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April 30, 2009
Win-Win Decisions by Dr. John C. Maxwell
College basketball fans turn their attention each spring to March Madness, otherwise known as the NCAA Tournament. It's a hoop-junkie's dream come true - four weeks of "win-or-go-home" basketball featuring the best teams in the land. But what if they didn't keep score? What if they just played for fun? It doesn't work that way in athletics, and it seldom works that way in the professional world. We set goals, we measure results and, ultimately, we win or go home depending upon how well we do against the competition. So when we're making key decisions as leaders, it can seem counter-intuitive to filter outcomes with the question that I'm going to recommend: Is this mutually beneficial? I love competition, but every deal shouldn't end with an "I won, you lost" outcome. In fact, I'm convinced that it's possible - and profitable - to consistently make mutually beneficial decisions with the people and organizations that work with and around us. Here's why it's worth the effort:
1. It adds value to others.
This is a personal value of mine and a value of the organizations that I lead. It requires that we start every day and every discussion and every decision-making process with objective of helping others improve. All too often, people go into a meeting or a negotiation asking, "What can I get from them? What's in it for me? How can I sneak something by them?" Wouldn't it be terrible to spend day after day driven by the tactics of manipulation? When you're done, you can say, "I won and you lost." But then what? You go back to life. You've got to go back to why we're here. And we are our brothers' keepers. That's what we're here to do. And to lighten someone else's load is a very noble cause.
2. It compounds influence, effectiveness and results.
When you come to the table with the attitude of helping and serving others, you immediately compound the influence, effectiveness and results of everyone involved, whether it's two people, a group of people or multiple organizations.
We experienced this not long ago when working with the Christian Broadcasting Network. I was representing EQUIP, our non-profit ministry, at a meeting with the leaders of CBN. Because we went into the meetings looking to make mutually beneficial decisions and not just bottom line issues like funding, we discovered ways to make each other better. They needed training for their leaders, which I unconditionally agreed to provide. And their equipment, technology and experience will help us lower production costs for things like DVD's that we use for the ministry.
3. It strengthens relationships.
You've probably heard the expression; "It's lonely at the top." Well, I want to go to the top, but I have no desire to go alone. If you're alone at the top, you're probably not a leader, anyway. Who are you leading other than yourself? Leaders take people on the journey with them. They help take others to the top. Relationships are important, and mutually beneficial decisions strengthen relationships. When you have the heart and desire to add value to people and you long as a leader to pour into other people's lives first, then you begin to add value to them and you begin to lift them to a higher level. The benefits are compounded and relationships are strengthened. When that happens, the score really doesn't matter. Everybody wins.
Reproduced with permission from The Jim Rohn Ezine
April 29, 2009
Keys to Finding Your Genius by Jim Rohn
Change Your Beliefs. It is up to you to do the work of changing your beliefs. And when you do you will be opening up new worlds - literally! This month Chris is going to talk about winning the thought battle, which will help you keep negative beliefs out and positive beliefs and thoughts in. Feed your mind with information that will change your belief. By taking part in this One-Year Plan, you are doing just that. But also ask yourself if you are doing that with belief. The truth is that you have an amazing mind with a capacity for learning that is beyond your comprehension. You must believe this. And when you do, you will be unlocking the potential of your mind!
Get the Right Knowledge. Words--if they are not true--are meaningless. I hear children say, "I read it in a book." But is it true? Just because someone says it or writes it, doesn't mean it is true. As learners, we want to get the right knowledge, not just information or opinions. It is our job to seek out information and knowledge and then test it and run it through our minds to see if it is true, and if it can be rightfully applied to our lives in order to make them better and help us succeed. We need to weigh and measure what we learn in order to gain the right knowledge. And when we do, we will be unlocking the potential of our mind!
Become Passionate about Learning. This will take some work, but the only way to do it is to begin learning about things that have an immediate impact in your life. When you learn about a new financial concept that helps you earn money or get out of debt that will get you fired up. When you learn about a way to communicate that helps you sell more product, that will energize you. When you learn about how to interact with your family in a healthy way and your relationships get better, that will inspire you! Become passionate about learning. And when you do, you will be unlocking the potential of your mind!
Discipline Yourself Through the Hard Work of Study. Learning will take work. Until someone comes up with modules that can plug into your mind and give you instant access to knowledge, you are on your own, and that takes work. The process of learning is a long one. Yes, we can speed it up, but it is still a process of reading, listening, reviewing, repetition, applying the knowledge, experiencing the outcomes, readjusting, etc. Simply put, that takes time. Slowly but surely, when you discipline yourself, you gain knowledge and learn. And when you do, you will be unlocking the potential of your mind!
Learning is possible, no matter what your age. You are never too young or too old. Your mind was created to learn and has a huge capacity to do so. This week, make a commitment to unlock the potential of your mind!
Until next week, let's do something remarkable!
Jim Rohn
Reprinted with permission from Your Achievement Ezine
April 28, 2009
Dare to Dream Again by Chris Widener
"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat." -- Teddy Roosevelt
Do you remember when you were a child and no dream seemed too big? Some of us thought we would walk on the moon; some dreamed of riding with Roy Rogers; others imagined stepping to the plate in a big-league game. Every one of us, when we were young, had a common trait - we were dreamers. The world hadn't gotten to us yet to show us that we couldn't possibly achieve what our hearts longed for. And we were yet still years from realizing that in some cases we weren't built for achieving our dream (I realized about my junior year of high school that I was too short and too slow to play professional basketball. The dreamer is always the last to know).
Eventually we started to let our dreams die. People began to tell us that we couldn't do the things we wanted. It was impossible. Responsible people don't pursue their dreams. Settle down, get a job, be dependable. Take care of business, live the mundane, be content.
Do you know what I say to that? Hooey!
It is time to dream again!
Why? Here are just a few reasons:
* Avoid regret. The facts are in, and someday we will all lie on our deathbed looking back through the history of our lives. We will undoubtedly think about what we wished we had done or accomplished. I for one don't want to regret what could have been, what should have been. So I am deciding today to pursue my dreams.
* The world needs people like you to dream of something great and then to pursue it with all of your heart. Maybe you belong to a business, school or organization that started out with good intentions but has settled into the same ol' same ol'. Shake them up and remind them of how they could really help people if only they would dream!
* Personal and family fulfillment. One of the things that happens when we stop pursuing our dreams is that a little piece of us dies and we become disheartened, if only in that area of our lives. Stepping up and pursuing your dream rekindles that passion and zeal that everyone has the capacity for and lets us experience fulfillment. Having a purpose puts the zip in our step and the zing in our emotions!
* Making the world a better place. All of the great accomplishments that have ever happened began with a person who had a dream. Somebody rebuffed the naysayers and said to himself or herself, "This can be done, and I am the one who will do it." And in many instances they changed the world for the better. It isn't just the Martin Luther King's and the J.F.K's either. Think of all the people we have never heard of who have started things large and small that help people world-wide every day.
* Leaving a legacy. How will your children remember you? As one who sought all that life had to offer, using your gifts and talents to their fullest extent, leading the family with a zest for life, or as an overweight couch potato who could have been? Our children need to see that we dream; that we search for something better. They in turn will do the same!
So where do we start? Here are some ideas:
* Reconnect with your dream. Set aside some time to let yourself dream. What have you placed on the backburner in order to live the status quo? Settle on one or two dreams that you can and will pursue. Don't come up with too many. That will only deter you further.
* Decide that you will do it. This may seem elementary but many people never decide and commit fully to their dream. They simply keep "thinking" about it.
Tell others that you are going to do it. This puts you on the record as to what you are dreaming about. It makes you accountable. It will help you do it if for no other reason than to avoid embarrassment!
* Develop a step-by-step plan. This is absolutely essential. You must sit down and write out a few things:
* A timeline. How long will it take to the end?
* Action steps. Point-by-point what you will do and when you will do them.
* Resources you will need to draw from. What will it take? Who will need to be involved for help or advice?
* An evaluation tool. You need to evaluate from time to time whether you are progressing or not.
* A celebration. Yep, when you are done you should already have planned what you will do to celebrate. Make it big!
I have found that there is no better time than now. So, set aside some time today to get started on your dream. Follow the action plan and set your sights for the top of the mountain! You will be glad you did!
Chris Widener
Reprinted with permission from The Chris Widener Ezine
April 27, 2009
The Scientific Process Behind Making Wishes Come True by Mark Victor Hansen
I've told people thousands of times that they've just go to ask for what they want. And I find that most people only have one problem with this directive . . . They don't KNOW what they want!
You can't ask for what you want unless you know what it is! In this exercise, I'm going to start you on a wonderful path of painting your dreams into reality. I'm going to teach you the secrets behind setting and achieving your greatest ambitions.
Before we set off on this path together, let me make one thing very clear: The word "goals" can be intimidating it can feel so overbearing that it keeps people from even beginning the process. So, let's instead think of goals as a "To Do List With Deadlines."
Do the deadlines have to be tomorrow? Next week? Of course not. This is your To Do List for the rest of your life. Goals can be added to, subtracted from and most importantly scratched off the list as you move through your life.
Here's a checklist to ensure you're using a successful framework to set your To Do List:
Your most important goals must be yours. Not your spouse's. Not your child's. Not your employer's. Yours. When you let other people determine your definition of success, you're sabotaging your own future.
Your goals must mean something to you. When you write your goals, you must ask yourself, "What's really important to me?" "What am I prepared to give up to make this happen?" Your reasons for charting a new course of action give you the drive and energy to get up every morning.
Your goals must be specific and measurable. Vague generalizations and wishy-washy statements aren't good enough. Be very specific!
Your goals must be flexible. A flexible plan keeps you from feeling suffocated and allows you to take advantage of genuine opportunities that walk in your future door.
Your goals must be challenging, exciting. Force yourself to jump out of your comfort zone to acquire that energy and edge.
Your goals must be in alignment with your values. Pay attention to your intuition, your gut. When you set a goal that contradicts your values, something inside will twinge. Pay attention.
