Darren Hardy

My parents divorced when I was 18 months old. My mother didn’t want me, so my dad stepped up to raise me. He didn’t give me a lot of rules or restrictions, yet I never did drugs, never got into trouble, and got good grades.

What he did give me was a philosophy—a standard to live up to.

When I complained something wasn’t fair or thought I wasn’t good enough, my dad would say, “Circumstances don’t matter. If others are smarter, have more talent, or are more experienced, you can still win. Work harder, study longer, and push yourself further than anyone else will go—Be The Exception.”

He had me believe I could do anything and achieve anything I wanted if I simply chose to—Be The Exception.

This philosophy guided me in starting my own company at age 18. Before my 19th birthday, I was earning a six-figure income. Within 5 years it grew to more than a million dollars a year. Thirty years later, it is still my guiding force.

After interviewing, profiling, and getting to know the most successful people in the world, the one thing I know for sure is—success and achieving the extraordinary is possible for everyone when you choose to…Be The Exception.

Each of us has been gifted extraordinary capabilities. We are all here for a reason—to fulfill a special purpose. There is a voice inside you that knows this. It cries out to you. It calls you to step out of the herd of average complacency and into your grand adventure—to challenge your gifts and see all you can do with all you have been given.

To Be The Exception requires you to make a choice: Go along or go beyond. Settle for good enough or strive for better.

You cannot be normal if you want to achieve abnormal results. If you desire to live, love, and lead as others won’t, you have to do what others don’t. You have to learn more, grow more, invest more, and become more than those around you.

You can choose your better future. You can live the life you were meant to live. For you, for those you love, and for those you were destined to influence.