Here are seven goal-setting questions for you to ask and answer over and over again. I suggest that you take a pad of paper and write out your responses.
Question Number One:
What are your five most important values in life?
This question is intended to help you clarify what is really important to you, and by extension, what is less important, or unimportant. Once you have identified the five most important values in life for you, organize them in order of priority, from number one, the most important, through number five.
Question Number Two:
What are your three most important goals in life, right now?
This is called the "quick list" method. When you only have thirty seconds to write down your three most important goals, your subconscious mind sorts out your many goals quickly. Your top three will just pop into your conscious mind. With only thirty seconds, you will be as accurate as if you had thirty minutes.
Question Number Three:
What would you do, how would you spend your time, if you learned today that you only had six months to live?
This is another value questions to help you clarify what is really important to you. When your time is limited, even if only in your imagination, you become aware of who and what you really care about.
Question Number Four:
What would you do if you won a million dollars cash, tax free, in the lottery tomorrow?
How would you change your life? What would you buy? What would you start doing, or stop doing? This is really a question to help you decide what you'd do if you had all the time and money you need, and if you had virtually no fear of failure at all.
Question Number Five:
What have you always wanted to do, but been afraid to attempt?
This question helps you see more clearly where your fears could be blocking you from doing what you really want to do.
Question Number Six:
What do you most enjoy doing? What gives you your greatest feeling of self-esteem and personal satisfaction?
This is another values question that may indicate where you should explore to find your "heart's desire." You will always be most happy doing what you most love to do, and what you most love to do is invariably the activity that makes you feel the most alive and fulfilled. The most successful men and women in America are invariably doing what they really enjoy, most of the time.
Question Number Seven:
What one great thing would you dare to dream if you knew you would not fail?
Imagine that a genie appears and grants you one wish. The genie guarantees that you will be absolutely, completely successful in any one thing that you attempt to do, big or small, short or long-term. If you were absolutely guaranteed success in any one thing, what one exciting goal would you set for yourself?
Action Exercise
Study the pad of paper that you used to answer these questions. This paper represents your future goals. Look at what you wrote every day and shape your life the way you see it on that paper.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
PROGRAMMING YOURSELF FOR SUCCESS
Your mission statement is always written in the present tense, as though you have already become the person that you have described. It is always positive rather than negative. And it is always personal.
Program Yourself Correctly
Your subconscious mind can only accept your mission statement as a set of commands when you phrase it in the present, positive and personal tenses. "I am an exceptional salesperson," is a perfect example. After every sales call, you should quickly reread your mission statement and ask yourself if your recent behavior was more like the person you want to be, or less? As a top sales performer, you are always comparing your sales activities against a high standard and adjusting your activities upward. You're continually striving to be better. Every day in every way, you are deliberately working to become more like the ideal person you have envisioned.
Determine Your Mission Statement
Your goal is that, a year from today, when one of your customers has lunch with one of your prospects, and your prospect asks your customer to describe you in detail as a salesperson, your customer will recite your business mission statement voluntarily. The way you have treated your customer will have been so exemplary that your customer will describe you in the most glowing of terms.
Compare Yourself Against Yourself
Once you have developed a mission statement like this, you can read it, review it, edit it, and upgrade it regularly. You can add additional qualities to it and more clearly define the qualities you've already listed. It becomes your personal credo, your philosophy of life, your statement of beliefs and a guide to your behavior in all your interactions with others. Each day, you can evaluate your behaviors and compare them against the standard that you have set in this statement.
Shape Your Own Personality
Over time, a remarkable thing will happen. As you read and review your personal mission statement, you will find yourself, almost unconsciously, shaping your words and conforming your behaviors so that you are more and more like the ideal person you have defined. People will notice the change in you almost immediately. Over time, you will find that you are actually creating within yourself the kind of character and personality that you most admire in others. You will have become the molder and the shaper of your own personal destiny. After you have applied the ABC Method to your list, you will now be completely organized and ready to get more important things done faster.