Your goals must be well-balanced. Make sure you include areas that allow time to relax, have fun and enjoy people in your closest circle.
Your goals must be realistic. Be expansive but don't be ridiculous. If you're four feet tall, you will probably never play in the NBA. Also, be sure to allow yourself time to get there.
Your goals must include contribution. Unfortunately, many people get so wrapped up in pursuing their goals that they don't have time in their lives to give something back to society. Build this into your goals program.
Your goals need to be supported. Either selectivity share a few of your dreams with a number of people, or share all of your dreams with a select few people. In either case, you're creating a web of support and accountability for yourself.
Go For the Gusto 101 Goals!
It's time to get started on your master plan. Give yourself some quiet time, put on some relaxing music . . . and write down 101 goals.
Open your mind to ALL the possibilities. Start each goal with "I am" or "I will." Dont even THINK about restricting yourself! To help you with this process, here are some key questions to ask yourself:
What do I want to do?
What do I want to have?
Where do I want to go?
What contribution do I want to make?
What do I want to learn?
Who do I want to meet and spend my time with?
How much do I want to earn, save and invest?
What will I do for fun and optimum health?
This process may take two hours. It may take two weeks. Don't stop until you have 101 goals. Remember, you're building your better life here it's the only life you have.
Mark Victor Hansen
Reproduced with permission from Your Achievement Ezine
April 26, 2009
All You Want is Within Your Reach by Chris Widener
If there is one thing that I believe with all my heart it is that you can have any life you choose to. You can live the life you have always dreamed of.
We live in a period of unparalleled opportunity in human history. Think about it: Just one hundred years ago, most people really only had five or six options when it came to deciding what they would do with their lives. For most, they didn't even have the knowledge that they could do anything other than take over their father's farm when they turned eighteen!
But today a person living in the western world (and many other areas of the world as well) can choose to do virtually anything they want to! They key is the word "choose."
You see, the world is within your reach. Any job you want can be yours if you decide. All of the opportunities are there for the taking. The question is whether or not you will take.
You say, "But Chris, you just don't understand. I'm thirty-eight years old with two kids and I have bills to pay. I make $28,000 a year. I can't just go become a doctor and make big money!"
And I say, "Yes you can! If you decide to. If you will take action you can become a doctor or anything else you want to. We live in a day and age when virtually anything is possible."
For the sake of highlighting this principle, let's look at the above example. How would this person change careers? Simple. Here is the process in specific action steps:
1. Find out from a medical school what classes you would need to take to get in. Chances are your college major would need some rounding out or if you didn't go to college, you would need to do so. Maximum time to do this: 3 days.
2. Now, go to school. Maximum time to do this: 4 years.
3. Now, medical school and residency. Maximum time to do this: 6 years.
4. Begin practicing medicine.
At this point you would be forty-eight years old. That leaves you seventeen years to practice. Now let's see the impact it has on your life:
1. You get to pursue your dream, making you and your family MUCH happier.
2. You will make, on average, $100,000 more per year. The difference here is manifold! If you stayed where you were, you would have earned $28,000 a year for twenty-seven years and would earn $756,000. If you left and pursued your dream you would earn $128,000 for seventeen years (That's if you took ten years to make the transition. Most would be less.) and you earnings would be $2,176,000! This is a difference of $1,420,000! And this doesn't even take into consideration the amounts you would earn on investments on the difference in incomes.
So is it possible? Yes. Does it take time? Yes. Is it hard? Yes. Is it scary? Yes, and that is why most people won't do it.
It isn't for lack of opportunity. It is usually because of one of the following:
Lack of vision.
Lack of tenacity.
Fear.
The truth is that you can do anything you want to. Stop telling yourself excuses! Go to battle against a lack of vision! Pick yourself up and get tenacious! Look fear in the face and stand up to it! Your whole life depends on it, my friend!
The choice is yours. Will you continue to limp along in life because you don't have the courage to run for your dream? Will you continue to allow the fear of poverty keep you from pursuing the riches, both materially and emotionally, that lay within the vision you have of what your life could be?
You CAN live the life you have always dreamed of. All you want is within your reach. But to pick it up, you must first empty your hands of what they already hold. Then you must reach for it, take a hold of it, and possess it!
Chris Widener
Reproduced with permission from the Chris Widener Ezine.
April 25, 2009
Building a Successful Team by Jim Rohn
Once you've set a goal for yourself as a leader-whether it is to create your own enterprise, energize your organization, build a church, or excel in sports - the challenge is to find good people to help you accomplish that goal. Gathering a successful team of people is not only helpful, it's necessary.
So to guide you in this daunting task of picking the right people, I'm going to share with you a four-part checklist.
Number One: Check each candidate's history. Seek out available information regarding the individual's qualifications to do the job. That's the most obvious step.
Number Two: Check the person's interest level. If they are interested, they are probably a good prospect. Sometimes people can fake their interest, but if you've been a leader for a while, you will be a capable judge of whether somebody is merely pretending. Arrange face-to-face conversation, and try to gauge his or her sincerity to the best of your ability. You won't hit the bull's-eye every time, but you can get pretty good at spotting what I call true interest.
Number Three: Check the prospect's responses. A response tells you a lot about someone's integrity, character, and skills. Listen for responses like these: "You want me to get there that early?" "You want me to stay that late?" "The break is only ten minutes?" "I'll have to work two evenings a week and Saturdays?" You can't ignore these clues. A person's responses are a good indication of his or her character and of how hard he or she will work. Our attitudes reflect our inner selves, so even if we can fool others for a while, eventually, our true selves will emerge.
And Number Four: Check results. The name of the game is results. How else can we effectively judge an individual's performance? The final judge must be results.
There are two types of results to look for. The first is activity results. Specific results are a reflection of an individual's productivity. Sometimes we don't ask for this type of result right away, but it's pretty easy to check activity. If you work for a sales organization and you've asked your new salesman, John, to make ten calls in the first week, it's simple to check his results on Friday. You say, "John, how many calls did you make?" John says, "Well..." and starts telling a story, making an excuse. You respond, "John, I just need a number from one to ten." If his results that first week are not good, it is a definite sign. You might try another week, but if that lack of precise activity continues, you'll soon realize that John isn't capable of becoming a member of your team.
The second area you need to monitor is productivity. The ultimate test of a quality team is measurable progress in a reasonable amount of time. And here's one of the skills of leadership: be up front with your team as to what you expect them to produce. Don't let the surprises come later.
When you're following this four-part checklist, your instincts obviously play a major role. And your instincts will improve every time you go through the process. Remember, building a good team will be one of your most challenging tasks as a leader. It will reap you multiple rewards for a long time to come.
To Your Success,
Jim Rohn
Reproduced with permission from The Jim Rohn Ezine
April 24, 2009
FACING THE ENEMIES WITHIN by Jim Rohn
We are not born with courage, but neither are we born with fear. Maybe some of your fears are brought on by your own experiences, by what someone has told you, by what you've read in the papers. Some fears are valid, like walking alone in a bad part of town at two o'clock in the morning. But once you learn to avoid that situation, you won't need to live in fear of it.
Fears, even the most basic ones, can totally destroy our ambitions. Fear can destroy fortunes. Fear can destroy relationships. Fear, if left unchecked, can destroy our lives. Fear is one of the many enemies lurking inside us.
Let me tell you about five of the other enemies we face from within. The first enemy that you've got to destroy before it destroys you is indifference. What a tragic disease this is. "Ho-hum, let it slide. I'll just drift along." Here's one problem with drifting: you can't drift your way to the top of the mountain.
The second enemy we face is indecision. Indecision is the thief of opportunity and enterprise. It will steal your chances for a better future. Take a sword to this enemy.
The third enemy inside is doubt. Sure, there's room for healthy skepticism. You can't believe everything. But you also can't let doubt take over. Many people doubt the past, doubt the future, doubt each other, doubt the government, doubt the possibilities and doubt the opportunities. Worse of all, they doubt themselves. I'm telling you, doubt will destroy your life and your chances of success. It will empty both your bank account and your heart. Doubt is an enemy. Go after it. Get rid of it.
The fourth enemy within is worry. We've all got to worry some. Just don't let it conquer you. Instead, let it alarm you. Worry can be useful. If you step off the curb in New York City and a taxi is coming, you've got to worry. But you can't let worry loose like a mad dog that drives you into a small corner. Here's what you've got to do with your worries: drive them into a small corner. Whatever is out to get you, you've got to get it. Whatever is pushing on you, you've got to push back.
The fifth interior enemy is over-caution. It is the timid approach to life. Timidity is not a virtue; it's an illness. If you let it go, it'll conquer you. Timid people don't get promoted. They don't advance and grow and become powerful in the marketplace. You've got to avoid over-caution.
Do battle with the enemy. Do battle with your fears. Build your courage to fight what's holding you back, what's keeping you from your goals and dreams. Be courageous in your life and in your pursuit of the things you want and the person you want to become.
To Your Success,
Jim Rohn
Reproduced with permission from the Jim Rohn Ezine
April 23, 2009
The Law of Attraction by Brian Tracy
You are a living magnet; you invariably attract into your life the people, situations and circumstances that are in harmony with your dominant thoughts.
This is one of the great laws that explain much of success and failure in business and personal life. It has been written about as far back as the ancient Egyptian mystery schools, 3000 years before Christ. It is so powerful, pervasive and all encompassing that it affects everything you do or say, or even think or feel.
Everything you have in your life, you have attracted to yourself because of the way you think, because of the person you are. You can change your life because you can change the way you think. You can change the person you are.
You have heard it said, "Birds of a feather flock together." "Like attracts like." "Whatever you want, wants you." These are ways of expressing the Law of Attraction.
Your thoughts are extremely powerful. They are a form of mental energy that travels at the speed of light. They are so fine that they can go through any barrier. This is why, for example, you can think about a person, sometimes at a great distance, and in the next moment, the phone will ring and that person will be on the line. Your thoughts have connected with that person the moment you thought them.
