In the early 1970s there was a young man from Brooklyn, New York, who was fascinated with the music industry. He wanted to be in the industry in any capacity. He applied to work at multiple studios as a “sweeper.” A sweeper was really just an assistant who would get the things recording artists and others working in the studio needed. This meant everything from providing alcohol or tea to actually sweeping up the mess that was made. It was a wild time, just coming out of the sixties. This young man, roughly eighteen years of age, grew up in a traditional Italian home. His mother stressed the importance of family and being together as a family. He was also taught the value of hard work and to be of service when asked for help. One fateful day the studio manager asked the young man to come in on Easter Sunday. His mother was not having it, and she instructed him to be home for Easter Sunday. He was conflicted, but he had learned to always be of service when asked. And so he decided to come to the studio. When he walked through the door on Easter Sunday in the early seventies, one of the most iconic musicians ever to walk this planet was sitting there to greet him. John Lennon himself. John and the studio manager wanted to see if this young man had what it took to work with John Lennon on his upcoming albums. That young man later went on to work as an engineer with John Lennon and the likes of Stevie Nicks, Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, U2, Dr. Dre, Eminem, and many others. His name is Jimmy Iovine and he is the founder of Interscope Records. He recently sold the company Beats, a joint venture with Dr. Dre, to Apple for $3 billion. I heard Jimmy tell his story on The Howard Stern Show. He told the listeners and Howard what got him to where he is today is that he is always of service to others.

Everybody loves the idea of being an entrepreneur, right? They love the idea of making money. They love the idea of making their own money. They love the idea of success. But they're not willing to show up. You have to be willing to be of service. You have to be willing to go through a rigorous process. You have to set goals, go after those goals, and accomplish those goals.

HOW TO SCREW THINGS UP

There's a way to really screw up an idea, a business, or an opportunity and it happens all the time. Aspiring entrepreneurs set intentions in their head, but they're never able to get out of their own way. That's one of the things that I found when I've been coaching people over the last few years. People ask me for advice and then they don't take it. Why'd you ask? If you're going to ask for advice you should not only listen, but you should actually take it as well. Listen and learn from those who have been there and done that.

Often people hear what they want to hear and hope that they'll get affirmation of their theories or their ideas, but in all reality it's just pie-in-the-sky type of thinking.

I want to get into the differences between an opportunity and a responsibility and how they come together. I have discussed this difference in both of my previous books, because it's important, especially in business. I hate to pick on the Y generation. But I've seen twentysomethings who feel as though they should just climb right to the top and all of a sudden be making six figures; it doesn't happen that way.

One of the reasons why the younger generation or some of these entry-level employees aren't able to break through is because they're unable to recognize what an opportunity is, not just in business, but in life. A responsibility is something that is given to you that you need to take care of. You need to take care of that responsibility whether it be in your personal life or your place of employment.

In most companies, there are org charts that assign certain responsibilities within each position. I hate org charts. They serve a purpose, but people get caught up in the fundamentals; they become so unable to think outside the box that they stick to this org chart thing. I think it can ruin companies as well as personal relationships when people feel as though their role is one thing and that's it. People are so focused on their assigned responsibility that they miss opportunities.

WHAT I LEARNED FROM 1-800-FLOWERS

The busiest time of year for florists is, of course, Valentine's Day. At 1-800-Flowers, the leading flower delivery service, they handle the massive call volume by having everyone, from the people in shipping to the CEO, take customer calls. Everyone pitches in to meet the business goals and deliver the best possible service. My former COO worked there, and he told me that's how they did it when they first started.

If you read my first two books, I briefly touched on this story and why it is so important. When I started Blue Vase Marketing, we were a small team and had an advertisement that just brought in a lot of interest. As we started to grow the team, we brought in a new accountant to help us manage the finances. The advertisement brought in so many calls that we needed help. We didn't have enough people to answer the phones.

As calls flowed in, I decided to try out the 1-800-Flowers approach; I asked everyone at the company to get on the phones, to make sales while the advertisement ran. Everyone did it, except my CFO/accountant. The next day my general counsel came to me and said, “Hey, Mike, did you notice Rich's office is completely empty?” I said, “No, I didn't notice.” It was startling because this guy controlled my money. I called him at the end of a long day, while we were all still in the office. I called and he didn't answer. I called again and I said, “Rich, if you don't call me back you're fired.” He didn't call me back.

At my companies Blue Vase and CloiXonné we don't stick to the org charts. We all have responsibilities, we all have titles, we all have roles, but we all also chip in when it's necessary—and that's what makes our company great and that's what makes a lot of other companies great. When we parted ways, I explained to Rich that I was giving him the temporary responsibility to jump on the phones and to take some sales calls. I just needed him to answer the phone, say hello, and sell some stuff.

