Today we want to talk about an incredibly inspiring success story. More importantly, we want to talk about the people who hate the janitor.

Graduation season is always full of high hopes and BIGG dreams. We always enjoy hearing or reading about all the great convocation speeches.

But this year’s biggest inspiration didn’t come from any of the high-powered speakers. It came from a janitor.

You may have heard about Gac Filipaj. He’s the 52-year old graduate from Columbia University.

What a success story – he fled to America to escape civil war and ethnic cleansing in his homeland. Like so many first-generation immigrants, he sought opportunity.

And opportunity – just like the success it leads to – comes with a price. He thought nothing of this; he was willing to pay it.

He discovered that Columbia offered its employees 14 credit hours of classes every year for free. He wanted an education. So he took a job as a “heavy cleaner” at Columbia – mopping floors, cleaning toilets, and taking out the garbage.

After learning to speak English, it took twelve more years to get his degree in the classics. He attended classes in the morning followed by a full day of work from mid-afternoon to 11 PM. Then he would crack open the books to study, occasionally pulling an all-nighter to study for an exam or write a paper.

Now he plans to continue on to get his PhD. He wants to teach. And he hopes to get promoted to supervisor.

It’s the American Dream alive and well!

But what really struck us is the attitude of the haters. And there are plenty of them, visible in the comments on the various stories we read.

You know these people. They are so miserable that they can’t feel good about themselves unless they feel like they made others feel bad.

They don’t see any value in this amazing man’s accomplishment. They assert that a janitor’s job is menial. They decry his degree as useless. They say it was a waste of time.

We couldn’t disagree more.

We believe there is dignity in every job. Every job is an opportunity to learn about yourself and become a better person.

We don’t profess to knowing anymore than they do. But from what we know, we think he made a great decision. He’s living his life on his own terms. Who cares what they think?

In the meantime, what are they doing? Commenting on his life and mocking his choices.

We ask you – who’s wasting time?

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There are two kinds of people in the world.

The first group finds the will to win.
The second will, when it’s not so too hard.

The first type finds a strategy.
The second drifts. Focus is too difficult.

The first group finds the resources. |
The second complains. They don’t have enough.

The first kind finds the time.
The second is too busy wasting it.

The first group finds a way to face their fears.
The second are too fearful about saving face.

The first type finds a launching point.
The second runs out of fuel before they get started.

The first kind finds a way to put their plan in motion.
The second gets paralyzed.

The first group finds solutions.
The second can only see problems.

The first set finds the lesson in every failure.
The second fails to try again.

The first kind finds people who lift them up.
The second hangs with people who hold them down.

The first group finds inspiration in the success of others.
The second just feels jealous.

The first type finds a way to lend a hand.
The second looks for a hand out.

The first kind finds a way to get the job done.
The second finds excuses.

The first group finds themselves.
The second define themselves through the opinion of others.

The first type finds BIGG success.
The second remains stuck where they’re at.

Which kind of person are you? You may not be all one or all the other.

But you can migrate to any of the characteristics you want to obtain. Don’t try to change everything at once.

Focus on one trait at a time. Keep working on it for four to six weeks. Once you have it done, move on to another.

Before you know it, you’ll be a BIGG success!

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If you’re a regular here, you know that we love quotes. And today we want to share two quotes by two men with two points-of-view.

Hear this post on The BIGG Success Show podcast. Click a player to listen to George & Mary-Lynn.

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“When we talk about settling the world’s problems, we’re barking up the wrong tree. The world is perfect. It’s a mess. It has always been a mess. We are not going to change it. Our job is to straighten out our own lives.”

~ Joseph Campbell

It’s an interesting perspective. It’s life on your own terms. It’s about your life. It puts the focus on what we can control. It encourages each one of us to take responsibility for our own life.

However, there’s a negativity to it. A sort of deterministic attitude about the major problems of the world.

See beyond the horizon

“The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were.”

~ John Kennedy

It’s optimistic and expansive. It encourages us to go beyond the limitations we often place on ourselves. To look just past the horizon. To dream BIGG dreams. To accomplish BIGG things.

We need you to be an entrepreneur

BIGG success is about entrepreneuring your life. We need entrepreneurs in all walks of life – entrepreneurs in the corporate world, in politics, in academia, in the non-profit world and, of course, in the traditional sense.

We need you to be an entrepreneur. No matter what your station in life.

We need you to tackle your own challenges. We need you to grow.

Then you’ll be ready for an even bigger test. So you can help create a better world for other people.

We need you to see things as they really are.

No “perception is reality” hogwash. You see the objective reality. An honest assessment of yourself and the world around you.

We need you to see things as they really are before you can evolve to the next phase.

We need you to see things as they could be

Starting with yourself, of course. What could you be? How can you get from your current reality to this future reality? How can you become all that you know you were meant to be?

And then, because you’re a BIGG goal-getter, you won’t stop there.

You’ll see the world around you. You’ll see people who need your help.

You’ll find a solution to their problem. You’ll add value to their life. When you do this, you’ll create value in your own life.

Yes, entrepreneurs are the answer to the world’s problems. We need you to be an entrepreneur. We need you to knock down the obstacles and create a world that only you can create. We need you to be a BIGG success!

Will you join us? What problem would you like to see eliminated? What cause are you passionate about?