Companies develop products, processes, services and ways of doing business that attract an entire constellation of customers, employees, suppliers, financiers and circumstances that are in harmony with the dominant thinking of the organization. It is as though every human ingredient inside and outside of the organization is a musical instrument. Together, they make up a great symphony. They are all playing together and creating a form of music that constitutes the activities of your business and your life.
Whenever things are not going well in any organization, the fastest way to bring about change is to bring in a new person who changes the way people think and feel about themselves and what they are doing. New values, new visions, new strategies and new policies toward customers and toward each other bring about rapid and often dramatic change.
Brian Tracy
Reproduced with permission from Your Achievement Ezine
April 22, 2009
The Power of the Right Coach by Denis Waitley
Throughout history, most of the great achievements and incredible comebacks have been the result of an individual whose motivation to persevere was influenced by a coach or mentor. In science, art, politics, sports, and business, there is a common thread of having been coached among those who achieve greatness. A coach doesn't need to be a professional consultant or counselor. He or she could be someone within your organization or industry, or it could be someone from your personal life whom you respect or admire.
A study was undertaken on the Hawaiian island of Kauai by two researchers named Emily Werner and Ruth Smith. This study, which followed more than 450 people from childhood through their adult lives, was an attempt to learn why some people are motivated to overcome severe disadvantages, while others from the same background seem to have been overwhelmed by their problems. This research continued for an incredible length of time: 40 years, to be exact.
According to the research, one of the most interesting qualities of these motivated individuals is their ability to recognize potential sources of support in other people, to look beyond the walls of their homes to find relatives, friends, teachers, or other role models who can provide help. This very important finding illustrates the benefits of forming mentor relationships to encourage achievement.
Choosing a coach or mentor is like having an additional correctional device to keep you on target. An analogy of this premise comes from aerospace technology. Years ago, the military used inertial guidance systems on missiles. Unfortunately, once the course of an inertially guided missile is set, it proceeds along that path with no capability for adjustments. It's like a bullet fired from a rifle. Even when the aim is good at the outset, if the target moves unexpectedly once the projectile is in flight, the shot is going to miss. And if there's one thing you can count on in life, it's that the target is going to be moving! In the Gulf War of 1992, the Patriot missile that defended Israel and Saudi Arabia was introduced. Unlike previous defenses, this system had an advanced self-adjusting navigation system that continuously monitored the missile's trajectory as well as the path of its swiftly moving target. The Patriot was able to make whatever corrections were necessary, regardless of changes in the position or speed of its objective.
A highly motivated person uses a coach or mentor in the same way when he or she has targeted a worthwhile goal. A coach or mentor can assist you in making adjustments and navigating through difficult times.
Finding coaches and mentors is an important mission, and you will no doubt have several over the course of your life. It is critical that you choose them wisely. Your mentor is someone to whom you'll be committing a great deal of time and attention, and who ideally will take a very focused interest in you as well.
Denis Waitley
Reproduced with permission from The Denis Waitley Ezine
April 21, 2009
Dedicate Yourself to Educate Yourself by Tom Hopkins
To become and remain a professional in this business of selling, you must recognize that you are in charge of your own training and act on that fact. Build on your strengths and correct your weaknesses. If you aren't sure of what to work on first, there is certainly someone in your life who will gladly assist you - your manager, your spouse, your children, a trusted friend. Here are six skill areas that I strongly recommend you consider developing or strengthening:
Negotiation
Do you consider yourself a trained negotiator? Trained negotiators can quickly and effectively analyze the details of situations and determine the best route to resolution. If that brief description doesn't fit you, make an effort to find a book, tape or seminar on the subject, then schedule the time to learn from it.
A Second Language
Consider the part of the country in which you live and those people you do business with. As our country continually redefines itself by its people, be aware of the advantages of being able to communicate with others in their native tongues. Today's projections show that both Hispanic and Asian portions of the population are on the increase. To be able to offer your fine services to more people, you must learn more about them, their language and their cultures.
Voice
Since your clients choose to 'own' your products or services based on what you say and how you represent it, doesn't it make sense that you train your voice to give the highest level of professional presentation? If you've never considered voice training before, tape yourself giving a portion of your presentation, then listen to it. Most of us hate the sound of our voices on tape. Just imagine how our clients must feel when listening to us. To project your message with clarity and power, consider at least one session with a voice coach. They can be found in your local yellow pages.
Public Speaking
Many sales professionals find that giving short speeches in their communities helps build their name recognition and their business. Public speaking is also a great way to build your confidence. Try your skills out by speaking to your child's class about what you do or a hobby you have. Teachers love it when the students can learn first-hand about careers. Join Toastmasters International. There are local chapters in just about every city. They provide excellent opportunities to hone your skills and meet other business professionals with whom you might do business or share referrals.
Memory
Having a good memory is critical to anyone in today's world, but especially so to those of us who meet many new people every week. I have learned to make a game of it in my career. I challenge myself to remember as many people and their stories as I can. There are some great courses and books written on this subject. Even if you learn and use only one small strategy, I guarantee you'll see the benefit of having done so.
Math
Don't cringe on me here. I know there is a large percentage of people who hate math. However, in business, you need to know some basic math skills really well. How does it look when you take a client to lunch and you have to think real hard to calculate the tip? Do you think that will raise any doubts about your competency in the client's mind? Of course it will. Also, when clients toss out figures in their projections, you have to be quick on the uptake in understanding what that means in your business - quantities of supplies they'll need, projecting delivery dates and times, etc. Practice your math skills. Every time you hear or see a number in a conversation or even in a bit of advertising, take a moment to work with the number and see what it means. Compute unit costs for grocery items - $1.29 for 12 ounces. How much is that per ounce? I know the favorite computation of every salesperson who works on a fee basis is to determine their percentage of every sale. Don't stop there. Play the numbers game often and you'll get better at winning.
Choose just one of these six areas and dedicate yourself to improving in it this month. Then, next month, choose another. Once you get started on this journey of self-education, you'll be amazed at what you learn and how simple things can have a powerful impact on your overall success in life.
Reproduced with permission from Your Achievement Ezine
April 20, 2009
Your Dream Begins Today by Les Brown
What will your life be like when you've achieved your most deeply held dreams? Let's take a look at how you can start living your dreams this very day.
Do you have a dream, a vision of the life you wish to live?
How specific is that dream?
How clear is that vision?
How do you intend to reach it?
What obstacles stand in your way?
Are your fears holding you back or are you using them to move you forward?
Your fears can actually lead you to success. Fear is an intense emotion. But that doesn't mean it has to control you, or even stop you. Fear can prepare you and push you forward just as strongly as it can hold you back. Fear heightens your awareness and increases your physical strength. Fear brings your mind to sharp focus. With all that going for you, does it make sense to just run and hide? Of course not. Fear gets you in shape to take action!
Are you waiting for things to get better before moving ahead? If you're serious about success; you need to start taking action today. If you're waiting for things to be perfect, you'll wait forever and nothing will ever get done. The way to achieve is to bloom where you're planted, to do what you can, where you are, with what you have. It's easy to think up excuses for not taking action. "If only I had more hours in the day. If only I had a better job. If only I could meet the right person." But excuses won't bring you anything of value. You've got to change your "if only" into an "I will." "I will make better use of my time. I will work on improving my career. I will create and nurture my relationships." Take a chance. Have faith in yourself. Your circumstances will improve when you make the effort to improve them. Start where you are right now. You have everything it takes to reach for whatever you desire. Stop wishing. Use your time, your energy, your thoughts and efforts to make it happen! You'll be glad you did!
Les Brown
Reproduced with permission from The Jim Rohn Ezine
April 19, 2009
Learn to Crawl Before You Walk; Learn to Walk Before You Run by T. C. Cummings
Stallions like to run. Indeed, they were born to run. But they didn't start their lives running. They had to grow gradually. Even as they fell and they do fall the pain and recovery was relative to their ability and growth at the time. A natural rule applies.
That rule, this philosophy, is crucial to the development of elite commandos or anyone with the strong desire to develop personally. People of this caliber in applying themselves to personal betterment need to constantly be reminded of the importance of respecting this rule of "walk before you run." As a Navy SEAL, I know that after swimming for three miles while wearing dive fins in the cold ocean, a swimmer's body is not prepared to hit the beach running. The mind can envision this action and may forget the rule, but the rule still applies.
To get to that place where the body and mind align, the body must transition. Muscles must reactivate, and rhythms must adjust. Only by respecting the rule can the envisioned outcome be achieved. If not, the would-be runner falls to the ground, disillusioned with his or her own belief.
Due to the high caliber of clients I've had the honor of working with in the civilian sector, I've been privy to see men and women possessing the same "stallion" characteristics in their business dealings as commandos posses in their operational battles.
In both cases, these "stallions" need to be reigned in from hurting themselves when they seek to run before they can walk. It may be difficult for them to see this when they are in the moment, but it's clear as a bell to an external observer who is an excellent listener.
We can only grow to the extent that we envision ourselves. Unless our inner representation grows as fast as our external growth, we will actually hold ourselves back from lasting success.
Do you know anyone who has dramatically lost weight with great joy only to revert to his or her old habits and weight?
Do you know people who have earned the money they really deserve only to squander it away and regress to their former income?
Who do you know that finally met the person of his or her dreams only to dump that loved one because of a list of silly reasons?
Leaping from crawling to running sets us up for a painful fall. We don't achieve true personal growth, and because we find ourselves back at square one we may become disgruntled and distrustful of the process, often blaming anyone and anything but ourselves.
If you want to change, you must do the work. Go back to basics. In football, professionals earning millions of dollars annually practice the most basic drills throughout the season. Professional artists go back through the strokes and lighting. If you make millions of dollars consistently, most likely it's because you go back to the basics of budgeting, saving and investing consistently.
