FTI—The #1 Reason People Don’t Reach Their Goals
Several years ago, I was speaking at a seminar to a group of
business owners and sharing that many people have ideas,
but they never act on those ideas, therefore their vision never
becomes a reality.
My friend Kirby Lammers was sitting on the front row and
muttered “FTI” to the person next to him. “What does that
mean?” I asked. “Failure to implement,” he responded.
Over the years, I’ve come to realize that the number one
reason people don’t grow to the next level in their lives, career,
or business is FTI, Failure To Implement.
Would you agree that there are things you could do to…
■ Have a more successful career or business?
■ Be more successful financially?
■ Be healthier?
■ Have stronger relationships?
■ Have more peace?
■ Have more hope for the future?
■ Have less stress?
Would you agree that many times you simply don’t do
those things?
Would you agree that you don’t do things you know
you should do, even when you know what to do and how to
do them?
Would you like to be more productive?
Would you like to perform at the highest level possible?
Would you like to reach your biggest dreams and goals in
life and business?
Of course you would! That’s why you picked up this book.
But this is not just a book. It’s a guide, and I’m your coach.
This guide reveals ten powerful principles that will help
you become the person you want to be, so you can do the
things you want to do, so you can have the life, business, or
career you really want.
If you’re like most people, you’re not fulfilling your God
given potential, and you’re not reaching your biggest dreams
and goals because of FTI.
One of the most important things I have discovered about
FTI, is that information alone doesn’t create implementation.
In addition to information, you need four more things to
consistently implement.
- Inspiration. You’ll be inspired by the stories and the
quotes in this book. To stay inspired, be sure to down
load our free resources at www.HowardPartridge.
com.
- Organization. As you read the information, you’ll
want to get yourself organized for maximum imple –
mentation. The Ziglar Personal Performance Planner
is the tool I use to stay focused and organized every
day. Get your own planner at www.Ziglar.com.
- Training. As you become aware of the skills you
need for maximum performance, you’ll want to seek
deeper training in areas where you want to perform
better.
- Community. Finally, the most important key to
implementation is to have the support, encour –
agement, and accountability from a community of
people who care about your success. Join our com –
munity at www.HowardPartridgeInnerCircle.com.
You can also have your own small group (we call
them PODS, which stands for Power Of Discovery
Systems.TM), to use in your company, church, or ser –
vice groups. I have provided a 13-week outline at the
end of this book that perfectly matches a quarterly
schedule.
A couple more things you might want to know before div-
ing into this book…
FTI: Failure To Implement
First, I am a believer in Jesus Christ, so many of my ref –
erences will come from Scripture. You do not have to be a
believer to benefit from these principles, just like you don’t
need to know Scripture to learn how to ride a bike, but it is my
conviction that humankind is created by God, and we will not
reach our full potential without His presence in our lives. We
need the Word of God and the wisdom of God in our lives to
navigate our complex, chaotic, and confusing world.
To support the principles I’m sharing with you, I will also
share a supporting proverb from the Old Testament Book of
Proverbs from time to time. Most of the book was written
by King Solomon, who is widely held as the wisest man who
ever lived.
Here’s what 1 Kings 4:29-34 (ESV) has to say about
Solomon: “And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding
beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the sea
shore, so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the
people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser
than all other men…. And people of all nations came to hear the
wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had
heard of his wisdom.”
Proverbs contains God’s principles that lead to life and
wisdom. In fact, Proverbs opens this way: “The proverbs of
Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and
instruction, to discern the sayings of understanding, to receive
instruction in wise behavior, righteousness, justice and equity;
to give prudence to the naive, to the youth knowledge and dis –
cretion, a wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a
man of understanding will acquire wise counsel, to understand
a proverb and a figure, The words of the wise and their riddles.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise
wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:1-7 NASB).
Take another look at verse 3: “to receive instruction in
wise behavior.”
Have you ever suffered from unwise behavior? I sure have.
We all have. Beliefs don’t change overnight. Your values change
very slowly. It’s a journey.
Next, you’ll notice I quote a man by the name of Zig Ziglar a
lot. The first reason is that Zig Ziglar had a profound impact on
my life. As we go along in this book, you’ll see how influential
the Ziglar philosophy has been on my life. This inspirational
teacher, the late Zig Ziglar, touched an estimated quarter-of-a
billion lives through his speeches, books, and recordings.
Zig was one of the most influential public speakers in
the world, and certainly became a legend in the American
landscape. To this day, he is most likely the most quoted motiva –
tional speaker on earth. Our hurting world needs this message
of hope and encouragement today more than ever before.
Second, the Ziglar philosophy is a complete philosophy for
personal and professional performance. Why would I recreate
the wheel when it’s already complete?
Third, I have personally witnessed many of the lives that
have been transformed by the Ziglar philosophy, which inci –
dentally is also based on the Word of God as well.
