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May 15, 2007
THREE PRINCIPLES THAT LEAD TO SALES SUCCESS AND WEALTH by Jeffrey Gitomer
Many people get into sales to "make money." There could not be a worse reason to enter the profession of selling. The best way to amass a lot of money in sales is to earn it.
NOTE WELL: I did not say make money. In sales you don't make money – you earn it. The biggest reason sales people fail is the philosophy -- "I'm in sales to make money." "I'm in sales because that's where the money is."
As a sales professional, everyone wants to earn a million dollars. Each of us for different reasons -- but we all need (want) money to achieve our goals and dreams. How do you get the money? By living and executing the three principles of sales wealth building.
1. You earn money by building a strong self-belief system.
2. You earn money by being better than the rest.
3. You earn money by having answers that others don't.
Here's a brief overview of each principle.
Building belief is… Having the confidence that you can do whatever you set your mind to do. Knowing why you want to earn a fortune, and living the dream by having the confidence to take action. How are you building that belief now?
Being better than the rest is… Doing whatever it takes to excel at what you do. Getting up one hour earlier. Always making the last call of the day. Striving to be the best at everything, and not be willing to settle for second place. There is no prize for second place in sales.
Learning new answers is…Exposing yourself to success information that you don't now have -- but need to be the best. Seminars, books, tapes -- a plan of life-long learning. There is only one way to get answers. By learning them. It seems simple -- just not easy. Some people have to go through failure to get them. Some have a steady diet of exposing themselves to new information every day. The key is learning something new every day.
How are you getting those answers now? Have you put yourself in a position to get the knowledge you need -- to earn the money you want to achieve your dreams?
It's not so important that you want to succeed -- it's critical you know why you want to succeed -- and what has prevented you from achieving your success to date? What belief system and game plan do you need to put in place to gain that success?
Warning: If you read the last paragraph and blamed everyone and everything but yourself, you are doomed. Take responsibility for the failure -- and do something about it (I'll guaranty when you succeed you'll take the responsibility).
It's easy to lose self-belief, if the one you've got in place is weak due to poor knowledge and lack of determination. It's easy to fail at sales if you have never told yourself (sold yourself) the real reason you want sales success in the first place. Not earning money for moneys sake -- but the real reason you want the money, and what you'll do with it once you get it.
For example, you may want money for a specific college that you want your child to attend, it may be to liberate you from a spouse, it may be to say "HA!" to a sibling or a parent. Whatever it is -- uncover it, write it down, post it up (if possible), carry it with you, read it twice a day -- and then you will begin to live it.
Combine your "why" with the desire and dedication to be the best, and presto -- sales success.
Some of you are reading this and saying, "Jeffrey, don't bug me with this philosophy stuff, tell me how to make sales." I am. This is the most powerful sales lesson I can deliver. Only a few will get it -- the ones who will rise to the top.
Reproduced with permission from the Jim Rohn Ezine
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May 14, 2007
DEVELOPING DESIRE TO SUCCEED by Tom Hopkins
Here are three methods of developing a burning desire to succeed. They will work — if you want them to.
1. The greatest obstacle to developing desire is a conviction that we´ll never be able to fulfill it. So many people discourage desire to avoid the frustration they may encounter. If you don´t have a burning desire to better your life, you´re cheating yourself and your loved ones with phony excuses. You´re choosing a level of life that´s poor compared to what you could have with the extra exertion you´re capable of. It´s all on your shoulders and there´s no way you can shift a bit of the responsibility to anyone else.
2. Focus on the specific things you want. Make agreements with yourself. When I do this, I get that. Don´t try to make yourself work for nothing.
3. Take it in steps. If you´ve never made more than minimum wage, don´t aim for half a million dollars the first year. The essential element is faith in yourself.
I know former migrant farm workers who came out of the fields and make themselves wealthy. If your sunshine wants far outstrip your cold morning desire, have a talk with yourself, then have a lot more talks. Convince yourself you can succeed and will succeed.
Reproduced with permission from the Jim Rohn Ezine
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May 13, 2007
WHERE DO YOU GO FOR YOUR INTELLECTUAL FEAST? by Jim Rohn
Pity the man who has a favorite restaurant, but not a favorite author. He's picked out a favorite place to feed his body, but he doesn't have a favorite place to feed his mind!
