Another Step Forward

It is not very realistic to expect that you'll go from where you are now to where you want to be in one quick leap. The most reliable and lasting progress is made one step at a time.

Therefore, welcome each step as you take it and reach it. Even though you're not all the way there just yet, you're moving steadily forward. Value and appreciate the progress you've made, and then continue moving on. The next step forward awaits you, and with it you'll move even closer.

The reward you seek at the end of the path is given value by every step of the journey. Each moment spent is time well spent when you're moving steadily forward, even if you still have a way to go.

Some steps may be tedious, or complicated, difficult, challenging or uncomfortable. Yet they are all moving you surely toward the place you want to be. Don't wait, get moving one step at a time!

Ten Attitudes of Top-Achievers

This is something I received by email this morning from the great Brian Tracy (a leading Business Authority on Success) and I thought it would be awesome to pass along; so read, enjoy and apply.

If you think the same way as the top achievers think, you can begin to get the same results they do. Here are ten psychological and practical ways to mirror the attitudes of top-achievers.

1. See yourself as a consultant rather than a salesperson. Believe that you are a problem-solver with regard to your product and how the client can best use it.

2. Become a doctor of selling. Act in the best interests of your "patients" and have a high code of ethics.

3. See yourself as the president of your own sales corporation. Accept 100 percent responsibility for your results.

4. Commit yourself to being the best in your field. Dedicate yourself to lifelong learning.

5. Be ambitious, hungry, and determined to use selling as a stepping-stone to the success you want in life.

6. Have integrity. Be honest with yourself and others.

7. Engage in thorough preparation prior to every call.

8. Be an excellent listener; be extremely customer-focused.

9. Have tremendous courage. Be willing to face your fears of rejection and failure, and overcome them.

10. Be highly persistent. Start your workday earlier, work harder, and stay longer.

To make these changes work you must walk, talk, and behave consistently with them every hour of every day. -- Brian Tracy

Follow Up To Be Successful

Relationship building is one of the most important elements of success in business. Giving people a reason to remember you pleasantly helps develop positive rapport with prospective associates, clients, referral sources and employers, and you have a marvelous opportunity to begin the process with a thank-you note and follow-up correspondence.

In this hectic world, taking the time to follow up can make you stand out from the pack. How many people remember to thank you or take the time to keep in touch? I go to numerous networking events and I’m constantly amazing at how many people don’t bother to send an email, let alone a thank-you note to the people they meet! Why did they go even go to the event? It’s mind boggling.

Following up with someone you meet at a networking event with a card or e-mail also gives you an opportunity to recap your meeting and begin building your relationship with them. Remember, people like to do business with people they like and trust. Additionally, maybe that person you met doesn’t have a need for your service… but they may know someone that does. It has been said that everyone knows about 250 people… So, by building that relationship with the person you met at a networking event could potentially gain you access to their connections.

Besides following up to networking events, correspondence showing your appreciation is always a great way to build lasting relationships.

These are a few examples of people to whom you can send thanks:

• Anyone who did you a favor
• Prospects at a sales meetings
• People who sent congratulations or compliments
• Team members who helped make a project a success
• A coworker who has done something especially helpful
• Volunteers

Now what about following up with associates or people you meet at seminars and other events? In addition to being appreciated, people love to be remembered. If you exchanged business cards with someone at a function, scribble something interesting or significant about the conversation on the card’s back.

Later, send notes telling people how much you enjoyed meeting them and mentioning one or two of the points of interest you jotted on the back of the card. You’ll be on your way to building a network of business allies.

Since it can be easy to lose track of advantageous contacts, create a follow-up program. Following up may include arranging lunch appointments or sending associates information that the recipients may appreciate (articles or links to interesting Web resources).

Other opportunities for getting in touch with people include the following:

• Sending congratulations or compliments
• Remembering anniversaries and birthdays
• A simple keep-in-touch card
• Holiday Greetings
• Good luck wishes or messages of encouragement

The more personal the occasion, the more appropriate it is to send a handwritten message. (Experts recommend correspondence cards.) However, if the message contains business information that may be seen by people other than the recipients, or if your handwriting isn’t readable, go ahead and type it. Also, if the recipients work in a tech field, they’ll probably prefer an e-mailed message. You can still include a personal touch through an online site which enables you to select or design your own card; they will print it, stuff it, stamp it and mail it for about $1.00.

It may seem hard to find the time for these follow-up techniques, but stick to them. A well-composed, friendly note has a lasting influence on recipients and marks you as conscientious and courteous–just the type of person people want to associate with them.

If you want to see or get help with a system that can help to follow up conveniently, economically and easily CONTACT ME!

