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This is a harsh truth for those who don't achieve first-class status.
But it's a reality that Conrad Hilton and Paul Rasch have both observed.
Rather than a lack of talent, those who don't achieve first-class status share common "habits" and "internal structures."
They are:
Not keeping promises to themselves.
This is where it all begins.
Deciding to do something tomorrow but not doing it
Deciding to wake up early but not getting up
Deciding to improve but not improving
This isn't a promise to someone else.
This is a promise to yourself.
Hilton said,
"Other people won't trust people who don't trust themselves."
First-class people
first keep their promises to themselves.
They want immediate results.
People who don't achieve first-class status
want to be "rewarded" before they continue to "do the right thing."
Why aren't they appreciated?
Why aren't they paid more?
Why aren't they recognized?
Rasch said: "Don't seek fruit before the roots have grown."
Those who seek results before the foundation is laid
will lower their standards along the way.
And at that moment, growth stops.
When no one is watching, they lower their standards.
This is a crucial difference.
Third-rate people behave correctly because they are watched.
First-rate people behave correctly because they are judged by standards.
When no one is watching.
That is where a person's true standards lie.
Rush said this in Japan.
"Character is how you act when no one is watching."
Continually comparing yourself to others.
People who can't become first-rate
constantly use others as their standard, believing they are above or below that person.
But first-rate people are different.
The object of comparison is
yourself from yesterday.
Hilton said.
"The real competition is not with others."
"It's your own standards."
Comparing yourself to others only leads to either security or impatience.
It doesn't lead to growth.
Not fully accepting responsibility.
This is the deepest difference.
When a problem arises,
Third-rate people look for the cause outside.
First-rate people look for the cause within themselves.
Even if they are only partially responsible,
they ask themselves, "What improvements could I have made?"
That thought alone can change the future.
Don't continue.
This is the simplest and most decisive.
Many people
start,
but don't continue.
Hilton quietly said,
"The secret to success isn't something special."
"It's just doing the right thing long enough."
Most people
quit just before seeing results.
And so they never reach their goal.
The Most Essential Commonality
Finally, there is the deepest commonality.
And that is:
They don't set their own standards.
Standards that change depending on their surroundings.
Standards that change depending on their environment.
Standards that change depending on their mood.
That way, they won't reach first-rate status.
First-rate people
are those who continue to uphold their own standards,
regardless of external circumstances.
Conrad Hilton finally said,
"The world has the power to make you third-rate."
"But only you have the power to make you first-rate."
Paul Rasch continued,
"And the difference lies in whether or not you hold yourself to the standard today."
Knowing the common traits of people who don't become first-rate is the same as knowing the path to first-rate success.
Because --
All you have to do is stop doing them, one by one.
