Because I do a lot of public speaking, I have developed a deep appreciation for top-notch speakers. So when I was brainstorming and looking for a real showstopper to address a group of businesspeople I am mentoring, I asked Darren Hardy, publisher of SUCCESS Magazine, to be one of our presenters.

Darren is in the rare position to interview the most celebrated achievers on the planet to discover how they have created their extraordinary success. Astute SUCCESS readers use the advice to achieve more and lead greater fulfilling lives.

Darren's message, three productivity secrets of superachievers, was a real eye-opener.

No. 1 might surprise you, because so many people want to know what successful individuals do to create great results, but the answer is just the opposite. It's not what they do at all -- it's what they don't do, according to Darren.

Saying "yes" is easy, he said. There's no hassle in saying yes. The master skill, however, is saying "no." No is hard because it can cause conflict in relationships.

When Darren got a chance to interview Warren Buffett, he asked the question that everyone wants answered: "What would you attribute your grand success to?" The key to Buffett's great success was this: "For every 100 great opportunities that are brought to me, I say 'no' 99 times."

Darren asked Steve Jobs, "Of all the things that you have built and created, that have changed the world, what are you and Apple most proud of? His answer was, 'I'm as proud of what we don't do as I am of what we do.'"

Distinction No. 2 of superachievers is to learn to focus on the vital few.

"A lot of us try to become master of many things," Darren said. "We try to be great at a lot of things, and as a result, we don't ever become world-class at a few things. Look at Olympic athletes, entertainers, Nobel laureates or Albert Einstein. They were all world-class at just a few things. The rest of their lives they were pretty mediocre."

Darren makes the point that long hours are very different from hard work. Hard work is doing the few things that are hard to do but produce the big results.

"A great confusion for a lot of us is that we think there are all of these functions we need to be involved in and we need to be great at," he added. "Really, like anything in life, there's about a half dozen vital functions that you need to become excellent or brilliant at in order to create gargantuan success."

What are your vital functions? What are the three vital functions that only you can do? What are the three functions that contribute the most to the success of your business or job? If you take the time to write them down, it will force you to focus your attention on what it is you should be doing every day.

Darren's personal goal is to spend 90 percent of his time on his three functions. Best-selling author Jim Collins says if you have more than three priorities, you don't have any.

Steve Jobs learned when he was running Pixar that there's great power in working on just one big thing at a time. When you can get your whole staff to focus on one thing, their creativity is off the charts. That's why Jobs and Apple did one thing at a time. They did the iPod, then the iPhone, then the iPad and then retail.

The final distinction of superachievers, according to Darren, is that they've developed unconscious habits of success. As Aristotle said, "We are what we repeatedly do."

Darren explained: "When you repeat an activity over and over, the reason it becomes an unconscious habit is it develops what's called a neurosignature. It actually burns a brain groove. Every time you do something, it continues to reinforce this brain groove, and we become what we practice the most."

You can read more of Darren's advice in his book, "The Compound Effect," which I highly recommend. Especially helpful are the five ways to change bad habits and seven ways to install success habits. Bottom line: You have to develop a daily routine that will lead you to success.

Mackay's Moral: Lots of people start, but few people finish.

When comedian Larry the Cable Guy says, "Git 'er done," he's simply defining one of the buzzwords heard in boardrooms and offices everywhere -- execution intelligence, also known as XQ.

I personally prefer Larry's term to the fancier jargon, but the end result is the same: have an end result!

Execution intelligence is the ability to convert smarts and plans into action. A true business expert knows that the idea is not king -- the solution is. In a digital culture that can find almost any kind of idea or information on the Internet, the challenge is in converting this universal knowledge into a successful result.

Michael Dell, CEO and founder of Dell Inc., said, "Ideas are a commodity. Execution of them is not."

The business world recently lost one of the giants of execution intelligence, Stephen Covey. Stephen and I shared a podium a number of times, and I am proud to have called him my friend. His life's work is an example of how to get things done: from his planning calendars that many of us use to his inspirational writing. In his blockbuster book, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," the second habit is "Begin with the end in mind."

Talking in a broader sense, Stephen said, "Organizations that execute with excellence focus on very few clear objectives and align the focus of every worker and work group to those few goals. Can an organization execute its goals when its people are unclear on the goals, uncommitted to them, unempowered to achieve them and unaccountable for them? Got smart people? Got a vision? Good for you. Now, what about your XQ?"

As a lifelong salesman, I know success comes when you are able to close the deal. In the sales field, all the flashy brochures and well-practiced presentations are just the beginning. No one works until a sale is made. If salespeople can't execute sales, the business fails.

There's a whole movement defining different kinds of intelligence. For example, emotional intelligence is centered on being smart about feelings. Interpersonal intelligence deals with being smart socially. IQ tests measure smarts as defined by words or math. So someone who is classified as very smart but lacking execution intelligence might not be able to succeed.