RULES TO LIVE BY

1.	Get and stay out of your comfort zone.
2.	Never give up.
3.	When you are ready to quit, you're closer than you think.
4.	Accept the worst possible outcome.
5.	Focus on what you want to have happen.
6.	Take things a day at a time.
7.	Always be moving forward.
8.	Be quick to decide.
9.	Measure everything of significance.
10.	Anything that is not managed will deteriorate.
11.	Pay attention to your competitors, but pay more attention to what you're doing.
12.	Never let anybody push you around.
13.	Never expect life to be fair.
14.	Solve your own problems.
15.	Don't take yourself too seriously.
16.	There's always a reason to smile.

Napoleon Hill's 17 Principles of Personal Achievement

There is always something a person can do to improve his/her personal development as it is the key to success and achievement, Napoleon Hill provides us with some great lessons to put into action, so read on and enjoy!

Lesson 1: Definiteness of Purpose
Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement. Without a purpose and a plan, people drift aimlessly through life.

Lesson 2: Mastermind Alliance
The Mastermind principle consists of an alliance of two or more minds working in perfect harmony for the attainment of a common definite objective. Success does not come without the cooperation of others.

Lesson 3: Applied Faith
Faith is a state of mind through which your aims, desires, plans and purposes may be translated into their physical or financial equivalent.

Lesson 4: Going the Extra Mile
Going the extra mile is the action of rendering more and better service than that for which you are presently paid. When you go the extra mile, the Law of Compensation comes into play.

Lesson 5: Pleasing Personality
Personality is the sum total of one’s mental, spiritual and physical traits and habits that distinguish one from all others. It is the factor that determines whether one is liked or disliked by others.

Lesson 6: Personal Initiative
Personal initiative is the power that inspires the completion of that which one begins. It is the power that starts all action. No person is free until he learns to do his own thinking and gains the courage to act on his own.

Lesson 7: Positive Mental Attitude
Positive mental attitude is the right mental attitude in all circumstances. Success attracts more success while failure attracts more failure.

Lesson 8: Enthusiasm
Enthusiasm is faith in action. It is the intense emotion known as burning desire. It comes from within, although it radiates outwardly in the expression of one’s voice and countenance.

Lesson 9: Self-Discipline
Self-discipline begins with the mastery of thought. If you do not control your thoughts, you cannot control your needs. Self-discipline calls for a balancing of the emotions of your heart with the reasoning faculty of your head.

Lesson 10: Accurate Thinking
The power of thought is the most dangerous or the most beneficial power available to man, depending on how it is used.

Lesson 11: Controlled Attention
Controlled attention leads to mastery in any type of human endeavor, because it enables one to focus the powers of his mind upon the attainment of a definite objective and to keep it so directed at will.

Lesson 12: Teamwork
Teamwork is harmonious cooperation that is willing, voluntary and free. Whenever the spirit of teamwork is the dominating influence in business or industry, success is inevitable. Harmonious cooperation is a priceless asset that you can acquire in proportion to your giving.

Lesson 13: Adversity & Defeat
Individual success usually is in exact proportion of the scope of the defeat the individual has experienced and mastered. Many so-called failures represent only a temporary defeat that may prove to be a blessing in disguise.

Lesson 14: Creative Vision
Creative vision is developed by the free and fearless use of one’s imagination. It is not a miraculous quality with which one is gifted or is not gifted at birth.

Lesson 15: Health
Sound health begins with a sound health consciousness, just as financial success begins with a prosperity consciousness.

Lesson 16: Budgeting Time & Money
Time and money are precious resources, and few people striving for success ever believes they possess either one in excess.

Lesson 17: Habits
Developing and establishing positive habits leads to peace of mind, health and financial security. You are where you are because of your established habits and thoughts and deeds.

What do Successful People DO that others DO Not?

Received this from some Todd Falcone training, figured it would be great to post and let everyone see it as it is real good stuff!

