Six months ago, I had the unique opportunity to interview a childhood hero of mine. He stands 6 feet 6 inches tall—his palm could probably cover your whole face. And he has inspired millions of people worldwide.
Who is he? Tony Robbins.
During our interview, Tony and I were talking about the current state of the self-help or personal development world and how it’s becoming saturated with less experienced people who claim to be professionals, how a lot of people are calling themselves life coaches and entrepreneurs without any experience. So I asked Tony this: How can we make sure that the level of quality is kept in the industries we are in, no matter what industry it is?
“The good news is, the best rise to the top,” Tony said. “And if you get real results in the world we live in today, good news travels fast and bad news travels faster with the web and social media. If you really are the real thing, your brand is going to grow and people will come to you first. There’s no substitute for putting yourself on the line so you can produce results.”
But to answer my initial question, How can you be sure only the best experts survive? Tony said this: In essence, you can’t. “People that are terrible are going to be there. They are in every industry.”
“The ultimate advantage in business is truth, and the only way to gain your truth is through experience, which allows you to deliver something that no one else does,” he said. “The way to look at it is, What’s going to make somebody’s life greater? How do you help people improve the quality of their life? And that doesn’t have to be an industry; it’s a way of life.”
This is a great concept to bring into your life. How are you gaining your truth right now that will set you apart from the rest? Have you had your hands dirty in the trenches, have you experienced the blood sweat and tears of hard work in your arena? What lessons of experience do you have that will bring value to the masses?
Tony taught me a simple step-by-step way to succeed in business, or any area of your life:
1. Know what your purpose is.
2. Know what your outcomes are.
3. Put yourself in state.
4. Do the hard work of sticking with it.
5. And get feedback until you get where you need to be.
The world is changing so much now with the Internet and social media. People can call themselves all kinds of things and portray themselves as professionals, but one law still applies: The proof is in the pudding, and it’s only a matter of time until the true winners show up.
It’s great to believe you can achieve something and to speak the language of it. But if you aren’t following through on your beliefs with action to build your hands-on experience, then the word will get out sooner than later that you aren’t the one for the job.
What lessons have you learned when it comes to gaining experience and building your reputation as a professional?
Here’s the audio of the interview I did with Tony Robbins on the Addicted2Success podcast:
Joel Brown is a 2015 SUCCESS BlogStars winner, nominated and voted upon as one of the most influential self-development writers and bloggers on the web.