So in life we have many different visible temptations.
Let me explain to you what I mean.
You can be with me and you can see me being tempted with a girl to do something.
Visually you can see it.
You can see me being tempted to steal something.
You can see me being tempted to do something and get away with it.
You can see me being tempted to do something that's absolutely bad.
There are many different temptations in life.
But as an entrepreneur, there is an invisible temptation that when you go through, no one
is ever going to notice, but you.
And that's what stings.
So let me tell you what's the most invisible temptation of an entrepreneur.
You know what's the invisible temptation of an entrepreneur?
It's when the entrepreneur starts dropping their standards.
Let me explain to you what I mean by this.
When the entrepreneur starts lowering their standards, no one feels it.
No one sees it.
No one can see it.
Nothing.
So here's what the standard can look like.
For instance, you've typically had a routine for bringing people on board for working for
your firm, and then you go through an x,y,z 5-step process before you hire them on board.
You're not doing that any more.
You dropped your standards.
You have a process that every single sales rep used to go through, that they had to do
one, two, three before you allowed them to go on the field and start selling.
You're no longer doing that.
You've dropped your standards.
You're no longer expecting your executives at the office to show up at a certain time
and leave at a certain time and really pushing it in their departments that they have; you
don't have that expectation any more.
You are losing your standards.
You are dropping your standards.
You used to expect people to sell a certain amount every month, new person, mid-level,
and high-level salesperson.
You're no longer expecting that from them.
You're dropping your standards.
You used to have a certain expectation of all your vendors and what they had to do.
And now you let them do whatever they're doing and you don't even know it, they're marking
you up 20, 30, 40%.
You have no clue.
You're thinking these vendors love you.
They're commission driven, these vendors.
You're dropping your standards.
You used to have a certain expectation on the way you brought on carriers on board,
or partners on board.
Or product providers on board.
You no longer look through that process.
You've dropped your standards.
You used to have a certain procedure set up when every single time a new subscription
and a new client and a new sales would come in, you had to do x, y, z.
You're not doing that any more.
You're dropping your standards.
You used to pay attention to every single way a phone call would be made to your office
whether it's your front desk assistant, the first person that touches a customer.
"Thank you for calling x,y,z how may I help you?"
"Thank you for calling x,y,z, this is Mary.
How many I help you?"
And then they went through the script.
Now they're like, "Hey, this is Mary, how can I help you?"
No, you're dropping your standard!
You used to be expecting people to not be put on hold for more than 12 seconds.
Now you're not even tracking the time.
You're losing your standards.
You used to listen to the calls every single department would make and go sit in different
cubicles to hear if they still have the same passion, enthusiasm as they're speaking to
the customers.
If they still have the same thing.
You're not doing that any more.
You're losing your standards.
You used to monitor things.
Study trends.
Look at numbers.
Look at different departments on how they're performing.
Have monthly leadership meetings with every one of them.
Sit down and have conversations with them, minimally monthly, if not weekly.
You're not doing that any more.
You're losing your standards.
You used to go out there and visit every single storefront, every single sales office, every
single location that you have in place to see what's going on in there.
Listen to the employees.
Listen to the sales reps.
Listen to the customers.
You're not doing that any more.
You've lost your standards.
You know what's crazy?
Let me tell you.
I could go on and on for another two hours, giving you all the different examples and
you know what you'll notice?
No one is going to know about this temptation because it's invisible.
But you know who notices it?
Numbers never lie.
Let me tell you.
You can blame everything with numbers.
No, but you don't understand what our numbers are because of the market.
OK.
That's fine.
If the marketplace 100% of everybody is struggling, like let's just say the mortgage time and
you are as well.
I'll get it.
I'll give you that one right there, no problem.
If in the marketplace everybody.
. . the day after 9/11 everybody is not selling and you're not, I'll give it to you, OK, no
problem.
If the marketplace has absolutely ridiculous, your headquarters is in New Orleans, God forbid,
a crisis takes place with the flooding.
Something terrible.
. . I get it.
For everybody else, for the most part, if you don't have a disaster or a crisis that
takes place in your business, every single one of it goes back to the invisible temptation
-- you had a drop in your standards.
And you know what typically happens?
You lose a little bit of your edge, which I talked about in another video.
You lose your standards and they feel it because, "It's OK, let him get away with it.
Totally fine.
It's OK.
No problem.
It's this.
It's fine.
It's OK.
It's OK."
No, no, no, no.
Listen.
You lost your standards.
You lost your mojo.
You used to be driving people like "this."
You're no longer doing it.
Why?
Let's talk about that part.
