Don’t be a turd of a private investigator, rather follow these four keys to success.
Don’t be a T.U.R.D.
1. “T”
Don’t be tardy.
Be on time. This is part of honoring your word.
How you do anything is how you do everything and aside from the fact you need to be come the best version of yourself to fulfill your life’s mission. (You do have a mission for you life, right?) Well, besides that, your clients notice. Your potential clients notice punctuality.
Show up when you say you will.
Deliver the report when you say you will.
File the return of service when you say you will.
What’s the antidote to “tardy”? What’s the first key to success I want to share with you today? Promptness!
2. “U”
Don’t be an underachiever.
You may be gifted.
Maybe you never had to really try in High School. Maybe your favorite sport came easy to you. Maybe that’s the way you are as a professional investigator! You just know what to do and you get results. Well, outstanding! But… don’t coast!
You need to be in the Top 10% of our industry if you want financial success. Period.
The antidote to underachieving? I would say a good starting point is to Show Up!
Don’t waste your time “escaping” with social media or streaming media or whatever. Show Up.
Do what you should do when you should do it whether you feel like it or not!
3. “R”
Don’t be resentful of the other person’s success.
Make you own success!
There are two way to have the tallest building in town. You can tear down all the other building and then yours would be the tallest or… You Can Build The Tallest Building!
What’s the antidote to resentfulness? Let me suggest you be magnanimous toward others.
Say nice things when there are nice things to say!
If I were to step back to a little bit bigger pitcher view on this, I would say: Be Grateful!
Be grateful for what you have and work toward build more of that.
4. “D”
Don’t be a dude.
Originally a “dude” was someone who dressed a little too fancy but couldn’t really hold his own when push came to shove.
In the Old West a Dude Ranch wasn’t a place cowboys did their work. A dude ranch was a place city-folk form back East would “visit” wearing their cowboy hats, boot, spurs and chaps and… well… “play cowboy”. PLAY! Don’t play cowboy!
They were considered impostors by the real cowboys.
So don’t be a dude. Don’t be an impostor.
The antidote… Be Authentic. Know our industry. Or at least the part of our industry you work in. Don’t pretend to clients you can work a case you can’t. If you can’t do it, either don’t take the case of hire (or sub-contract) an investigator you can do it.
Summary:
Today (right now!) is when you make the decision to succeed.
I’ve said it before, but I feel I need to say it again… Practice small acts of self-sacrifice everyday. Study the way you’re supposed to study. Work the way you’re supposed to work.
Do the right thing, even if it’s the hard thing.
Committed to your success,
Larry Kaye, P.I.
P.S. – Don’t miss my special report titled… If You Want To be a Private Investigator Give Up… Unless You Do These Three Things. You can get it right here