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Saying Yes, often seems like the right thing to do in business.  After all, it makes us seem nice, open, accommodating, optimistic and agreeable.  But saying Yes can also be a trap.  It can dilute our focus.  Stretch our resources too thin.  Put us at the mercy of other people’s agendas.

I just heard Cal Ripken give a speech.  For those who don’t follow the sport, he’s one of the greatest baseball players of all time.  Astoundingly, he played in the major leagues for almost 17 years straight without missing a single game.  He was voted Most Valuable Player in the entire league twice.  He knows a lot about succeeding.  So I thought I’d put down my summary of Cal’s thoughts on what it takes to be highly successful:

1. The right approach – right attitude, a personal mission statement, and an honest and simple approach.

This is what it is all about. Such a brilliant relationship between a father and son. Very inspirational and moving while putting our own life’s trials and tribulations in focus.

I believe one of the most powerful ways to succeed in any business is to always behave like you’re a start up business.  Why?  Because founders of start up businesses usually have these characteristics:

As of March 2010, the world had 937 billionaires to its credit, according to Forbes. That’s a pretty small club, and you have to imagine that these 937 people would have a few things in common – besides their wealth, that is. In fact, they do. There’s a lot of “new money” among billionaires, and many of them have similar habits that helped them amass their fortunes. Even if your personal fortune is miles away from the billion (or even million) dollar mark, trying these habits on for size could provide a boost to your bottom line.