Upgrade! Proven Strategies for Dramatically Increasing Personal and Professional Success

Mark Sanborn

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"I have offended God and mankind because my work didn't reach the quality it should have."

—Leonardo da Vinci

There's Nothing Negative About Positive Discontent

Most people believe in the importance of goals, but precious few see goals as pieces in a bigger puzzle. Rare indeed is the man or woman who realizes that no goal is a destination in itself; that no matter what they do, there are either different and better ways to do those things, or different things to do. They are engaged in finding their true capabilities; with performing and living as close to their potential as possible. These individuals have an insatiable desire to improve, enhance and enrich their products, services, businesses and lives. They aren't malcontents. They almost always appreciate their blessings as much or more than others. But the person interested in perpetual improvement, in upgrading, understands the concept of positive discontent.

What is "positive discontent"? The more common form of discontent occurs when we never enjoy what we've achieved because we're too busy trying to achieve more. We never pause to pay tribute to our accomplishments. As a result, we never experience joy in the pursuit or achievement of our goals. That represents a grave danger.

There is also danger in being content because we can allow our past successes to cause complacency in our lives. We live too long on the satisfaction of what we have accomplished rather than pursuing new endeavors or objectives. Positive discontent is the combination of gratitude and discontent. It doesn't discount or diminish what we've been able to accomplish but neither does it allow us to rest on our laurels. Positive discontent allows us to enjoy what we've achieved without the attendant danger of becoming complacent.

Alex Zanardi, the 1997 CART PPG Cup champion and previous Rookie of the Year, exemplifies positive discontent. He says, "My philosophy is to be happy and enjoy what you have in life each day, but never be happy enough not to try for more."

Most people believe in the importance of goals, but precious few see goals as pieces in a bigger puzzle.

How Good Can You Be?

You can tell me about your accomplishments, awards and recognition. But those things, though they are important, are a picture of the past, not an indicator of the future.

Marilyn Ferguson is often quoted as saying, "Your past is not your potential." For many these are words of encouragement. Just because you haven't gotten what you desired in the past doesn't mean you can't in the future.

Here's a different interpretation: no matter what or how much you've achieved in the past, you are capable of achieving significantly more in the future. You may have a net worth of several million dollars, have won the Iron Man triathalon, been awarded an Oscar, be wildly in love with your spouse and be your community's citizen of the year, but your past is still not your potential. No matter how much you achieved, earned, accomplished or won, you have the potential to do even better. You can better your best and upgrade every area of your life.

What This Book Will Do For You

This is a book about perpetual improvement-upgrading. It will show you, in detail, how to be counted among the best personally and financially. It will explain how to create extraordinary results in whatever you attempt. And, importantly, it will teach you how to keep getting better when you're already among the very best.

If you're like me, you like to upgrade. We are always in pursuit of improvement, whether that involves hardware, software, business or personal life. Who wouldn't want to upgrade from coach to first-class, from a dead-end job to an exciting career and from empty relationships to fulfilling relationships? This book will show you just how to do it.

If you're a manger, why not upgrade to leadership? You can upgrade your customer service to create a loyal corp of repeat customers. Upgrade your communication skills and you'll go from impressing people to influencing them, and from simply presenting to persuading, and from telling to selling. Upgrade an "okay" group of individuals to a cooperative force of dedicated people - a real team. Upgrade your job and you're on your way to a career. Upgrade your career and you'll be in the upper echelon of your profession.

What makes entrepreneurs different from other business people? You could say they've upgraded traditional business practices and processes to create new value in the marketplace. They are playing levels ahead of their competition. If self-employment is the upgrade you seek, this book will provide you with a map of how to achieve it.

Who wouldn't want to upgrade from coach to first-class, from a dead-end job to an exciting career and form empty relationships to fulfilling relationships?

The Inspiration of the Extraordinary

If you and I even came close to achieving your potential, we would astound ourselves. Occasionally we see examples of individuals and organizations who achieve such amazing success that is frustrates rather than inspires us. Instead of accepting that we, too, are capable of similar results, we discount those high achievements as anomalies. We should instead let them inspire us as role models.

Every field has its inspiration. As a writer, I am astonished by the works of Isaac Asimov. Known by most as a science fiction writer, he wrote more than 500 books on many different topics including mathematics and the natural sciences.

The Left Behind series has been a publishing phenomenon. Did you know that Jerry Jenkins, one of the co-authors, has written more than 120 books?

