"Pushing the envelope" is a phrase that gained popularity with American test pilots such as Chuck Yaeger and John Glenn in the 1950s. Each aircraft they flew was said to have an “envelope” of performance. In other words, it was designed to fly safely up to a certain speed for a certain distance at a certain altitude. The job of test pilots was to “push the envelope” by making the plane go faster, farther and higher.

To me, “pushing the envelope” means pushing the boundaries and pushing yourself to maximize your advantage to be better, faster and smarter and to get the results you want -- in business and in life.

It’s difficult to overstate the importance of speed in business. This century’s business is dominated by speed. Speed is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity. Having a great product isn’t enough anymore. People expect things faster, cheaper and better. Every part of your business needs to be up to speed.

Take customer service, for example. You need to speed up the time handling customer complaints. When you serve your customers in a timely fashion, you end up with satisfied customers. Poor customer service equals dissatisfied customers. My motto has always been “Taking care of customers is taking care of business.” If you make customers No. 1, they will make you No. 1. Speed allows you to differentiate in the marketplace. Amazon’s emphasis on speed is a great example.

If businesses don’t think fast and act fast, they get passed like jalopies on the freeway. Companies like Blockbuster, which stayed the same for years, were passed up by video-streaming subscription services like Netflix.

Mainstay companies like Sears, Kodak, Xerox, Radio Shack and Toys “R” Us are all shells of what they used to be. Businesses have to keep up or get passed up.

Kmart and Walmart both started in 1962, but compare the two companies today. Walmart has continued to make changes and reinvent itself, which is reflected in its sales of more than $510 billion. Kmart, on the other hand, remained stagnant, and it’s struggled (after being acquired by Sears) in and out of bankruptcy.

IBM and Hewlett-Packard got passed up by Dell when it started selling computers directly to consumers, instead of through stores.

We live in a world of instant gratification, so consumers expect speed. They can’t wait until the next great smartphone with expanded capabilities. There will always be a group of people who demand the latest and the greatest, and there will be a forward-thinking company ready to serve them.

An important component of speed is getting your workforce -- employees, contractors and vendors -- up to speed by training them to complete tasks faster, innovate and share best-practice ideas. When you hire the right person, you're only halfway right. Train them correctly, consistently and constantly to move at a rapid pace with ease. One caveat: Never sacrifice quality for speed. Faster is only better if the result is a top-notch product, as illustrated in the following story.

A man was driving down a country road one day at 45 miles per hour, when suddenly he noticed a three-legged chicken running at the same speed beside his truck. Though he thought this odd, the man decided to speed up so he wouldn't cause an accident with the chicken. The man sped up to 55 miles per hour, but so did the three-legged chicken. The man then sped up to 65, and so did the three-legged chicken.

As the man watched in amazement, the chicken suddenly made a sharp left turn and took off down a side road toward a small farm. The man turned and followed the chicken to the farm. Looking around, the man found a farmer around back amid a flock of three-legged chickens. After greeting the farmer, the man asked him why he was raising three-legged chickens.

“Well, we figure that with an average family of three people, only two can have a chicken leg with a normal chicken,” said the farmer. “But with a three-legged chicken, each member of the family can enjoy a chicken leg of their own.”

“That's pretty wise,” said the man, who then asked, “So how do your three-legged chickens taste?”

“I don't know,” said the farmer. “We've never been able to catch one.”

Success is a journey, not a destination. You may take a few detours, hit some roadblocks and arrive at a different place from what you planned.

Success comes in many forms and means different things to different people. In the working world, it is often defined as landing the perfect job, achieving a targeted income level, occupying a corner office or owning a business. However you measure it, success is sweet. And it doesn’t happen overnight.

Here are my ABCs of success to help you be successful.

A is for adversity. I have never met a successful person who hasn’t had to overcome either a little or a lot of adversity.

B is for boredom, the kiss of death for anyone who wants to get ahead in life. It's even worse for anyone who truly wants to love what they do.

C is for competition. The existence of competition is a good sign. No one ever set a world’s record competing against themself.

D is for demonstrate. Find concrete ways to demonstrate how valuable your presence is to the company, your customers and your community.

E is for eagerness. The successful people I know display an eagerness to improve and get the job done.

F is for faults. Few of us lead unblemished personal or professional lives. It’s the ability to overcome and learn from our faults that counts.

G is for guarantees. There are none in this life, but there are creative ways to better your chances. You can, however, guarantee your customers and co-workers that they can depend on you to always give your best.

H is for happiness. To me, happiness is the key to success, not vice versa. Only you can draw the map of the route to your happiness.

I is for I’ll take care of it. There will always be a place for the person who says “I’ll take care of it,” -- and then does it.

J is for job. There is something unique and memorable about each one of us. It’s our job to find out what it is and let other people in on the secret.

K is for keen. You must develop a keen sense of what your customer wants, what your company needs from you and the best way to deliver both.