Whenever you are seeking to grow and you have a clear vision of what you wish to do make sure that who you are being is big enough to consistently be doing what it is you wish to do. Make sure of this so you can consistently achieve your desired results.
If you are the "stallion," then use your power and set yourself up to win with a coach or trainer whom you trust to observe and protect you from your own impetuous eagerness. And let them help train your muscles and harness your power so you can first walk and then run with a purpose.
If you are a leader responsible for "stallions," then you must protect them from themselves as they seek to skyrocket up the corporate ladder. As a mentor, this is very much your charge. The personal damage an increase of fear and frustrations can be the result of falling on one's face too often. This damage can be overcome, but recovery from it can take the wind out of your "stallion's" sails. So as a leader, help them master the fundamentals so their climb up the ladder of growth and personal betterment is a lasting success.
Having the power of choice, we humans don't automatically follow all of the rules as the stallions do in nature. We will never see a healthy plant provide fruit out of the natural order. For lasting success we need to consciously be aware that we must: "learn to crawl before we walk, and walk before we run."
Reprinted with permission from The Jim Rohn Ezine
April 18, 2009
The Major Key to Your Better Future is You by Jim Rohn
Of all the things that can have an effect on your future, I believe personal growth is the greatest. We can talk about sales growth, profit growth, asset growth, but all of this probably will not happen without personal growth. It's really the open door to it all. In fact I'd like to have you memorize a most important phrase. Here it is, "The major key to your better future is YOU."
Let me repeat that. "The major key to your better future is YOU." Put it someplace where you can see it everyday, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, at the office, anywhere where you can see it everyday. The major key to your better future is YOU. Try to remember that every day you live and think about it. The major key is YOU.
Now, there are many things that will help your better future. If you belong to a strong, dynamic, progressive company, that would help. If the company has good products, good services that you are proud of, that would certainly help. If there were good sales aids, that would help, good training would certainly help. If there is strong leadership that will certainly help. All of these things will help, and of course, if it doesn't storm, that will help. If your car doesn't break down, that will help. If the kids don't get sick, that will help. If the neighbors stay half way civil, that will help. If your relatives don't bug you, that will help. If it isn't too cold, if it isn't too hot, all those things will help your better future. And if prices don't go much higher and if taxes don't get much heavier, that will help. And if the economy stays stable, those things will all help. We could go on and on with the list; but remember this, the list of things that I've just covered and many more - all put together - play a minor role in your better future.
The major key to your better future is you. Lock your mind onto that. This is a super important point to remember. The major key is you. A friend of mine has always answered when asked, "How do you develop an above average income?" He says, "Simple. Become an above average person. Work on you." My friend says, "Develop an above average handshake." He says, "A lot of people want to be successful, and they don't even work on their handshake. As easy as that would be to start, they let it slide. They don't understand." My friend says, "Develop an above average smile. Develop an above average excitement. Develop an above average dedication. Develop an above average interest in other people." He says, "To have more, become more." Remember; work harder on yourself than you do on your job. For a long time in my life, I didn't have this figured out.
Strangely enough, with two different people in the same company one may earn an extra $100 a month, and the other may earn a $1,000. What could possibly be the difference? If the products were the same, if the training was the same, if they both had the same literature, the same tools. If they both had the same teacher, the same compensation plan, if they both attended the same meetings, why would one person earn the $100 per month and the other person earn the $1000?
Remember here is the difference...the difference is personal, inside, not outside, inside.
You see the real difference is inside you. In fact, the difference IS you. Someone once said, "The magic is not in the products. The magic is not in the literature. The magic is not in the film. There isn't a magic meeting, but the magic that makes things better is inside you, and personal growth makes this magic work for you."
The magic is in believing. The magic is in daring. The magic is in trying. The real magic is in persevering. The magic is in accepting. It's in working. The magic is in thinking. There is magic in a handshake. There is magic in a smile. There is magic in excitement and determination. There is real magic in compassion and caring and sharing. There is unusual magic in strong feeling and you see, all that comes from inside, not outside. So, the difference is inside you. The real difference is you. You are the major key to your better future.
To Your Success,
Jim Rohn
Reproduced with permission from Your Achievement Ezine
April 17, 2009
Obstacles are the Stepping Stones of Success by Harvey Mackay
A man was walking in the park one day when he came upon a cocoon with a small opening. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through the little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It looked like it had gotten as far as it could, so the man decided to help the butterfly. He used his pocketknife and snipped the remaining bit of the cocoon.
The butterfly then emerged easily, but something was strange. The butterfly had a swollen body and shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected at any moment the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened. In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and deformed wings. It was never able to fly.
What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to emerge was natural. It was nature's way of forcing fluid from its body into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives.
If we were allowed to go through life without any obstacles, we would be crippled. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. And we could never fly.
History has shown us that the most celebrated winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats.
My good friend, Lou Holtz, football coach of the University of South Carolina, once told me, "Show me someone who has done something worthwhile, and I'll show you someone who has overcome adversity."
Beethoven composed his greatest works after becoming deaf. George Washington was snowed in through a treacherous winter at Valley Forge. Abraham Lincoln was raised in poverty. Albert Einstein was called a slow learner, retarded and uneducable. If Christopher Columbus had turned back, no one could have blamed him, considering the constant adversity he endured.
As an elementary student, actor James Earl Jones (a.k.a. Darth Vader) stuttered so badly he communicated with friends and teachers using written notes.
Itzhak Perlman, the incomparable concert violinist, was born to parents who survived a Nazi concentration camp and has been paralyzed from the waist down since the age of four.
Chester Carlson, a young inventor, took his idea to 20 big corporations in the 1940s. After seven years of rejections, he was able to persuade Haloid, a small company in Rochester, N.Y., to purchase the rights to his electrostatic paper- copying process. Haloid has since become Xerox Corporation.
Thomas Edison tried over 2,000 experiments before he was able to get his light bulb to work. Upon being asked how he felt about failing so many times, he replied, "I never failed once. I invented the light bulb. It just happened to be a 2,000-step process."
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, elected President of the United States for four terms, had been stricken with polio at the age of 39.
Persistence paid off for General Douglas MacArthur. After applying for admission to West Point twice, he applied a third time and was accepted. The rest is history.
In 1927 the head instructor of the John Murray Anderson Drama School, instructed student Lucille Ball, to "Try any other profession. Any other."
Buddy Holly was fired from the Decca record label in 1956 by Paul Cohen, Nashville "Artists and Repertoire Man." Cohen called Holly "the biggest no-talent I ever worked with."
Academy Award-winning writer, producer and director Woody Allen failed motion picture production at New York University (NYU) and City College of New York. He also flunked English at NYU.
Helen Keller, the famous blind author and speaker, said: "Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved. Silver is purified in fire and so are we. It is in the most trying times that our real character is shaped and revealed."
Mackay's Moral: There is no education like the university of adversity.
Reproduced with permission from Your Achievement Ezine
April 16, 2009
How to Take Charge of Your Personal Life so Your Professional Life Can Soar By Connie Podesta
Think your personal and professional lives aren't intertwined? Think again. Chances are that despite your best attempts to keep the two separate, the quality and stability of your personal life often have a direct impact upon the quality and success of your professional life. In fact, for many people, their professional life mirrors their personal life.
When your personal life is stable and happy, this mirroring is a good thing. Your professional life will be productive and rewarding because you'll be able to direct your attention and energy to your work, your customers and your teammates. However, if your personal life is filled with turmoil, grief or pain, your professional life will very often suffer. When you're emotionally drained from hours of conflict, sadness or abuse at home, it's difficult to focus on even the simplest work-related task. It's no wonder then that when asked to choose between two equally qualified employees, managers will routinely choose to keep the person with the stable personal life.
To many people, this may seem unfair. After all, your personal life is private and none of your employer's business. While this is very true, the fact is that many employees do not keep their personal lives private. Instead, they bring their personal problems into the workplace, thus affecting their ability to do their job well. Since organizations must focus on profits and customer satisfaction above all else, they can not afford to allow unproductive workers to stay on the payroll.
However, many employers do realize that there will be times in their employees' lives when circumstances beyond their control may affect their ability to perform on the job. In these instances, most organizations not only understand, but they are also willing to make arrangements to help employees through these difficult times. With that said, though, the employers also have certain expectations of their employees.
They expect employees to try to deal with their personal problems on their own and to ask for help only with the most serious problems;
They expect employees to make every reasonable effort to get help if they need it;
They expect employees to work with them to find a solution, such as a temporary replacement or a new work schedule, so they can continue to provide the best service to their customers while they work together with their employees to deal with their problems.
Regardless of what may be occurring in your personal life at the moment, there are steps you can take to meet your employer's expectations while taking charge of your personal life. Following these guidelines will enable you to become the employee your organization fights to keep.
1. Separate the "Big" Stuff from the "Little" Stuff
If you're constantly upset, depressed, stressed, or involved in a life "emergency," your job performance will continually decline and your employer's patience will finally wear thin. No organization should be expected to accept a drop in work performance for every stressful event that comes along. Your employer counts on you to deal with most situations on your own, most of the time, without affecting your ability to have a positive impact on customers and co-workers. Before you bring your most current "crisis" into the workplace, decide whether it's big enough to warrant assistance. While you can expect compassion and help for dealing with big problems, such as the death of a spouse or a catastrophic illness, you can't expect the same kind of support for little problems, such as the dog being ill or your child's softball game being rescheduled. Once you learn to separate the big stuff from the little stuff, you can keep your personal life in order by reacting to the problem appropriately.
2. Get Help if You Need It
As understanding as employers may be, they can only do so much to help you. Ultimately it's your responsibility to make every effort possible to work through your crisis, even if it means getting help from outside sources. However, the hardest thing for many people to do is admit they need help. They mistakenly believe that asking for help is a sign of weakness, when in reality the opposite is true. For the most part, people who ask for help tend to be very strong and determined not to become victims of abuse, neglect, violence, or tragedy. How willing are you to get help when you need it? If your personal life is in turmoil, then you may be able to benefit from some of the many excellent services available in your community or through your organization. Remember, whether you solve your problem yourself or with the help of others, the results are worth the effort: peace of mind, healthier relationships, a new outlook on life, and of course, better on-the-job performance.
