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August 31, 2007
If Selling Listen to the Symptoms by Ron White
'DocI got this cough.'
'Is it a light cough?'
'No Doc it is a deep hacking cough like this.KUUHKUUH'
'Okay, anything else?'
'Yeah, I got the shivers and this red bumpy rash.'
'Oh, well you have got the jungle hemoglobin neuro-cardio virus. Take these pills for two weeks and you will be as good as new.'
Isn't it amazing how a doctor can listen to the symptoms and then accurately diagnose what is ailing you? Well, if you are in sales you should be able to do the same. Listen to what your customers are telling you and it will tell you where you are going wrong in your presentation.
I recently heard a speaker say, 'Yeah, I didn't sell but one package of CDs the owner stood up and said he was going to buy one package of CDs for the office library and everyone could share.' The speaker then shook his head as if there was nothing he could have done to sell the group. I never heard that speaker's sales pitch; however, I know exactly what he did wrong by listening to the symptoms. In his sales pitch, he sold the value of his products, which he should have done however, he did not pitch the value of building your own personal development library. If he would have closed this way, the owner would have never of stood up and said he would buy one for the group to share because he would have been contradicting the value of your own personal library that was just discussed.
I didn't have to hear his sales pitch; listening to his symptoms, the diagnosis was easy.
What about you? What are the objections you are receiving? Listen closely because they are the symptoms that will diagnose your problem:
Sounds great! I will definitely get this product one day! Diagnosis you didn't establish the benefits of purchasing today. You did not make it clear that inventory was low, the special price of purchasing today or other incentive.
I need to think about it Diagnosis 50% of the time this will be because you didn't show them how to purchase (i.e. where to sign) or ask for the sale. The other 50% of the time it is because they have a hidden objection that you did not answer. Your response,' Is there something in particular I can answer for you as you think about it?'
Let's buy one and share! Diagnosis you didn't establish the value of this being a personal purchase.
It cost too much Diagnosis price is rarely the objection, you failed to build value and didn't demonstrate how this product will actually save you money over a period of time because it is durable or it will save you time and time is money.
Just as a doctor listen to your symptoms and they will tell you where you are failing. Do not blame the symptoms on your prospects incompetence. Instead listen, diagnose and treat by altering your presentation the next time. The answer to catapult your sales success is in the symptoms. Listen carefully!
Now, if you will excuse me I have to run. I have the jungle hemoglobin neuro-cardio virus and I have some pills I need to take.
-- Ron White
Reprinted with permission from The Ron White Ezine
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August 30, 2007
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
Reprinted with permission from Your Achievement Ezine
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August 29, 2007
Set Up a Learning Resource at Home and at Your Place of Business with Both Personal and Professional Development Materials by Denis Waitley
Every office conference, lunch, exercise, and recreation room should be filled with personal enrichment materials including videos, audios, books, magazines, newsletters, software, TV and internet programming.
Convert a special area of your home into a learning center, especially if you have children. The trend globally is to combine a coffee house like Starbucks, with bookstores like Barnes and Noble, to create a relaxing learning environment. In the twenty-first century, gaining knowledge will blend into our lives as part of our leisure time. There are several ways to create more of an ongoing learning environment at your place of business. Many companies are providing TV and internet access to personal development programming, asking employees to volunteer to read a specific trade or business magazine and clip or scan articles relevant to the organization. Regular email dispersals are also highly popular.
In today's fast-forward, knowledge-based world, if you're not moving ahead you are falling behind.
Action Idea: Make two files in your computer: one for personal development and one for professional development. Download MP3 files, articles and emails that educate and inspire you in these files. You also can scan articles from magazines into these files. Look at these files at least once per week.
Also subscribe to internet based or TV based personal development programming, purchase CDs, DVDs and books for your personal and professional development library.
Denis Waitley
Reprinted with permission from Your Achievement Ezine
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August 28, 2007
Labor That Works Miracles by Jim Rohn
Two thousand years ago on April 15th one of Jesus' disciples came to him and said it was time to pay taxes (that's how I know it was around April 15th), but they had no money. In response to his disciple's statement Jesus said "no problem". Now why could he say "no problem"? Well, word had it that Jesus was a miracle worker. If you hand a problem to a miracle worker what they are inclined to say is "no problem". You've got to hang out with people like that.
