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- Herausgeber: Bruno Editore
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
"This book reveals the essence of authentic relationships and their invaluable importance in the contemporary business world. A journey through networking strategies that transform superficial interactions into deep and productive connections."
Dr. Ivan Misner®, founder of BNI (320,000 Members Worldwide)
"This text proves to be a beacon in the digital storm, reminding us that despite email, social media and chatbots, what makes us feel good are authentic and meaningful relationships." John Gray, Ph.D., Author of "Men Are From Mars Women Are From Venus"
"I am confident that this book will inspire you to make a difference in your circle of relationships." Jack Canfield, Author of "Chicken Soup for the Soul," 500,000,000 copies sold
"The New Relationship Economy" is a collective work that explores the unlimited potential of human relationships in the digital age, where business, technology and spirituality are intertwined.
Ivan Misner addresses the importance of networking in today's world,
Andrea Colombo invites you to become the protagonist of your own life,
Claudio Messina examines how to nurture relationships, from the I to the You to get to the We.
Daniela Antongiovanni brings in the feminine perspective, blending spirituality and business,
Jack Canfield
, outlines the principles of success in relationships.
Giacomo Bruno concludes with an analysis of relationship marketing in the age of the Internet and Artificial Intelligence.
This book is a journey to understand and improve relationships in the modern world and it explains the importance of:
- Building authentic relationships in business and understanding how details can make a difference.
- Finding alignment with one's deepest values and centering as a starting point for bringing value to the world in which we live.
- Cultivating and nurturing relationships day by day, shifting the focus from the I to the YOU to build a greater WE.
- Developing and refining sensitivity to nuances, blending our ancestral sense-seeking with the concrete dimension of business.
- Learning effective strategies for networking in the digital age.
- Integrating relationship marketing principles into business strategy.
- Leveraging technology to enrich, not replace, human relationships.
- Taking inspiration from real stories of success in networking and relationship building.
Das E-Book können Sie in Legimi-Apps oder einer beliebigen App lesen, die das folgende Format unterstützen:
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024
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Ivan Misner - Andrea Colombo
Claudio Messina - Daniela Antongiovanni
Jack Canfield - Giacomo Bruno
Foreword by John Gray
THE NEW RELATIONSHIP
ECONOMY
Cultivating authentic relationships by integrating business, technology and spirituality to create a better and sustainable future together
Bruno Editore
Title
“THE NEW RELATIONSHIP ECONOMY”
Authors
Ivan Misner
Andrea Colombo
Claudio Messina
Daniela Antongiovanni
Jack Canfield
Giacomo Bruno
Foreword
John Gray
Editing
Arianna Ciancaleoni
Claudia Giordano
Mariele Bado
Translation
Daniela Antongiovanni
Chiara Molteni
Cover
Erika Cornacchia
Publisher
Bruno Editore
All rights are reserved in accordance with the law. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the Author and Publisher. It is expressly forbidden to pass this book on to others, either in printed or electronic form, either for money or free of charge. The strategies presented in this book are the result of years of study and specialisation, so there is no guarantee that the same results of personal or professional growth will be achieved. The reader assumes full responsibility for his or her choices, aware of the risks involved in any form of exercise. The book is for educational purposes only. The texts and images reproduced have been used with the written permission of the Authors.
Summary
Foreword
by John Gray
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Networking Disconnect
by Ivan Misner
Chapter 2: Be the Protagonist of Your Life
by Andrea Colombo
Chapter 3: Nourishing Relationships
By Claudio Messina
Chapter 4: Business & Spirituality
by Daniela Antongiovanni
Chapter 5: The 3 Principles of Relationship Success
by Jack Canfield
Chapter 6: Relationship Marketing in the Age
of the Internet and Artificial Intelligence
by Giacomo Bruno
Conclusion
A Journey Towards Your True Potential
Bibliography
The Authors
Dedications
“To the new generations, because relationships are what make us authentic and kind. And the world needs kindness.”
Ivan Misner
“To all the readers of the book, so that they may find useful insights to identify their own Talent. The purpose is to value it in order to achieve Success, as the fulfilment of one’s ideals, values, and purposes in Life.”
Andrea Colombo
“To my mother Nunzia and my father Rino, who were the first to nourish me with love, to my wife Melania and my children Emanuele and Chiara, with whom we discover new forms of nourishment every day, to my brothers Paolo and Roberto, to all my family, to Orta Nova, to Noceto, to Parma, to Italy, to the world. Everything nourishes us and everyone nourishes us.”
