It was 09th of Jan 2013, the man on the stage is someone who I admired greatly. I could not believe that I was in the presence of this powerful man. He was a relationship and business expert. I said to myself, "I'm going to do whatever it takes to talk and ask this man the question that I've always wanted to ask him."
An hour later, I was standing next to the stage and waited for him as he walked down towards the changing room. I said, "Ryan, I'm your big fan. Can I please ask you a question?"
"Of course!" he gracefully answered.
"Can you share with me the secret to your success?" I uttered.
He paused, looked me in the eyes, and said, "Young man..." He held my shoulder and motioned me to follow him. He continued, "There is no secret. If you can take care of this one thing, everything else in your life will take care of itself such as your success, happiness, and prosperity."
"What is this one thing?" I eagerly wanted to know.
"Relationships. Take care of the relationships that you have and everything else in your life will take care of itself. When you are taking care of the people in your business or the people who work with or for you, your profit will take care of itself. When you are taking care of your relationship with your loved ones, your joy and peaceful mind will take care of itself."
"Take care of the people and the profit will take care of itself." I summarized what he was saying.
"Yes. If you want to be successful in any endeavour, always remind yourself to put people first." He smiled, turned around and walked away towards the changing room and left me to ponder. His words emphasized to put people first.
In an attempt to be successful in our entrepreneurship journey, we sometimes forget this simple advice. Put people first. We have so much to do--clients, to-do list, and family to think of. As a result, we go from one thing to the next and we treat every moment we have with our clients or our loved ones as a means to an end. The relationship then becomes shallow and unsatisfying. If only we knew that by putting people first, we can attain any success that we want in life effortlessly. If only we knew that the secrets of all the great business leaders and successful men and women on our planet came down to one thing--putting people first.
So, my friend, if you want to attain prosperity, happiness, and endless joy in your life, remind yourself always to put people first.