I belong to a small group and we do business around the world. These guys are all miracle workers. What an incredible group. If you hand any of them a problem guess what they say, "no problem". How many books will they read to solve a problem? As many as it takes. If they need to consult - how much consulting will they do? As much as it takes. How early will they get up? As early as it takes. "No problem"... you got to hang out with people like that. You cannot believe the thrill of being associated with miracle workers, people who will do whatever it takes to get the job done and perform miracles.
When asked about paying the taxes Jesus said it was "no problem". In fact, he said it was going to be easy - he told the disciple to just go fishing. Now it couldn't have been any easier than that, especially for this disciple whose name was Peter, because Peter was a fisherman. Now if you can fish and you should fish and you don't fish - then that is why you do not get a miracle. But Jesus told his disciple to go fishing and the first fish that he caught to look in its mouth. Peter, who was used to strange things happening, agreed. Well, the first fish Peter catches, he looks in its mouth and finds coins. Peter then adds up the coins and they are exactly enough to pay his and Jesus' taxes.
"Wow!", you might say, "That is a miracle!" Here is why we call it a miracle - simply because we don't quite understand how it works. That's all. Doesn't mean it doesn't work, it just means we don't quite understand how it works. Which is true of all miracles. In fact, for most of us our whole life is a miracle.
How about this miracle... God says if you plant the seed I will make the tree. Wow, you can't have a better arrangement than that. First, it gives God the tough end of the deal. What if you had to make a tree? That would keep you up late at night trying to figure out how to make a tree. God says, "No, leave the miracle part to me. I've got the seed, the soil, the sunshine, the rain and the seasons. I'm God and all this miracles stuff is easy for me. I have reserved something very special for you and that is to plant the seed."
I have found in life that if you want a miracle you first need to do whatever it is you can do - if that's to plant, then plant; if it is to read, then read; if it is to change, then change; if it is to study, then study; if it is to work, then work; whatever you have to do. And then you will be well on your way of doing the labor that works miracles.
To Your Success,
Jim Rohn
Reprinted with permission from The Jim Rohn Ezine
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August 27, 2007
Motivation from Within by Denis Waitley
Motivation is a contraction of motive and action. An inner force that compels behavior, it comes from within, not from any external circumstance. You know where you're going because you have a compelling image inside, not a travel poster on the wall, a financial statement with a big bonus, or a slogan in the hall. The performance of many externally motivated individuals begins declining as soon as they win contests of one sort or another. I've personally witnessed this among Super Bowl champions and World Cup teams that lost the incentive to maintain their excellence after winning the cup, the honors, and the cash.
If you're really committed to peak performance and leadership, you must motivate yourself from within. Studies of achievers show that inner drives for excellence and independence are far more powerful than desire for wealth, status or recognition.
The Inner Drive
Behavioral scientists have found that independent desire for excellence is the most telling predictor of significant achievement.
In other words, the success of our efforts depends less on the efforts themselves than on our motives. The most successful companies, like the most successful men and women in almost all fields, have achieved their greatness out of a desire to express what they felt had to be expressed. Often it was a desire to use their skills to their utmost in order to solve a problem. This is not to say that many of them did not also earn a great deal of money and prestige. William Shakespeare, Thomas Edison, Estee Lauder, Walt Disney, Oprah Winfrey, Sam Walton and Bill Gates all became wealthy. But far more than thoughts of profit, the key to their success was inspiration and inner drive by creating or providing excellence in a product or a service. All were motivated by the desire to produce the very best that was in them.
Go for the Inner Applause
The late Ray Kroc, a former neighbor of mine who founded McDonald's Corporation when he was in his fifties, stressed the importance of people working for the inner satisfaction, not just for the money. Ray said most people find it difficult to associate applause with their work when they can't hear literal applause but the important applause should come from within. It is the faster heartbeat, the pride and satisfaction of accomplishment.
Kroc told the University of Southern California's Business School that the first thing a business executive needs is love of an idea.
If you don't love your concept, drop it. If you prostitute yourself at an early age by taking a job where the money is, you'll be working for money all your life. Loving their work is particularly important for younger people. If they lose that love early, they may never grow to anywhere near their potential for self-actualization.