Claudio Messina
“To my sons Javier and Roberto Carlos, who have taught me how important it is to have the courage to put oneself out there and never give up.”
Daniela Antongiovanni
“To you who are reading this book, confident that it will inspire you to make a difference in your circle of relationships.”
Jack Canfield
“To my wife Viviana and my daughter Luna, pillars of my life and muses of my inspiration. This book is the fruit of our journey together in weaving deep and meaningful relationships. With all my love.”
Giacomo Bruno
Foreword
by John Gray
Over the past 30 years, I have explored the complex dynamics of interpersonal relationships with books in the Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus series. Today, I have the honour of introducing you to The New Relationship Economy, a work that invites you to reflect on a subject very dear to me: the role of human relationships for human life.
In my career I have always focused on how men and women communicate and interact, and I have been fascinated by how some of the dynamics of relationships have changed in the modern era. While they used to be based on face-to-face encounters, today technology has changed the way we connect. But, as the authors brilliantly show us in this book, the heart of relationships remains unchanged: empathy, understanding, connection.
This text proves to be a beacon in the digital storm, reminding us that despite email, social media and chatbots, what makes us feel good are authentic and meaningful relationships. This book teaches you how to navigate the digital age without losing the human touch, that spark that makes our interactions special. In a hyper-connected world, we face a new form of loneliness, an inner disconnection. The first step to overcoming this challenge is to recognise it. But despite these difficulties, technology also offers us incredible tools to cultivate and enrich our relationships. At the origin of every relationship is self-awareness. Understanding who we are, our needs and desires, is the foundation for building healthy and satisfying relationships. Personal growth is essential not only for individual well-being, but also because our relationships can make us happy. The book will guide you through this process, showing how introspection and self-development can improve the quality of our interactions. And then there is the business world, where spirituality and personal awareness can have a huge impact. Integrating spiritual principles into our work environment not only improves our professional lives, but also our daily interactions. It is a powerful fusion that opens new paths to deeper and more meaningful success.
And then we dive into the heart of relationship marketing in the digital age. We explore how digital strategies can be used to create and maintain meaningful connections, despite the challenges of digital disconnection. It is a delicate balance between using technology to amplify our humanity and not letting it stifle our true essence. In these pages you will find stories, examples and strategies that will show you how to navigate this world without losing connection to what is truly important: human relationships. This book is a reminder that no matter how much we live in an age of incredible technological advancements, it is our human relationships that define and enrich our existence.
The New Relationship Economy is not just a book, it is an invitation to reflect on how we want to shape our future. It is essential reading, a watershed, for anyone wishing to navigate this new world without losing sight of what makes us truly authentic and human. It is an exhortation to rediscover and value relationships, in an age where they seem to be increasingly digital, but where the human heart still beats strong.
John Gray, Ph.D.
Introduction
The New Relationship Economy aims to be a watershed, to help human beings connect the dots, recognise, cultivate and express their value on a personal and professional level.
Our network of relationships is the place where this value can manifest itself and grow. Everything starts from the I, involves the YOU until it becomes that WE that contributes to ‘nourishing the relationship’, that WE that has a high, philosophical, dare we say ‘spiritual’ connotation. Let us see why.
We often meet adults, professionals and entrepreneurs and many other people, who at a certain age ask themselves questions: about the meaning of what they are doing today and what they will be able to do in the future, thinking about themselves, their family, sometimes the community they belong to. Sometimes they leave the activity they have built up until then to its fate or, even worse, they carry it on even though they no longer feel any inner flame, almost resigned to a condition of permanent stress.
If one does not know one’s WHY, one can find oneself living a life without deeper meaning. At that point, it is easy for the material goal to take over, the ever more instantaneous gratification anaesthetises the search for meaning and obscures the dimension of cultural growth, and when it is not achieved or becomes unattainable, as in the case of a crisis, it is again easy to fall prey to the fear of losing everything, with very dramatic consequences.
Behind every professional, entrepreneur, tradesman, but also employee there is a family, with young people looking for an example. For us, this relational chain is extremely important, because it represents the path from our present to our future, illuminated by our ideals and values.