3. Work with Your Organization to Find a Solution
When you do have a "big" problem that justifiably affects your job performance, let your manager know about it as soon as possible. Trying to keep it a secret or hoping no one will notice may increase the stress already induced by the event. But instead of revealing your situation and then waiting for your organization to come up with a solution, bring to the meeting some possible solutions that would work for both you and your employer. Perhaps you could be temporarily transferred to a department that requires less customer contact, or maybe you could make arrangements to switch schedules with someone in order to give you the time you need to deal with your problem. When you show your employer that you respect their objectives and are prepared to do what it takes to get your personal life back on track, there's usually little they wouldn't do to help you.
Today's organizations expect their employees to come to work ready to put their full effort and energy into the task at hand. Maintaining a stable personal life is one of the surest ways to accomplish that. But while no one's personal life will ever be perfectly in order, being able to separate the "big" stuff from the "little" stuff, asking for help when you need it, and working with your organization to find a solution for your problems are the keys to weathering any crisis. Always remember that when your personal life is in order, it will be reflected in your work and in your ability to ensure your future employability.
Connie Podesta
Reproduced with permission from Your Achievement Ezine
April 15, 2009
Persuaders are Tremendous by Charlie "Tremendous" Jones
All our lives we encounter persuaders. Those who were successful are largely responsible for the way we are. Because some of us are exposed to some positive persuaders we are drawn to become positive persuaders. I believe all successful persuaders are a result of having been successfully persuaded at some time in their lives.
What a strange world it would be if there were no persuaders. Life is one continuous series of persuasions. At home it is the parent persuading the child, the child persuading the parent, the salesman persuading the prospect, the lawyer persuading the jury, the boy persuading the girl or the politician persuading his constituency. And so on and on.
To be a persuader you must be persuaded and in order to continue to grow we must practice the art of persuasion. The old saying, "Nothing succeeds like Success," fits the persuader perfectly. The earlier in life you begin, the fuller your life will become. It is only in sharing and giving that we realize what we have, and we can give nothing better than persuading others to worthwhile goals, right motives and eternal values.
I think it is safe to say that sometimes in our lives we will be persuaded to become positive persuaders seeking to give and share, or we'll not be persuaded and spend the rest of our lives waiting for a break, taking and keeping.
I hope these thoughts on persuasion have increased your awareness of the great privilege and obligation of the persuader. The world needs one more positive persuader. It is you?
Tremendously,
Charles "T" Jones
Reproduced with permission from Your Achievement Ezine
April 14, 2009
Live the Adventure! by Chris Widener
Think of an adventure that you might like to take. Maybe it is a trip to a foreign country or a major destination in your own country. Maybe it is to climb a mountain or float down the Amazon. Whatever works for you, picture what that would take. Got it? Good, now let's see what common characteristics of a good adventure are and apply them to our lives. In doing so, you will shift your perspective and see how your own day-to-day life can be an adventure!
1. A desire to see something new:
When we set out on an adventure, we are usually looking for something new. We are looking to break out of the doldrums and get to somewhere we have never been before. What about in life? Are you constantly looking for something new to experience? Take some time soon to experience something new. That will put some adventure in your life!
2. A desire to see something grand:
People on adventures usually pick something larger than life, something grand. Do you think anybody would go to see the Tiny Canyon? No way. But hundreds of thousands of people adventure their way to the Grand Canyon. What about your life? Is there anything grand that you are pursuing? Is there anything bigger than life that you are striving for? Take some time soon to pursue something grand. That will put some adventure in your life!
3. A desire to learn:
Lots of people take adventures to learn about something. This makes Washington, DC a popular adventure spot will all of its history. You can spend days there! Your eyes and mind are always being opened and it is enjoyable. What about your life? Are you involved in anything that causes you to continually learn and grow intellectually? Take some time to stretch yourself to learn something. That will put some adventure in your life!
4. A willingness to be diverted:
Part of a vacation adventure is that you can be diverted and it is okay! That is part of the fun. Yes, we want a clear destination but sometimes it is the diversions that bring us the spice of life. What about you? Are you diversion averse? Maybe you need to let yourself get out of the box sometime. Try this: The next time you have the possibility for a fun diversion, take it. Life is short and you can take some diversions. That will put some adventure in your life!
5. An expectation that there will be breakdowns:
Have you ever gone on a family vacation that didn't have breakdowns? Not many. But when all is said and done, aren't those the things we laugh at years later and remember clearly? You know, Remember Dad getting mad that the car had broken down and he slammed his finger in the door and started hopping around so much he fell in a ditch of water? And when he came up for air he had mud on his face? What a riot! Even dad laughs at that later! What about your life? Are you frustrated by the breakdowns? Try looking at them from the perspective you will look at them from 20 years from now. That will put some adventure in your life!
6. A focus on fun:
Whatever the adventure is, we usually expect it to be fun, don't we? Well, life can be fun too. In fact, I require that life be fun! What about your life? Is it all work and no play makes Jack or Suzie a dull boy or girl? Get out and have some fun my friend! That will put some adventure in your life!
7. A clear destination:
Ultimately, our adventure usually has a clear destination. It may be the top of the mountain. It may be the goal of getting your whole family together at a resort. Whatever it is, it has a clear destination. It is the goal, and it is what gives us purpose. What about your life? Do you have a clear destination you are working toward? Set your sights on a clear destination! That will put some adventure in your life!
Chris Widener
Reproduced with permission from The Chris Widener Ezine
April 13, 2009
Responding, Not Reacting, To Life by Zig Ziglar
When you respond to life, that's positive; when you react to life, that's negative. Example: You get sick and go to the doctor. Chances are good that after an examination, she would give you a prescription with instructions to return in several days.
If, when you walk back in the door, the doctor starts shaking her head and says, "It looks like your body is reacting to the medicine; we're going to have to change it," you probably would get a little nervous.
However, if the doctor smiles and says, "You're looking great! Your body is responding to the medication," you would feel relieved. Yes, responding to life is good...
A few years ago, there was much turmoil in the U.S. job market. People were losing their jobs through downsizing, mergers, and takeovers. This created some unusual opportunities for many people. For example, the Wall Street Journal reported that in a five-year period, more than 15 million new businesses were created, well over half of them by women. Very few of the women had any marketable skills, and all of them had great financial need.
Most of the new businesses were "trust" businesses, meaning that the women collected the money before they delivered the goods or services. Many, possibly most, of those new businesses would never have been started had not an unfortunate event occurred in the people's lives. When those events did occur, and needs became obvious, the women chose to respond, and there is little doubt that many of them are better off now than they were before...
The message is clear: If you respond to life instead of react to it, then you've got a much better chance of achieving success.
Reproduced with permission from Your Achievement Ezine
April 12, 2009
As Tall as You Want to Be by Dr. Denis Waitley
When he was two years old, this adopted child of two college professors suddenly and inexplicably stopped growing, and his health started to fail. A team of doctors gave him six months to live after they diagnosed him as suffering from a rare disease that inhibits digestion and nutrients in food. Intravenous feedings of vitamins and supplements allowed him to regain his strength, but his growth was permanently stunted.
Confined to hospitals for long periods of time, until the age of nine, he quietly plotted his revenge on the kids who taunted him and called him "peanut."
He recalled many years later that subconsciously "the whole experience made me want to succeed at something athletic." Sometimes his sister, Susan, went ice skating at the local rink, and he would go along to watch. There he stood, a frail, undergrown kid, with a feeding tube inserted through his nose and down into his stomach. When he wasn't using it, one end of the tube was taped behind his ear.
One day, as he watched his sister whirl around the ice, he turned to his parents and said, "You know, I think I'd like to try ice skating." Talk about two adults, looking at their life-threatened child, with glances that were beyond belief!
Well, he tried it and he loved it, and he went at it with a passion. Here was something fun at which he could excel, where height and weight weren't important.
During his medical checkup the following year, the doctors were startled to discover that he had actually started growing again. It was too late for him to reach normal size, but neither he nor his family cared. He was recovering and succeeding. He believed in his dream, although he had little else to hang on to.
None of the kids taunt him and tease him today. Instead, they all cheer and rush to get his autograph. He has just completed another dazzling performance on the world professional ice skating tour, with a long string of triple jumps, complicated maneuvers, and athletic moves, capped off with a racing front flip that brought him to a sudden stop inches from the audience. Although he has retired from professional skating, he remains a coach, mentor and commentator revered by everyone in winter sports.
At five feet three inches and 115 pounds of pure muscle and electrifying energy, former Olympic gold medal figure skating champion, Scott Hamilton stands as tall and as proud as any winner. Scott's size didn't limit his faith and reach. Don't let doubts and critics limit yours. This doesn't mean that you'll close almost every sale or get promoted in record time. Scott Hamilton certainly didn't hit every triple-axle jump he ever attempted, especially during the initial learning phase. Success in developing any skill requires a basic trust in your ability that should never be allowed to waver.
You can stand tall, no matter how small!
-- Denis Waitley
Reproduced with permission from The Denis Waitley Ezine
April 11, 2009
How to Communicate After a Fight - Six Easy Steps to Recover Relationship Harmony! by John Gray
Wouldn't it be great if your love relationship could be a bed of roses all the time? Imagine being magically transported to a land of brilliant sunrises and sunsets where there were no misunderstandings or hurt feelings, no sideways glares, no slammed doors, and no arguing. As much as any couple may avoid fighting, the truth is, one minute you may feel great passion, and the next you're contemplating divorce!
Too many times we justify this shift in attitude by thinking that our partner's behavior needs an overhaul. Funny thing though, it's usually not about them! So what's next? How can couples open the communication again and put an argument behind them?
Read on as we take a look at the six steps to leaving a fight in the dust and getting back on the road to lasting romance.
