This post was guest blogged by Allen Young, the co-author of “Tenant in Common Investing-The Uncommon Path to Massive Wealth“
The A list is a term first used in show business and refers to the top movie stars who are the most bankable actors. Everything these A list actors touch turns to gold. This term has also been used for other industries as well. I think of an A-lister as someone who is widely recognized as being at the top of their profession. John Chow is an example of an A list blogger as John is one of the most successful and “bankable†bloggers.
If you ever get an opportunity to meet with an A-lister I would recommend you take advantage of it. It does not matter if the A-lister is in your profession or not. You will learn a great deal just from being in the presence of someone who has achieved great success. I had such an opportunity last month when John Chow was in my area and I was able to have dinner with him. We had a great time and an awesome meal, but I also came away with some insights from John on how to be successful in any business. Despite the fact that John and I are in different fields the information is still of great value to me in my business. Here are some lessons I learned from one A-lister John Chow.
1. Attitude
Someone on the A-list has a certain attitude in which they carry themselves. It is an optimistic attitude of confidence. Not arrogant or rude but forceful and proactive. The A-lister expects things to happen a certain way, not hoping that it would. John wrote a post about how having the correct attitude helps you get things from others such as a free press pass to Ad Tech. It is this same attitude that you can apply to get things you need to be successful in your business. Having spent a short time with John I can see he exudes this attitude of confidence in his personal life as well.
2. Vision
All successful A-listers have a vision. It is by following this vision or plan that they have been able to realized great success and become an A-lister. In spite of the fact that they are already an A-lister a successful A-lister continues to have a vision for the future. In our dinner John shared with me his vision for the blog and how he plans to grow it even more in the future. I did not understand all of it but I knew he had a vision for the future and that he was excited about it. You need to have a plan to be successful no matter what business you are in.
3. Values
You can read all the self improvement and business books there are but you will understand better what it takes to be successful by spending some time with a successful A-lister. By spending time with an A-lister you can see up close what motivates them to excel and the intangibles that they possess. In having dinner with John I saw that he is a very committed family man. He is also an immigrant from China. In fact our families are from the same area of China. John and I both have small children and it was clear how important his daughter and family are to him. His humble upbringing and love of his family is a driving force for John to succeed. It is important to remember that before you can begin to succeed in your business you must get your priorities and values in line. Despite his reputation as an “evil†blogger John knows what is truly important to him and the reasons why he works so hard to maintain the Dot Com Lifestyle.
By having dinner with John I saw another more personal side of John and not just John Chow dot Com. At the same time I see the characteristics that make John a very successful business man. Take the initiative to meet and learn from someone on the “A†list. You will make an important contact and learn a lot about what it takes to be successful. How do you contact an A-lister? I will share some tips and how I connected with John Chow in a later post.