Hire People Who Have Empowered Themselves
An inner drive for excellence motivates you always to be the best you possible can in whatever you do. Leaders and managers should take special note hear. They must be careful in their use of external motivators money, perks, prestigious offices and titles in trying to inspire their team members and employees. Enduring motivation must always come ultimately from within the individual.
That's why empowerment and vision are so crucial to team performance and quality. Their power and their vision, not those of the leader must compel team members. Interviewing potential members, you should look for internally motivated individuals who hold their work important for its own sake, who love their field or their industry, who seek the exhilaration of testing their limits and contributing to the world. Be wary if they show more interest in your compensation package than in their contribution package.
Commit to achieving peak performance and leadership, by motivating yourself from within!
-- Denis Waitley
Reprinted with permission from Your Achievement Ezine
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August 26, 2007
Success is Easy, But So is Neglect by Jim Rohn
People often ask me how I became successful in that six-year period of time while many of the people I knew did not. The answer is simple: The things I found to be easy to do, they found to be easy not to do. I found it easy to set the goals that could change my life. They found it easy not to. I found it easy to read the books that could affect my thinking and my ideas. They found that easy not to. I found it easy to attend the classes and the seminars, and to get around other successful people. They said it probably really wouldn't matter. If I had to sum it up, I would say what I found to be easy to do, they found to be easy not to do. Six years later, I'm a millionaire and they are all still blaming the economy, the government, and company policies, yet they neglected to do the basic, easy things.
In fact, the primary reason most people are not doing as well as they could and should, can be summed up in a single word: neglect.
It is not the lack of money - banks are full of money. It is not the lack of opportunity - America, and much of the free World, continues to offer the most unprecedented and abundant opportunities in the last six thousand years of recorded history. It is not the lack of books libraries are full of books - and they are free! It is not the schools - the classrooms are full of good teachers. We have plenty of ministers, leaders, counselors and advisors.
Everything we would ever need to become rich and powerful and sophisticated is within our reach. The major reason that so few take advantage of all that we have is simply neglect.
Neglect is like an infection. Left unchecked it will spread throughout our entire system of disciplines and eventually lead to a complete breakdown of a potentially joy-filled and prosperous human life.
Not doing the things we know we should do causes us to feel guilty and guilt leads to an erosion of self-confidence. As our self-confidence diminishes, so does the level of our activity. And as our activity diminishes, our results inevitably decline. And as our results suffer, our attitude begins to weaken. And as our attitude begins the slow shift from positive to negative, our self-confidence diminishes even more... and on and on it goes.
So my suggestion is that when giving the choice of "easy to" and "easy not to" that you do not neglect to do the simple, basic, "easy"; but potentially life-changing activities and disciplines.
To Your Success,
Jim Rohn
Reprinted with permission from Your Achievement Ezine
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August 25, 2007
The "Ben Franklin Method" For Winning People Over by Bob Burg
So often I make the point about giving before getting, and that is certainly a very important aspect of helping a person to feel comfortable with you, and want to do for you. Whether in social relationships or sales, being the first to reach out is an extremely effective human relations strategy, as well as just a generally nice way to be. But we learn from one of America's more well-known founders, Benjamin Franklin, how taking the opposite approach can have excellent results as well.
In his book, "Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and Other Writings", the inventor, statesman, and diplomat tells of an incident with a man who opposed his being re-chosen as Clerk of the General Assembly of the Pennsylvania House. Although he did manage to keep the office, Ben knew that this person, whom he described as "a gentleman of fortune and education with talents that were likely to give him, in time, great influence in the House," could be trouble later on. He aimed to insure that didn't happen by making, of an enemy, a friend.
Let's let Ben tell us how he did it:
"I did not, however, aim at gaining his favour by paying any servile respect to him, but after some time took this other method. Having heard that he had in his library a certain very scarce and curious book, I wrote a note to him expressing my desire of perusing that book and requesting he would do me the favour of lending it to me for a few days. He sent it immediately - and I returned it in about a week with another note expressing strongly my sense of the favour. When we next met in the House, he spoke to me (which he had never done before), and with great civility. And he ever afterwards manifested a readiness to serve me on all occasions, so that we became great friends, and our friendship continued to his death.