L is for love what you do, do what you love and you’ll never have to work another day in your life.

M is for morals. A solid moral compass is critical to succeeding. Anything less than stellar ethics diminishes success.

N is for navigating shark-infested waters and learning how to swim with the sharks.

O is for optimism. Optimists are people who make the best of it when they get the worst of it.

P is for persistence. Much of what makes people successful is persistence.

Q is for quintessential. Successful people always strive to be the quintessential example of quality and decency.

R is for resourceful because resourceful people can see the upside of down times. They are not willing to give up just because things get complicated.

S is for success. If you want to double your success ratio, you might have to double your failure rate.

T is for things others don’t like to do. Successful people do them so they can then do the things they enjoy.

U is for university. Most people drive an average of 12,000 miles a year. Turn your car into a university and listen to self-help podcasts and motivational lessons.

V is for victory. Celebrate victories, large and small, along the road to success, and be sure to thank those who helped you along the way.

W is for work. It’s not enough to work hard or work smart. You have to work hard AND smart. There are many formulas for success, but none of them works unless you do.

X is for eXchange of ideas. Unless you are able to communicate in a forceful, polite, effective way, the day is going to come when what you’ve learned won’t be enough.

Y is for Yoda. Yes, the Jedi master. Everyone benefits from mentors like Yoda in their quests to succeed. Once you have achieved success, be a Yoda for those who can benefit from your guidance.

Z is for zone. When you are in the zone, things just click. Success is all but guaranteed.

Mackay’s Moral: Some people succeed because they are destined to, but most people succeed because they are determined to.

A woman walked into the grocery store with a 3-year-old girl in the seat of her shopping cart. As they passed the cookie section, the little girl asked for some, and her mother said no.

The little girl began to whine and fuss. The mother said quietly, “Now, Monica, we just have half of the aisles left to go through; don’t be upset. It won’t be long.”

Soon they came to the candy aisle, and the little girl began to beg for some. When her mother said she couldn’t have any, the little girl began to cry. The mother said, “There, there, Monica -- only two more aisles to go, and then we’ll be checking out.”

When they got to the checkout, the little girl threw a tantrum. The mother patiently said, “Monica, we’ll be through this checkout lane in five minutes, and then you can go home and have a nice nap.”

A man followed them out to the parking lot and said to the woman. “I couldn’t help noticing how patient you were with little Monica.”

The mother laughed. “My little girl’s name is Tammy. I’m Monica.”

The world today is testing everyone’s patience. And we have never needed it more.

Patience is an invaluable virtue, but it takes some work. We live in a world where we are used to getting things quickly, be it information or products. We want everything now -- instant gratification. This impatient attitude can cause a lot of harm -- unproductive time, stress, poor decisions and more.

Patience and impatience are also habits. Studies show that it takes 21 days to create or to break a habit. Good habits are as addictive as bad habits, and a lot more rewarding. I would like to suggest that when you change your impatience habit, you will change your life. Patience requires self-control. It doesn’t help to complain, whine or stomp your feet like children. It’s not easy to be patient all the time. It requires practice. Start by waiting in line -- and we are waiting in a lot of lines these days –- or waiting in traffic. It is better to be patient on the road than a patient in the hospital. Take control of your emotions in small situations.

Have realistic expectations. This can pertain to projects and people. A common weakness is wanting others to be better than you are willing to be yourself. If you have unrealistic expectations, your stress and anxiety can increase.

Rejection is a part of life. You can’t avoid it, and you must learn not to take it personally. Move on and prepare for the next challenge.

Analyze every failure, but never wallow in one. I always want to know why people say no, and I’m not afraid to ask. How helpful iIt is helpful to have a second opinion about where you went off the rails,. T and to think about what you could have done differently.

Remember past achievements. Look back to your past successes. How did you feel? This will help ease the rejection of today, and help you recognize that you can get past the current disappointment. How long did you have to work for those earlier accomplishments?

Finally, take a break when you feel yourself losing patience. If you’re feeling down, do something you like -- exercise, read a motivational book, listen to a favorite song. Just don’t stay away too long.

A young man came to a jeweler’s shop and said he wanted to study to become a gemologist. The young man insisted that he had the patience to learn everything the jeweler was willing to teach him. Reluctantly, the jeweler told him to return the next day for his first lesson.

When the man arrived the next day, the jeweler placed a jade stone in his hand. For four hours, the young man held the stone while the jeweler did his work.

The next day the jeweler had the young man hold the same stone. And every day after that, for over a week.

Finally, one morning the young man asked, “Sir, when am I going to learn something?”

“Soon,” said the jeweler, passing him the stone.

The young man was about to give up, but as he took the stone in his hand he felt surprised. “Why are you giving me a different stone today?”

The jeweler smiled and said, “You have begun to learn.”

Mackay’s Moral: The future belongs to the person who knows how to wait.