Why would this be? Have you heard about the accelerated learning curve? From birth, up until the time we are about eighteen, our learning curve is dramatic, and our capacity to learn during this period is just staggering. We learn a tremendous amount very fast. We learn language, culture, history, science, mathematics . . . everything!
For some people, the accelerated learning process will continue on. But for most, it levels off when they get their first job. If there are no more exams to take, if there's no demand to get out paper and pencil, why read any more books? Of course, you will learn some things through experience. Just getting out there - sometimes doing it wrong and sometimes doing it right - you will learn.
Can you imagine what would happen if you kept up an accelerated learning curve all the rest of your life? Can you imagine what you could learn to do, the skills you could develop, the capacities you could have? Here's what I'm asking you to do: be that unusual person who keeps up his learning curve and develops an appetite for always trying to find good ideas.
One way to feed your mind and educate your philosophy is through the writings of influential people. Maybe you can't meet the person, but you can read his or her books. Churchill is gone, but we still have his books. Aristotle is gone, but we still have his ideas. Search libraries for books and programs. Search magazines. Search documentaries. They are full of opportunities for intellectual feasting.
In addition to reading and listening, you also need a chance to do some talking and sharing. I have some people in my life who help me with important life questions, who assist me in refining my own philosophy, weighing my values and pondering questions about success and lifestyle.
We all need association with people of substance to provide influence concerning major issues such as society, money, enterprise, family, government, love, friendship, culture, taste, opportunity, and community. Philosophy is mostly influenced by ideas, ideas are mostly influenced by education, and education is mostly influenced by the people with whom we associate.
One of the great fortunes of my life was to be around Mr. Shoaff those five years. During that time he shared with me at dinner, during airline flights, at business conferences, in private conversations and in groups. He gave me many ideas that enabled me to make small daily adjustments in my philosophy and activities. Those daily changes, some very slight, but very important, soon added up to weighty sums.
A big part of the lesson was having Mr. Shoaff repeat the ideas over and over. You just can't hear the fundamentals of life philosophy too often. They are the greatest form of nutrition, the building blocks for a well-developed mind.
I'm asking that you feed your mind just as you do your body. Feed it with good ideas, wherever they can be found. Always be on the lookout for a good idea - a business idea, a product idea, a service idea, an idea for personal improvement. Every new idea will help to refine your philosophy. Your philosophy will guide your life, and your life will unfold with distinction and pleasure.
To Your Success,
Jim Rohn
Reproduced with permission from the Jim Rohn Ezine
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May 12, 2007
FORGIVING MY MOM by Charlie "Tremendous" Jones
I learned the wonderful lesson of forgiveness from my mother because she left us when I was eleven; I was the oldest of five. I loved her every time she came to visit us and grew very bitter every time she would leave. It was then that I made up my mind that when I had children, I would have my revenge. I resolved that she would never be allowed to see her grandchildren.
And then one day, I married Gloria and we had our first child, a son. Although my mother only lived a mile away, I knew she would never see her grandson. However, shortly after my son's birth, something happened that changed my decision forever. About six months after his birth, a truck driver introduced me to the love of God and to His forgiveness. I then realized immediately how wrong I was. I went to my mother and it was then that she taught me about forgiveness, because I had to ask her to forgive me for the resentment I had carried for all those years. After that I called her weekly to tell her she was the best mother a kid could ever have had. I took her to Europe, I bought her a home and I did the eulogy at her funeral and told everyone there she was the most wonderful mother a kid could ever have.
But you might say, "She left you". Yes, she made a mistake, but she never meant to do it. You see sin makes us do a lot of things that we never mean to do. So today I can truly say that one of my greatest accomplishments was I made my mother happy.
I used to say the greatest thing you could ever leave your children is a memory that you loved your mother or father even if they left you, but then I changed that to the greatest thing you can ever do is leave your children with the memory that you loved God. However, after more thought, reflection and experience I then I saw that I was wrong there too. Because my children, as they grow, will see that I'm inconsistent and that at times I'm a little bit of a hypocrite too. So now I teach that the greatest thing you can leave your children is the memory that God loves them just as they are and accepts them and forgives them.
