Well here we are, a new year and a new plan, right? I know this – the Platform Builders have some new plans for 2014 and this year we are starting our Mastermind study with a little twist.
This month we are masterminding through The Men Who Built America, a DVD produced by the History Channel along with Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill to compliment the mini-series built around some of the great early leaders and entrepreneurs that help build the United States into a world power at the end of the 19th Century.
If you don’t know the back story on how these two connect together, Napoleon Hill was commissioned by Andrew Carnegie to study the most successful people and find out what resulted in their success. The men who built America were among many of the 20,000+ that Hill interviewed over the twenty year period it took him to write the book.
This month we are going take a look at Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, JP Morgan and Henry Ford. In this, the second of four posts, we will take a look at JP Morgan.
Morgan, most recognized a revolutionizing the way America deals with finance never settled for “good enough.” He partnered with Edison and became a major player in the power industry and later became a master of consolidating organizations to create bigger profits and greater impact.
So why did a man who was born into wealth and never knew what it was like to be in need, risk it all and become “one of the men who built America?”
I Don’t Know Why, But It Just Doesn’t Feel Right.
THE SIXTH SENSE
“Go as far as you can see; when you get there, you will be able to see farther.” – JP Morgan
It would be hard to argue that Morgan “had it all” from day one, yet he was never satisfied. Driven by the success of Carnegie and Rockefeller, Morgan worked off what he believed could be done.
Even through great opposition from his father, he risked the family wealth to pursue the development of electrical power. Even when successful organizations already existed, Morgan’s sixth sense helped him to realize that by combining forces, an even greater business could be developed as seen in General Electric and US Steel.
You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know.
DECISION
“A man typically has two reasons for doing anything: a good reason and the real reason” – JP Morgan
Time and time again, Morgan was faced with difficult decisions. His father was against much of what he did and his vision often included the success of others such as Edison. That being said, he always stood behind his decisions and maintained a forward movement. Why? Because he made a decision. Right or wrong, a decision was made to move forward. If an adjustment needed to be made, he made it. The point is, that Morgan never let the details or fear hold him back. It was not a matter if it was going to be done, simply how.
Plan Your Work And Work Your Plan!
ORGANIZED PLANNING
“No problem can be solved until it is reduced to some simple form. The changing of a vague difficulty into a specific, concrete form is a very essential element in thinking.” – JP Morgan
No one better exemplified the art of organized planning than Morgan. Early on, he successfully planned many activities related to the family financial business. Some actually helped to keep America on it’s feet. Realizing that he could be more powerful by partnering with other individuals and corporations, Morgan put together the necessary plan to take both successful and struggling businesses to new levels of success. This was done by creating a plan that worked and then working that plan.
Tony Robbins said; “It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.” (Tweet This / Share on Facebook / Post to LinkedIn)
The men who build America made both good and bad decisions along their way to power and wealth. The difference – they always made a decision. They all realized that doing nothing would produce exactly that – nothing.
We are faced with decisions every day. Fear has a tendency to keep us from making the difficult ones. My challenge today – choose something you have been struggling with in making a decision and make one. No progress will be made by standing still. There is no neutral in life – you are either moving forwards or backwards. (Tweet This)
What difficult decision will you make today?
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Barry Smith 1/22/14 photo courtesy of Amazon © Building What Matters 2014