Those achievements could demoralize me as a writer. It would be easy to conclude that I could never write a fraction of the books of either author. Instead, I choose to be inspired. Why not learn about how they wrote so many books? Why not study their methods rather than just their results? Although I may never write as many books as they have, the point is that if I learn how they did it, I now have the potential to do it as well!

If you and I even came close to achieving your potential, we would astound ourselves.

Seven Reasons to Upgrade

Upgrading requires motivation. Without a sufficient and compelling reasons to do something, all the techniques in the world are useless. It doesn't do any good to have the know-how or how-to without the how come. Here are seven excellent reasons--or motives--for committing yourself to a program of perpetual improvement.

1. Your survival requires it

I attended The Ohio State University during the reign of the late, great Woody Hayes, a truly inspirational leader. I heard him speak at a pep rally and I can still recall his words. "You're either getting better or you're getting worse. The status quo is a myth." In a competitive world, the most aggressive and successful around us, competitors and colleagues, continue to work on their craft. They know they will have to be better to get ahead. If those around us are continually improving and we choose to remain the same, in a relative sense we're actually losing ground!

To survive is better than to fail, but the best aspire to prevail. To prevail requires that you perpetually upgrade.

2. Your competition continuously upgrades

The lesson is same in any field of endeavor: today's victory can easily be tomorrow's defeat. The winner of the marathon in the first modern Olympic games of 1896 had a winning time that, by 1990, was only about as good as the qualifying time for the Boston Marathon. That year that year 9000 people qualified!

In the old days, you knew who your competition was. Today, you can't be so sure. Do you think the Postal Service figured on express delivery services like FedEx and Airborne? Do you think FedEx and Airborne predicted the invention of the fax? Do you think fax manufacturers knew that email would become an easy alternative to fax communication? And what new technology is about to be born that makes email look like yesterday's newspaper?

Your existing, identifiable competitors want your customers and will go to great lengths to steal them. Your colleague down the hall wants the same new job that became available and the guy or gal one floor down would like your job whether or not you're ready to move on. Your industry competes with challengers in other cultures with different tax bases, government subsidies and cheap labor. Whether your perspective is as an employer, employee or entrepreneur, it is clear that the world today is wildly competitive. Everyone wants to get ahead and they're investing in training, development and other resources to do it.

Every time your competitor improves, you've got to get better to meet the challenge. If you want to pull ahead, you've got to improve faster than they do.

Today's victory can easily be tomorrow's defeat."

3. Your customer expects it

The more you do for customers, the more they'll expect. The better you get, the higher their expectations. Your competitors get better too and in the process they raise the expectation level of your customers. You don't have a choice. When the customer wants more, you either get it for them or get left behind.

4. Your employer demands it

Whatever organization you work for today is faced with competitive pressures in the marketplace that result from cutthroat competition and voracious customer expectations. If you think you're worried, consider your boss. She has to meet the demands of customers, competition, upper management and probably shareholders too. How will she survive? By getting more out of every employee reporting to her. Your contribution to your company's bottom line must be continually increasing. It must always exceed what you're being paid or you are g-o-n-e in the next "right sizing."

5. Your friends and families want and expect the best for you, too

Nobody wants the significant people in their lives to be anything less than they are capable of being. Sure, we unconditionally love our family and friends regardless of their faults and failures, but if someone really loves you, they are going to want you to become the best you can be.

6. Your life is more exciting

A client once told me, "I didn't go to college to learn how to survive. I want to thrive!" If you were the kind of poor soul who doesn't mind spending 8-10 hours a day being mediocre, you wouldn't be reading this book. There are some people who seem capable of breezing through life accomplishing and enjoying little. Most of them are great at rationalizing. Deep down, I believe most people want to be significant, do significant work, enjoy the trip and leave some kind of legacy. But if you sense that being great is a bigger kick than being good, that average is boring and unacceptable, then you've got a fire within you that will resonate to the idea of infinite improvement.

"Once you fly, you will walk with your eyes skyward. For there you have been and there you will go again." -Leonardo Da Vinci

The better you get, the more you'll realize how much better you can be. How can that be? The beginner doesn't have any idea how much there is to know about a craft, profession, sport or hobby. The neophyte is blissfully ignorant. I believe God designed us that way so we wouldn't be too discouraged to try. Anyone who has achieved any level of mastery probably looks at the past with a sense of awe in how much they learned and how many seemingly impossible feats they were able to achieve. At the zenith of his popularity and recognition, Michelangelo said, "Still I am learning."