Reproduced with permission from the Jim Rohn Ezine
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May 11, 2007
Life Balance: The Urgent vs. The Important by Dr. Denis Waitley
Of all the wisdom I have gained, the most important is the knowledge that 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.
Every decision we make has an "opportunity cost." Every decision forfeits all other opportunities we had before we made it. We can't be two places at the same time.
In their excellent management book Tradeoffs, Drs. Greiff and Munter discuss the difficult options that face us in all areas of our lives. One case in point illustrates a common opportunity cost. It’s a true anecdote they call, "Bicycle vs. Mother:"
"John is a precocious eight-year-old boy. Both his parents work. His mother is a management consultant and travels frequently. After being away for several days, she arrived home late one night and hugged her son.
He said, 'Mom, I missed you. Why were you away so long?'
She smiled and replied, 'One of the reasons I was away was to make enough money to buy you the bicycle you wanted.'
Young John looked at her reflectively and stated, 'Mom, I really did want the bicycle. But mothers are more important than bicycles. So please stay home more.'"
Even though we all are aware of the tradeoffs of "quality time vs. quantity time" in our relationships, we are not used to thinking specifically about how our decisions cost us other opportunities. Without this understanding, our decisions will often be unfocused and unrelated to helping us achieve our most important goals.
You may have heard the story about the analogy of the "circus juggler" to each of us as we try to balance our personal and professional priorities. I have heard the story repeated by many keynote speakers and have used it in previous books, but have never been able to trace the identity of the original author.
When the circus juggler drops a ball, he lets it bounce and picks it up on the next bounce without losing his rhythm or concentration. He keeps right on juggling. Many times we do the same thing. We lose our jobs, but get another one on the first or second bounce. We may drop the ball on a sale, an opportunity to move ahead, or in a relationship, and we either pick it up on the rebound or get a new one thrown in to replace what we just dropped.
However, some of the balls or priorities we juggle don't bounce. The more urgent priorities associated with self-imposed deadlines and workloads have more elasticity than the precious, delicate relationships which are as fragile as fine crystal. Balance involves distinguishing between the priorities we juggle that bounce from the ones labeled "loved ones," "health," and "moral character" that may shatter if we drop them.
The reason I always ask my seminar attendees to list the benefits of reaching their goals is so they can arrange them in the true order of importance to them and give them a sufficient amount of attention as they juggle them within their time constraints. Handle your priorities with care. Some of them just don't bounce!
To live a rich, balanced life we need to be more in conscious control of our habits and lifestyles. Actualized individuals have a regular exercise routine. They pay attention to nutrition, with lean source protein and fiber-based carbohydrates as their basic food choices. They relax through musical, cultural, artistic and family activities. They get sufficient sleep and rest to meet the next day renewed and invigorated.
In addition to blocking periods of time for recreation and vacations, they also schedule large, uninterrupted periods of work on their most important projects. Contrary to popular notions, most books, works of art, invention and musical compositions are created during uninterrupted time frames, not by a few lines, strokes, or notes every so often. Every book or audio program I have written has been done with the discipline of twelve to fifteen hours per day during a specific block of time.
True enough, I may have sacrificed a ski trip or an escape vacation once or twice. But by trying to focus on prime projects in prime time, the opportunity costs have been outweighed by the return on invested resources.
With your material, time and energy resources allocated well, you should be able to use your innovative powers to focus on goal achievement. Effective priority management creates freedom. Freedom provides opportunity to make decisions. We make our decisions and our decisions, over time, make us.
Freedom from urgency... That's what will allow us to live a rich and rewarding life. You may have thought your problem was "time starvation," when in truth, it was in the way you assigned priorities in your decision-making process. Have you allowed the urgent to crowd out the important?
Each day we will continue to encounter deadlines we must meet and "fires," not necessarily of our own making, we must put out. Endless urgent details will always beg for attention, time and energy. What we seldom realize is that the really important things in our life don't make such strict demands on us, and therefore we usually assign them a lower priority.
Our loved ones understand when we are preoccupied with our urgent business, but it's hard for us to understand, many years later, whey they appear preoccupied when we finally find some time for them. Harry Chapin's classic song, "The Cat's in the Cradle," is still a mirror reflecting our priorities.