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00725-080911.mp3

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How do you feel when someone you know suddenly achieves BIGG success?

As humans, it’s not unnatural to compare your progress to others.

It’s a trap…and a tool

Of course, judging yourself by the success of others can be a trap. BIGG success is life on your own terms, after all.

It’s most important to compare yourself to yourself:

How far have you come in the last year?

How different does your future look now compared to then?

If you’ve made meaningful progress, give yourself a pat on the back.

Of course, comparing yourself to others can also be a useful tool. But you must first dispel one term in the question we asked at the beginning – “suddenly”.

Almost no one “suddenly” achieves BIGG success. It takes years of work – hard work, smart work, focused work, etc. – to reach the heights you want.

Okay, you know that. But at times, you may still feel a little twinge of jealousy.

The bad side of jealousy

Most people think jealousy is a bad thing. And it can be…

It is a very bad thing if it causes you to resent the person who succeeded. They may be the very person to help you reach BIGG success. After all, they know how they did it!

It can also serve as a de-motivator. You may find yourself in a downward spiral when you compare yourself to others. You know the drill:

You tell yourself you’re not good enough, you don’t deserve it. You wonder why it was so easy for them. You tell yourself that other people get all the breaks.

STOP!

You are good enough. You do deserve it. It’s highly likely it was NOT easy for them. They probably MADE their break.

They may have had resources you don’t have. That’s okay. It may take a little longer but your story will be even better. Your BIGG success will be that much sweeter.

The good side of jealousy

The other side of jealousy is inspiration. Some people get inspired without experiencing any jealousy. They feel happy for people who succeed wildly. Good for them.

It’s okay if you feel a little jealous. But it’s not okay to JUST feel a little jealous. It has to light a fire within you! It has to motivate you.

So get off your you-know-what and do something about it! Get inspired! They’ve shown you what YOU can do. So go! Do it!

If you know you haven’t given it everything, then give your all.

If what you’re doing now isn’t getting where you want to go, then do something else.

Keep pushing and before you know it, other people will be jealous of you! Oops, we meant to say inspired.

Let us know if we can help you. We’ve designed a very affordable a la carte coaching package for people who just need a little one-time guidance. To check it out (and our other coaching programs) click here.

Until next time, here’s to your BIGG success!

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Baloney!

It’s a myth that we all aren’t constrained in the same ways. But there’s a bigg difference between the average Joe or Jane and people who ultimately reach bigg success.

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Remove the constraints!

The average person gives in to those constraints. Bigg goal-getters don’t see themselves as constrained so they don’t allow themselves to be constrained.

They don’t waste time telling themselves all of the reasons why they can’t do something. They focus, instead, on why they can do it and how they will get it done.

There’s a key lesson for us: By changing your focus – from “can’t” to “can” – you open your mind to all sorts of possibilities.

Your mind follows your lead

Your mind will let you take it wherever you want. Think about why something can’t be done and your mind will come up with all kinds of reasons to prove you right!

Think about how it can be done and your mind will start figuring out any number of ways to overcome every challenge that holds others back.

Sure, some ideas won’t work out. You won’t care. You know one of them will lead you to bigg success.

But if you never get out of the gate – if you just assume that you can’t win the race – you won’t.

The first part of the killer combo: Child-like imagination
People who reach bigg success dream bigg. You must dream again. You must dream the kind of dreams you dreamed when you were young.

Your dreams probably won’t be exactly the same as they were then. But they will be as bigg as the dreams you saw through the eyes of a child.

When the world was your oyster.
When there was nothing you couldn’t do.
When you could imagine all of the bigg things that you would accomplish.
When you knew that nothing could stop you.
When you couldn’t wait to grow up so we could get to all these wonderful ideas.

The second part: Experiential wisdom
But you’re not a child anymore and that’s good. You’re better equipped now to achieve your bigg dreams than you were then.

Combine that child-like imagination with the wisdom you have gained from your experiences. Together, they will help you achieve things that other people only fantasize about, if they allow themselves to think about them at all.

That’s the difference. That’s why you should celebrate your age. You have gained an asset that you didn’t have when you were young.

You have learned from your experiences, haven’t you?

Celebrate them! Take joy in all of them – the good, the bad and the ugly!

You have the killer combination to achieve bigg success! Because of it, the possibility of achieving the impossible is more probable!

Believe

But too much of the time, we don’t think about that. We stopped dreaming bigg dreams. We accepted being average and ordinary.

Deep in your soul, you know that you’re excellent and extraordinary. You have to believe again!

Believe that you can achieve what you can conceive! Then find a way to do it.

It only takes one person discovering one way to do anything that’s never been done before. Then people marvel at the accomplishment.

You’re still the one!

You are that one person! You were born to dream bigg dreams. You know it because you’ve done it. You were born to be excellent and extraordinary.

But first you must remove the limits that keep you from dreaming bigg. Dream.

Then think of ways to make your dream your reality.

Believe that you will win. Did you hear that? You will win. You will achieve your dream. You’re still the one!

Now, take action and you’ll be a bigg success!

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Thank you so much for the gift of your time today. Please join us next time when we’ll talk about why it pays to be small in business today. Until next time, here’s to your bigg success.

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Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00521-111309.mp3

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(Image in today's post by asifthebes)