And I bet he was having fun, too.

The better you get, the more you'll realize how much better you can be.

7. Your success increases your responsibility

No man is an island. Successful people in any profession realize that they have a responsibility to be positive role models. One of Nascar's most successful drivers, Mark Martin, was asked why he was so careful about what he said to the media. Martin explained, "It's real important to give off a clean, positive image for our sport. That is our responsibility. I don't care what those basketball players say...'We didn't ask to be role models'...Well, you know what, it doesn't matter whether you asked for it or not, you are. You need to do the best you can to give the sport a clean, solid image not only for all the kids, but for the adults too."

Any society's role models shape that society's future. We need to be reminded what excellence looks like. We need to be stimulated by those who prove that any notion of limits, psychological, physiological and otherwise, are primarily imagined. Successful people who keep getting better remind us of the importance of the journey and demonstrate that ultimately, we don't yet know nor ever will what "the best" really is.

Successful people who keep getting better remind us of the importance of the journey and demonstrate that ultimately, we don't yet know nor ever will what "the best" really is.

The Very Best Reason To Keep Getting Better

There is an eighth reason to keep getting better, and it is the best reason of all - because you can! That's right. Upgrading--Infinite improvement-- is possible, so why not do it? And maybe "because you can" is the only reason that really counts. Here's why:

I believe that common to us all is a creative imperative. We have hard-wired into our psyche the need to create, to fulfill a creative impulse. I personally believe this impulse was given to us by our Creator. As my friend Ian Percy says, education is the way in which we finish the creation that God began.

The gift of life is amazing. We all have the opportunity to create--to make of ourselves all that we can be, to develop qualities and characteristics that are noble, and to craft products, services and art that is edifying and worthwhile. Frankly, if that doesn't make some sense to you, you're probably reading this book by mistake. I can't imagine you're a "just get by" kind of person who read this far because you've got nothing else to do. I am writing to that person who says "I choose to better my best for reasons philosophical and practical, but a primary reason for my commitment is that I have the opportunity to better my best."

Education is the way in which we finish the creation that God began.

The UPGRADE Process

I have synthesized those traits and characteristics of those who practice the UPGRADE program which requires seven critical skills.

1. We need to UNDERSTAND

Learning has changed, and we need to understand the new rules. The best, those who strive to upgrade, aren't just "learned." The best have learned how to learn. They understand the principles and techniques that enable them to learn whatever is important for their improvement and advancement. They live the motto of the late Cavett Robert who said school is never out for the professional.

Learning has changed, and we need to understand the new rules.

2. We need to PLUS

To plus means to add value. The best either create new value or they add value to everything they do. They compete successfully by offering better ideas, products and/or services than their competitors. They do more than talk about "value-added;" they deliver on it.

3. We need to GIVE

The best leave a legacy and live by the service ethic. In the process, they find their material rewards are matched or exceeded by the meaning they create in the process. They fulfill a passion for significance. They outlive themselves not by the results they've achieved, but by the way they've affected and touched others. Whether formal leaders, entrepreneurs or employees, they have a profound impact on others because of the example they set. They inspire through their own efforts. The best of the best institute formal efforts to replicate the principles of infinite improvement through hiring and training.

4. We need to RELATE

The best don't just use people as a means to an end; they build long-term success by building relationships. They understand that all results are created by and through interactions with others. As a result, they have become students of human behavior. They understand that strong relationships create loyalty and are the basis of partnerships and teamwork. The best network to develop distribution channels for their talents, and work well in partnerships with customers and teams of colleagues.

They are also highly influential. They don't just tell; they sell. The best know that everybody sells, and that he or she who sells best wins biggest. They know that their ideas are competing for attention in the marketplace of ideas. They enlist the support and involvement of others through their passionate ability to persuade.

5. We need to ADAPT

Most people view change the way most people view heaven: everybody wants to Go, but nobody wants to die to get there. Few initiate change for themselves or their organizations. But the best know the futility of resisting the inevitable and use change to their advantage. But they are not mastered by change. Instead, they are change masters. They make the most of changes that are necessary, and they pursue the changes that are profitable.