All the important arenas in our life are there awaiting our decisions. But they don't beg us to give them our time. The local university doesn’t call us to advance our education and improve our life skills.
I have never received a call or e-mail from the health club I joined insisting that I show up and work out for thirty minutes each day. My bathroom scale has never insisted that I lose thirty pounds. The grocery clerks have never made me put back on the shelves the junk food I put in the cart, nor has a fast-food restaurant ever refused me a double cheeseburger and large fries because of my high cholesterol.
Nor have I ever been subpoenaed by the ocean or the mountains to appear for relaxation and solitude. Yet I receive hundreds of urgent phone messages and e-mails each week from people with deadlines.
You see, it's the easiest thing in the world to neglect the important and give in to the urgent. One of the greatest skills you can ever develop in your life is not only to tell the two apart, but to be able to assign the correct amount of time to each.
Beginning tomorrow, throughout the day, and every day thereafter, stop and ask yourself this question: "Is what I'm doing right now important to my health, well-being and mission in life, and for my loved ones?" Your affirmative answer will free you forever, from the tyranny of the urgent.
To Finding Your Unique Life Balance,
Denis Waitley
Reproduced with permission from the Denis Waitley Ezine
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May 10, 2007
Your Brain is the Greatest Computer Ever Created by Ron White
Have you ever walked into a room and couldn't remember what you went there for? Have you ever grasped the hand of a potential client and then when the handshake broke, the name seemed to disappear from your memory? Or have you ever left a prospect and as you drove away remembered a key point that you should have shared with them?
Of course you have... we all have. However, I have some great news for you. Your memory is nowhere near as bad as you may think it is. Recently, I was a guest at a radio station in Waco. The disc jockey wrote a 50-digit number on a sheet of paper and told his listening audience and then played a three-minute song for his audience.
As the listeners enjoyed the song I memorized the 50-digit number. When the song was over we went back live on the air and I handed him the paper. I then proceeded to say the number forwards and then I said it backwards. The disc jockey looked at me in utter disbelief and stunned he said, 'Ron... you are incredible!' I looked him straight in the eye and replied, 'You know... you are right!' I said, 'Jay, the greatest computer ever created does not come from Dell or Gateway. The greatest computer ever created does not sit on the assembly line of a computer factory. Instead, you and I are the greatest computers ever created. And yes... you are right. I am incredible... but so are you.'
The human memory has the ability to hear a 100 digit number or more once and then repeat it forwards and backwards, it has the ability to memorize a Shakespearean play word for word or memorize the stats of every baseball player for the last 100 years, and the human memory has the capability to meet 100 people in 20 minutes and recall every single name!
Now, the question is, are you doing these things? If not, the reason is simply that you have not been trained to. Two thousand years ago a Greek named Simonedes developed a memory method called 'Loci'. With this method, Simonedes numbered locations in his home. He started in the doorway and then logically proceeded around his home. He reviewed these items so many times mentally that if you asked him what was number 25 then he could instantly tell you what piece of furniture that number corresponded to.
These 25 objects were actually mental files for Simonedes. Then if he had a list of items he wanted to recall he would place them mentally on these objects in his home. Let's say that you are a professional who wants to give a speech without notes. Simply turn the key points into pictures and then file them to your 'house files'. When you are called upon to speak simply mentally walk through the house and give your talk without notes.
For example, recently I gave a one hour keynote in Atlanta at a home builders conference. I wrote my speech out the night before. The first thing I wanted to do was talk about the book, 'How to Win Friends and Influence People.' So I visualized the book on my front door and then mentally walked through my house and gave the one hour talk without notes! That can work for you as well. Anything that you want to recall simply turn it into a picture, place it on your house files and get ready to be amazed! YOU are the greatest computer ever created!
Ron
Reproduced with permission from the Ron White Ezine
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May 9, 2007
HOW TO SQUEEZE THE MOST OUT OF YOUR TIME by Brian Tracy
How do you start your day? Years ago I started planning mine by writing everything down I would have to do, the night before. I found that drawing up your list the night before prompts your subconscious to work on your plans and goals while you sleep. When you wake up, you feel ready to tackle your challenges.
When prioritizing and planning your time, consider the following points:
• Key questions.