"This is another instance of the truth of an old maxim I had learned, which says, 'He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another than he whom you yourself have obliged.' And it shows how much more profitable it is prudently to remove, than to resent, return, and continue inimical proceedings."
Understand that both ways work (giving first, and getting first); it's just a matter of judging the method that will work best depending upon both the situation and the other person involved. Either way, what Ben said in his final sentence makes a whole lot of sense. To paraphrase: We're better off making a friend than keeping an enemy.
Have an awesome WINNING WITHOUT INTIMIDATION week!
Bob Burg
Reprinted with permission from Your Achievement Ezine
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August 24, 2007
Conceptualize Your Success Whatever You Want Wants You! by Mark Victor Hansen
What you can conceptualize in your mind will materialize in your life. WOW! Think about that for a minute. Whatever you focus your powerful mind and energy on, will manifest itself into physical form. This has been going on your whole LIFE and you may not have even noticed it.
Have you ever been on your way to a meeting and said, "There is no way I'm going to get this deal?" Then, sure enough, you didn't get the deal. You probably thought, "See, I knew I wasn't going to get that deal." You're right, you didn't stand a chance, because you had already created a self-fulfilling prophecy and declared that there was no way you were going to succeed. You have no one to blame but yourself. Failure was pre-conceived by you, through you, and out into the Universe. It simply gave you what you asked for!
Your mind is that powerful. You don't even have to speak what you are thinking in order to see it come to fruition. Think of your mind as having the Universe on speed dial. It is THAT powerful.
Because your mind is such an amazing instrument, you must use it with care. Remember, great thinking creates great results. Mediocre thinking creates mediocre results. Which do you want?
Artists absolutely amaze me! They start with a blank canvas not a splatter of color on it and they create phenomenal masterpieces with just their minds, brushes and paint. How do they do it? How do they know what to paint?
Before they ever picked up a brush they had already conceived in their minds exactly what they were going to paint. It is already there. Their job is to make sure that the artistic concept is transferred from the mind to the physical form. That's what I want you to learn to do to conceptualize your dreams, whatever they may be, and change them from mental into physical. Because just like an artistic masterpiece waiting for the artist to create it your dreams are waiting for you to make them into your reality.
We all have a calling. We all have a purpose in life. Not all of us are meant to be artists who paint on canvases, but we all have a gift. Sometimes it is presented to us early in our lives, and other times we realize our special gifts later, when we least expect. Take Mother Teresa, for example. She heard her calling in 1947 when she was already acting in service to God as a principal of a Catholic high school. At that point, she discovered her purpose in life and decided to live in the Calcutta slums with "the poorest of the poor." She knew what she wanted to do, what she had to do, and she did it.
How do YOU do this? Well, just like Mother Teresa, before you can achieve it, you have to conceive it.
The word "conceive" means "to cause to begin life; to form or develop in the mind; to understand; to put in words, to express." And that is the order that your dreams will be realized in.
First, you conceive an idea, your dream or goal. The first moment that you decide that this thing this goal, this dream is what you want, it begins to live.
You feed your dream by thinking about it, turning it over and over in your mind. As you develop the idea you begin to understand it, to know what it is that you want the thing that wants you. Once you express it by writing it down, putting it into words, it's like pouring fuel onto a fire. You have made a request from the Universe. After that your dream takes on a life of it's own.
"It's not that people want too much, it's that they want too little."
Mark Victor Hansen
Reprinted with permission from Your Achievement Ezine
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August 23, 2007
No Room for Excuses by Ron White
'The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.' You have heard it a million times. However, my guess is that you have never heard it from the mouth of the 'rich'. Instead, this echo has most likely bounced to your ear with its origins being an excuse. That is right... an excuse. Excuses are what many use to pacify their guilt of not accomplishing what they are capable of.
I am not suggesting that wealth is success. My inference is that success is the progressive realization of predetermined worthwhile goals. It may be something as simple as raising a family.
What do these names have in common?
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan
Bill Clinton
They were all President Of The United States, right? They were all the most powerful man in the world at one point. However, I am looking for something else...
