The Most Important Principle of All

I am often asked by franchisors and franchisees to suggest a good business book. There is one I recommend and give away often.

Many of the people I tell about the book, or have given a copy to, will not read it. While they say they want to be successful, perhaps they haven't understood the first and most importan principle of success - if you really want something to happen in your life, you have to bebpassionate about it.

A little word that delivers big results

Passion - it's one of the most misused words in business today. Having passion is not about getting excited. To think this is to miss the point. It actually comes from the Latin, "to suffer".

While you may experience feelings of enjoyment, energy and even elation when working towards something you are passionate about, you need to also be willing to do whatever needs to be done, without fear and resentment. When the mind is totally focused on what you want, discomfort has no meaning. You are free to fully throw yourself into the task at hand.

If you watched last week's AFL Grand Final between St. Kilda and Collingwood you witnessed an amazing spectacle of passion in action, and how desire to succeed can drive unbelievable levels of commitment and performance. St Kilda's comeback in the second half was truly inspiring.

You will have also seen this type of passion in your best franchisees. High achievers tend to have this in common - it enables them to keep going when others give up.

The four principles of success

This brings us back to my favourite book, first published in 1937 and to my mind, the best book on success ever written.

In it the author explains the four principles that enable people to achieve what they want in life. While he did his own extensive research at the time, these principles have since been validated by modern psychologists.

They are:

1. Having a definite purpose backed by a passion.

2. Creating a simple plan.

3. Maintaining an optimistic mindset.

4. Developing alliances with supportive people.

This book has it all. Goal setting techniques, harnessing the power of the sub-conscious mind, how to set up mentoring groups, and much more. There is even a chapter on managing the sex drive in business - topical at the moment, given the David Jones court case.

Since it was first published 73 years ago there has been a plethora of personal development books, most half-baked, regurgitating aspects of this seminal work.

I believe that any franchisor executive or franchisee with a passion for success would greatly benefit from reading this book. It's called "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill.

And because I have been an avid St. Kilda supporter for over 50 years let me just finish by saying "Go Saints!!"

Until next time,

Greg Nathan