I saw Brad Sugars, founder and CEO of ActionCoach, this week. A 3 hour seminar that I left after 1.25 hours. I’ve heard most of his 28 points before – and I can’t really buy into Brad Sugars and his multi-millionaire persona. (I’m not the only one with issues, see here.)

I have had interactions with local Action coaches before. Some are good; some are not. If you have never heard of Jim Rohn, Action looks like gold. If you have read Jim Rohn’s work, then the 28 points aren’t new. In fact, some of it sounds like Gerber’s E-Myth. But then who doesn’t borrow. (I do).

When Brad was spouting off about his investments passively making him more than his business (and talking about buying a new helicopter), it reminded me of Tim Ferriss of 4 Hour Work Week fame.

One point to remember: your coach and your financial planner should make more money than you. If not, how can they help you? There’s a theory that I heard from Loral Langmeier that if you learn from a millionaire, they can take you to $100K, because you can only take about 10%. It’s also important how they got their money. Obviously, if your Financial Planner is telling you to buy bonds, but all his money is in T-bills or a couple of mutual funds, you have to ask.

On to some of the points:

1) ATTITUDE. Are you playing to win or playing not to lose? Success requires growth.
2) FINANCIAL SEASONS. Reminds me of Jim Rohn’s Seasons of Life. Think like a farmer. Plant in the Spring, Work the farm during Summer, Harvest in the Fall, fix everything up during the winter as you prepare for another growth-harvest season.
3) THINK GLOBAL. I disagree with this, since so many businesses are local — and should focus on growing that market before growing beyond local.
4) RESPONSE ABILITY. I call this Accountability. You should participate in a Master Mind Group, to expand your view, your thinking, and be held accountable for your goals.
5) OPPORTUNITY. Everything new and different happens in th erealm of discomfort. Growth happens when you are uncomfortable. Fear is just Failure Expected And Realized. Anxiety is just fear before it happens. Get over it. Get uncomfortable.
6) GRATITUDE . Say Thank you. It creates a Relationship when you give thanks. Philanthropy doesn’t have to involve millions.
7) CELEBRATION. Celebrate successes – even small ones. Do you buy yourself a birthday gift? Focus on winning.
Brad did make a joke about TV shows. Now, they are named after the audience: Lost, Desparate Housewives, Biggest Losers.
9) Learn before you earn. Brad says to work for someone else to get a paid education before you start your own business. For many of his clients — small business owners — it’s a little late for that. That’s why they hire a coach – to teach them, to show them, to help them grow.
10) Everyone is in Sales. (I use this one a lot myself in talks). When you were a kid, you were a great salesperson. “I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it!” – Persistent and Pushy. Then we lose that and let No get in our way.
If you believe that your service or product can truly help the customer, aren’t you doing thema favor by being persistent?
11) Dream – Goal – Plan – Action
Have a Bucket List. Write down your Dreams.
12) BE + DO = HAVE.
13) LEVERAGE. Work Once / Get Paid Many Times.
15) It takes about 10 years to get Rich. Learn It. Ride It. Do It. Take Action.
16) CASH FLOW. There’s Passive and Active. Passive is best.
17) CAPITAL. Sell and Buy. I was out the door.
14) Employee -> Self-Employed -> Manager -> Owner -> Investor -> Entrepreneur

That’s the Ladder to climb. As Jim Rohn says, we make the tough stuff up higher, so you have to stand on the books you have digested to reach them. Brad says that you have more to learn to climb the ladder.

Brad also says to invest in Real Estate, Businesses and Stocks. Balance.

A Business is a commercial profitable enterprise that works without me. (I guess I am just self-employed then).

7 Reasons You Might Fail to Become the Best in the World

1. You run out of time (and quit).
2. You run out of money (and quit).
3. You get scared (and quit).
4. You’re not serious about it (and quit).
5. You lose interest or enthusiasm or settle for being mediocre (and quit).
6. You focus on the short term instead of the long (and quit when the short term gets too hard).
7. You pick the wrong thing at which to be the best in the world (because you don’t have the talent).

From Seth Godin’s book, The Dip.

The trouble with many entrepreneurs is that they have so many ideas. Ideas come at them from every where. Here’s the rub though: it’s not the idea; it’s the execution.

Any idea is nothing until acted upon.

How often have you heard someone say, “They stole my idea”? They didn’t steal anything. You have to act on it.

The other problem for some entrepreneurs is that they just want to put ideas in motion. No follow through. Nothing beyond the excitement of starting something. They leave it up to others to execute and carry through on the idea.

When I have listened to Start-ups pitch, the one thing always lacking is a sales plan. It’s great to germinate an idea and launch a business, but how will you make money? I think many hope to be like Twitter: put a ball and bat in a yard and watch other people play with it until you figure out a business model. Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and AOL bought many companies but not more than 120 per year. It’s like buying lottery tickets as your retirement plan.

It’s not the idea, it’s the execution on that idea that leads to success.