Richard Nixon... Nixon was born in the home his father built. He won an award from Harvard his senior year of high school. However, his family was unable to afford his leaving home for college. He instead attended Whittier College.
Gerald Ford... Ford was born as Leslie Lynch King, Jr. In 1913 his mother left her abusive husband and took her son to live with her parents. She met Gerald R. Ford, whom she married and gave her child his name Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. He was the only President to be adopted. Ford worked in his stepfather's paint and varnish store growing up. He coached boxing during college to afford his tuition.
Jimmy Carter... He was the first member of his family ever to go to college and his father was a peanut farmer.
Ronald Reagan... Son of an alcoholic traveling shoe salesman. He worked his way into show business by broadcasting baseball games. At forty, he was divorced and his career was at a dead end.
Bill Clinton... Born William Jefferson Blythe IV, his father (a traveling salesmen) died in an automobile accident three months before he was born. His mother married Roger Clinton and Bill took that name. Clinton grew up in a turbulent family. His stepfather was a gambler and alcoholic who regularly abused his wife, and sometimes Clinton's half brother Roger.
None of these men were born into wealth and prosperity, yet they each achieved the rank of most powerful person in the world by working hard and not making excuses. That is 5 out of the last 7 Presidents or 71% of Presidents in the last generation born into normal families who struggled. Yet, they refused to use that as an excuse.
It is true that these men were healthy and had no physical handicaps. However, I encourage you to visit www.johnfoppe.com and watch his video. This speaker proves that there is no room for excuses, regardless of your lot in life.
Life is too short to make excuses. Set your goals and pursue them. If you have been dealt a 'worse' hand than another, it may indeed be a gift that teaches you the value of hard work. Your story will be richer and your success sweeter when you achieve your dreams. Maybe one day I will cast a vote for you as President of The United States!
Ron White
Reprinted with permission from The Jim Rohn Ezine
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August 22, 2007
Creating Your Character is Like an Artist Creating a Sculpture by Jim Rohn
Could creating your character be likened to an artist creating a sculpture? In my opinion, I believe that character is not something that just happens by itself, any more than a chisel can create a work of art without the hand of an artist guiding it. In both instances, a conscious decision for a specific outcome has been made. A conscious process is at work. Character is the result of hundreds and hundreds of choices you make that gradually turn who you are, at any given moment, into who you want to be. If that decision-making process is not present, you will still be somebody. You will still be alive, but may have a personality rather than a character.
Character is not something you were born with and can't change like your fingerprint. In fact, because you weren't born with it, it is something that you must take responsibility for creating. I don't believe that adversity by itself builds character and I certainly don't think that success erodes it. Character is built by how you respond to what happens in your life. Whether it's winning every game or losing every game. Getting rich or dealing with hard times. You build character out of certain qualities that you must create and diligently nurture within yourself. Just like you would plant and water a seed or gather wood and build a campfire. You've got to look for those things in your heart and in your gut. You've got to chisel away in order to find them. Just like chiseling away the rock in order to create the sculpture that has previously existed only in your imagination.
But do you want to know the really amazing thing about character? If you are sincerely committed to making yourself into the person you want to be, you'll not only create those qualities, but you'll continually strengthen them. And you will recreate them in abundance even as you are drawing on them every day of your life. Just like the burning bush in the biblical book of Exodus, the bush burned but the flames did not consume it. Character sustains itself and nurtures itself even as it is being put to work, tested, and challenged. And once character is formed, it will serve as a solid, lasting foundation upon which to build the life you desire.
To Your Success,
Jim Rohn
Reprinted with permission from The Jim Rohn Ezine
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August 21, 2007
Eliminate Worry by Bob Proctor
Everyone gets the same amount of time every day. We get all there is... 24 hours... fourteen hundred and forty minutes. So, with time being such a precious commodity, why is it that so many of us spend our days worrying? Worry has almost become a national pastime for most! I suppose if we had a contract to live for a lifetime, it wouldn't be such a big deal, but we don't. We just have now!
Some of you may be reading this and thinking, "Yeah, he probably doesn't have anything to worry about." But, that's not true. I have plenty to worry about, I just choose not to and I'd like to suggest that you follow suit and resolve right now, as you read this article, that you are not going to invest even one of those fourteen hundred and forty minutes worrying... about anything.
