Why do some people have enormous success in business, and in life, while others fail? How do business tycoons and influential people get others to follow them, buy from them, and adopt their views?
This “one thing” was understood and practiced by these famous people who accomplished a great deal that would have otherwise been next to impossible.
Mark Cuban sold an iffy company for billions
If you type in broadcast.com into your web browser right now, you will be redirected to a different web site (yahoo). There is no broadcast.com. But 16 years ago, the web site was run by Mark Cuban who enthusiastically told the world he was building an online TV network. The site broadcast sports and bikini fashion shows – at a time when Internet speeds were still slow, so the video quality and viewer experience was marginal at best.
But Cuban’s enthusiasm, salesmanship and belief in his product was so convincing that Yahoo bought the company for $5.7 billion (making Cuban the billionaire he is today).
Without Cuban’s guidance, Yahoo had no idea what to do with broadcast.com and it died.
In effect, Yahoo paid almost $6 billion for what today is equivalent to a $12 web address. Cuban has been laughing all the way to the bank ever since.
How did Mark Cuban make billions from what today is nothing more than a web domain redirect?
Richard Branson became rich despite being dyslexic
As a young man, Richard Branson would often be embarrassed by his dyslexia. The reading disability made both reading and writing very difficult, even though Branson is extremely intelligent. When he was in school, Branson’s teachers were convinced he was lazy. Branson is a high school drop-out, but today owns 150 companies the world over, every one of them making money.
How did a high school drop-out with a reading and writing disability become one of the world’s great entrepreneurs?
Walt Disney had “no good ideas”
Walt Disney was fired as a newspaper editor because he was told he had “no good ideas”. So in 1921, he decided to draw cartoons and sell them to newspapers. However, he had to wait 6 months to be paid and as a result, could not pay his rent. One report said Walt Disney survived at that time on eating dog food.
In 1927, Disney tried to sell MGM studios on the idea of Mickey Mouse, but was told that a giant mouse on the screen would terrify people.
Today, Walt Disney is one of the most recognizable and valuable brands on the planet.
How did a failure who ate dog food become a household name?
Believe in Yourself
The one thing that made these people triumph in the end was an unshakeable belief in themselves.
That, in and of itself, would not necessarily produce success. However – when you believe in yourself, something else very magical happens – others believe in you too.
How to show the world that you believe in yourself
Mark Cuban, Richard Branson and Walt Disney before them, have shown a commitment to believe in themselves. Here’s how they accomplished this, and how you can too.
- Speak confidently and assertively: When you make a point, do so with conviction and passion. Be convincing. Be exciting.
- Emphasize the good stuff: Stress the benefits of what you say for other people. Sell the sizzle. By so doing, you will make them believers.
- Other people’s opinions about you are not important: Brush off the views other people have of you. Those views are not important in the end. In the words of Mark Cuban: “That’s their problem.” How you see yourself is what counts.
Believe in yourself and the world will believe in you too.
