Five Thoughts You Must Have to Succeed

Soldier's story is inspiration to work hard to achieve your goals

By Dr. Cliff Baird

RISMEDIA, March 12, 2007-"You will never leave where you are, until you decide where you want to be."

His day began like a dozen others. When it ended, this Navy flier began four years of physical and psychological terror. His plane was shot down that day. When he parachuted to the ground, the Viet Cong, who by this time were freely roaming the jungles of South Vietnam, met him.

After a period of brutal interrogation, he began his four years inside a 5-foot-long, 4-1/2-foot-high, 4-foot-wide tiger cage. It was made of bamboo and tied together with jungle vines. He was carried on the shoulders of the Viet Cong up and down the Ho Chi Min trail for the next four years.

Can you even begin to imagine the horror? But he never lost sight of who he was. He was a proud member of the United States Navy and his sole objective was to harass the enemy by finding any means possible to escape. So, each night he had a ritual that started when the guards would inevitably fall asleep. He would wait cautiously and then he would diligently check every bamboo bar, every knot, every night. Nothing ever happened. He grew into despondency and then to abject despair. He reconciled, after four long years, that he would never see his family or his home ever again. But he still fumbled with his bars and the knots each passing night.

Then one evening during the heavy monsoon rainy season when the jungle gets quite cold and damp the miracle occurred. That very night his despair had grown to such a point that he had given up hope and decided to quit his foolish hope of freedom. He was sick and shivering in the cold night air. Then he heard it. He listened intently and he actually believes to this day it was audible. He heard a still, small voice say, "Go on, do it one more time. Check the bars one more time." He did and that evening he squeezed his frail body out between the broken bars and escaped into the darkness. Three days later, he was safe in an American compound.

Let us all learn from how this brave and lonely man motivated himself in this terrifying circumstance.

1. He desperately and passionately wanted to be free.
How committed are you to your success? How much passion do you show everyday to yourself, your loved ones, your clients and your future? People want to be around passionate people! It is an energy field that draws others like a magnet.

2. He saw his freedom as a responsibility.
Although real estate sales is inundated with marketing concepts and a plethora of lead generating Web sites, in the end, it's up to you.

3. He knew he would never be free if he chose to do nothing.
One of the most difficult battles you will wage, in this the greatest of all careers, is that there are no time clocks to punch, nobody to manage your activities and no deadlines to meet. Because we all tend to gravitate to the line of least resistance, if something is easy to do, it is also easy not to do.

4. He overwhelmed his circumstances rather than being overwhelmed by them.
Doers passionately overwhelm their present circumstances by deliberately choosing the daily activities that they already know will lead to the fulfillment of their dreams.

5. When he could do nothing else, he still persevered and did all that he could do.
Can we imagine how phenomenal our lives would be if one of our guiding life principles was to do all that we could do in each of our circumstances and with each of our opportunities? We would have a lot less stress in our lives. RE

Cliff Baird, MBA, PhD, is a business therapist and real estate sales management coach, helping agents and managers for over 25 years. He recently introduced ReSTAR (Real Estate Sales Temperament and Aptitude Report) a customized, online recruiting program for brokers and managers. He can be reached at cliff@cliffbaird.com.