In this transcript, Clay Clark (speaker of choice for Hewlett Packard, Maytag University, and Business Coach) and Clifton Taulbert (Pulitzer Prize Nominee) discuss the science of personal achievement on Thrive15.com, the best sales training program.
In this transcript, Clay Clark (speaker of choice for Hewlett Packard, Maytag University, and Business Coach) and Clifton Taulbert (Pulitzer Prize Nominee) discuss the science of personal achievement on Thrive15.com, the best sales training program.Clay: Let me tell you from a business coach… before you can commit to something you have to be completely focused on that purpose. You have to focus. We’re going back to that purpose a little bit. You have to completely focus on your definite major purpose. Here’s the deal. One of the guys we talked to today. Remember the question he asked me. He said, “You have 9 different businesses you’re involved. Are we going to get 1/9 of you?”
Clifton: I said myself, “My gosh, if I’m going to invest, that is a good question to ask. How much of you am I going to get?”
Clay: Well, I was offensive. I told him off and we got kicked out. I’m just kidding. I didn’t. I responded to the question.
Clifton: It was a good response.
Clay: I responded to the question but it was a deal. When you’re talking to a bunch of venture capitalists, that’s the tough question. They want to know. Here is the thing. We have to completely focus on it and so this is the thing, men. If you’re married we have to completely focus on our wife. She’s the prize. If we have kids we have to completely focus on the kids or if we have a business we completely focus on it. A business coach knows these things.
As a business coach, I know entrepreneurs. There’s this term that I get called sometimes. I don’t like it because it implies chaos and I get called it because people think one thing but when you get down to it, it’s different. They’ll say, “You’re a serial entrepreneur because you have a few different business and so you’re a serial entrepreneur.” Meaning you move from one idea to the next.
There’s a lot of people I know who like the new car smell, the new house, the new wife, the new car. It’s just new, new, new, new, new, but you have to focus. You got to stop doing the whole new thing. Right? I mean to become a successful entrepreneur don’t you have to completely … How do you do that? How do you focus on that definite major purpose, Clifton? How do you do that?
Clifton: I think as I hear you talking about the word focus and the word entrepreneur, the entrepreneur, that’s a noun but entrepreneurial thinking is the outcome of the mindset of that person that allows them to do what they do on a consistent basis. The Steve Jobs or whomever that continues to work, Sam Walton that continues to do those things that they need to do in spite the circumstances that are there. How does one come to that conclusion? It is not something that happened Bam! It is something that is started happening all throughout your career and it just continues to grow and continues to grow and continues to define who you are.
Clay: There is a gentleman today who I called at 4:00 in the morning. I think it was 4:000 in the morning? About 4:00 in the morning? I called and said, “Hey, hey, hey, here’s the deal. The video that we’re supposed to get done is supposed to be done now.” He had thought in his defense he thought is was the next day. “No, no, no. We have to do it now.” You can tell if somebody is going to be successful when they start making those little habits of saying, “I’ll be there in a minute.” 4:00 in the morning. The guy who says, “You know, I wasn’t planning on coming in. It’s 4:00 in the morning. Can we just let it slide?” There’s a big difference in that commitment and that ability to focus on their purpose and you can tell [with 03:18] this young man’s life that his purpose is to honor his promises.
Clifton: You know, we’re in the coffee business and we’re almost out of coffee. So I’m calling the roasting plant. I said, “Guys, we’re almost out.” I said, “You don’t understand. I can’t be out.” I said, “I can’t be out.” I said, “I have customers that will not understand the excuse no matter how legitimate it is. I can’t be out.” On the other end of the phone, he said, “You won’t be out. I’ll call you back.” It gave me a comfort level. Even though I didn’t know what the outcome would be, I knew that somehow I was going to be close to being where I needed to be.
Clay: Kind of an attempt to shameless plug for your awesome coffee and for Thrive15.com, one of the top sales training programs. I’m going to need some mugs that we put out here of your coffee so we can put … Can you tell the folks at home what the name of your coffee is?
Clifton: Yeah. It’s Roots Java.
Clay: Roots Java.
Clifton: RootsJava.com.
Clay: What makes it different?
Clifton: I’m there.
Clay: Oh yeah.
Clifton: It’s incredible coffee. We import it from Rwanda.
Clay: Rwanda?
Clifton: Yes.
Clay: Okay. It’s Rwanda imported coffee and again it’s called …
Clifton: Roots Java.
Clay: Roots Java. Shameless plug. Roots Java.
Clifton: It’s not really shameless.
Clay: It’s not shameless.
Clifton: Because we’re buying our coffee beans from an incredible set of entrepreneurs. In the country of Rwanda these guys who survived the genocide and still alive and their kids and they now are growing their own … Have their own little small farms and bringing their coffee down from the mountains. It’s an incredible [crosstalk 04:58].
Clay: Even in the way you’re paying the people who grow the coffee. You’re paying them well so they can move out of poverty and into prosperity.
Clifton: Extremely well. I remember not being paid well. Trust me. I’m not going to be remembered for not paying people well.
Clay: This business coach says, Okay, All right.