Fourth, keeping the Ziglar legacy alive is now part of my
professional role. Over the past eight years since Zig Ziglar
spoke on my stage, I became the exclusive small business coach
for Ziglar, Inc. Later I was honored to become the world’s first
Ziglar Legacy Certified Trainer. That was followed by an offer
to become Executive Vice President of Training Operations,
which I was thrilled to accept.
Today, I help Tom Ziglar run the company, which I could
not do without Tom’s daughter, Alexandra Ziglar. I try not to
miss an opportunity to recognize Alexandra because she serves
me so well in my role at Ziglar. She is extremely conscientious,
and her work is impeccable. She is super smart and fun to work
with. Who better to help us bring the Ziglar message into the
future than a young and talented Ziglar!
The icing on the cake of working with Ziglar is all of the
wonderful people around the world I have the pleasure of meet
ing. Recently, my wife and I visited one of the Ziglar Legacy
Certified Trainers at her home in Rome, as we capped off a two
week trip to Italy. My passion for you is to have phenomenal
success in all areas of your personal and professional life. The
Word of God and the Ziglar philosophy are two main sources I
rely on.
Finally, if you have read any of my other seven books,
you may notice that I have repeated a story, a concept, or an
illustration that appears in a previous book. That’s because
this book you are now reading ties all of my previous books
together. From 7 Secrets of a Phenomenal L.I.F.E., to The 5
Secrets of a Phenomenal Business, to Think and Be Phenomenal,
to Phenomenal Marketing Systems, to Phenomenal Success
Stories, to Discover Your Phenomenal Dream Life, to The Power
of Community, they all require implementation. That’s the pur –
pose of this book—to help you implement the things that are
important to you, so you can reach your biggest dreams and
goals in life and business.
Again, this is not just a book. It’s a growth journey that
should continue long after you read the book. I want to person
ally challenge you to live by the ten proven principles that will
drive the performance you desire. Each of the principles is fol
lowed by a very important question.
- The POTENTIAL Principle: Understanding Your
Potential Impacts Phenomenal Performance. “Who
do you think you are?” All humans suffer from a
poor self-image to one degree or another. Who you
think you are, and Whose you think you are will
determine whether you act on your goals or not.
- The PICTURE Principle: A Compelling Picture
Imagines Phenomenal Performance. “Where are you
going?” Human beings do what human beings see
in their minds. This can be positive or negative. If
you can’t see yourself doing something, you won’t
even try. But when you have a clear picture in your
mind, and you believe it, you will take the steps to
get there. You have to see the reaching of your goals
in your mind first.
- The PURPOSE Principle: Knowing Your Purpose
Inspires Phenomenal Performance. “Why do you do
what you do?” Humankind was created for a pur
pose, but most people never find their purpose.
Many live lives that are meaningless, just getting
through the stress of the day. Knowing your purpose
gives you a new level of energy and passion.
- The PEOPLE Principle: The Right People Influence
Phenomenal Performance. “Who do you have
around you?” The people you have around you will
either keep you from being productive or they will
promote your potential and purpose. Your closest
friends, family, and associates heavily influence you,
whether you admit it or not. Having the right people
around you will help you understand your potential,
to help you see a more meaningful picture, and help
you embrace your purpose.
- The PLANNING Principle: Proper, Focused Plan
ning Initiates Phenomenal Performance. “How will you
get there?” You can’t go somewhere you’ve never been
without a map. When you have the right directions,
you can get where you are going faster and easier. You
cannot even get started without an itinerary!
- The PRIORITY Principle: Living by Priority Ignites
Phenomenal Performance. “What’s important now?”
Life offers many opportunities, both good and bad.
That’s why it is so easy to get distracted. Staying
focused on what’s truly important every day is key
to long-term implementation.
- The PROCESS Principle: A Simple Process Improves
Phenomenal Performance. “What systems will you
use?” Creating simple systems into your life and
business makes production more predictable and
precise, which saves you time, energy, and money.
- The PRODUCTIVITY Principle: Consistent, Per –
sistent Productivity Insures Phenomenal Performance.
“What action are you taking?” We know we need
to be more productive to reach goals we have not
reached before, but the kind of action we take each
day is critical. We need to take focused action every
day that takes us closer to the goal. How you use your
time each day is vital to phenomenal performance.
- The PROGRESS Principle: Tracking Your Progress
Illuminates Phenomenal Performance. “How are you
tracking?” Just like tracking your progress on a trip,
you need to track your performance so you know
how you are progressing. Are you early? Late? Right
on time? Tracking your success reveals, illuminates
your performance, good or bad.
- The PATIENCE Principle: Exercising Great
Patience Increases Phenomenal Performance. “What
will you give?” Reaching a level of phenomenal per –
formance doesn’t happen overnight, it happens over
time. The Patience Principle helps you live these
principles for the long haul. Diligence over time
brings huge rewards.
Each of the chapters are followed with the Action Steps
required to implement the information shared more effectively.
