10 Success Lessons I Learned From APE

• Tweet
• Sharebar

Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.  - Henry Ford

I mentioned a month and a half ago that I was going to publish my book, Aloha to You, on February 18th.  I began formatting, editing, designing, having others edit, editing again, re-formatting, re-designing, and over and over.  Then I came across APE. I don’t know how I found it. It was probably some sort of super natural sign.

APE (Authors, Publishers, Entrepreneurs)

APE is a book written by Guy Kawasaki, and Shawn Welch.  The book fell into my lap as my proclaimed due date of my self-published book approached and it looked like it wasn’t going to happen.  I felt uneasy and  unhappy about the completion of the final product and I wasn’t able to get through all the edits I received. There was a lot.

I became intrigued by APE, not only because of the cool acronym, but mainly because it was written by Guy Kawasaki.  I remember one of my first business books I ever read was The MacIntosh Way by him.  My dad gave it to me and mentioned Guy graduated with him from Iolani High School which happened to also be my alma mater.  I was like, Oh that’s cool.  

I bought the Kindle version of APE because I did not want to wait for the shipping. I dove right into the book when I found it.  I’m sure I’ll get a physical copy of it at some point but I desperately needed some sort of guidance. Not only did reading this book help me feel okay with not making my due date, but it gave me more focus to develop a final product that you will benefit from more.   It also taught me 10 Success Lessons you can apply to any aspect of your life either physically, mentally, or spiritually.

10 Success Lessons from APE

1.  Know Your Purpose.  I believe we all have a higher purpose to serve the world.  You have a unique story and message to share.  Albert Einstein said, “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”
2.  Make Decisions.  In order to create progress, it is important to make decisions. Once you know find your purpose, its up to you decide what you are going to do and where you want to go.
3.  Have an Action Plan.  When you have your ultimate goal in your head, it is important to break the goal down to help you with seeing progress.  You must layout a plan that will give you a path towards accomplishing your goal.  Napole0n Hill wrote, “Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire, and begin at once to put this plan into action.”
4.  Be Persistent.  This lesson continuously pops up whenever it comes to success and achieving goals.  You cannot be afraid of failure or rejection.  If you truly want it, you’ll keep going for it no matter what.  It is important for you to evaluate each approach and learn from each experience or else you will go no where.
5.  Have the Right Tools. In order to build a house, a carpenter must have the right tools.  Same goes for you. For example, looking to lose weight? Get running shoes or join a gym.  Write a self-published book? Buy and read APE (you’re welcome Guy and Shawn).
6.  Get the Right People.  Jim Collins wrote about this idea in his book, Good to Great, and I felt it was perfect for me to hear when I read it.  Sometimes I feel like I can do everything on my own and I am quickly learning you need the help of others, but it’s not about the quantity it’s about the quality of the people you have on the bus.
7.  Patience.  Rome wasn’t built in a day.  It’s good to be persistent but you must also be patience.  Many times I’ve felt discouraged when I didn’t follow through on a particular goal.  I would give up on the whole goal rather than continuing forward.  Don’t get discouraged, look back on all the things you have done already.  Just because you didn’t achieve the goal at a certain time doesn’t mean you didn’t get anything out of it.
8.  Edit. Can I say,”Edit” again? In my case, I’m in the constantly editing stage until I get sick of my book.  I already forgot how many times I read through it.  But just like anything in life, you must edit.  It is important to constantly evaluate experiences and make changes if necessary.  John Maxwell said, “Experience is not the best teacher, Evaluated experience is.”
9.  Be Likable.  Let’s be honest.  In order to become successful you must be likable.  Kawasaki recommends smiling because it’s contagiou.  But not just any smile, a Duchenne smile which is when the corners of your mouth raise, and your cheeks raise up as well creating a crow’s feet around the eyes.
10.  Be an APE. Author, Publisher, and Entrepreneur.  Be the author of your own life, put yourself out there, and create a purpose you are passionate about and that could benefit others. You can even support being an APE by sporting a shirt and flexing.

Aloha. Mahalo. A hui hou.