1. Take the Edge Off - Get a Little Space
The best way to stop an argument is to nip it in the bud. Men, in particular, need to cool off and think things through. Women need to make sure that they are not bringing a 'cold-front' to the negotiating table. This is a good time to reflect on how you usually approach your partner. Take a step back and think about how much you love this person. Also, focus on your own needs and take some self-healing time.
2. Ease Into It After Some Downtime
Approach each other slowly and softly after some downtime. Wait until you can feel positively about your partner and the relationship, as it's impossible to work things out when negative emotions are still on the surface. If your anger, hurt or frustration is still overwhelming, take it as a sign that you are not ready to jump into solution making. It's too easy to blow things out of proportion unless you take a step back and ease in to the resolution slowly.
3. Nothing Too Serious
After some time has passed, come back and talk again, but in a loving and respectful way. Fueling the argument is not your goal. Take it easy, and keep the conversation light, because even though some time has passed, you still may not be able to be objective right away. Simple gestures like a smile, holding hands or getting your partner to laugh at something silly and unrelated to the situation can be good icebreakers.
4. Women Need to Talk
Women often need to completely talk the problem through before they are able to stand aside and put it behind them. Men can mistakenly feel blamed and attacked when a woman works through her problems by talking, so it's a good idea for her to reassure him. By letting him know how much he is supporting her by listening, she will free him from feeling unappreciated or attacked as she rehashes the details of the upset.
5. Men Need to Be Forgiven
After a big blow-up, men simply need to be told that they are forgiven. The four magic words to support a man in getting over hurt or angry feelings are, "it's not your fault." A man hates to feel criticized, or that his partner disapproves of him. When a woman forgives her partner for his mistakes, she not only frees him to love again but also gives herself permission to forgive her own imperfections.
6. Both Parties Need to Take Personal Responsibility
Couples can't point fingers after an argument and expect things to get better. Both men and women have to acknowledge their own shortcomings and take responsibility in order to move on and improve communication. Men have to let go of being righteous, demanding and overly sensitive, while women have an opportunity to apply new and improved relationship skills to assure him that he is appreciated and that she does not blame him for the fight.
Learning to communicate with each other through stormy times is essential to the success of a long-lasting relationship. While the best advice we have for couples is to avoid arguments, the stresses of ordinary life can get in the way of even the happiest Martian and Venusian collaboration. Again, forgiveness really is key for both sides. None of us will ever find a mate who is perfect all of the time; however, we can be the best for the one who is most perfect for us.
Reproduced with permission from Your Achievement Ezine
April 10, 2009
The Criticality of Credibility by Tony Jeary
Dictionary.com defines Credibility as the quality of being believable or trustworthy, or the quality, capability, or power to elicit belief. In the presentation world, Credibility walks hand in hand with Rapport, but is a distinct quality. People will assign you their own rating relative to your power to elicit belief based on a wide range of inputs that include, but are not limited to, what you say at the front of the room on a given day. Some of the unspoken "test questions" include:
1. Does he know what he's talking about? (Understanding of the subject matter, accuracy of facts, understanding of the situation, etc.)
2. Can I take what she says at face value? (Truthfulness, candor, absence of hidden agendas, etc.)
3. Can I trust his recommendations? (Solid logic, consideration of all critical factors, feasibility and practicality, etc.)
We headlined this article "The Criticality of Credibility" simply because your presentation won't get anything done if you don't have Credibility. People may listened politely and even give you a warm (but disingenuous) "good job!" at the end of your pitch, but will NOT do what you've asked if you aren't believable. You will have wasted your time and theirs, and won't have a happy ending.
As with Rapport, work on building your Credibility starts with homework to understand your audience. With a good idea of the participants' backgrounds and issues about the topics you'll be covering, you can identify what needs to go in your "credentials" package for the event at hand.
Here are 8 specific suggestions on what information you may want to convey to build your credibility and how to go about it:
1. Set up your "Authority". Early on, explain why you have the right to talk to them on the topic by highlighting relevant elements of your background:
a. If it's a technical topic and you were trained as an engineer, say so.
b. If you've been working in the field for the last 2 years, say so.
c. If you've studied the subject in depth and interviewed experts, say so.
d. If you don't have direct but do have parallel experience, say something like: "when I was working in (this other field), I had considerable experience in (the topic) that I believe applies here..."
e. If you can arrange to use a Host Introduction (See Volume 2) to present your "credentials package", you get a bonus in the trust transference from the person handling the introduction.
2. Demonstrate Understanding. Prove that you know what you're talking about by:
a. Quickly recapping the preparation you've done for the session.
b. Using the audience's language. Learn and use the terms your audience knows to facilitate understanding and demonstrate that you took time to prepare. Be careful with acronyms and jargon - the terms can help move you along if all have a shared understanding of the meanings, but can cause you a credibility loss if you're perceived as "speaking in buzzwords".
c. Acknowledge that there may be people in the room that know more than you do about some aspects of the matter at hand, but that your study gives you a good grasp of what needs to be done.
3. Establish Facts Both Verbally and Visually: Identify the source of the information you are using (e.g. "the sales report for the month just ended shows..."; "the data from the field test conducted in Pittsburgh last month indicates..."; "the recent research survey of XXX customers in the Southwest concludes..." Your visual aids should clearly identify the origin of data used in charts and graphs.
4. Defuse Candor Issues: Clear statements of your objectives and desired outcomes can help a lot to avoid questions about hidden agendas. Even some humor (e.g. "of course, your view on this may depend on whether you're buying or selling...") can position you as being honest about your point of view, as can emphasis on finding "win/win" solutions that are compatible with the needs of all stakeholders.
5. Tell the truth. This one is pretty simple. Your audience will never really trust you if they catch you in a lie. Avoid the temptation to pretend to know the answer to a question and fake it. It's better say "I don't know" and find the answer from the group or commit to research the issue after the session.
6. Be yourself. Trying to be someone you're not is almost as bad as telling a lie. It's also a lot more work. You can, however, take up a temporary role to illustrate your understanding of the views of others by using introductory phrases such as:
a. "If I was the parent of a teenage girl, I might be thinking...."
b. "An engineer I spoke to the other day said that we ought to consider..."
c. If we were walking in the shoes of the customer, we might..."
7. Doing what you say you will do. If you say you're starting at 8:30 a.m. then start at 8:30 a.m. If you promise frequent breaks, allow for frequent breaks. If you say you're going to take all questions, do so. If you say you're going to get people out the door by 3:30PM, make it happen.
8. Speak with conviction and enthusiasm. Say it like you mean it, and your audience will believe in your words. If you sound tentative, people will book you as "squishy" and question your commitment on the matter. Eye contact is extremely important.
Establishing solid credibility improves your chances of success in several ways:
a. It works to solve two key tensions (Audience vs. Presenter and Audience vs. Material)
b. It allows the group to listen to what you have to say without having to spend time wondering who you are or where you got your information
c. It sets a "trust" level that will allow people to seriously consider and then act on your recommendations.
d. It builds your reputation for future presentations and everything!
Action Plan:
a. Do your homework before your next presentation - study the topic, get the facts, vet your logic with experts, etc.
b. Know your audience - define a "credentials package" that will set you up as an appropriate authority. If possible arrange for a strong Host Introduction.
c. Rehearse with real people, and ask them to give you candid feedback on things you do and say that impact your credibility.
Reproduced with permission from Your Achievement Ezine.
April 9, 2009
Positive Thinking By Zig Ziglar
Just what can positive thinking do? To be candid, some people have given positive thinking a bad name. I can't stand to hear some gung-ho individual say that with positive thinking you can just do "anything." If you think about that one for a moment, you recognize the absurdity of it. As a ridiculous example, I'm a positive thinker, but I could never slam-dunk a basketball or perform major surgery - or even minor surgery - on anyone and expect that person to survive. Nate Newton, 300-plus pound former lineman for the Dallas Cowboys, is positive, optimistic and outgoing but he'd be a complete failure as a jockey or a ballet dancer.
It's safe to say that positive thinking won't let you do "anything." However, it is even safer to say that positive thinking will let you do "everything" better than negative thinking will. Positive thinking will let you use the ability which you have, and that is awesome. It works this way. You can walk into a dark room, flip on the switch and immediately the room is lighted. Flipping the switch did not generate the electricity; it released the electricity which had been stored. Positive thinking works that way - it releases the abilities which you have.
The student who hasn't studied and prepared for the test won't be helped by "thinking positively." However, positive thinking will help the student who has studied and prepared by "releasing" the stored knowledge when the questions are asked. To express it in a different way, knowledge breeds confidence; confidence breeds enthusiasm; and enthusiasm is an important key to being and doing more with your life.
Buy the positive approach to life and I will SEE YOU AT THE TOP!
Zig Ziglar
Reproduced with permission from The Jim Rohn Ezine
April 8, 2009
Zig Ziglar On Being A Difference Maker
Most people are familiar with the fact that on October 8, 1871, fire broke out in Chicago and claimed more than 200 lives and destroyed more than 7,000 buildings . . . But many people do not realize that on the same day, fire also broke out in Peshtigo, Wisconsin. That blaze claimed an estimated 1,500 lives and scorched 1.28 million acres of timberland. The news media of the day were centered in and around Chicago, whereas Peshtigo was small and off the beaten path. Consequently, the attention was minimal. But I think all of us would agree that the Peshtigo fire was significant. Because it didn't get the publicity, however, very few people are aware of it today.
That's the way it frequently is in life... Literally thousands of people are doing significant things every day to help a neighbor, a homeless individual, or those who do not have fuel to heat their homes or food for their tables. These silent angels of mercy do these things because they want to do them and because they believe they are their brothers' keepers. The joy and satisfaction of doing something with no thought of recognition, reward, or return are all the pay these unsung heroes want. They do their good deeds for unselfish reasons. Without them, who knows what state of affairs our world would be in? I certainly don't, but I can guarantee you one thing--it would be much worse than it is today. Be a difference maker for others and it will make a difference in your life.