1. They get SERIOUS and make a REAL COMMITMENT. They don't flake. They never ever treat it like a hobby. They never dabble. They roll up their sleeves and GO.
2. They DO what they SAY. In other words, there is TOTAL congruence between what they SAY they want and what they actual DO to GET what they want!
3. They NEVER make EXCUSES. Successful people don't blame their sponsor, their team, their company, comp plan or anything else. Successful people realize that "if it is to be, it is up to me."
4. They work harder and more efficiently than anyone else around them. Anything worthwhile is going to take work. The great news is that we all have to work hard in life, and we can all learn to work more efficiently in what we do. How are you spending the 24 hours a day that God gives you?
5. They are ALWAYS willing to invest in the most important asset in their life...themselves. I hope you really get this point. Oftentimes people will say, "I just can't afford it." If you have ever found yourself saying that phrase, my question to you personally is this: "How else and where else in your business life is that showing up if that is your immediate and general reaction?" I can tell you there have been many times in my personal life where I knew I couldn't really afford something...at least in my rational mind, but because I KNEW that I needed to LEARN, I was willing to take that short-term risk for the long-term gain...and it has ALWAYS paid off. I get it. Trust me...I get it. However, if you KNOW you are not producing the kind of results you want to produce and you find yourself spinning your wheels, it's time to stop. How long do you want to stay in that position? It can change at anytime, but you've got to be willing to commit...which goes right back to the first point I made in this training.
6. They take FULL RESPONSIBILITY for their actions. No blame game. They completely understand that unless they PERSONALLY do something to create change, change never occurs.
7. They never, ever stop....in spite of any challenge, set back, roadblock or obstacle. They simply keep on "chugging away", as Donald Trump so wisely stated when he was nearly $900,000,000 in debt a few years ago! Don't ever stop. Never!
8. They force themselves to do what is uncomfortable. Average producers do what feels comfortable to them. BIG producers constantly force themselves outside of their comfort zones, even if ever so slightly...and they do it daily. If you simply begin to stretch yourself to do things that are a bit uncomfortable, that which WAS uncomfortable now seems easy and quite comfortable.

Personal Development

Here is some great insight and personal development from the great business “philosopher” Jim Rohn taken from his CD “The Art of Exceptional Living”. If you want to grow, be happy and become more successful both personally and professionally, get started with his suggestions below…it can’t hurt to give it a try!

GOAL-SETTING

· Make a list of your long-term goals. This list should include the most important things you want to do in the next 1-10 years. What do you want to see? What do you want to do? Who do you want to be? What do you want to have? Take 15 minutes and just pour your thoughts out on paper. Don’t take longer than 15 minutes. Write fast. Abbreviate. After you finish, write down how many years it will take you to accomplish each goal. Some goals might be one-year goals. Others might be three-year goals. A few might even be 10-year goals.

· Constantly refine, reflect upon and revise your goals as you change. When you complete goals on your long-term list, celebrate. Celebrate your wins in life.

· Make a list of your short-term goals. This list should include all of the little things you want to do within a year. Part of the fun of making goals lists is being able to cross them off after you accomplish each.

· Set the kind of goals that will make something of you if you achieve them.

· Don’t set your goals too low.

· Don’t sell out (or give up on your goals). Don’t compromise. Tips: Goal-setting is easy. Just decide what you want and write it down. Save your goal lists to track your personal growth. Your old lists will show you how you have grown.

PERSONAL GROWTH

• Don’t hang out with an easy crowd.
• Unhappiness starts when you know you could be a little more than you are. This is where the slow erosion begins. Don’t let it happen to you.

• Your life philosophy will change as you grow. Ask yourself: What do you want to be known for?
• Set a goal to make a million dollars, not for the money but for what it will make of you
• Spend major time on major things. Minor time on minor things. Ask yourself if you focus on the majors
• Reasons come first and then the answers. If you can’t accomplish some of your goals, your reasons for why you want to accomplish those goals might not be strong enough. If you have enough reasons, you can do great things. When you know what you want and you want it bad enough, you can make it happen.
• What can you do today to change your life so the next five years are not the same as the last five?
• Ideas and information are the keys to your success. They can change your life.
• If you want to be happy, study happiness. Wealthy, study wealth.
• Keep a journal with you at all times to capture your ideas when they come. Don’t rely on your memory.
• All leaders are readers.
• To have more, become more.
• It isn’t what happens to you in your life that matters—it’s how you react to what happens to you.
• Work harder on yourself than you do on your job.
• The greatest value you get in life is what you become, not what you get

ASSOCIATIONS

• The people you surround yourself with influence you more than you think. Take a look at the people you are around and ask yourself: What do they have me doing? Saying? Feeling? Never underestimate the power of influence.
• It is easy to let associations and influences impact you. The people you are around shape who you will become. Don’t hang out with an easy crowd. Challenge yourself to grow.

SUCCESS

• Discipline makes all the difference. A few simple disciplines practiced over time every day can be your key to success.
• Failure comes from a few errors in judgment repeated over time.
• Work on your craft.
• Mend your errors by better thinking.
• Eat an apple a day!

The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino

Hi all, I started reading the book “The Greatest Salesman in the World” by Og Mandino and I felt these principles had to be relayed as they pertain to everyday life and everyone, not just "SALESMEN". So, if you haven’t read this book, I highly suggest it…from what I have read thus far it is awesome!

