Are You Chasing The Golden Goose?

You begin salivating. An endless drool slowly drenches your shoes. You spotted --- a Golden Goose.

A rare species indeed. Some have claimed to know the Golden Goose well. Others have been hunting it all their lives.

She takes many forms...

In sales, it's your next big break. That undeniable HUGE sale. It's a sure thing. You have to bid on the RFP. Who cares if it's from someone you've never spoken to before. You're convinced. It's the next big deal.

Or your future husband/wife sitting so perfectly across the bar...surrounded by bodyguards.

Or your business idea of selling coffee cups. Who doesn't drink coffee? It's going to be in everyone's house. You have no money, no friends, no marketing chops, and you have no business acumen. But hey, everyone else has an eCommerce store, and yours will crush it too.

Ahh...the Golden Goose.

She's full of hope. Full of grace. And she'll be sure to disgrace as you race for your next big break.

Chasing the Golden Goose

The Golden Goose originated in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BC. And no, there's not actually a Golden Goose in case you're one of the many gullible ones.  "To kill the Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs " is an idiom of an unprofitable action motivated by greed.  

"A cottager and his wife had a Hen that laid a golden egg every day. They supposed that the Hen must contain a great lump of gold in its inside, and in order to get the gold, they killed [her]. Having done so, they found to their surprise that the Hen differed in no respect from their other hens. The foolish pair, thus hoping to become rich all at once, deprived themselves of the gain of which they were assured day by day."

Greed comes in many forms.

It's not just money. It's time. Resources. Knowledge.

You may be one of the billions of people chasing the Golden Goose. But you'll fail. Chasing it is a lot harder than creating it.

Steps To Creating Your Own Golden Goose

Stop chasing your next win. Your next big break. Instead...

...Create it.

Don't say "Ahh man" but I wish it were easy. It's not.

If you want something easy, just press a button and invest all your money in the stock market. You may lose it all but hey, you wanted easy.

Step 1: Don't ROT.

If your days consume rotten activities all you'll be doing is chasing your Golden Goose.

Shoving biscuits down your mouth, watching Netflix marathons, and reading comics all day, kills your brain. You're smart. But not if you're days are ROTTEN.

I wrote a detailed post on how to be less ROT-ten. Go read it...like right now.  

Step 2: Listen

If you're surrounded by people who have done what you want to do (or some form of it) and you're not listening...shame on you.

Absorb their knowledge.

Ask them questions.

Listen to them.

Do you need help on how to listen?  

If you're sitting there thinking while their talking. You're not listening. You may hear them. But that's not listening.

If you're not listening, you're not learning. And if you're not learning --- You're ROTTEN.  

Step 3: Learn

Do you read?

If not, stop right now, research the top 5 books in a field you want to be good at and read them.

Once you do that, come back and finish this post.

Reading is that important. I read 50 books a year. That doesn't include industry magazines, blog posts, newsletters, or everything else I read. I'm a sponge. Everyone should be a sponge. A sponge is more valuable than a Golden Goose.

Why?

Because it's real.

Once you begin learning, you'll want to practice recalling and reflecting on what you learn. If you want to know more about the best ways to learn, read Make It Stick.

Try to apply everything you learn in the real world and then...

Step 4: Lose

Breath. Failing is okay. You're not going to fail and lose a million dollars.

Let's say you want to get better at sales. Why? Because you keep chasing the Golden Goose and it never comes. You actually have to create results.

You read the two best sales books on the planet by Anthony Iannarino. "The Only Sales Guide You'll Ever Need" and "The Lost Art of Closing."

You learn many new concepts in the books. Choose 3 you'll start using today. Then fail. Lose a little. Bat a zero. You're not going to be an All Start at making calls if you've never done them. So learn the concepts, try them, fail, and grow. Simple.

Step 5: Repeat

Now that you've put in some blood, sweat and some baby tears. Repeat.

I told you it doesn't come easy.

Do the work. learn and apply new skills. Listen to experts. And fail. You're on your way to creating your own Golden Goose.

Good luck,

Nate Anglin