Action Exercises
First, imagine that one of your customers was going to meet with one of your prospects. What would you want him to say about you? How could you behave with your customer to assure that he says these things?
Second, talk to yourself positively all the time. Feed your mind with positive messages that describe your goals and the person you want to be.
Program Yourself Correctly
Your subconscious mind can only accept your mission statement as a set of commands when you phrase it in the present, positive and personal tenses. "I am an exceptional salesperson," is a perfect example. After every sales call, you should quickly reread your mission statement and ask yourself if your recent behavior was more like the person you want to be, or less? As a top sales performer, you are always comparing your sales activities against a high standard and adjusting your activities upward. You're continually striving to be better. Every day in every way, you are deliberately working to become more like the ideal person you have envisioned.
Determine Your Mission Statement
Your goal is that, a year from today, when one of your customers has lunch with one of your prospects, and your prospect asks your customer to describe you in detail as a salesperson, your customer will recite your business mission statement voluntarily. The way you have treated your customer will have been so exemplary that your customer will describe you in the most glowing of terms.
Compare Yourself Against Yourself
Once you have developed a mission statement like this, you can read it, review it, edit it, and upgrade it regularly. You can add additional qualities to it and more clearly define the qualities you've already listed. It becomes your personal credo, your philosophy of life, your statement of beliefs and a guide to your behavior in all your interactions with others. Each day, you can evaluate your behaviors and compare them against the standard that you have set in this statement.
Shape Your Own Personality
Over time, a remarkable thing will happen. As you read and review your personal mission statement, you will find yourself, almost unconsciously, shaping your words and conforming your behaviors so that you are more and more like the ideal person you have defined. People will notice the change in you almost immediately. Over time, you will find that you are actually creating within yourself the kind of character and personality that you most admire in others. You will have become the molder and the shaper of your own personal destiny. After you have applied the ABC Method to your list, you will now be completely organized and ready to get more important things done faster.
Action Exercises
First, imagine that one of your customers was going to meet with one of your prospects. What would you want him to say about you? How could you behave with your customer to assure that he says these things?
Second, talk to yourself positively all the time. Feed your mind with positive messages that describe your goals and the person you want to be.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
IGNITE YOUR LIFE!
Where have you come from in the last year? What have you accomplished? Don’t like the answers? Wish you had better ones, more fulfilling ones? You can - just one year from now!
You have within yourself the power to decide that when someone asks you just one year from now, “What did you accomplish in the last year?” you will respond, “Let me tell you - I was on fire!”
You aren’t getting any younger, and neither am I. If nothing changes, next year you will be one year older and still stuck in the rut wondering when you will achieve your dreams. But you can change!
Here are some thoughts to apply so that you can take control of your world and ignite your life!
Decide what you want over the next year.
What is it - exactly? You will never pursue it, nor get it, if you do not know what “it” is. Crystallize it in your mind. See it. Know it.
Put some sort of physical reminder where you will see it every day.
Maybe you want to lose weight. Put a picture of someone who looks the way you want to, or perhaps a picture of yourself from when you weighed what you want to weigh again. This will keep it in your mind each and every day.
Increase your positive self-talk.
Stop telling yourself negative things, and I include thoughts, not just verbal talk. Instead, start telling yourself positive things. “But Chris, those thoughts just run around in my head. I don’t put them there!” Well, catch them. Take them captive and throw them out! When you catch yourself thinking negative thoughts, stop and ask yourself what the exact opposite would be. Then begin to think it. Let the positive thought expand and take over the terrain of your mind the same way the negative thought would have before you ran it out of town!
Act.
Yes, act. I don’t mean join a theater group. I mean get some action going in your life. Want to get out of debt? Ask the boss for 5 hours of overtime a week. Over a year that would be 250 hours (I give you two weeks for vacation. Aren’t I nice?). If you normally make $15 an hour, you will make $30 (or something like that - go with me here). $30 multiplied by 250 is $7500. Your action will move you toward your goal. Worrying about money won’t. If you want to lose weight, go to the gym on a set schedule. Whatever you do - act! Just make the action something that will propel you toward your goal.
