The Secret To Any Success I Ever Had: Stop Listening To Wannabes

When I first started my career, my manager was harsh and unhelpful.

Not a great start for a wide-eyed graduate with no relevant skills that's eager but clueless.

But despite being in a global recession, I hit the company’s highest sales award my second year on the job—and went on to win that award 9 out of the next 10 years.

Was I some kind of genius? Not even close.

My secret? I stopped listening to her and anyone else who didn’t know what they were talking about. Instead, I learned from the people who had the trophies.

And I mean that literally—those top performers had massive, gold-colored trophies on their desks that the company handed out to winners every quarter. So, I listened to them. I watched what they did, asked questions, and copied their habits consistently.

It worked and it's worked in every aspect of my life from my marriage to my business to doing a TEDx Talk.

Stop Taking Advice From People Without Results

Would you take fitness advice from a fat personal fitness trainer? Would you go to a dentist with bad teeth?No!

Then why take life or business advice from someone who hasn’t achieved what you’re after?

This applies to everyone: your friends, coworkers, parents—even your boss. If they don’t have what you want, their advice on how to get it is worthless.

How to Find the Right People

So, who should you listen to? Winners.

People who’ve been there, done that, and have the results to prove it.

Here’s how to surround yourself with the right crowd:

1. Identify the achievers. Look for the people who are crushing it in the area you want to succeed in.
2. Get in their circle. Attend events, join groups, or even just reach out with a message. Successful people often love sharing their knowledge.
3. Ask smart questions. Don’t waste their time—ask about their experiences, habits, and lessons learned.
4. Act on what you learn. Knowing what to do is pointless if you don’t put it into action.

If you are like me and seek out coaching in areas you want to really invest your TEAM (time, energy, attention and money) into, then I absorb a ton of their free content whether that's YouTube videos, podcasts or whatever social media they post on.

If that information gives me value and its not just constantly selling me some secret process I have to buy, then I can feel pretty good that it's a worthwhile investment.

In the past 2 years, I've invested over $45,000 in coaching and its been worth it 3x over.

Be Willing to Ignore the Rest

This part is hard: you’ll have to ignore advice from people who care about you but don’t understand your goals.

Friends, family, even coworkers might mean well, but if they haven’t done what you’re trying to do, their opinions aren’t helpful—they’re distractions.

And yes, you might ruffle some feathers by ignoring their advice. That’s fine. Your success isn’t about making everyone comfortable. It’s about getting results.

So here's your challenge:

• Think about the advice you’ve been following. Does it come from people with the results you want? If not, let it go.
• Identify one person who has achieved success in your area. Reach out to them—ask a question, grab coffee, or get into their circle.
• Start implementing what you learn immediately.

Success leaves clues. The winners already have the roadmap. You just have to follow it.

Listen to the people with the trophies. Everyone else? Politely ignore.