Just the sight of him was enough to send chills up and down the spine of even his most experienced competitors.
He is not just one of the Flying Aces; he is considered the ace of aces.
Manfred von Richthofen is perhaps the best known fighter pilot of all time. You probably know him by his personal brand – The Red Baron.
While he was the enemy of our ancestors, we found his story compelling. He came to disdain his chosen career. But in his journey, there are lessons for us today.
Listen to this post! Click a player to hear George & Mary-Lynn on The BIGG Success Show Podcast.
[haiku url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00732-090111.mp3″ title=”The BIGG Success Show #732″] From shaky observer to master of the air
The Red Baron began his career in the second seat of the plane. In his autobiography, he recalled his first flight:
“The draught from the propeller was a beastly nuisance. I found it quite impossible to make myself understood by the pilot. Everything was carried away by the wind. If I took up a piece of paper it disappeared. My safety helmet slid off. My muffler dropped off. My jacket was not sufficiently buttoned. In short, I felt very uncomfortable.”
He continues, “Before I knew what was happening, the pilot went ahead at full speed and the machine started rolling. We went faster and faster. I clutched the sides of the car. Suddenly, the shaking was over, the machine was in the air, and the earth dropped away from under me.”
Even then, his new job did not come easily.
He says, “I was to direct my pilot…but I had lost all sense of direction. I had not the slightest notion where I was.”
But soon he began to marvel at what he was seeing – the tiny men, buildings the size of toys.
He notes, “It was a glorious feeling to be so high above the earth, to be master of the air. I didn’t care a bit where I was, and I felt extremely sad when my pilot thought it was time to go down again.”
It’s uncomfortable to try something new. You may feel completely lost at times. But over time, confidence comes. With enough practice, you master your domain.
Finding a mentor
Early in his flying days, The Red Baron met Oswald Boelcke. He was one of the most famous flying men of his time, with more victories than any other ace.
The Red Baron sought his advice, “I took great trouble to get more closely acquainted with that nice, modest fellow whom I badly wanted to teach me his business. We often played cards together, went for walks, and I asked him questions.”
A mentor isn’t just someone you call when you need help. Build an ongoing relationship. Get to know him or her personally. Play some cards if they like. Go for a walk. And ask for help.
What’s your whole aim and ambition?
The Red Baron learned from his mentor that the secret was flying alone. Then he could use a smaller, faster, more maneuverable craft.
He writes, “My whole aim and ambition became now concentrated upon learning how to manipulate the stick myself. I threw myself into the work with body and soul, and after twenty-five training flights I stood before the examination in flying alone.”
BIGG success comes in iterations. You have to focus exclusively on reaching the next level. Put everything else out of your mind.
What’s your red handkerchief?
One day, when he was just a boy, he climbed all the way to the top of the most famous steeple in town. He placed a red handkerchief on it as a memento.
Years later, as you know, he painted his plane red to stand out from all the other fighter pilots.
Red made him famous to the whole world. It helped him be a BIGG success!
What’s your red handkerchief?
How do you show the world what you’ve accomplished?
I said that we should make something clear about life on your own terms. I could be going through a mid-life crisis. Does life on my own terms mean getting a fancy new sports car, spending money like crazy, going clubbing, shirking my responsibilities, and walking away from relationships, all in an attempt to get my youth back?
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Life on your own terms is not a license for poor behavior
In fact, it’s quite the opposite. It should be an ideal that we strive to live up to. It’s about finding our purpose for being here and then deploying all of our resources to live up to that promise.
Because of that, it’s not a selfish thing. We can’t reach bigg success without the help of others. In this age of interdependence, we are able to live our lives on our own terms by helping others live their lives on their own terms.
Life on your own terms is also not a passing fancy
It’s a direction, not a point. It’s very emotional because it is so personal, but it’s not based on one’s feelings at this moment.
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I may feel depressed right now. Does that mean life on my own terms means being depressed? Of course not.
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Feeling down from time to time is something we all experience, but we have to respond to it, not just accept it or give in to it. Going to the mid-life crisis example, maybe I’m not feeling as young as I used to. Is the answer really to blow a bunch of money and waste a lot of time?
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Bigg goal-getters accept that there are some things that we can’t change. No amount of money is going to make me any younger physically. We recognize the realities of our situation and respond positively to keep moving toward our bigg goals – where we want to go, what we want to achieve, who we want to be known as.
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Each day we write another page of our autobiography. We show the world who we are by how we live our lives.
Life on your own terms is dynamic, not static
While it’s not a passing fancy, it does evolve over time as we discover more about ourselves and the world around us.
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I remember when I was in my early twenties – life on my own terms then meant being in the Forbes 400. I wanted to get rich in my own business. Then I heard Donald Trump asked about the difference between $70 million and $700 million. He said, “A bigger boat.” I realized then that I didn’t need a bigger boat!
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So how did that change your terms?
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I decided it wasn’t worth my time to work that hard to make the extra money. If all I was going to get out of it was a bigger boat, I wasn’t interested. Don’t get me wrong; money still helps! But life on my own terms evolved to building quality relationships and sharing experiences.
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Your desire to own your own business didn’t change?
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Oh no, that desire definitely stayed the same.
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So life on your own terms changed as a result of this new information. You realized there were more important things to you than the money you thought you wanted. But you still wanted to be in business for yourself.
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You may decide that less is more like I did. Or you may realize that you’ve been selling yourself short and you want more.
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It’s life on your own terms. It’s not a license for poor behavior. It’s not a passing fancy. But it is dynamic; it may change over time as you gain knowledge about yourself and your environment.
How has your definition of life on your own terms changed over time?
Share that with us by leaving a comment below, calling us at 877.988.BIGG or sending us an e-mail at bigginfo@biggsuccess.com.
Sam Walton built the world’s largest retailer from a single store. He says that he wasn’t much of a rule-follower, but in the end, there were things that he did that he felt made him successful.
In his autobiography, Made in America, he described ten things that worked for him.
#1 – Commit to your business.
#2 – Share your profits with all your associates, and treat them as partners.
#3 – Motivate your partners.
#4 – Communicate everything you possibly can to your partners.
#5 – Appreciate everything your associates do for the business.
#6 – Celebrate your successes.
#7 – Listen to everyone in your company.
#8 – Exceed your customers’ expectations.
#9 – Control your expenses better than your competition.
#10 – Swim upstream.
And his unstated bonus rule … #11 – Break all the rules!
https://biggsuccess.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/bigg-success_stacked-1080.png10801080George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Fosterhttps://biggsuccess.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/BIGG-Success-Nurturing-Your-Inner-Entreprener.jpgGeorge Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster2008-04-15 16:44:552021-01-24 00:31:42Sam Walton’s Rules for Building a Business
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Bigg success is 
I said that we should make something clear about life on your own terms. I could be going through a mid-life crisis. Does life on my own terms mean getting a fancy new sports car, spending money like crazy, going clubbing, shirking my responsibilities, and walking away from relationships, all in an attempt to get my youth back? 
I may feel depressed right now. Does that mean life on my own terms means being depressed? Of course not. 