What is the highest value-added action I can do? What can I and only I do that I've done well before to make a difference? Why am I on the payroll? The answers to these questions help identify all that needs to be done and in what order. That, in turn, will bolster personal productivity.
• Values.
Decide what's important to you, and in what order. Make sure your values don't conflict with work. Energy spent worrying diminishes your abilities.
• Consequences.
Every action has consequences - good and bad. Consider what rewards you'd reap by completing a task. Then, compare those rewards with the consequences of putting it aside. This process makes it easier to see which goals have a higher value.
• The Pareto Principle.
Vilfredo Pareto, a 19th-century engineer, argued that 20% of what you do accounts for 80% of the value. When considering the importance of a task, ask yourself whether it's among the 20% that creates the most value.
• Urgency vs. Importance.
An unexpected phone call or a drop-in visitor may be urgent, but the consequences of dealing with either may not be important in the long run. The urgent is other-oriented, it's caused by someone else. Important things are self-directed and have the greatest value for you.
• The Limiting Step.
Standing between you and what you want to achieve is the limiting step. That's the bottleneck that determines how quickly you can reach your goal. It's important to identify that step and focus single-mindedly on getting that one thing done.
• A Written Plan.
Lists of goals, tasks and objectives are of no help unless they're written. Putting your plans on paper makes a seemingly elusive goal more concrete. There's a connection that takes place between the brain and the hand. When you don't write it down, it's fuzzy, but as you write it and revise it, it becomes clear.
• Visualization.
See yourself doing what you need to get done. Visualization trains the subconscious to focus on completing tasks. Say, for example, that you want to begin each morning by exercising. Visualizing yourself doing sit-ups and push-ups the night before conditions the mind to do those the next day. When you prime you mind, it wakes you up even before the alarm clock goes off.
Remember you are a winner and preparation goes a long way in helping you achieve all your goals.
Reproduced with permission from the Jim Rohn Ezine
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May 8, 2007
THE TIME TO ACT by Jim Rohn
Engaging in genuine discipline requires that you develop the ability to take action. You don't need to be hasty if it isn't required, but you don't want to lose much time either. Here's the time to act: when the idea is hot and the emotion is strong.
Let's say you would like to build your library. If that is a strong desire for you, what you've got to do is get the first book. Then get the second book. Take action as soon as possible, before the feeling passes and before the idea dims. If you don't, here's what happens -
- YOU FALL PREY TO THE LAW OF DIMINISHING INTENT -
We intend to take action when the idea strikes us. We intend to do something when the emotion is high. But if we don't translate that intention into action fairly soon, the urgency starts to diminish. A month from now the passion is cold. A year from now it can't be found.
So take action. Set up a discipline when the emotions are high and the idea is strong, clear, and powerful. If somebody talks about good health and you're motivated by it, you need to get a book on nutrition. Get the book before the idea passes, before the emotion gets cold. Begin the process. Fall on the floor and do some push-ups. You've got to take action; otherwise the wisdom is wasted. The emotion soon passes unless you apply it to a disciplined activity. Discipline enables you to capture the emotion and the wisdom and translate them into action. The key is to increase your motivation by quickly setting up the disciplines. By doing so, you've started a whole new life process.
Here is the greatest value of discipline: self-worth, also known as self-esteem. Many people who are teaching self-esteem these days don't connect it to discipline. But once we sense the least lack of discipline within ourselves, it starts to erode our psyche. One of the greatest temptations is to just ease up a little bit. Instead of doing your best, you allow yourself to do just a little less than your best. Sure enough, you've started in the slightest way to decrease your sense of self-worth.
There is a problem with even a little bit of neglect. Neglect starts as an infection. If you don't take care of it, it becomes a disease. And one neglect leads to another. Worst of all, when neglect starts, it diminishes our self-worth.
Once this has happened, how can you regain your self-respect? All you have to do is act now! Start with the smallest discipline that corresponds to your own philosophy. Make the commitment: "I will discipline myself to achieve my goals so that in the years ahead I can celebrate my successes."
To Your Success,
Jim Rohn
Reproduced with permission from the Jim Rohn Ezine
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May 7, 2007
Create Your Own Mission Statement for Your Personal and Professional Life by Dr. Denis Waitley
Two of life's greatest tragedies are: Never to have had a great mission in life, and to have fully reached it so there is no challenge remaining.