If you do the above - if you decide what you want, put a physical reminder of it where you will see it, increase your positive self-talk and take actions that will propel you toward your goals, you will ignite your life! And next year when someone asks how you have been your eyes will light up and you will boldly say, “Man, I have been on fire! Let me tell you all about it…”
You have within yourself the power to decide that when someone asks you just one year from now, “What did you accomplish in the last year?” you will respond, “Let me tell you - I was on fire!”
You aren’t getting any younger, and neither am I. If nothing changes, next year you will be one year older and still stuck in the rut wondering when you will achieve your dreams. But you can change!
Here are some thoughts to apply so that you can take control of your world and ignite your life!
Decide what you want over the next year.
What is it - exactly? You will never pursue it, nor get it, if you do not know what “it” is. Crystallize it in your mind. See it. Know it.
Put some sort of physical reminder where you will see it every day.
Maybe you want to lose weight. Put a picture of someone who looks the way you want to, or perhaps a picture of yourself from when you weighed what you want to weigh again. This will keep it in your mind each and every day.
Increase your positive self-talk.
Stop telling yourself negative things, and I include thoughts, not just verbal talk. Instead, start telling yourself positive things. “But Chris, those thoughts just run around in my head. I don’t put them there!” Well, catch them. Take them captive and throw them out! When you catch yourself thinking negative thoughts, stop and ask yourself what the exact opposite would be. Then begin to think it. Let the positive thought expand and take over the terrain of your mind the same way the negative thought would have before you ran it out of town!
Act.
Yes, act. I don’t mean join a theater group. I mean get some action going in your life. Want to get out of debt? Ask the boss for 5 hours of overtime a week. Over a year that would be 250 hours (I give you two weeks for vacation. Aren’t I nice?). If you normally make $15 an hour, you will make $30 (or something like that - go with me here). $30 multiplied by 250 is $7500. Your action will move you toward your goal. Worrying about money won’t. If you want to lose weight, go to the gym on a set schedule. Whatever you do - act! Just make the action something that will propel you toward your goal.
If you do the above - if you decide what you want, put a physical reminder of it where you will see it, increase your positive self-talk and take actions that will propel you toward your goals, you will ignite your life! And next year when someone asks how you have been your eyes will light up and you will boldly say, “Man, I have been on fire! Let me tell you all about it…”
Monday, May 23, 2011
MASTERING THE ART OF PARENTING
The most important single role of parenting is to love and nurture your children and to build in them feelings of high self-esteem and self-confidence. If you raise your children feeling terrific about themselves, if you bring them up full of eagerness to go out and take on the world, then you have fulfilled your responsibility in the highest possible sense.
Why Parents Don't Love Enough
There are two major reasons for the failure by parents to love their children enough. First, the parents do not love themselves. Parents with low self-esteem have great difficulty giving more love to their children than they feel for themselves. The second reason that parents don't love their children enough is they often have the mistaken notion that their children exist to fulfill their expectations.
Children are Not Property
The starting point of raising super kids is to realize that your children are not your property. Your children belong to themselves. They are a gift to you from high above, and a temporary gift at that.
Children are a Precious Gift
When you look at your children as precious gifts that you can only enjoy for a short time, you see your role as parents differently. When you celebrate and encourage the special nature and personality of your child, he or she grows like a flower in sunshine. But if you try to get your child to be something he or she is not, your child's spirit will wither, and his or her potential for happiness and joy will shrivel like a leaf on a tree in autumn
Love Makes the Difference
The most important consideration in raising super kids is the amount of love they receive. Children need love like flowers need water. A continuous flow of love and approval from the parent to the child is the child's lifeline to emotional and physical health. Love deprivation is surely the most serious problem that a child can suffer during his or her formative years.
Unconditional Love and Acceptance
Make it clear to your child that nothing he or she does could ever cause you to love him or her less than 100 percent. The most wonderful gift you can give your child is the absolute conviction that you love him or her completely, without reservation, no matter what he or she does and no matter what happens.