He felt as though that it was beneath him. He said, “Mike, I'm a CPA, I've got my master's degree, I'm an accountant.” I've learned throughout the years: your degrees don't mean anything. It doesn't matter, when it comes down to real business and the real world. People don't ask you, what did you get on your SATs or what was your GPA in law school? What did you score on the boards in the CPA exam? It doesn't happen.

He says, “I'm a CPA, I don't feel as though I need to take sales calls.” I said, “Rich, I gave you the responsibility to do this because I wanted you to learn more about our sales process as our accountant, as someone who handles the money. I was really giving you the opportunity to learn, to understand how we actually operate and what we do here at Blue Vase; maybe you could improve on the process. You see, your eyes are different from my eyes, Rich. You look at things differently than I do and maybe you could have improved upon things.” Then I fired him. I fired him because he was unable to recognize that what I was giving him was truly an opportunity. I was giving him an opportunity to succeed.

Many people, day in and day out, are unable to recognize what an opportunity is. Most times an opportunity is wrapped up in a new responsibility. When you're given a new responsibility at your place of employment, a new responsibility in your personal relationships, look at it as an opportunity to grow, to learn, to do more things, to get better. Don't say to yourself, yeah I didn't go to school for this. This isn't why I went to school and studied, this isn't what I want to do. Rather, I'm working here now with this company, this great company, and this is an amazing opportunity to learn more about the company and how it operates.

If you're working at a job that makes you feel unappreciated, as if you're just a number or a cog in a wheel, you may feel as though your boss doesn't care and it's just some big corporate empire and no one really knows anybody. That may full well be the case. That may be your reality, but one of the best ways to change that reality is to understand when you're given an opportunity.

Many times, opportunity is wrapped up in a responsibility. Let's say you're working at a fast-food restaurant, you're making minimum wage, and your job is to work at the fryolator making French fries. You were hired to make French fries. You did that at another place and that's all you know how to do.

At the end of your shift, your manager says, “Hey, I need you to help out on the grille and I need you to learn how to make hamburgers. We have a process here, and I need you to do it right now.” Your shift is over, you're ready to go home. Now what do you do? If you have other obligations that you need to get to, you need to weigh those and take a look at this opportunity that has just been given to you. The opportunity that was given to you was to learn more about the business. It was a responsibility wrapped up in an opportunity, and the opportunity allows you to grow. It builds your own personal net worth. Now it's your decision to seize that opportunity.

Building your personal net worth will help your business. When you build your personal net worth, you become more valuable. You become more valuable to your employer, and you become more valuable to other employers.

LOSING ONE DEAL MAY LEAD TO ANOTHER

Recently I met with a representative of a distributor I was trying to land for Emory Vodka. I told the distributor that everyone I had presented Emory Vodka to in a different territory said yes to me. They wanted to see it for themselves and set up a meeting. Now, landing a distributor is huge for a brand as you can leverage their network and sales team. The guy I met with wasn't your average sales guy, he knows the distilled spirits business better than anyone I have ever met. I joked around and told him he has a PhD in distilled spirits. In his office, he showed me more about the process of distilling spirits. He had maps on his wall showing where ingredients come from and why they are good or bad for certain distilled spirits. He showed me spirits from all over the world, some I've never heard of. Even though I was learning from him, I was annoyed. I was there to sell him Emory Vodka and show him everyone wanted our vodka. I was not there for a lesson. I had already gone door-to-door myself and knew what I was doing.

I failed to recognize what was going on in this meeting, I was blinded by my ego and couldn't see the opportunity. I had to step back and say to myself, “Mike, this is an amazing opportunity.” It wasn't a responsibility, he wasn't giving me anything to do, but I was given the opportunity to go out with this gentleman and learn from him. He was also giving me advice on our message and how to refine it. He taught ME about OUR process of distilling. This was an opportunity to build rapport with him and ultimately close the sale. He was giving me all this information, before we actually went door-to-door.

So after meeting with this guy for about an hour in the office, he was ready to take me out and see if what I was saying about our success held true in his territory. At first I didn't really like the sales process. I wasn't familiar with his sales process; it just didn't click with me. About an hour into our going door-to-door in hundred degree weather together it clicked. His process was designed to not only sell, but determining if there was genuine interest. His process was completely different than mine, but it worked. You have to trust the process of others who know more than you. If may not be immediately apparent, but if you are learning from someone else, trust the process. In this instance I was going door-to-door with an industry expert who knew a lot more than me. When I pushed him on why we were doing this he taught me a valuable lesson. He said, “Mike selling a bottle of vodka to a liquor store isn't that hard. Selling a bottle of vodka to a liquor store that will get behind it and help you sell it when you are not there is how you build a brand.” This is true for all products and brands. Selling through product when you aren't pushing the product yourself or through your advertising is a key element to building a lifelong sustainable business.

