My niece just graduated from a top flight parochial school and has been accepted into Wesleyan college. I am very proud of her but I also felt compelled to give her some experiential words of wisdom. I told her that although her college education will be of great benefit to her, it is her mental attitude and behavioral characteristics that are going to make her a true winner in whatever she does. That is my opinion.



How did I get there? Well, you are likely familiar with the concept of "Fight vs. Flight".

Because I am a serious student of success, I study people who have achieved things I also want to achieve. I study what characteristics helped them get there. Then I apply or adapt that to my own behavior.

I have been doing this for a long time. Fortunately (or unfortunately, not sure which) I did not complete college. So, not having a degree, I was forced to rely on my Street Smarts. (hence the name of my company).

I sometimes liken myself to the description that character Gordon Gekko (played by Michael Douglas) articulated in the movie *Wall Street* when he was describing the kind of person he liked to hire: "Give me the guys who are poor, smart (at least I hope so), hungry".

I had to be creative and think of new ways to compete against people who were better educated than me. I had to, as my mentor says, "face the lion and decide to eat or be eaten" - Fight or Flight. It means that when you are faced with a competitive situation or are having a tough time, as you might in sales or business, you have the choice to be the prey or be the predator.

I have learned after several failures and successes in companies I've owned that in order to be wealthy or a success in business (especially if you are the entrepreneur owner) that you have to be a predator. This is not a good prospect for those of us who prefer to be nice; however, it is this predatory, instinctive nature that sets apart the truly successful; the folks who outlast all the rest. It is also the thing that sets us apart from others who are better educated. You see, it really doesn't matter how intelligent or better educated other people are; in my experience (not always but enough) there is a down side to their intelligence; they think too much before they act. They weigh their options too carefully.

Most importantly, they can imagine defeat. If you are going to be a success as a marketer, sales person, a VAR owner or entrepreneur, then you have to ask yourself, do I imagine defeat? Will you eat or be eaten? Will you fight or take flight?