Developing your XQ involves several steps, according to teleseminar guru Alex Mandossian:

-- Don't focus on complex solutions or even elegant ones. Sometimes we get too mired in details to see the logical end. Complicating your progress is counterproductive.

-- Execution intelligence forces you to zero in on answers that are pure action. Don't stall in the thinking stage -- that's when you get bogged down in meetings, memos and reinventing the wheel but never reach a conclusion.

-- Don't spend all your time chasing the wrong rainbow. If you determine that a project will not work like you thought it would, let it go. Knowing when to throw in the towel is also a form of execution intelligence.

Many brilliant ideas have been thought up already, but the real genius is being able to put them to work practically. Many people know -- or claim to know -- what to do. They just never get it done.

A doctor, a carpenter and an electrician were traveling in a foreign country when they unwittingly broke a law. They were all sentenced to die in the electric chair.

The doctor was placed in the chair first. The executioner asked if he had any last words. The doctor said, "I am so sorry. If I am spared I will spend the rest of my life caring for the people of this country." The switch was flipped, but nothing happened. The doctor was spared.

Next came the carpenter. He was asked for any last words. "I am so sorry. If I am also spared, I will spend the rest of my life building homes for the people of this country." With that, the switch was flipped. Again, nothing happened, and the carpenter was spared.

Finally, the electrician was seated in the chair. The executioner asked him if he had anything to say. "Well, yes," said the electrician. "As a matter of fact, I think I know what your problem is. If you would take that loose wire over there and connect it to that switch, I think you could get this chair working again."

Execution, yes. Intelligence? Maybe not.

Mackay's Moral: It's not enough to know what. You must also know how.

You are driving to work when another driver suddenly cuts into your lane and nearly clips you. You immediately get mad and it sets you off for the morning.

One of your co-workers calls in "sick" -- again -- meaning you will be doing double-duty for the third time this month. Your own work is piling up while you try to cover for her. You head to the manager, ready to explode.

You have tickets for a ball game you've been looking forward to attending with your family, but the dark clouds overhead open up and ruin your plans. Your kids are disappointed, and you curse the weather gods for spoiling your day.

Wouldn't it be great if you could control your emotions and shake off these events, along with all the other things that might happen to you on any given day? It's natural to be upset when things don't go according to plan. But all too often, we overreact and start a domino effect that prevents us from seeing the positive side of anything.

George Foreman, former heavyweight boxing champ, makes a great point: "Being angry and resentful of someone is like letting them live rent-free in your head."

Controlling emotions is a challenge for people of all ages, but it can be done! You are the only person directly responsible for your emotions. You are responsible for how you act and react. No one makes you respond in a certain way.

"The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives," said American philosopher William James -- in the late 1800s, no less. Clearly, the problem has existed for ages.

Fortunately, there are some very effective strategies for getting a grip on your emotions. It takes practice, but the payoff is unmistakable. Your blood pressure will thank you too.

-- Practice good self-care. Take care of your own physical, emotional and mental needs. Someone who does this on an ongoing basis will be able to handle negative emotions better -- and not become a threat to others.

-- Identify what anger and frustration feel like -- both in your head and in your body. If people are cut off from their feelings, there is a much higher chance that they will act rashly.

-- Get out of the stressful situation and take a walk. Take the time you need to process your feelings and emotions. Perhaps it's enough for you to take a deep breath and count to 10 -- slowly.

-- Vent to someone who will listen without judging.

-- Find a temporary distraction. Engage in an activity that will take your mind off the upsetting subject.

-- Take action. Think about how the situation could be positively changed, and then encourage steps to help solve the problem.

-- Communicate your desire for change to others who can help make the change a reality.

-- Think about "what's right," rather than "what's wrong."

According to a story on businessballs.com, "A gardener ran a business that had been in the family for two or three generations ... For as long as anyone could remember, the current owner and previous generations of owners were extremely positive, happy people. Most folk assumed it was because they ran a successful business. In fact, it was the other way around.

"A tradition in the business was that the owner always wore a big lapel badge, saying 'Business is Great!' even though it went through tough times like any other. What never changed, however, were the owner's attitude and the badge.

"Everyone who saw the badge for the first time invariably asked, 'What's so great about business?' Sometimes people would also comment that their own business was miserable, or even that they personally were miserable or stressed.

"The badge always tended to start a conversation, which typically involved the owner talking about lots of positive aspects of business and work. Even the most miserable would usually end up feeling a lot happier after just a couple minutes of listening to all this infectious enthusiasm and positivity.

"It is tough to measure an attitude like this, but to one extent or another, it's probably a self-fulfilling prophecy. The business owner freely admitted: 'The badge came first. The great business followed.'"

Mackay's Moral: Attitude is the mind's paintbrush -- it can color any situation.