The key is: Alignment. Aligning Why, Vision, Mission, Identity and Values allows us to clearly and purposefully define our goals. In this way, Talent can emerge and become the engine of our lives, helping us to live in a dimension of harmony, first of all with ourselves, but also with our most significant relationships, in the personal and professional spheres. Finally, we will also be able to ‘contaminate’ (yes, that’s right, contaminate!) the rest of our entourage with the desire to create harmony. Then we will not only be true protagonists of our lives, but also Ambassadors of Harmony in our own little slice of the world. Which, thanks to digital technologies, is no longer so small.
We want to create authentic relationships that stand out for their quality and human value. We want to carefully choose the people we bring into our lives, and with them we will be ready to create useful opportunities that bring into the world the change we have experienced first-hand and have already triggered so many times in people’s lives. But this is not enough for us: we want to propagate and see it with our own eyes.
We will take the field on two fronts:
Alongside adults, to help them find or strengthen meaning and harmony in their daily reality.Alongside young people, in schools, to sow more and more Awareness, Knowledge (not notionism) and Culture.
Young people are only 20 per cent of our population, but they represent 100 per cent of our future. This book will become a watershed between the old hetero-determined concept of ‘knowledge and competition’ between people and the new self-determined concept of ‘culture and collaboration’ between people, thanks to elective tools such as Relationships, Talent, Focus and Heart.
The world will first identify us as ‘relational idealists’ and then recognise us as ‘relational innovators’. Believing deeply in a society built on the collaboration of people and the co-creation of projects, we took the field to realise it, and it has become part of us to the point of being a way of being as well as a way of doing. It has led us to success, in various forms, above all to harmony and fulfilment. It is natural that we want the same for everyone.
We will meet and listen to every reality. We will engage ourselves. We will break every pattern and then rebuild it, nurture it to make it more fluid and accessible to all. It is imperative to look at our future and co-create it. Together, it will be faster. From concept to method, to become ‘The Relationship Handbook’.
Chapter 1
The Networking Disconnect
by Ivan Misner
Dr. Ivan Misner® is Founder & Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, the world’s largest professional networking organisation. He is also the author of 29 books, many counted among his bestsellers by ‘The New York Times’ . Described by ‘Forbes’ and CNN as the ‘Father of Modern Networking’, Dr. Misner is considered one of the world’s leading experts on professional networking, on which he is regularly invited to speak at events organised by the world’s largest companies and associations.
1.1 The three Rs of networking
Imagine waking up in a world where you spend your work week meeting face-to-face with highly qualified potential clients, returning calls and e-mail messages regarding quality referrals from current customers and other business associates, and having a trusted group of other like-minded professionals who are eager to help you succeed. No more cold calls, no more expensive advertising campaigns, and no wasting time chasing leads that go nowhere. Sounds like a wonderful fantasy world, right? But what if this “alternate reality” really does exist?
Now imagine a circle. This circle represents all of your relationships, both personal and professional. Once the circle is formed, it has no end. If you do the right things in a relationship, the circle will continue. It goes around and around, over and over, and with every rotation, the relationship improves and becomes stronger. The success of these circles, the relationships in your life, depends on one very important detail: there is no break in the circle. If there is a disconnect anywhere in the circle, like the interruption of an electrical current through a circuit, that break will stop the flow of energy.
In business and personal relationships, these disconnects happen to people every day, all around the world. Why? It’s simple: they have not formed the right circles. They haven’t done all of the right things consistently once the circle is formed. Once the disconnect occurs, most give up on that particular relationship. But what if there were a way to keep these relationships going full circle, indefinitely? What if there were a way to ensure that relationships foster referrals, which then produce results? We call this the three Rs of networking: relationships, referrals, results.
The three Rs of networking must happen collectively to avoid what we call the “Networking Disconnect”, unfortunately many businesspeople resist the three Rs of networking. Why? Simply put, because it’s work. It takes work to develop relationships, it takes work to give referrals, and it takes work to ensure results keep coming. When the process doesn’t flow smoothly—and it often doesn’t—is when people give up. They disconnect. Thomas Edison said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work.” He also stated, “Many of life’s failures are people who didn’t know how close they were to success when they gave up.” As you enter into this process, stay with it. Don’t give up. The benefits are far too great. And remember the most important thing as you set out on this journey: it’s all about the relationships.
1.2 The Networking Disconnect
I was at a big networking event. More than nine hundred people were in the audience, and I asked everyone there: “How many of you came here hoping to do some business—maybe make a sale?” Almost everyone in the audience raised their hands. I then asked, “How many of you are here hoping to buy something?” No one raised their hand—not one single person! This is what I call the “Networking Disconnect.” Most people show up to networking events wanting to sell something, but no one is there hoping to buy something! This disconnect is why so many people hate networking. Over and over again, I read articles from well-meaning “experts” who say horrible things about networking. The problem is, they are generally experiencing “direct selling” done under the guise of networking. That’s where the Networking Disconnect comes in, and that’s almost always behind the reason some people don’t like networking.