Are you going where you want to go, doing what you want to do, and becoming who you want to become? These are the questions we must ask ourselves. Set some quiet time aside after you have finished this article and see the two you's in the mirror of your mind:
1) There is the reflection of the person you are today.
2) There is the image of who you will be in the future.
Looking at my own life, I am incredibly different in many respects from the person I was ten years ago.
As you reflect on your past and anticipate the future, understand that virtually nothing you have experienced has been wasted. It all blends together into wisdom and knowledge, and creates your own unique brand of cultural diversity.
Action Idea: In your professional life, what is most important for you to achieve in the remainder of career? In your personal life, what is most important for you to achieve in the remainder of your life? Find a close friend or associate you trust and network with often, and challenge each other to continuously strive to reach these objectives.
As you consider your mission in life, you may want to use this phrase as your guidepost for the 21st Century: Chase Your Passion, Not Your Pension. Passion in your purpose will help you take control of your life, and also give you one other advantage that is not widely recognized: About ten more years of life, on average. Pursuit of a goal wears out very few people. But they rust out by the hundreds of thousands when their pursuit of happiness turns into a geriatric park. A job is something you do for money. A career is something you do because you have an inner calling to do it. You want to do it. You love doing it. You're excited when you do it. And you'd do it even if you were paid nothing beyond food and the basics. You'd do it because it's your life.
Be inspired to learn as much as you can, gain skills as much as you can, to find a cause that benefits humankind and you'll be sought after for your quality of service and dedication to excellence. My nephew and niece, David and Heidi, at the ages of 30, had three little girls 7, 5 and 2. On an anniversary some years ago, they went out dancing and the margarita she had must have been one powerful fertility drug. She became pregnant that night, and with no incidence of multiple births in our family, eight months later, she delivered quadruplet girls, prematurely. I hurried down to the Children's Hospital in San Diego to get a photo opportunity and possible media coverage as "Uncle Denis of the Waitley Quads." They told me to stand in the corner, saying I hadn't contributed anything. The TV anchorwoman asked my niece Heidi how she felt. She said, "I feel a little tired. We're going to need a new car." They turned to my nephew David, whose eyes looked like burnt corks. "David, as the father, how does it feel to have seven little girls under the age of seven?" David replied, "We're not going to need a new car, we're never going anywhere again." But that's not the point of the story. In addition to seeing them as wonderful parents devoted to their seven little girls, my attention was focused on the neo-natal nurses caring for the newborn quadruplets, weighing between a pound and a half to two and a half pounds. Caring passionately for them like little birds in nests. Oblivious of quitting time. Not hearing the lunch bell at noon. Doing what they loved. Involved in helping improve the quality of life. We all can't be Tiger Woods, or Barbra Streisand or Jonas Salk. But we can chase our passion, not our pension. You'll always do well, what you love most. That's the essence of all that you've experienced in this program.
Action Idea: If you had the time and circumstances allowed, what is one of your most passionate desires in life you would like to pursue? It could be a new business idea, music, action, sports, or community service. Starting tomorrow, chase that passion a little bit at a time.
To Finding Your Passion,
Denis Waitley
Reproduced with permission from the Denis Waitley Ezine
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May 6, 2007
Free Time by Ron White
A few months ago, my friends and I were having dinner. The topic of success came up and I remained silent. I wanted to hear what they had to say. Someone who had been my friend for over 20 years spoke to the group, however, I knew his words were meant for me. He boldly proclaimed,' Success is all luck....luck...that is all it is!' He then looked at me as if to say, 'You are a lucky man and that is it.'
I didn't say a word, however, I confess that it hurt. He was one of my best friends and although it wasn't a direct quote-he was telling me that he didn't respect my success because it was all luck. In other words, he could have done the same if he was just as lucky.
I mulled this over for a few days and then let it go. What could I do?
Then about two weeks ago my truck window broke and I had to park in his garage for the day to stay out of the rain. I was stuck at his home for six hours. During this six hours, I watched five of his friends come over and they all watched the comedy channel and consumed adult beverages for 5 hours. It was driving me up a wall! I wanted to go for a run, write, read a book, goal set, strategize or spend time with someone that I loved. Instead, I wasted 6 hours watching the comedy channel.