Praise and Encouragement
Give your children continual praise and encouragement for the positive things they do, even small things. Praise and reinforce what you would like to see repeated. Praise them to build their self-esteem and self-confidence.
Action Exercise
Ask yourself what it would be like to be your own child. Put yourself in the position of your child or your children, and then evaluate yourself as a parent. What are your strengths and weaknesses? What do you do well and what do you do poorly? What are some of the thing that you do that might be causing your children to grow up with lower self-esteem than you would like? What can you do, starting today, to be a better and more loving parent?
Why Parents Don't Love Enough
There are two major reasons for the failure by parents to love their children enough. First, the parents do not love themselves. Parents with low self-esteem have great difficulty giving more love to their children than they feel for themselves. The second reason that parents don't love their children enough is they often have the mistaken notion that their children exist to fulfill their expectations.
Children are Not Property
The starting point of raising super kids is to realize that your children are not your property. Your children belong to themselves. They are a gift to you from high above, and a temporary gift at that.
Children are a Precious Gift
When you look at your children as precious gifts that you can only enjoy for a short time, you see your role as parents differently. When you celebrate and encourage the special nature and personality of your child, he or she grows like a flower in sunshine. But if you try to get your child to be something he or she is not, your child's spirit will wither, and his or her potential for happiness and joy will shrivel like a leaf on a tree in autumn
Love Makes the Difference
The most important consideration in raising super kids is the amount of love they receive. Children need love like flowers need water. A continuous flow of love and approval from the parent to the child is the child's lifeline to emotional and physical health. Love deprivation is surely the most serious problem that a child can suffer during his or her formative years.
Unconditional Love and Acceptance
Make it clear to your child that nothing he or she does could ever cause you to love him or her less than 100 percent. The most wonderful gift you can give your child is the absolute conviction that you love him or her completely, without reservation, no matter what he or she does and no matter what happens.
Praise and Encouragement
Give your children continual praise and encouragement for the positive things they do, even small things. Praise and reinforce what you would like to see repeated. Praise them to build their self-esteem and self-confidence.
Action Exercise
Ask yourself what it would be like to be your own child. Put yourself in the position of your child or your children, and then evaluate yourself as a parent. What are your strengths and weaknesses? What do you do well and what do you do poorly? What are some of the thing that you do that might be causing your children to grow up with lower self-esteem than you would like? What can you do, starting today, to be a better and more loving parent?
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
RECHARGING YOUR RELATIONSHIP
Now you may ask why we would write an article about developing better relationships. The reason is because I believe that those who are in a relationship will be significantly and directly affected in all areas of their life by how that relationship is going, and how healthy that relationship is.
Research has proven that those who are happy at home are more productive and less stressful at work. Developing a better relationship with your mate can help you develop a better life and a better business! Here are some thoughts to chew on for developing a strong and healthy relationship with your mate.
Listen.
Communication is the key to a lasting relationship and listening is the key to communicating. Too often when we are quiet we are not listening, but waiting to speak. Instead of listening to what our mate is saying, and intently trying to understand them, very often we are making mental notes of what we would like to say in response. This is particularly true for us males. We often are trying to find the weakness in our mate’s argument, rather than really listening to the words that they're saying and the manner in which they're saying it. Why not take some time this week trying to internalize and understand your mate’s words and feelings?
Schedule a regular time to go out or spend time together.
With today’s busy lifestyles, it is too easy to put our relationships on the backburner and take them for granted. While we might have every intention of spending regular time with our mate, we often find ourselves driven by a schedule that has us running in every direction and leaving us little time for our most important relationships. Work gets in the way. The kids get in the way. Our hobbies get in the way. We need to realize the value in the importance of that relationship with our mate and its effect on our total life. Then we need to make spending time with our mate a major priority by scheduling a specific time at least each week to get alone together, talk, and simply renew our relationship. Be sure to set some time aside each week to rediscover each other and enjoy your time together. Pencil it into your schedule and don’t give up that spot. In fact, it is probably best if you and your mate sit down and decide what night will work each and every week, then put it into your daytimer. If someone asks you if you're available at that time, you tell them you already have an appointment. In the long run, that time that you spend with your mate will help you to become more of a success than you could ever mention.