If you’re going to networking events hoping to sell something, you’re dreaming. OK, I recognize that it can happen—but it generally happens as often as a solar eclipse. It’s possible that anyone can stumble over an immediate sale at a networking event, but then, even a blind squirrel can find a nut occasionally! Don’t confuse direct selling with networking. Effective networking is about developing relationships, not using the event as a “face-to-face cold-calling” opportunity.
I recently read an article published on a major online business platform titled “Stop Networking.” It went on to explain how the process of networking is so “mercenary.” The problem is that every example the author gave about how networking doesn’t work was an example of really bad networking! Their conclusion was to stop networking. Instead of networking, the author said you should do these five things:
1.Focus on relationships, not transactions.
2.Don’t ask for something before you give something.
3.Don’t make the process about you.
4.Strive for quality, not quantity, in your relationships. 5.Volunteer for leadership roles in organizations you belong to.
Hello! Does anyone notice that the emperor has no clothes? I would argue that all five of these strategies are about networking—the right way. In this article, bad networking tactics were presented as the reasons people should stop doing it. Networking can certainly be done badly—but networking itself isn’t bad.
The key at networking events is to make solid connections with individuals so they will remember who you are when you do follow up with them. You want them to be excited to meet with you for coffee or lunch. If you go to networking events just trying to sell, those people won’t want to meet with you later because they know you’re going to pitch them. If you want people to be eager to meet with you after networking events, the key is to find ways to help them. Think back to the nine hundred people in my audience. Think about all the circles that had the possibility of forming, and connecting, and how many of them most likely didn’t. If everyone in that room focused on learning who they could help, as opposed to sell, imagine the relationships that might have been. Good networking is all about building relationships.
1.3 The Number One Question to Ask Yourself (Hint: It’s about Your Passion)
For sixteen years, I taught classes at a state university. The college kids would come up to me and ask, “Dr. Misner, in your opinion, what are the upcoming business opportunities? What field should I go into?” Because I taught management theory, strategic planning, and social capital in the business school, my students thought I’d have insight into the hot new trends in the market.
I’d ask them a very important question in return: “What are you passionate about?”
The students would look at me with confused expressions and say, “Um, no, my question is ‘What’ s the upcoming thing?’ “
I’d reply, “I hear your question, but what are you passionate about?” One kid said to me, exasperated, “Dr. Misner, you’re not listening to me!”
I countered, “No, you’ re not listening to me. I’m asking you what you’ re passionate about because when you tell me what you’ re passionate about, then I can think about what’ s upcoming that may have relevance to your passion.”
Sadly, too many college students pick a field of study based on job openings and salary potential, only to find out later that they have no passion for it. Before wasting years of schooling and racking up tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt, these students need to be asking themselves the right question: “What’ s my passion?” If they don’ t, they will fail miserably. It’ s not an abstract question, and it has to be answered personally.
I almost made this same mistake myself. I had been accepted to law school, but I didn’t honestly have a passion for it. I’m a very linear thinker in many ways. I weighed the pros and cons of law school, and on paper, it seemed like the logical choice. To this day, I can’ t give you a good reason why I didn’t go to law school. I think I understood back then, even as a young man, that I had to follow my passion. I realized that for whatever reason, at that time, law wasn’t my passion. I can’t tell you why it was not my passion, but I can tell you it was not my passion. I went in a different direction, following my passion, and as I look back today, I’m so happy I did.
That’ s why the number-one question to ask yourself is “What’ s my passion?” Once you’ve answered that question, then look for opportunities that capitalize on your skills and your passion. Now, picture a candle. The flame is dancing and bright, while the wax is thick and slowly dripping down the side. I learned long ago that I’m either working in my wax or working in my flame. When I’m working in my flame, I’m excited and energetic. I’m doing what I love, and the passion for it clearly shows. The work really doesn’t seem like work because I’m doing what I love to do. These are the things that make me want to spring out of bed in the morning and seize the day. I’m on fire and everyone around me can see that I’m in my element.