The best don't waste energy trying to put more time in their lives. They know this is an impossibility. Instead, they demonstrate that you can put more life in your time. They are stewards of their valuable resources.

The best don't waste energy trying to put more time in their lives. They demonstrate that you can put more life in your time.

6. We need to develop DISCIPLINE

The woman or man who becomes excellent and sustains that excellence throughout his or her life is first and foremost a master of self. She knows that nobody else can do for her what only she can do for herself. The motivated person takes responsibility for motivating himself.

Beyond taking responsibility, the best become failure proof. Of course they still make mistakes or miss their goals from time to time, but they don't allow setbacks to prevent them from trying again. They often use setbacks to leap ahead, learning from their mistakes and adjusting their efforts accordingly. They know you are only a failure when you quit trying, and that makes them paragons of perseverance.

7. We need to EXECUTE

The best constantly search out new ideas and techniques, but what sets them apart from others is their ability to implement more and better ideas quickly. The difference between excellence and mediocrity is often he difference between common knowledge and consistent application. The best act decisively and whittle away at the gap between what they know and what they do with the information. They don't just know, they do.

They also maximize resources. These are people who really have learned how to do "more with less." They have the same number of hours in each day as everyone else, but are able to produce far more than anyone else. They know how to replace money with imagination to extend the resources they already have or to create new ones.

In the Age of Mediocrity
It Is Easy to Be Excellent

I once shared the platform with gold medalist and men's gymnastic team captain Peter Vidmar. He shared this paradigm-shattering insight: the gold medalists don't train that much longer than the other Olympic contenders. To achieve Olympic levels of performance requires, depending on the sport, six to seven hours of training each day. As Peter pointed out, no Olympian has the physical or mental resources to train an extra hour or two each day. The medalists, he says, are the ones who practice an extra 15 or 20 minutes. Or, as the saying goes in gymnastics, they are the last ones off the mat.

Consider your own life: your relationships, your financial situation, your career. Those who are doing better than you are aren't doubling or tripling your effort. The truly successful are doing a little bit more a little bit differently. That's what accounts for the gap between where you are and where you aspire to be. The reality is that most people aren't trying at all. If you want to improve, not just sporadically but perpetually, you need to know what improvement looks like, have a plan for achieving it and then commit the time to realize it.

The truly successful are doing a little bit more a little bit differently.

The Opportunity Is Infinite

According to some economists, Paul Romer has turned economics upside down. Romer is the leading proponent of New Growth Theory, a branch of economics that deals with the underlying causes of growth. Economics is the study of the allocation of resources and my formal education is in agricultural economics. Traditional economic theory considers just two factors of production, capital and labor. Paul Romer's important contribution is that he added a third, technology.

Economists have typically assumed that all growth is dependent on capital and labor, or "scarce resources." Paul Romer proves it just ain't so. He wisely points out that we've always had the same amount of matter in the universe. It can be neither created nor destroyed; it only changes form.

Romer explains that the only limit to growth--or improvement for that matter--is intellectual. We are able to do and create more with scarce resources because of ideas. The more and better ideas we develop, the greater utilization we get from those resources.

Romer says there are "two deep messages" of New Growth Theory. "One is that the emerging economy is based on ideas more than objects, and that you have to have entirely different institutional arrangements, pricing systems and so on to get an efficient allocation of ideas.

The second message is that there is enormous scope for discovering new ideas. When you're searching for the best set of choices in a number of possibilities that's that large, you'll never really find the best one. There will always be slightly better ones to be found."

Paul Zane Pilzer, adjunct professor at New York University and author of God Wants You to be Rich, echoes a similar message. Speaking of what he calls "economic alchemy," he says, "Traditional economic theories define economics as the study of scarce resources or wealth. In contrast, economic alchemy is the study of how to efficiently employ and distribute unlimited resources or wealth, primarily through the advancement and application of technology."

Technology refers not just to the hardware and software of computers and telecommunications, but to new methods and techniques. As long as we can come up with new and different ideas, we can continue to create new wealth. We aren't limited by the "stuff" of the world around us, but the "stuff" of the world inside us--our brains. The exciting news is that once we change this mind set, as both Romer and Pilzer prove from slightly different vantage points, the potential for improvement is --for all practical purposes-- infinite!

That's what upgrading is all about. Let's look at how to do it.

As long as we can come up with new and different ideas, we can continue to create new wealth.

Books by Mark Sanborn