Reproduced with permission from the Ron White Ezine.
April 7, 2009
Bringing Balance to a Chaotic Life by Chris Widener
If I had to make a composite question that gets at the heart of the question that I am asked most frequently, it would be this:
How can I manage my time more effectively and bring balance to my life in regard to work, family, friends, and social obligations?
With this in mind, I want to give us some thoughts to focus us in on the answer to that question.
I am convinced that the most important thing we must do is to be acutely aware of the reasons I should manage my time and bring balance to my life. In fact, most of us really know "how" to do it, don't we? Then why don't we? I think it comes to the issue of having a powerful motivating factor or reason. Below are two of mine that keep me motivated:
A life of accomplishment. When I am old and unable to get out with the young folks anymore, I want to be able to look back on my life and say that I accomplished much and that my life benefited others. That is why I do what I do now. It is what drives me to pursue what I pursue with a passion and vigor. It is why I bring my life into balance is many areas so I can achieve much in many areas.
A legacy. Here is a powerful motivating image that I picture with regularity: Picture a family gathering five years after your death. What will it look like? What will the people be talking about? How will they remember you? What will be the quality of their lives and how will you have been instrumental in that? These are questions that we can for the most part, answer now by how we live our lives (for better or for worse). Our lives make a difference in the lives of others! This is a tremendous reason to bring my life into balance!
Once we answer the "Why" question, and root it firmly in our minds and hearts, we come to the "hows."
First, we sit down and prioritize. Have you ever taken a couple of hours and listed everything that you are involved in or could be involved in and then prioritized it by importance? You may come up with a hundred items but that is okay. You will want to separate them into some categories as well, such as Work, Family, Health, Friends, Hobbies, Spiritual, Financial, Intellectual, Emotional, etc.
Now you have something to look at and see what is important. This will help you in the process of eliminating areas from your life that you are spending time on that you shouldn't be. And that is an important part: Frustration comes when we get involved in something that isn't a priority and we kick ourselves the whole time we do it. If we stick to priorities, we eliminate much of that.
The next step is to learn the most powerful word in the human language: No. Just look in the mirror and practice saying that word with a smile on your face. This may be the most important part - learning to decline opportunity. It all depends on whether or not it fits in with our priorities.
Here is the principle that drives this:
Good is the enemy of the best.
There are lots of good things we can spend our time on. But because they replace those things that would be the best things we could spend our time on, they become our enemy. They become counter-productive to a successful and balanced life.
So ask yourself: Is this good? Or is it the best? Do the best you can to stick to the best!
Schedule your time. The more we fly by the seat of our pants, the more apt we are to lose control of our time. If we schedule out our time, we can become a bit more objective and bring our lives into balance. For example, you may make it your goal to be home by six o'clock every night. In your schedule book, you write in that you have an appointment at six. You schedule to leave the office at five-thirty. Now when a co-worker comes in with an "opportunity" for you to work on, you say, "Sorry, I have an appointment at six that I can't break. Let's get together on it first thing in the morning." Scheduling your time, coupled with saying "no," will do wonders for bringing your life into balance!
Another aspect for us to look at is the area of external pressure that causes us to be out of balance. For example, financial obligations may be what keep us working too much. So we should look at those obligations and see if we can eliminate or reduce them.
The last thing I would challenge you with is to give some thought as to what the secret pleasures of being out of balance may be. For example, sometimes we let ourselves over commit because we don't like conflict. Peace is our secret pleasure.
Sometimes we allow ourselves to become out of balance because we like it when people say, "Boy, she sure is a dynamo. Look how busy she is." Admiration from others is our secret pleasure.
In review:
Find the right reasons
Set priorities
Learn to say "no"
Understand that the good is the enemy of the best
Schedule your time
Manage External pressures
Be aware of internal "secret pleasures"
Chris Widener
Reproduced with permission from the Chris Widener Ezine.
April 6, 2009
Love the Opportunity by Jim Rohn
Somebody said you have to love what you do, but that's not necessarily true. What is true is that you have to love the opportunity. The opportunity to build life, future, health, success and fortune. Knocking on someone's door may not be something you love to do, but you love the opportunity of what might be behind that door.
For example, a guy says, "I'm digging ditches. Should I love digging ditches?" The answer is, "No, you don't have to love digging ditches, but if it is your first entry onto the ladder of success, you say, 'I'm glad somebody gave me the opportunity to dig ditches and I'm going to do it so well, I won't be here long.'"
You can be inspired by having found something; even though you are making mistakes in the beginning and even though it is a little distasteful taking on a new discipline that you haven't learned before. You don't have to love it, you just have to learn to appreciate America, appreciate opportunity and appreciate the person who brought you the good news; that found you.
Appreciate the person who believed in you before you believed in yourself, appreciate the person who said, "Hey, if I can do it, you can do it."
If you will embrace the disciplines associated with the new opportunity you will soon find that your self-confidence starts to grow, that you go from being a skeptic to being a believer. And soon when you go out person to person, talking to people, you will find it to be the most thrilling opportunity in the world. Every person you meet - what could it be? Unlimited! Maybe a friend for life. The next person could be an open door to retiring. The next person could be a colleague for years to come. It's big time stuff. And sometimes in the beginning when we are just getting started we don't always see how big it is.
So, before you are tempted to give up or get discouraged, remember all success is based on long term commitment, faith, discipline, attitude and a few stepping stones along the way. You might not like the stone you are on right now, but it's sure to be one of the stones that lead to great opportunities in the future.
To Your Success,
Jim Rohn
Reproduced with permission from The Jim Rohn Ezine
April 5, 2009
All You Want is Within Your Reach by Chris Widener
If there is one thing that I believe with all my heart it is that you can have any life you choose to. You can live the life you have always dreamed of.
We live in a period of unparalleled opportunity in human history. Think about it: Just one hundred years ago, most people really only had five or six options when it came to deciding what they would do with their lives. For most, they didn't even have the knowledge that they could do anything other than take over their father's farm when they turned eighteen!
But today a person living in the western world (and many other areas of the world as well) can choose to do virtually anything they want to! They key is the word "choose."
You see, the world is within your reach. Any job you want can be yours if you decide. All of the opportunities are there for the taking. The question is whether or not you will take.
You say, "But Chris, you just don't understand. I'm thirty-eight years old with two kids and I have bills to pay. I make $28,000 a year. I can't just go become a doctor and make big money!"
And I say, "Yes you can! If you decide to. If you will take action you can become a doctor or anything else you want to. We live in a day and age when virtually anything is possible."
For the sake of highlighting this principle, let's look at the above example. How would this person change careers? Simple. Here is the process in specific action steps:
1. Find out from a medical school what classes you would need to take to get in. Chances are your college major would need some rounding out or if you didn't go to college, you would need to do so. Maximum time to do this: 3 days.
2. Now, go to school. Maximum time to do this: 4 years.
3. Now, medical school and residency. Maximum time to do this: 6 years.
4. Begin practicing medicine.
At this point you would be forty-eight years old. That leaves you seventeen years to practice. Now let's see the impact it has on your life:
1. You get to pursue your dream, making you and your family MUCH happier.
2. You will make, on average, $100,000 more per year. The difference here is manifold! If you stayed where you were, you would have earned $28,000 a year for twenty-seven years and would earn $756,000. If you left and pursued your dream you would earn $128,000 for seventeen years (That's if you took ten years to make the transition. Most would be less.) and you earnings would be $2,176,000! This is a difference of $1,420,000! And this doesn't even take into consideration the amounts you would earn on investments on the difference in incomes.
So is it possible? Yes. Does it take time? Yes. Is it hard? Yes. Is it scary? Yes, and that is why most people won't do it.
It isn't for lack of opportunity. It is usually because of one of the following:
Lack of vision.
Lack of tenacity.
Fear.
The truth is that you can do anything you want to. Stop telling yourself excuses! Go to battle against a lack of vision! Pick yourself up and get tenacious! Look fear in the face and stand up to it! Your whole life depends on it, my friend!
The choice is yours. Will you continue to limp along in life because you don't have the courage to run for your dream? Will you continue to allow the fear of poverty keep you from pursuing the riches, both materially and emotionally, that lay within the vision you have of what your life could be?
You CAN live the life you have always dreamed of. All you want is within your reach. But to pick it up, you must first empty your hands of what they already hold. Then you must reach for it, take a hold of it, and possess it!
Chris Widener
Reproduced with permission from the Chris Widener Ezine.
April 4, 2009
Actualize Your Primary Goal by Mark Victor Hansen
The word 'actualize' means to make actual, to make real. And to see something actualized requires action. As much as we'd like our dreams to be realized through virtually no effort at all on our part, that's not the way it works. (And we wouldn't appreciate it as much if we did nothing to achieve our goals). To have everything we want in life we have to decide what it is that we really want, make a plan and take action.
To transform our goals from lofty dreams to true-blue reality means that we first have to decide on a primary goal. We can have as many things as we want, make our goal list as long as we desire, but to make our goals 'actual' we must concentrate on them one at a time.
Once we have our primary goal, the one we want more than anything else; then we have to create a plan. That plan may include researching our goal, looking for classes to take, visiting a foreign country or asking about an internship with a company or individual. Creating a goal-achieving plan is like planning a road trip. If you know your eventual destination, you just need to mark a route to get there. It may take a while to get where you want to go, or you could arrive there next week. It all depends on what your number one goal is.
The last step is to follow the plan you've created by taking action! If you have 40 steps in your plan, then decide that you're going to accomplish one or two steps a day until you have what you want. It sounds simple, I know. And it is simple. The hardest part of having what you want is figuring out what you want and deciding your going to do it. The rest is just taking action.
To overcome your fear of goal setting, just take action.
Mark Victor Hansen
Reproduced with permission from Your Achievement Ezine
April 3, 2009
The Best Gift to Give Yourself and Others by Jim Rohn
I'm often asked the question, "How can I best help my children, spouse, family member, staff member, friend etc. improve/change?" In fact that might be the most frequently asked question I receive, "How can I help change someone else?"