On the other hand, when I’m working in my wax, I’m doing things that sap my energy. They might be tasks I’m not good at or don’ t enjoy doing. They may be things that aren’t my skill set but still need to be checked off my list. Whatever they are, I dread doing them. They drain my energy, and I find myself procrastinating and becoming frustrated at work.
The solution to working in your wax is to remember that your wax is someone else’s flame. There is another person out there who loves to do the things you hate doing. Delegate the tasks you don’t like or aren’t good at to your employees or outside contractors. The more time you spend in your flame, the more successful you will be. Follow your passion. Flame work is infectious.
1.4 Finding Your Why
Stop. What are you doing in business right now and why? Imagine if you asked yourself this question before doing anything. Sure, in cases such as brushing your teeth, bathing, and eating, you don’t need to explore these decisions. But what about your business activities? There is a thin line between a groove and a rut. Major changes are often unnecessary, and sometimes small ones can regain our rhythm. You may find that you hit your groove again when you redetermine your “why,” also known as your ECC (Emotionally Charged Connection.)
Whether you’re a CPA or a mechanic, with all due respect, we don’t care. We really don’t. What we care about is why you put your feet on the floor this morning and decided to stand up and go to work. There can be so many reasons, and only you know what they are. But does the rest of the world? Would you step over a winning lottery ticket if you knew it was more than a piece of paper? Would I step past you if I knew not only what you do but why you do it? People don’t care much about what we do for a living, or how we operate, until they know what drives us. Most of the people we meet talk to us only about what they do, but they never explain why.
Let’s explore the five reasons your why should come first…
Believability—Skepticism is at an all-time high. Think about all the different channels of communication now available to us to broadcast our message, not to mention the vast number of people and businesses vying for attention. Among TV, social media, and radio, it’s enough to make anyone’s head spin. It’s only natural to defend ourselves from the onslaught. Automatically, people are not to be believed—that is, until they give us a compelling reason to do so. Likeability—”Sell yourself, not your stuff,” Virginia Musquiz said recently at a conference in Petaluma, California. Webster defines a “commodity” as a “mass-produced unspecialized product.” Ouch! Do other people sell what you sell? If the answer is yes, you’d better get some likeability. Products and price being relatively equal, people will always choose to buy from someone they genuinely like. Authenticity—When and how have you failed? It’s true that no one wants to look bad. However, if you look perfect, that is even worse. Weave stories about your failures and imperfections into your conversations with others. If you can show some humility early on, you will shorten the trust timeline. It’s OK to share with people that you make mistakes, especially if you then tell how you’ve fixed them. Connectivity—What do we have in common? In a recent training session, we learned that the other people in the class enjoyed photography, cycling, cooking, nature, and running. Bonding and rapport comes when you share the same hobbies with someone else or when you are interested in learning more. Referability—Recently an electrician told us the dramatic story about his career choice. He said, “When I was eleven years old, my family rushed out of our home in the middle of the night due to an electrical fire in the basement. While everyone made it out all right, we lost everything—the house and all of our earthly possessions. I knew then that I never wanted this to happen to anyone else, so that’s why I became an electrician.” If your story is not this dramatic, that’s OK. But we still want to know the reason why you do what you do.
It makes no difference how you communicate your message, whether it’s TV, radio, print advertising, billboards, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, keynote presentations, or face-to-face meetings. Until we know why, it doesn’t matter what you do.
1.5 My Why
There has probably been someone in your life—a coach, grandparent, teacher, aunt, or spiritual mentor—who’s made a difference for you. It may have been when you were young (it generally is) or it may have been recently. It may have been a positive experience, or it may have been very negative. Either way, it is your “why” for what you are passionate about.
I’ve certainly had people who have made a significant difference in my life. One of those people was my freshman high school teacher, Mr. Romero, at Gladstone High School in southern California. Mr. Romero taught history, and that class was the one that selected the student council representative for the freshmen. I had run for student council numerous times in junior high school and was soundly defeated each time. The elections weren’t even remotely close. In fact, I came in dead last every time. Each election was a humiliating experience that left an indelible impression on me. So, by the time high school rolled around, I had no intention of running for student council again. Ever!
The first week of freshman history class, our teacher, Mr. Romero, asked all the students, “Because we pick the freshman student council representative from this year’s history class, are there any volunteers for the position? Who would like to do it?” Nobody volunteered. Finally one of the prettiest, most popular girls in the class said, “Oh, Mr. Romero, you know, I would do it, but I’m just so busy! I don’t have the time to do something like that.”