I am not suggesting that watching television or the comedy channel is a waste of time. Most certainly not. However, it was obvious that this was their daily routine. Then it hit me!
Success is not a result of luck. It is a result of how you spend your free time!
He and I both work hard, the difference is when my work day is done my free time is productive and his is not.
My 6 CD Memory in a month program was created five years ago in my free time. Every month I get checks in the mail because of this program and I will never have to do a single bit of work again for it. Five years ago I did the work in my free time. Five years ago my friend was watching the comedy channel and today his mailbox is empty.
Success is a result of luck?...No, success is a result of how you spend your free time.
Ron
Reproduced with permission from the Ron White Ezine
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May 5, 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 aren´t 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 Acievement Ezine
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May 4, 2007
Seven Self-Motivators by Brian Tracy (excerpted from the Success Mastery Academy)
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 Acievement Ezine
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May 3, 2007
Life Rewards Action by Chris Widener
Thinking is good, yes it is. I strongly encourage thinking. In fact, thinking plays a terrific role in success. It helps you strategize. It helps you get motivated. It tunes you into success. I am all for thinking and I do it regularly!
That being said, just thinking, no matter how good of a thinker you are, will never catapult you to success. The difference between the thinker who succeeds and the thinker who doesn't is that the thinker who succeeds also ACTS!
Life does not reward thinking. Life rewards action. Let me clarify: Life rewards thoughtful action.
Think first, by all means... But then ACT!
Do you want to gain wealth? Then save your money - ACT!
Do you want to lose weight? Then hit the treadmill - ACT!
Do you want a new job? Then find a new one so you can quit your current one - ACT!
Do you want to write a book? Then begin to write - ACT!
Do you want a new friend? Then introduce yourself - ACT!
Anything you want to accomplish will only be done by bold and decisive action.
Wishing won't bring it about. Neither will dreaming. Nor will hoping. Nope, you must ACT.
What is it you want from life? Tell me. Be specific. Be clear. Think about it. Strategize. Roll it around inside that noggin of yours. Got it? Good. Now what? What will you DO to turn that non-physical electrical impulse we call a thought into a physical reality?
There is only one thing: ACTION.
Will you succeed? Will you achieve your dreams? Will you live the life that you want? Only you can make that decision because only you can decide whether or not you will act.
My friends, life rewards action. Your actions do not need to be perfect. They just need to be. And then they get rewarded with success. With achievement. Accomplishment. You have the power within you to lead YOUR life as you see it. There is only one question you must answer for yourself:
Will I act?
Because Life Rewards Action.
Chris Widener
Reprinted with permission from The Chris Widener Ezine
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May 2, 2007
Simple Communications by Zig Ziglar
When I entered the sales world, one of the first things my manager taught me was to keep my presentation so clear and uncluttered that a child could understand what I was saying. This advice has had a lasting impact on my life. I frequently remind my audiences that I speak and write at the 7th grade, 9th month level. I do this because I've discovered that at that level virtually everyone can clearly understand the message--even college professors! I include college professors because they're real people, and they, too, deserve to understand.
As my friend, Dr. Steve Franklin, a college professor from Emory University who taught me this, said, "The great truths in life are the simple ones. You do not need three moving parts and four syllables for it to be significant." He then pointed out that "there are only three pure colors--but look what Michelangelo did with them. There are only seven notes, but look at what Chopin, Beethoven and Vivaldi did with them. For that matter, look at what Elvis did with two!"
Most of us prefer things we can understand. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is short and clear with nearly 80 percent of the words only one syllable. "God is love"--three words, all of them one syllable.
Seriously, now, when you ask someone what they had for breakfast, would you really appreciate it if they responded that they had the "upper part of a hog's hind leg, with two oval bodies encased in a shell laid by a female bird?" Or would you prefer to have the person answer, "We had ham and eggs for breakfast"?
And remember, language changes. At one time we referred to a person who spread rumors around the office as a "gossip." Now that person is called an "information specialist."
Personally, I prefer simple, clear, direct communications. I'm convinced that most people do. Keep your communications "simple," and I'll SEE YOU AT THE TOP!