Clearly understand, there isn't any situation that isn't made worse by worry. Worry never solves anything. Worry never prevents anything. Worry never heals anything. Worry serves only one purpose... it makes matters worse. How? Well, quite simply, when you're focused on worrying about something, you'll never be able to focus on a solution. Be aware that your mind cannot focus on two things at the same time... it can either focus on the current situation and worry or a solution. The choice is always yours.
James Kurtz said, "If we worry, we don't trust; if we trust, we don't worry. Worry does not empty tomorrow of its grief, but it does empty today of its joy."
If you have been worrying about something or someone, you can eliminate that worry through displacement. Let its positive opposite crowd it out of your mind and then follow through with constructive action. Everything in the universe has an opposite, even your worries.
You could be worried about not having sufficient time to do some of the important things you have to do today. The truth is you do have enough time if you are willing to give up something else. The busiest person you know, yourself included, would have time to go downtown and pick up a check if you won a lottery. You might neglect doing something else to make the time, but trust me, you would get the check.
When a worry thought occupies your attention, choose the positive opposite to the worry thought and focus your attention on that. No one is without problems; they are a part of living. But let me show you how much time we waste in worrying about the wrong problems. Here are some figures I picked up years ago and I would think they're just as valid today as they were when I first came upon them. Here is a reliable estimate of the things people worry about.
Things that never happen40%;
Things over and past that cant be changed by all the worry in the world30%;
Needless worries about our health12%;
Petty miscellaneous worries10%;
Real, legitimate worries8%.
In short, 92% of the average person's worries take up valuable time, cause painful stresseven mental anguish, and, for the most part, are unnecessary. Remember what Dr. Kurtz said, "Worry empties today of its joy." Don't worry, be happy!
Reprinted with permission from Your Achievement Ezine
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August 20, 2007
Mr. Shoaff's Simple Strategies to Success by Jim Rohn
My first mentor, Mr. Shoaff, over a five-year period of time when I was 25 to age 31, taught me some extraordinarily simple things, before his untimely passing at age 49. He only went through the 9th grade in school. He never finished high school, never went to college, never went to a university. So he put his experiences and ideas in very simple language, which, I think for me - kid from the farms of Idaho - was so important. When I would say, "This is all the company pays." Mr. Shoaff would say, "No, that is all they pay You." I thought, "That is a new way to look at it." I told him things cost too much. But he said, "No, you can't afford them." Well, that was a new concept for me. He promised that if I would improve, then I would qualify for more money. So I learned that we don't have to work on the company, we have to work on ourselves. Now if it had been technical, I would have missed it. If it had been mystic, I would have backed away. But it was just basic, blunt "a-b-c"
Mr. Shoaff also taught me that life puts some of the more valuable things on the high shelf so that you can't get to them until you qualify. If you want the things on the high shelf, you must stand on the books you read. With every book you read, you get to stand a little higher. And the "biggie" that forever had an impact on me, "Success is something you attract by the person you become." That phrase changed my life. Success is not to be pursued, but to be attracted by the person you become. Put your energy into becoming a better you, the best you. Learn the skills. Practice the skills. Attract the success.
Those few simple strategies and ideas helped change my life, forever, for the better. Thank you, once again, Mr. Shoaff.
To Your Success,
Jim Rohn
Reprinted with permission from The Jim Rohn Ezine
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August 19, 2007
What Am I Doing Wrong? by Ron White
Several years ago I called a special meeting. I went to my staff and I told them that the next day at 1:00 we were going to have a special meeting. The topic of the meeting was going to be all the areas that I as their boss could improve upon. One of my employees stood up and said, 'Okay... right now?'
I replied, 'No, we will do this tomorrow at one o'clock'. She said very matter of factly, 'Oh... I am ready now.' I smiled and told her that I wanted her to at least PRETEND that it would take her 24 hours to think of how I could improve!
The next day at one o'clock I found out that this employee had gone home and spent one hour composing a list. I think it was the first time she ever put in ANY effort after 5 pm! She had a list of 23 areas that I needed to improve upon! The others at the meeting had suggestions as well, but not to that extent.
