I have the pleasure of being around Legendary Marketer's founder, David Sharpe, every week as I take the 55 minute drive from my home in Odessa to the corporate headquarters in St. Petersburg, Florida.

We are located on the second floor of this building.

When you are around a person on a regular basis, you get to see them up close and personal. I've said it many times that it is important to get within “arm's length” of highly successful people so you can witness for yourself what makes them so successful. I can remember when I first met David about 3 years ago when a buddy of mine dragged me to meet him at the office of his previous company.

I had only known David in passing at that point, but I had great respect for his success especially knowing his back story of overcoming multiple addictions and severe health challenges. When we arrived at his office, he appeared in the doorway and greeted us. I can remember very vividly being quite uncomfortable in his presence. At the time, I didn't understand why I had that experience, but looking back on it I realized that his very presence challenged me. Not the fact that he's slightly taller or that he had a nice smile. It was his energy. He exuded something that was more than just, “I'm successful,” or “I make a lot of money.” I believe it was, and still is, a deep sense of self-worth, humility, and clarity of purpose that forced me to return home and do an inventory of myself.

In the time since our first meeting we lost contact. Then one day a mutual friend put us in contact with each other, and the rest is history. Today I want to reveal to you 5 habits that I've noticed that make David Sharpe a true Legendary Marketer and continue to propel him and the company into amazing levels of success.

HABIT #1 – David Walks To Work

I'm not sure if this was intentional, but the corporate office is less than 5 blocks from David's personal residence. I have tried to get to the office to catch him walking down the street, but because I don't know his schedule of arrival its difficult. At least a couple days a week, David scrolls down the street with his leather briefcase hanging off his right shoulder. In this time, he's able to get some free time to mentally prepare for the day and get some fresh air.
HERE'S WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT. Many of us don't take enough time to stretch our legs or feel the warm sun in our face. We tend to be in a hurry all the time and fail to take time to simply think. We don't live in the moment enough. When was the last time you WALKED ANYWHERE? How often do you take time to think, be thankful, or prepare yourself mentally for the day? I respect this as one of my favorite habits of David.

HABIT #2 – David Packs His Lunch

I have the bad habit of eating on the fly, and I find myself in a drive-thru more often than I care to mention. There's a lot of money spent being unprepared and this is one of those things that David pulled my coat tail about. One day I asked David very directly where he felt I needed to grow. I braced myself for what I knew would be a very straight forward answer. My insecurities were on high alert and I became a bit tense. His answer shocked and surprised me. He said, “Figure out what you are going to eat everyday before its time to eat.” He went on to tell me the importance of removing this from my mind in order to leave room for more valuable things to think about.
HERE'S WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT. Too often we live our lives with the “drive-thru” mentality. If we're honest, we spend the bulk of our day flying by the seat of our pants. Little to no preparation goes into our day, other than the fixed schedule given to us by our employers. I struggle with forming this habit, but by watching David flow through his day I realize how this little habit yields big results for his productivity.

HABIT #3 – David Takes Care Of Himself

It's no secret that David has struggled with addiction as he shares this regularly. If we are honest, many of us do a very poor job of managing and caring for our minds and bodies. I've had many candid conversations with David about some of my own issues, and he's gently pointed me to the fine art of self-care. He takes time to unwind to be with his wife and young daughter. When he's working, he's working – and when he's not, he's REALLY not. He has surrounded himself with a tremendous support system that keeps his mind and spirit clear and in balance. He's careful to remove himself from anyone or anything that would challenge is sobriety or sense of well being.
HERE'S WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT. It's very difficult, if not impossible to operate at a level of peak performance if you are out of balance in your mind, body or spirit. Ignoring our self care is a big mistake and could cost us more than we care to lose. Today, I have sought out a professional therapist and joined a group to help me to overcome some of my demons and work for a plan of genuine self care. David won't take credit for that, but I will say he has directly influenced me to do that. I told him just the other day that his influence regarding self care is making a difference in my life.

HABIT #4 – David Loves His Family

A few times throughout the week David's lovely wife, Erin, pops into the office. Sometimes she's there just to visit, while other times she's helping out in some aspect of the day to day operations. You may think this is a weird observation that “proves” how much he loves his family, but I saw him kiss his wife goodbye one day and it wasn't one of those half-second near miss swipe of two pairs of lips. As a husband of 21 years, I know how routine it can be to “kiss goodbye.” That's not how David kissed his wife. That kiss was one of a man who honors and respects his wife and doesn't put his work, passions, or pursuits in front of her. He works to be the best husband and father he can be. Yes, I saw all of that in how he kissed her goodbye. I also know that outside of work he's dedicated to getting tools, resources and support that further builds his skills and keeps him accountable.
HERE'S WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT. Many ambitious men sacrifice their families on the alter of success and use their hard work as the excuse for not pouring into their lives. Too often we hear about how successful a man is in the boardroom, but a total failure at home. Not so with David. He's not perfect, but he is actively working on being the best husband and father he can be, and I can only respect that.

HABIT #5 – David Honors and Values Integrity

One day David pulled me into his office to participate in one of our many brainstorming sessions. On this particular day, I could see that he was uneasy and clearly troubled. He started off by telling me that he wasn't comfortable with the level of value being delivered in one of our products. So, for the next 2 hours we dissected that product until we came up with a new set of deliverables which met his expectation of genuine value. For our members, they now know this as the Builder Masterclass 2.0, Leader Masterclass 2.0 and Traffic Rolodex 2.0.
HERE'S WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT. The moment that David felt in his soul that there needed to be a change, he changed. He didn't continue selling something that he came to believe wasn't good enough. Many companies will knowingly continue to sell their stuff simply because its selling with no regard of whether the end consumer is getting everything they should. I wish more people could have seen his anguish because it would be apparent how much he really does care about his people.

I could list 100 more habits that I've witnessed in David since working with him that I admire and respect. In the world of internet marketing, there's a ton of unscrupulous owners who hurt people and give our industry a bad name. I guess I'm just proud to be around someone who's not drinking his own Kool-aid and feeling himself. If you know David like I do, or he's done something to positively impact your life do me a favor and give him a shout out. These days he's not one for a lot of attention, but sometimes you just have to give credit where its due.

Go Forth In Victory

Larry Beacham (Coach Larry)
Dir. Of Training

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