Often people say that there is no secret formula to success. Well, those people are wrong. Years ago, Brian, the founder and CEO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, came up to my desk and said, “I’ve found it!”
Of course, I was thinking, “You’ve found what?”
But that question was quickly answered. He explained to me that he had come up with the “formula” to create the “flywheel effect” Jim Collins talks about. In other words, he had come up with the formula to success.
What is it?
Put simply, this formula to success amounted to:
F x F x E = Success (Success being the flywheel effect kicking in)
But what do those letters stand for?
Focus x Faith x Effort = Success
How does it work?
Those are still just a few words written on a page, but how do they work to equal success? To answer that, you need to know that each letter in the equation is scored as a percentage out of one hundred. To gauge those numbers, each day you simply ask yourself:
- What percentage of today was I focused?
- What percentage of faith do I still have in my business?
- What percentage of effort did I put in?
What percentage do you need for success?
Let’s say you were 50% focused, had 50% faith, and 50% effort—that only comes out to a 12.5% chance of success, which is pretty bad odds. If that’s the number you get, I wouldn’t even bother starting.
But, if you’re 80% focused, with 80% faith, and 80% effort every day, or every week, and if your whole business was that focused, had that much faith, and put that much effort in, then you have a 51.2% chance of success!
Yes, I know, still not that great, but still better. That basically just makes it a game of luck.
If you want to build a great organization and double your revenue, double your profits, and take the number of days you’re working and cut them in half, you’ve got to start getting in the range of 90 x 90 x 90—which even then only gets you to 72.8% chance of success.
To build the kinds of businesses as we did with College Pro Painters, Boyd Autobody, and 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, you need 98% focus, 98% faith, and 98% effort, which gives you a 94% chance of success. It’s impossible to truly get 100%, but if you and everyone else are as focused, faithful, and putting in as much effort as possible, you can come close.
Focus, The Biggest Issue
Most companies and most employees wake up and start working on email without any thought put into their goals. This means that most companies aren’t as focused as they need to be. Having less focus can seriously ruin the success end of the formula.
“Focus is so important because it is the gateway to all thinking: perception, memory, learning, reasoning, problem-solving, and decision making. Without good focus, all aspects of your ability to think will suffer. Without focus, you won’t be as effective in your work because if you’re not concentrating on the right things or are distracted, you won’t be capable of getting your work done.” – Huffpost
Succeeding in business is difficult and this formula reflects that. You have to go into it at full force and work hard for even a chance of success.
If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in November 2010 and has been edited for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