My answer often comes as a surprise and here it is. The key to helping others is to help yourself first. In other words, the best contribution I can make to someone else is my own personal development. If I become 10 times wiser, 10 times stronger, think of what that will do for my adventure as a father... as a grandfather... as a business colleague.
The best gift I can give to you, really, is my ongoing personal development. Getting better, getting stronger, becoming wiser. I think parents should pick this valuable philosophy up. If the parents are okay, the kids have an excellent chance of being okay. Work on your personal development as parents; that's the best gift you can give to your children.
If you have ever ridden in an airplane, then you might have noticed the oxygen compartment located above every seat. There are explicit instructions that say "In case of an emergency, first secure your own oxygen mask and then if you have children with you then secure their masks." Take care of yourself first... then assist your children. If we use that same philosophy throughout our whole parental life, it would be so valuable.
If I learn to create happiness for myself, my children now have an excellent chance to be happy. If I create a unique lifestyle for myself and my spouse, that will be a great example to serve my children.
Self-development enables you to serve, to be more valuable to those around you; for your child... your business... your colleague... your community... your church.
That's why I teach development skills. If you keep refining all the parts of your character, yourself, your health, etc. so that you become an attractive person to the marketplace - you'll attract opportunity. Opportunity will then begin to seek you out. Your reputation will begin to precede you and people will want to do business with you. All of that possibility is created by working on the philosophy that success is something you attract by continually working on your own personal development.
To Your Success,
Jim Rohn
Reproduced with permission from the Jim Rohn Ezine
April 2, 2009
Persistence by Bob Proctor
If you were to choose just one part of your personality to develop that would virtually guarantee your success, I'd like to suggest that you place persistence at the top of your list.
Napoleon Hill, in his classic Think and Grow Rich felt so strongly about this subject, he devoted an entire chapter to it. Hill suggested, "There may be no heroic connotation to the word persistence but the quality is to your character what carbon is to steel."
Think about it. If you took a quick mental walk down memory lane and reviewed some of your accomplishments in the past large and small you would have to agree that persistence played an important role in your success.
Napoleon Hill studied many of the world's most successful people. He pointed out the only quality he could find in Henry Ford, Thomas Edison or a host of other notable greats, that he could not find in everyone else was persistence. What I found even more intriguing was the fact that Hill made comment of the fact that these individuals were often misunderstood to be ruthless or cold-blooded and that this misconception grew out of their habit of following through in all of their plans with persistence.
It's both interesting and sadly amusing to me that, as a society, we would be quick to criticize people for realizing they had an unshakeable power within them and were capable of overcoming any obstacle outside of them. This power would ultimately move them toward a greater chance of achieving any goal they set for themselves!
Milt Campbell is a good friend of mine. He and I have shared many hours together discussing the very topic of persistence. Milt was a Decathlete in the Olympic Games held in Helsinki, Finland in 1952. His goal was to capture gold for the US. Unfortunately, another fierce competitor who had taken home the gold four years previous in London wasn't satisfied with one gold, Bob Mathias wanted two; Milt had to settle for silver. That did not deter Milt one bit. He had formed the habit of persistence and four years later in Melbourne, Australia, Milt won the gold medal, earning him the title of the greatest athlete in the world.
On numerous occasions Milt has said, "There were many guys in school who were far better athletes than me, but they quit." I can recount story after story about individuals who overcame obstacles so great, but only did so because they dared persist. These individuals are no different than you and I.
Ultimately persistence becomes a way of life, but that is not where it begins. To develop the mental strength persistence - you must first want something. You have to WANT something so much that it becomes a heated desire... a passion in your belly. You must fall in love with that idea. Yes, literally fall in love with the idea and magnetize yourself to every part of the idea. At that point, persistence will be virtually automatic.
Persistence is a subject I have studied all of my adult life and I can tell you one thing I know for certain: very few people ever, mentally or verbally, say to themselves... this is what I really want and I am prepared to give my life for it, and thus, they never develop the persistence to achieve it.
Persistence is a unique mental strength; a strength that is essential to combat the fierce power of the repeated rejections and numerous other obstacles that sit in waiting and are all part of winning in a fast-moving, ever-changing world. As Napoleon Hill found out, there are hundreds of highly successful men and women who have cut a path for others to follow, while leaving their mark on the scrolls of history and every one of these great individuals was persistent. In many cases it was the only quality that separated them from everyone else.
It is generally believed that a lack of persistence is a consequence of a weak willpower. That is not true. A person could have a highly evolved willpower and still lack the persistence required to keep moving forward in life. In more cases than not, if a person lacks persistence, they do not have a goal that is worthy of them, a desirable goal that excites them to their very core.
Though willpower is important in moving a person toward their goal, if there is ever a war between the will and the imagination, the imagination will win every time. What that means is: you're powered by desire and fuelled by the dream you hold. Once you start to use your imagination to help you build a bigger picture of your dream, to define and refine it until you get it just right in your mind, the emotion that is triggered by that desire far outweighs any force that may be caused by sheer will alone. I am not suggesting the will does not have to be developed, it does. It must become highly developed in order to direct you toward the image with which you are emotionally involved.
Your intellectual factors hold the potential for enormous good when they are properly employed. However, you must remember that everything has an opposite and any of your intellectual factors can turn, without warning, into destructive lethal enemies when they are directed toward results that are not wanted. It is easy to find individuals who are persistently doing what they don't want to do and achieving results that they do not want. A lack of persistence is not their problem; that person is persisting to their own detriment. Ignorance and paradigms are the enemy that we must defeat. Everyone is persistent. Our objective must be to put persistence to work for us rather than against us.
Vision and desire have to be the focus of your attention if you're going to develop persistence into the great ally it can become.
Another excellent example of persistence was demonstrated when, in 1953, a beekeeper from Auckland, N.Z., Edmund Hillary and his native guide, Tenzing Norguay, became the first two people to climb Mt. Everest and return, after having tried and failed the two previous years.
Hillary had two obvious character strengths that took him to the very top - vision and desire. Even despite the seemingly insurmountable challenges, he had no trouble persisting with the strenuous acts that were required because every act was hooked into the image of him standing on top of the mountain. They were expressed because of his persistence, but he was persistent because he was emotionally involved with the image. Without persistence, all his skills would have meant nothing.
Persistence is an expression of the mental strength that is essential in almost every profession, where repeated rejection and obstacles are part of a daily routine.
In closing, let me give you four relatively simple steps that will help you to turn persistence into a habit. These steps can be followed by virtually anyone.
1. Have a clearly defined goal. The goal must be something you are emotionally involved with, something you want very much. (In the beginning, you may not even believe that you can accomplish itthe belief will come.)
2. Have a clearly established plan that you can begin working on immediately. (Your plan will very likely only cover the first and possibly the second stage of the journey to your goal. As you begin executing your plan, other steps required to complete your journey will be revealed at the right time.)
3. Make an irrevocable decision to reject any and all negative suggestions that come from friends, relatives or neighbors. Do not give any conscious attention to conditions or circumstances that appear to indicate the goal cannot be accomplished.
4. Establish a mastermind group of one or more people who will encourage, support and assist you wherever possible.
What do you dream of doing with your life? Do it. Begin right now and never quit. There is greatness in you. Let it out. Be persistent.
Bob Proctor
Reproduced with permission from Your Achievement Ezine
April 1, 2009
Embracing Adversity for Achievement by Chris Widener
"Show me someone who has done something worthwhile, and I'll show you someone who has overcome adversity." -- Lou Holtz
Success in life depends upon being strong people with clear goals and indomitable spirits. Unfortunately most of us aren't born that way. We grow that way. And that growth can either come from us entering willfully into situations that will cause us to grow, like subscribing to Made for Success, or from the way we react when circumstances come upon us without our consent. The latter is what we call adversity.
Most of us spend our lives trying to avoid adversity, and I guess that is just as well. We shouldn't pursue adversity, but when she arrives, we should welcome her as a foe who, through our interaction with her, will make us into better people. Every contact we have with adversity gives us again the opportunity to grow personally and professionally and to forge our character into one that will achieve much later on.
With that in mind, here are some thoughts on adversity, and how it can help you to succeed in every area of your life and achieve your dreams.
Adversity brings out our resources. Horace said "Adversity reveals genius, prosperity conceals it." When everything is going well, we coast. There isn't a lot of stress, and we don't have to draw too much on the resources that reside within us. But when adversity comes we begin to draw upon each and every resource that we have in order to conquer the circumstances at hand. Adversity then, keeps us sharp. It keeps us using our personal muscle, if you will. That is a good thing because we grow through the use of our resources.
Adversity brings us together with others. Sure a team can have their problems with each other, but when they step on the court, when they experience the adversity of facing another obstacle, they pull together. One for all and all for one, as they say. The next time you experience adversity of some kind, keep your eyes open for how it can bring you together with your family, your co-workers or your team. Then when you are through it, you will find a bond that was created that wasn't there before.
Adversity makes us better people with stronger characters. Never underestimate the power of adversity to shape us inwardly. How will courage, discipline and perseverance ever flourish if we are never tested? After adversity, we come out stronger people and able then to use our character and influence in an even greater way to lead those around us and to improve their lives as well as our own.
Adversity makes life interesting. John Amatt said, "Without adversity, without change, life is boring." How true. Have you noticed that while we are in the middle of adversity we only long to get out of it, but we then spend a lifetime recounting it to anyone who will listen? This is because it spices life up a little. Imagine how boring life would be if everything always went well, when there was never a mountain to be climbed.
Question - If you are in the middle of some adversity right now, what resources are you drawing on? Who are you drawing closer to and working with? What part of your character is being tested, and built up? What can you do to view this adversity as one who will be better for it on the other side?
Remember the words of Napoleon Hill - "Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit." Believe it, it is true!
Reproduced with permission from Your Achievement Ezine
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