Before the meeting I had informed everyone that their job was secure whatever their suggestions were. I wanted them to be brutally honest so I could get better and the company could improve. They were indeed honest and because they trusted me did not fear for their job with their statements. Of the suggestions, 75% were good and accurate. 25% were totally off base and they were wrong. With that said, not once in the meeting did I defend myself. With every suggestion (right or wrong), I thanked them and wrote it down in my notebook. Never once did I defend or explain myself.
It was a very productive meeting for everyone involved. My employees felt valued because I came to them for advice and the company improved because we changed some procedures. It is hard to accept constructive criticism. However, if you desire to be successful it is quality you must embody.
Ask for constructive criticism from those around you. They will feel valued that you asked and most likely you will become a better friend, manager or spouse because of it. Don't defend yourself... just get better.
-- Ron White
Reprinted with permission from The Ron White Ezine
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August 18, 2007
Of All the Wisdom I Have Gained, the Most Important is the Knowledge That... by Denis Waitley
...time and health are two precious assets that we rarely recognize or appreciate until they have been depleted. As with health, time is the raw material of life. You can use it wisely, waste it or even kill it.
To accomplish all we are capable of, we would need a hundred lifetimes. If we had forever in our mortal lives, there would be no need to set goals, plan effectively or set priorities. We could squander our time and perhaps still manage to accomplish something, if only by chance. Yet in reality, we're given only this one life span on earth to do our earthly best.
Each human being now living has exactly 168 hours per week. Scientists can't invent new minutes, and even the super rich can't buy more hours. Queen Elizabeth the First of England, the richest, most powerful woman on earth of her era, whispered these final words on her deathbed: "All my possessions for a moment of time!"
We worry about things we want to do - but can't - instead of doing the things we can do - but don't. How often have you said to yourself, "Where did the day go? I accomplished nothing," or "I can't even remember what I did yesterday." That time is gone, and you never get it back.
Staring at the compelling distractions on a television screen is one of the major consumers of time. You can enjoy and benefit from the very best it has to offer in about seven total hours of viewing per week. But the average person spends more than thirty hours per week in a semi-stupor, escaping from the priorities and goals he or she never gets around to setting. The irony is that the people we are watching are having fun achieving their own goals, making money, having us look at them enjoying their careers.
Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you've wasted in the past, you still have an entire today. If you've just frittered away an hour procrastinating, you will still be given the next hour to start on priorities. Time management contains one great paradox: No one has enough time, and yet everyone has all there is. Time is not the problem; the problem is separating the urgent from the important.
This week separate the urgent from the important and take action on what is important!
Denis Waitley
Reprinted with permission from The Denis Waitley Ezine
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August 17, 2007
Four Words that Make Life Worthwhile by Jim Rohn
Over the years as I've sought out ideas, principles and strategies to life's challenges, I've come across four simple words that can make living worthwhile.
First, life is worthwhile if you LEARN. What you don't know WILL hurt you. You have to have learning to exist, let alone succeed. Life is worthwhile if you learn from your own experiences - negative or positive. We learn to do it right by first sometimes doing it wrong. We call that a positive negative. We also learn from other people's experiences, both positive and negative. I've always said that it is too bad failures don't give seminars. Obviously, we don't want to pay them so they arent usually touring around giving seminars. But that information would be very valuable we would learn how someone who had it all then messed it up. Learning from other people's experiences and mistakes is valuable information because we can learn what not to do without the pain of having tried and failed ourselves.
We learn by what we see so pay attention. We learn by what we hear so be a good listener. Now I do suggest that you should be a selective listener, don't just let anybody dump into your mental factory. We learn from what we read so learn from every source; learn from lectures; learn from songs; learn from sermons; learn from conversations with people who care. Always keep learning.
Second, life is worthwhile if you TRY. You can't just learn; now you have to try something to see if you can do it. Try to make a difference, try to make some progress, try to learn a new skill, try to learn a new sport. It doesn't mean you can do everything, but there are a lot of things you can do, if you just try. Try your best. Give it every effort. Why not go all out?