I was being given an opportunity to learn about not only distilled spirits, but how they're sold, what my competitors are doing, some of the sales techniques that my competitors were using, what shelf space looks like, how liquor store owners react to things, and what they're looking for. When I realized that, I just wanted to slap myself and say, “Mike, this is an amazing opportunity.”

You always hear people say you can turn a negative into a positive or turn lemons into lemonade. It sounds crazy, but there's almost always a silver lining to something negative. After spending all this time trying to close this distributor, they ultimately passed. I knew we were not a perfect fit, but I thought they would pick us up. When we were going door-to-door together every store did in fact say they would pick up Emory Vodka just like I told them. I assumed we would be doing business together. They liked the brand, they liked me, but in the end they referred me to another distributor who picked up Emory and is doing great things with the brand. The thing about opportunity is that it doesn't always come in the exact form that you wanted or expected.

Success doesn't just happen overnight. Obviously it didn't just happen overnight for me, and sometimes we need some retraining ourselves, we need a retooling, we need to go back to basics. Professional athletes practice every day. Last night I watched Tom Brady and the Patriots win their first game of the season. He's arguably one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history. Yes, he may have deflated the balls, or he may not have, but it doesn't matter. Here's how he became Tom Brady: he practices every single day.

He visualizes himself on the football field, throwing the touchdown pass, throwing it to Julian Edelman in the top right-hand corner of the end zone. Actually sees himself doing it. Then he physically goes out and does it. If you want to be the next Tom Brady, you're not going to get there from your parents telling you that you can be the next Tom Brady. You can't be the next Tom Brady unless you go out and do the things that Tom Brady does.

Since writing this section Tom Brady and the Patriots went on to win one of the most exhilarating games in Super Bowl history. Pulling off what some may have thought was impossible. Not for Tom Brady and the Patriots. He prepared for virtually any situation including being down by several touchdowns in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl and WINNING.

Whether academics, business, or relationships, we all need to work at it every day. The most elite and successful people in the world know this.

Too many people are given opportunities and they blow it, because (1) they can't recognize it, and (2) they were told by someone who isn't successful that it's just not the right thing to do. But it is the right thing to do. This is how successful people think, and this is how they progress. They question what they've been told; they think outside the box. This is how you get better in life: with your ability to recognize an opportunity and know how to take advantage of it. If you're given an opportunity wrapped up in a responsibility, you need to exploit it to your own advantage. Then you'll grow and prosper, and then your net worth will increase.

MORE THAN YOU GET PAID FOR

As a young lawyer working for a large company, I was very busy with contracts, transactions, and advertising. My boss asked me to look into something that was personal for his family. They were having some challenges with their neighbors, who were planning to build a deck that was going to ruin their shared beach.

As a lawyer, you don't know everything about the law, and I knew nothing really about real estate law. Sure, I took the class in law school as part of my curriculum, but I always found it boring. My boss's next-door neighbor happened to be a powerful real estate lawyer. She had filed a request with the town to build a giant deck that was going to encroach on my boss's property and ruin the beach, a beautiful place on an island in New England.

He asked me to look into it so I did. I learned about not only real estate law, but also maritime law because it had to do with a coastal area. I researched and I helped put together a very strong argument on why this deck should not be put in; it was a lot of fun for me to learn about. There was a lot of history there, and I discovered things I never knew. I did this in my off time and I wasn't paid for it. Legally, he couldn't even pay me for it. I wasn't technically representing him as an individual. I was just doing the research for him. I compiled the research, I wrote it up, handed it to him, and let him take it from there. He took what I wrote and used that as an argument with the town, and he prevented his neighbor from building this deck.

For me, obviously, that was a great win, but it was a lot of work. He gave me a pat on the back and said thank you very much, but this was early on in my career and I was maybe making $50,000 a year or something like that. When I left that company I was the highest-paid person there. I saw that new responsibility and knew it was an opportunity—to learn about maritime law and real estate law, but more important, I had a chance to show my boss that I was willing to go the extra mile. I was willing to take the time to learn, and I exploited the opportunity that was given to me.

I took advantage of the opportunity, which was, again, a responsibility and an opportunity. I wasn't paid for it, but ultimately I was, later on in my career.

What I want you to remember is that when you're given a responsibility, it's really an opportunity. At some point down the road—maybe not immediately, maybe not the next day, the next week, or next month—you'll find that your responsibility turned opportunity is truly going to increase your net worth.