Only principles endure and these I now possess, for the laws that will lead me to greatness are contained in the words of these scrolls.

Principle #1 – Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.

Keep it always in mind and you will overcome seemingly impossible obstacles that are certain to confront you as they do everyone with ambition.

Never feel shame for trying and failing for he who has never failed is he who has never tried.

Principle #2 – I will form good habits and become their slave.

If I must be a slave to habit let me be a slave to good habits. My bad habits must be destroyed and new furrows prepared for good seed.

Each principle in these scrolls will drive a bad habit from my life and replace it with one which brings me closer to success. For it is another of nature’s laws that only a habit can subdue another habit.

As I repeat the words daily contained in these scrolls they will soon become a part of my active mind. Eventually I will find myself reacting to all situations which confront me as I was commanded in the scrolls to react. Thus a new and good habit is born.

Principle #3 – I will greet this day with love in my heart.

Love is the greatest secret of success in all ventures.

I will laud my enemies and they will become my friends; I will encourage my friends and they will become my brothers. Always will I dig for reasons to applaud; never will I scratch for excuses to gossip.

I will love all manners of men for each has qualities to be admired even though they may be hidden.

But how will I react to the adversity of others? With love; just as love is my weapon to open the hearts of men, love is also my shield to repulse the arrows of hate and the spears of anger.

Principle #4 – I will persist until I succeed.

I was not delivered into this world in defeat, nor does failure course through my veins. I am not a sheep waiting to be led to the slaughter. I am a lion and I refuse to talk, to walk, to sleep with the sheep.

I will remember the ancient law of averages and I will bend it to my good. I will persist with knowledge that each failure to sell will increase my chance for success at the next attempt.

Principle #5 – I will increase my knowledge of the world.

Within me burns a flame which has been passed from generations uncounted and its heat is a constant irritation to my spirit to become better than I am, and I will.

I will increase my knowledge of mankind, myself, and the goods I sell, thus my sales will multiply. I will practice, and improve, and polish the words I utter to sell my goods, for this is the foundation on which I will build my career… Also I will seek constantly to improve my manners and graces, for they are the sugar to which all are attracted.

I have been given eyes to see and a mind to think and now I know a great secret of life for I perceive, at last, that all my problems are in truth great opportunities in disguise.

Principle #6 – I will live this day as if it is my last.

Yesterday is buried forever and I will think of it no more. Forgetting yesterday neither will I think of tomorrow. Should I torment myself with problems that may never come to pass? No!

I will avoid with fury the killers of time. Procrastination I will destroy with action; doubt I will bury under faith; fear I will dismember with confidence.

The duties of today I shall fulfill today. I will make every hour count and each minute I will trade only for something of value. And if this day is not my last, I shall fall to my knees and give thanks.

Principle #7 – Today I will be master of my emotions.

All nature is a cycle of moods and I am a part of nature and so, like the tides, my moods will rise; my moods will fall.

If I bring joy and enthusiasm and brightness and laughter to my customers they will react with joy and enthusiasm and brightness and laughter, and my weather will produce a harvest of sales and a granary of gold for me.

Weak is he who permits his emotions to control his actions; strong is he who forces his actions to control his emotions.

􀀹 If I feel sad I will laugh.

􀀹 If I fear I will plunge ahead.

􀀹 If I feel poverty I will think of wealth to come.

􀀹 If I become overconfident I will recall my failures.

􀀹 If I feel complacency I will remember my competition.

I will master my moods through positive action and when I master my moods I will control my destiny.

Principle #8 – I will laugh at the world.

I will chuckle and my burdens will be lightened; I will laugh and my life will be lengthened for this is the great secret of long life. And most of all, I will laugh at myself for man is most comical when he takes himself too seriously.

Four words I will train myself to say until they become a habit so strong that immediately they will appear in my mind whenever good humor threatens to depart from me. These four words are: This too shall pass.

And with my laughter all things will be reduced to their proper size. I will laugh at my failures and they will vanish in clouds of new dreams; I will laugh at my successes and they will shrink to their true value.

Principle #9 – Today I will multiply my value a hundredfold.

And how will I accomplish this? First I will set goals for the day, the week, the month, the year, and my life. Just as the rain must fall before the wheat will crack its shell and sprout, so must I have objectives before my life will crystallize.

The height of my goals will not hold me in awe. If I stumble I will rise and my falls will not concern me for all men must stumble often to reach the hearth.

I will always announce my goals to the world. I will always raise my goals as soon as they are attained. Yet, never will I proclaim my accomplishments. Let the world instead, approach me with praise and may I have the wisdom to receive it in humility.