Zig Ziglar
Reprinted with permission from Your Achievement Ezine
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May 1, 2007
Bring Added Value - It's a Must for Job Security by Connie Podesta
WHAT ADDED VALUE DO you bring to your job that directly contributes to the financial stability, success, and growth of your organization? If your manager asked you this question, how would you respond? Would your response be persuasive? Your ability to demonstrate through performance and behavior that you are a vital part of the team can determine your future employability.
Decision-makers are often overwhelmed with demands. As a result, they are often unaware of your positive contributions. Negative things come to their attention first, so you need to demonstrate and document the value you add. Don´t expect your boss to notice your extra work, additional training, creative ideas, and special projects. You may be enthusiastic and intelligent, communicate effectively, exhibit strong leadership skills, embrace change, work efficiently, and possess technical competence and strong interpersonal skills—yet still find yourself unemployed simply because you fail to persuade your boss that the skills, ideas, and commitment you bring to your work are vital to team success.
To convince your boss that you and your job are essential, you must think about what you bring to your job and the unique, significant impact you have on your organization and its customers. You must also demonstrate this contribution to your boss in a persuasive way. You must convince people that you have a positive impact on bottom-line profits by showing them how you help make and save money.
Help make money:
If your organization is committed to making a profit by providing top-quality products and services along with extra value to its customers, then you must show how your job contributes to that pursuit.
Organizations make money by retaining current customers and bringing in new customers. Your value will be related to the positive impact you have on these goals. If you do not have direct customer contact (either servicing existing customers or attracting new customers) or work for or with those who do, your job may not be perceived as vital.
The customer ultimately determines the ability to make a profit. As Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, said: “There is only one boss—the customer. And he can fire everybody, by spending his money elsewhere.’
This means that you must be 100 percent committed to bringing in new customers and keeping the ones you have. Make the customer your focus daily by doing your job in a way that will have a positive impact upon those who deal with customers. You must bring added value in the form of profits by focusing on the impact on customers.
Help save money:
You can also help increase profits by saving money. Managers seek to save in five ways: reduce staff (downsizing and layoffs), cut benefits, lower wages, decrease products or services (cutbacks), or increase productivity. Since you aren´t interested in the first four options, think of ways to increase your productivity by working smarter and producing more to maintain your salary and benefits.
If you are worried about your job security and frustrated by the extra work and fewer resources, you can´t let this affect your job performance. Employers definitely have the right to expect that you give l00 percent of your efforts during paid work time. Beyond increasing productivity, you also help save money by integrating money-saving ideas into your job. If you can spot money-wasting activities and then come up with a solution to remedy the situation, you´ll prove your loyalty and added value.
Stand Out in a Positive Way:
You stand out when you add value to your job and your decision-makers know who you are and what you do. Your presence must be felt in a positive way and linked to the contributions you personally make.
Many people argue, whine, and complain about their jobs, duties, customers, equipment, and co-workers. If you attract attention by being negative, don´t be surprised when you lose your job! Negative attention does not help. People should associate your name, face, and expertise with positive feelings about your work, your teamwork, your customer commitment, and the value you bring.
Do your customers, co-workers, and supervisors know who you are? And if they do, would a discussion about you and your work be positive and favorable? Are you essential to your organization´s growth? Are you the one person your company should retain and never let go? Even if all your answers are yes, you still need to document your contribution. You don´t need to brag or boast, but you do need to maintain a healthy self-confidence and blow your own horn a bit to sell yourself. You should be able to say: “I do some very special things for this organization. I should be recognized as someone they need to keep because of the added value I bring to my job. It´s up to me to let them know how and what I contribute.’ Have a positive attitude, and soon your energy and enthusiasm will help motivate your colleagues and customers.
Communicate assertively and work cooperatively in team settings. Be flexible and accept change when a new idea seems appropriate. Let your employer know how you can best help increase productivity and profitability. And keep your negative thoughts, complaints, and energy to yourself. To stay employed, determine how you bring added value and discover ways to share or demonstrate your value with those in charge. Think of the ways you can help make money, save money, inform management about your accomplishments, and position yourself as a valuable and vital employee. Once you determine these factors, you can answer the all important question: “What added value do you bring to your job that contributes directly to the financial stability, success, and growth?’
ACTION: Prove your value to your organization.
Connie Podesta
Reprinted with permission from Your Achievement Ezine
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