Robert Herjavec at National Achievers Congress 2017
“Today we do what others won’t, so that tomorrow we can accomplish what others can’t.” – Robert Herjavec
Mr. Herjavec was a fantastic way to kick off what ended up being a 12-hour day of speakers. He is incredibly successful, insightful, and he comes across as a real human being who cares about helping others.
His accomplishments are numerous, but he highlighted a few for us in the material that was provided at the event.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- He has built and sold multiple IT companies to huge companies like AT&T.
- He started The Herjavec Group, which is “an expert team of highly dedicated security specialists, supported by strategic and emerging technology partners, who are laser focused on information security for our enterprise customers.”
- He is a bestselling author of two books, titled Driven and The Will to Win, and he recently released another book titled You Don’t Have to Be a Shark: Creating Your Own Success.
- I first heard of him, as many probably have, from the ABC hit show Shark Tank, where he and other “sharks” give entrepreneurial insight and invest their own money in small businesses.
- He loves racing cars, and he’s even created a business around this, Herjavec Group Racing. He received Rookie of the Year for his performance in the 2011 Ferrari Challenge North America Series.
That last point brings up a great piece of advice someone once gave me: Whatever you enjoy in life, even if it changes, try to create a business around it. If you do it right (and have what IRS calls a profit motive), you can find a way to make money and deduct expenses for your passion.
Now, let’s get into the key take-aways that I had from his presentation on March 1, 2017.
TAKE-AWAYS
- He says that 99% of success is showing up. This highlights something that I learned and stress over and over again: Knowledge is just potential power… execution is power.
- Nobody leaves “good enough” for even better UNLESS you give what he calls a compelling value proposition. You must convince a person that “good enough” is actually terrible or that “even better” is his true calling in life.
- The difference between the rich and the poor is knowledge.
- It is the human condition to better our lives, and he gave some specific steps to do just that:
- Don’t lie to yourself
- Invest in yourself through knowledge and experience
- Become great at something, because the world pays for specialty, not general knowledge.
- When you’re comfortable, make a change, because it’s near its end.
- You won’t accomplish anything without purpose. He said that it can’t be about just money, because there will always be someone with more. You need to have something compelling you.
One thing I’ve learned a lot about, mostly through consulting, is his point about people paying for specialty, not general knowledge. This is because it takes many more resources to become great at something than good at a few things.
However, it’s important to remember that any entrepreneur will need a lot of general knowledge as well, otherwise he will hit many pitfalls that will prevent him from the success he desires.
I think we should all learn a base of general business knowledge, but Robert Kiyosaki talks about the entrepreneur as the generalist who has a vision. He then organizes and directs the efforts of specialists to reach that vision.
His final point about having purpose is real and true. I feel compelled to succeed in my business to help other people who don’t have access to the knowledge I’ve acquired. I’ve learned from others, and there are so many people out there who are putting off their dreams and passions because they’re afraid or intimidated.
I want to help you realize that you can find a way to lead the life you want. But it must start with you believing it’s possible. That’s where looking at someone like Robert, who escaped communist Yugoslavia as a child to become the immense success he is today can be so inspiring.
It can also be all the evidence you need to know that you can succeed. The people who know what they want and put in the work are the ones who get it. I hope you’re one of them, and me know if I can help you become one!
“Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right” – Henry Ford