Principle #10 – I will act now.

My dreams are worthless, my plans are dust, my goals are impossible. All are of no value unless they are followed by action. I will act now.

I will act now. I will act now. Henceforth, I will repeat these words again and again each day until the words become as much a habit as my breathing and the actions which follow become as instinctive as the blinking of my eyelids.

Only action determines my value in the market place and to multiply my value I will multiply my actions. I will walk where the failure fears to walk. I will work when the failure seeks rest. Success will not wait. If I delay she will become betrothed to another.

Build Relationships - Give, Give, Give

What are some ways to find new customers and clients?

I believe the old maxim "It’s better to give than receive" holds the key to referral success. For centuries this has been sound advice for living. From the Bible’s command to "love your neighbor as yourself" to sales trainer extraordinaire Zig Zigler’s key principle that "you can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want", being a giving person brings success.

What are some practical things you can do to genuinely be more of a giver?

Give Away Your Possessions

Sometimes it is appropriate to show appreciation with a gift. Sending a gift sets you apart and finding something that uniquely suites the individual helps build solid relationships. It says, "I know you and care enough to think about what you might enjoy."

Sometimes it’s appropriate to send a gift even when the sale doesn’t close. If you appreciate the effort someone has made on your behalf, feel free to send a little something. You will keep them on your radar and prospect list. I often send flowers.

Sometimes they just mean "thanks for thinking of me." Sometimes I give a food gift such as popcorn or as I get to know people, I offer something specific like a book they mentioned in our meetings, a type of wine or a magazine subscription. In all cases, you are building the relationships.

Give Away Your Expertise

Share your skills and experience happy in the knowledge that you are helping friends and colleagues. Others appreciate and seek out knowledgeable people who give generously of their expertise. When you have been a resource to others, people are more willing to help when you ask. I work at being a major resource and learning as much about everything that I can. I call it "collecting vital information" and it always comes in handy as I am talking to my contacts, prospects, downline and clients.

Give Away Your Time

The more you are involved in your business and community, the more people you will meet, the better you will get to know those in your organization and the faster your network will expand. There are several ways to do this. Consider the following steps for your next meeting, training event or activity where you are looking to build your client and prospect list.

1. Volunteer to be the "greeter" when people are registering. This is a great way to meet others and this simple act of hospitality helps you to connect with people later. When we simply attend meetings, we limit our ability to meet and get to know people, so I make sure to join a committee and get involved. I always build new relationships. These people will often become those whom you will rely on and who will rely on you in the future.

2. Give a speech. Organizations are always looking for programs or breakout sessions for larger meetings or conventions. Perhaps you can put together a seminar about selling your specific product or share a simple technique you’ve successfully used to close more business. Putting together a quality presentation can take a bit of time, yet after you have done your research, you will be more knowledgeable about your business and become an expert—and you will be sure to pick up some new interest in your business.

3. After you’ve done your presentation, go one step further and offer to write an article for the organization’s newsletter or magazine on the same topic. This is a key way for people to be able to remember who you are. Be sure not to make it a commercial—you are just showing a way in which you build business that could be used by other salespeople in other businesses.

Being a giver is what relationship marketing is all about. Especially in these uncertain economic times, network professionals who give, continue to plant seeds and nurture their relationships will be the ones people reach out to when they are ready—because they will stay on many people’s radar screen until the time is right for them.

Want to help build, enhance and cultivate your business and personal relationships for more SUCCESSFUL REFERRALS or how about showing someone some appreciation by sending them a gift; CONTACT US and we can help to make this fast, easy and economical!

The Old Mule

A farmer owned an old mule that fell into a well. After assessing the situation, the farmer reluctantly concluded that neither the mule nor the well was worth saving. Instead, he called his neighbors together and enlisted them to help bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.

Initially the old mule was frantic, but as the dirt kept hitting his back, something happened. It dawned on the mule that every time a shovel load landed on his back, he should SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP! This he did, blow after blow. Shake it off and step up….shake it off and step up. No matter how painful the blows or how distressing the situation, the old mule fought panic and just kept right on SHAKING IT OFF AND STEPPING UP!

Before long, the old mule, battered and exhausted, stepped triumphantly through the mouth of that well. What seemed like it would bury him, actually helped him…all because of how he handled his adversity.”

Our lives are sometimes like the old mule. We have adversities that come our way. The key is responding to them positively, not giving in to panic, self-pity or bitterness. As you begin your day, take a few minutes to think about how you are handling the adversities that may be weighing you down. Are you giving into them with doubt or are you responding to them positively?

Don’t forget the actions of the old mule – SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP!