6th March 2025
I’ve long lived by an adage I learned from Zig Ziglar:
“You’ve got to BE before you can do and DO before you can HAVE.”
The ‘Be, Do, Have’ model is one of my favourite life tools. Both Stephen Covey & Anthony Robbins use it in their writing, yet I believe it predates both of them.
There are 3 common approaches to trying to get ahead in life.
Only one of them actual works. Let’s call them:
The Victim,
The Worker
The Winner
The victim arranges their life in the order ‘HAVE, DO, BE.
They say, “When I HAVE enough time, money and support, then I’ll DO the things I’ve always wanted to, and then I’ll BE happy and successful. The problem is I don’t HAVE yet. If I had what that person had, I’d certainly be as successful as them, but I don’t, so I’m not.“ The victim is always waiting for externals to change before they can move ahead in life.
The worker is all about ‘DO, HAVE, BE.
They say, “The more I DO, the more I’ll HAVE. The more I’ll HAVE, the happier I’ll BE. The problem is, the more I do, the more there is still to do and the more I have to, more there is still to have. I am defined by what I do so I become driven, busy and tired. The more I have, the more there is to lose, so the harder I work.”
We all know that the link between having more things and being happier is a myth, so being happy never arrives.
The winner orients their life quite differently: ‘BE, DO, HAVE.
They say, “It is not what do I need to HAVE before I can start, or what work do I need to DO… but who do I need to BE?
What kind of person would have access to the kind of outcomes I want? Then being that kind of person, what would I be doing? And then the having takes care of itself.”
‘Be, Do, Have’ is definitely the rarest of the 3 lifestyles & the most abstract, yet it is the only one that works.
In short, you have to be a person of character & do the right things & then you can have the things you really want.
This model focuses on the internal, rather than the external & centers on your identity in the present, rather than placing it in the future.
It is a reminder of our control over our world.
It brings to mind one of my favorite quotes by Mario Quintana :
“Don’t waste your time chasing butterflies. Mend your garden, and the butterflies will come.”
You can use this basic formula for whatever it is you want to have.
Look at what you have to do in order to accomplish your objectives, and then examine yourself and determine what kind of person you have to BE in order to DO so that you can HAVE.
There is something I’ve come to believe very strongly: ‘The things you want most in life will come to you, but only when you’re ready for them.’
You have to raise your bar, you have to become a better & more disciplined person, before you can become successful & achieve your goals.
Adopt the ‘Be, Do, Have,’ mentality, Mend your garden, the butterflies will come.
Stay blessed forever.