Mr. Romero replied, “That’s OK, you don’t have to do it. But if no one’s interested in volunteering, as the teacher, I get to pick. Are you OK with that?”
The students came back with cheers: “Yeah, yeah, yeah—you go ahead and pick!” So the teacher looked around the class, paused his gaze at me, and, looking me straight in the eyes, he said, “Ivan, I’ll bet you would love to do this, wouldn’t you?”
I replied, “Well, um, well, yeah, I kind of would, Mr. Romero.” My momentary elation was immediately squashed when the entire class, almost in unison, moaned, “Oh, no. Not Ivan!” Even the too-busy popular girl stood up and said, “No, no, Mr. Romero. You know what—I’m actually not that busy. If you’re going to pick Ivan, I can do it after all!” Of course, while she was saying all this, I was thinking, Hello. You all see me sitting here, right?” But I couldn’t actually open my mouth to speak. I just sat there, quiet and embarrassed, holding my breath. Have you ever had a moment like this? When you felt so small you just wanted to slip underneath the carpet? That was how I felt in that moment.
It’s important to put this experience in context. Today, I’m an author, speaker, and fairly successful businessman with franchises on every populated continent of the world. But remember, this was happening to me as a young thirteen-year-old boy. I lacked confidence, I felt like I didn’t fit in at all, and I couldn’t get a chance to prove myself at something I really wanted to do. Just imagine, for a moment, how humiliating this was for me. I didn’t have the advantage of peeking into the future to know where I would end up. I have to tell you, it was a raw, exposed moment.
Somehow, Mr. Romero understood that, and he gave the ever-popular girl a withering look and said, “No, you had your chance to volunteer, and you didn’t take it. So I’m empowered to pick a representative, and I pick Ivan.
He’s the student representative! Now, open your books and turn to chapter two.”
Despite the grumbles rolling through the classroom, Mr. Romero’s decision was final. I was the Student Council Representative. My teacher believed that I could do a good job. I took a deep breath in and knew I would work hard—really hard—to prove him right. When the year-end Student Council elections came around for the following year, I decided to do something I had vowed to never do again: I ran for Student Council. That same class who loudly protested my appointment voted me in for another year, by a landslide! As a matter of fact, I won every election in high school after that—Student Council, Activities Director, Student Body President—every single one. It all started with Mr. Romero seeing something in me that I had not been able to see in myself. His giving me that chance allowed me to prove myself. This infused confidence in me, and that made a huge difference in my life. I gained leadership skills and learned responsibility by being involved in those school projects that I had to take from the beginning to the end. Mr. Romero positively influenced my life by giving me the opportunity to succeed. He didn’t do the hard work for me, but he opened the door for me. He gave me a chance to excel, to succeed, and to show what I was capable of doing.
Years later, I knew this was an important experience in my life, but I never realized how seminal it truly was to the man that I would become. It wasn’t until a few years ago at a Referral Institute seminar that I came to realize that my entire life’s work was in fact, a reflection of what Mr. Romero did for me as a young man. We were all studying our Emotionally Charged Connections (ECCs) to understand why we do what we do.
Every book I’ve written or business I’ve started has been an attempt to give other people an opportunity to succeed, to excel, and to accomplish what they want to accomplish in life. I can’t “make” someone successful. Only they can do that. I can however, provide the system, the process, and the opportunity for them to achieve their dreams. I have been continuously reliving what Mr. Romero did for me, and I never even knew it—until I looked deeply into my “why.”
Your “why” is the most important thing you can figure out right now. It is the reason you do the things you are passionate about. If you don’t know that, you can never come full circle to completely fulfil your dreams.
We will be talking about the importance of your ECC later in this book. If you pick up nothing else from reading our thoughts (and we genuinely hope you pick up a great deal), you definitely want to figure out your “why” for doing what you do.
This is so important that we’re going to do something that authors rarely ask a reader to do. In a moment, we want you to put the book down and go back in your mind to a time in your life that was a nexus point. Think about something that happened to you that dramatically changed the direction you were going or that had such a fundamental impact on who you were that it influenced the person you are today. That is your “why.” It may be something big that happened in your life, or it may be something small that had a big impact. Either way, you’ll know it if you go back far enough.
OK, what are you waiting for? Step away from the book.
1.6 Refuel Your Motivation
Some time ago, one of my blog readers asked me these excellent questions: “Ivan, what do you do when your motivation level and self-esteem are lacking? How do you regain the motivation you need to move forward with your plans and pursue your endeavors?”
