube Channel, featuring thought-leaders, authors, entrepreneurs and respected researchers in the fields of human psychology, brain health, relationships and more, who share the tried-and-true tenets of human achievement and success.

Running time: 30:17

Filmed September 2017 at SUCCESS Live in Long Beach

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