Why do you think that is?
You know why?
Because your belly's full.
[Shakes head up and down.]
It's tough to say that, huh?
No Pat, no way in the world.
Yes it is.
Your belly's full.
Your standards have dropped of yourself.
And the moment your own standards drop of yourself, everybody else around you is affected
by it as well, but no one sees it, except you.
See, only you know if you've dropped you standards.
Nobody else is going to know it.
They'll know it within 3, 6, 12 months 24 months later, because it's going to come back
to you.
And they'll say things like this, "You know, he used to be a lot stronger.
He used to be.
. . She used to be earlier, she used to leave later.
She used to send more, she used to call more.
She used to be. . . he used to be.
. . and he doesn't any more.
What happened?"
But no one brings it up because most people don't want to bring it up to you.
But you lost your edge.
You lost your edge.
I've had many conversations with many entrepreneurs and I'll sit them right there in the chair.
And I'll say, "Can I ask you a question?
Yes what is it?
And they'll typically know what's coming, that it's a tough question coming.
And I'll say, "Can I ask why you keep justifying every single thing?
Why do you justify so much?
Why do you make so many excuses?
"Oh, Pat, you can't say that?"
I'm telling you.
Why do you justify so much?
Why do you make so many excuses?
Why do you constantly justify why you're not winning?
Why do you do that?
Like you don't think I know what you're doing?
You keep doing that.
Every single time.
You're the only person that's going through the struggle.
You tell me about how hard life is.
You tell me about how the market is in your area.
You tell me about this certain thing that took place that's so difficult, that only
you're going through.
Look.
I mean, there are many other people that are also running a business.
But you keep justifying.
You keep making excuses.
And almost 10 out of 10 times, it's because you've already surpassed where you thought
you were going to be as an entrepreneur.
It goes back to the same thing.
And you need to make a decision what's the next goal, next milestone you want to hit
as a company.
And you need to go back and ask yourself, "what did I used to do in these types of situations?"
One of the best questions to ask is to ask your comrades, ask the people you're in business
with.
"Hey, what did we do at that level that was different?"
You know what, you used to do this.
"Hey, what did we do at that level that was.
. . " Hey, you used to do that.
Remember when we used to.
. . I remember one time when you did this.
That's right.
That's what we've got to do again.
Make notes.
You know.
You've got to ask the people around you constantly.
Listen guys, I've been there before myself.
And I have to go around and ask people.
This is not something that I'm trying to be all high and mighty, like it's never happened
to me before.
I'm talking purely from personal experience.
I'm not talking from a place I'm talking at you.
How would I know this type of stuff if I hadn't experienced it myself?
You think one day I was born and just knew this type of stuff?
No.
Everything I teach, I've gone through.
You don't see any, what do you call it when the words are written -- there's a name for
it.
Anyways, we don't have that.
I simply have points, and I start talking.
This comes from the mind.
And I'm talking to you about it, right?
So what I'm trying to tell you is, I know when I went through that and I know the formula
to get out of it.
And now you do, and if you don't, that's on you.
If you don't decide to raise your standards, again, it's on you.
And by the way, let me explain something to you.
Some people say, "People don't like to be around a high standard."
Really?
What types of people?
Maybe the types of people you're attracting are not the types of people you want in the
company to take it to a different level.
I don't want people with low standards around me.
Of course I don't want any type of low standards around the company we're trying to build.
Oh but that's too much tiring.
You don't belong here.
I'm not looking for that type of person.
If you come on our team and you play with it with us, we have plans for doing something
very big.
Our plans are not small.
We're not trying to be just another person.
We're not trying to just make $10 million or $50 million or $100 million bucks, that's
easy to do.
We want to do something that's never been done before.
Our standards are high.
So if you want to be a part of history books, so one day we're sitting there reading about
this stuff, and your name is mentioned, then come and join us.
If not, then don't!
But we have high standards, high expectations.
And so it may take a little bit longer for us to get someone that comes on board that's
part of that type of standard, but the moment they come and then everybody else has that
energy and high standard, guess what?
It rubs off on everybody!
But it starts at the top, with the invisible temptation that you never, ever, ever as a
leader.
. . you want to do whatever you can to not be tempted.
If it's happened before, don't fall for it, it's attractive.
Do not fall for it.
It's more attractive than the hottest girl in the world.
It's more attractive than the hottest hunk in the world, whatever you think it is.
More attractive than any of that stuff.
Don't fall for it.
It's going to hurt your business, you're going to lose a lot of momentum.
Anyways, I said this on another video.
Hey, subscribe to this channel if you haven't already.
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