Third, life is worthwhile if you STAY. You have to stay from spring until harvest. If you have signed up for the day or for the game or for the project - see it through. Sometimes calamity comes and then it is worth wrapping it up. And that's the end, but just don't end in the middle. Maybe on the next project you pass, but on this one, if you signed up, see it through.
And lastly, life is worthwhile if you CARE. If you care at all you will get some results, if you care enough you can get incredible results. Care enough to make a difference. Care enough to turn somebody around. Care enough to start a new enterprise. Care enough to change it all. Care enough to be the highest producer. Care enough to set some records. Care enough to win.
Four powerful little words: learn, try, stay and care. What difference can you make in your life today by putting these words to work?
To Your Success,
Jim Rohn
Reprinted with permission from Your Achievement Ezine
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August 16, 2007
Seven Self-Motivators by Brian Tracy
Here are seven Self-Motivator reminders for you to review on a regular basis.
#1 - Get Serious. Make a decision to go all the way to the top. Up to now you've thought about it. Up to now, it's passed your mind. Many of you made the decision, and you've made up your mind to go all the way to the top, and your lives have taken off. It's the most extraordinary thing. Your life is one, like in the shadow going up the dark side of the hill until the moment you decide that "By gum, I'm gong to be the best at what I do. I'm going to be in the top 10 percent." And suddenly you rose into the sunshine, and your life is forever after different - wonderful. Get serious. Don't fool around anymore.
#2 - Identify Your Limiting Step to Sales Success. What's your limiting step? What's the one skill area that's holding you back? What's the skill? What's the quality? What's the action? Ask other people. Find out what you need to become good at. Sometimes it may be only one skill. If you became really, really good on the telephone, you could maybe double your prospecting effectiveness and double your sales. If you became very, very good at getting the order at the end from qualified prospects, you could double your sales. If you became very, very good at managing your time to really, really manage your time well, you may be able to double your face time and double your income. Find out what's holding you back. What is the critical limiting step that's determining your success today?
#3 - Get Around the Right People. Who are the right people? The right people are the people in this room. Get around winners. Get around positive people. Get around people with goals and plans, people who are going somewhere with their lives and have high aspirations. Get around eagles. As Zig says, "You can't scratch with the turkeys if you want to fly with the eagles." And get away from negative people. Get away from toxic people that complain and whine and moan all the time. Who needs them? Life is too short.
#4 - Take Excellent Care of Your Health. Take excellent care of your physical health. That means good diet, good exercise. Everybody knows they should eat better foods, get regular exercise and especially lots of rest. That's very important. If you're going to work hard 5 days a week, go to bed early 5 days a week. Get a good night's sleep. Be fully rested, and tonight get really rested. You don't have to watch the Letterman Show...
#5 - Positive Visualization. See yourself as the very best in your field. Remember, all improvement in your life begins with an improvement in your mental pictures. Visualize yourself, see yourself as the best continually. You are the best. Isn't that right? So therefore, see yourself as the best.
#6 - Positive Self-Talk. Talk to yourself positively all the time. Control your inner dialogue. And what do you say to yourself? Say, "I'm the best." Say it. Say I'm the best. I like myself. I can do it. I love my work. Yes, that's how you talk to yourself. And the more you say it to yourself...someone may say, "Well, what if you say those things to yourself and you don't believe them. Isn't that lying to yourself?" No, that's not lying to yourself. It's telling the truth in advance. Because it doesn't matter where you're coming from - all that matters is where you're going. Talk to yourself the way you want to be, not the way you just happen to be at this moment. Remember, you may have gotten where you are today largely by accident. But where you're going in the future is purely by design.
#7 - Positive Action. Get going. Move fast. Develop a sense of urgency. A sense of urgency is the one thing that you can develop that will separate you from everyone else in your field. Develop a bias for action. When you get a good idea, do it now. Only 2% of people in our society have a bias for action. And if you're already in the top 10%, you can move yourself in the top 2% by resolving that whenever you have an idea or something, do it now. And the faster you move, the better you get. And the better you get, the more you like yourself. And the more you like yourself, the higher your self-esteem is. And the higher your self-esteem is, the greater your self-discipline. And the more you persist, then you ultimately become unstoppable.
Remember, You're the best!
Brian Tracy
Reprinted with permission from Your Achievement Ezine
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