Consider your mate’s interests more important than your own.
When each person has decided to give of themselves to the other, you form a reciprocating relationship of love, concern, and devotion. When you come to a place where you disagree or where the two of you have differing opinions, try to get to the point where you can consider what your mate likes as more important then what you would like to do. The simple decision to do this goes a long way toward developing a healthy relationship!
Learn your mate’s love language.
There is a lot of talk recently of love languages. What this is, is that each individual has certain ways they receive love from other people. Some people like to have time spent with them. Others like gifts, small or large. Still others respond best to personal touch. And others appreciate verbal affirmation. Our tendency is to show love the way that we like to receive love, but what will recharge our relationship fastest is to find out what way our mate likes to receive affirmations of our love. To next time you get a chance to speak to your mate, ask them which of the above ways they like best to receive your demonstration of love. Then make a conscious effort to begin showing your love to them in that manner.
Do the small things you did when you first fell in love with your mate.
Do remember when you were first in love? Remember the small things you did show your love to your mate? But as time went along, you probably began to get weighed down with simply living life and forgot the small things that made the difference in the beginning. Things like a phone call in the middle of the day just to talk or say “I love you,” an appreciative note, flowers, gifts, and opening doors. Re-charge your relationship by consciously going back and doing the small things that you did when your love first began to grow.
Forgive.
I've done a lot of work with couples were having troubles, and one of the most common elements I find that is working against the development of their relationship is that they are holding something against the other and they aren't willing to forgive. The fact is that your mate is going to fail you from time to time. We need to understand that. What we do when we get to that point however, is what will make all the difference in the world. In a relationship that is going to last, the people involved are committed to forgiving one another. Those who’s relationships last longest, and will be the healthiest, are those who are committed to forgiveness.
I hope these thoughts are helpful to you in recharging your love relationship. I truly believe that if we will put these principles into practice we will see our relationships grow in ways they never have before, and that in turn will make our whole life better.
Research has proven that those who are happy at home are more productive and less stressful at work. Developing a better relationship with your mate can help you develop a better life and a better business! Here are some thoughts to chew on for developing a strong and healthy relationship with your mate.
Listen.
Communication is the key to a lasting relationship and listening is the key to communicating. Too often when we are quiet we are not listening, but waiting to speak. Instead of listening to what our mate is saying, and intently trying to understand them, very often we are making mental notes of what we would like to say in response. This is particularly true for us males. We often are trying to find the weakness in our mate’s argument, rather than really listening to the words that they're saying and the manner in which they're saying it. Why not take some time this week trying to internalize and understand your mate’s words and feelings?
Schedule a regular time to go out or spend time together.
With today’s busy lifestyles, it is too easy to put our relationships on the backburner and take them for granted. While we might have every intention of spending regular time with our mate, we often find ourselves driven by a schedule that has us running in every direction and leaving us little time for our most important relationships. Work gets in the way. The kids get in the way. Our hobbies get in the way. We need to realize the value in the importance of that relationship with our mate and its effect on our total life. Then we need to make spending time with our mate a major priority by scheduling a specific time at least each week to get alone together, talk, and simply renew our relationship. Be sure to set some time aside each week to rediscover each other and enjoy your time together. Pencil it into your schedule and don’t give up that spot. In fact, it is probably best if you and your mate sit down and decide what night will work each and every week, then put it into your daytimer. If someone asks you if you're available at that time, you tell them you already have an appointment. In the long run, that time that you spend with your mate will help you to become more of a success than you could ever mention.
Consider your mate’s interests more important than your own.
When each person has decided to give of themselves to the other, you form a reciprocating relationship of love, concern, and devotion. When you come to a place where you disagree or where the two of you have differing opinions, try to get to the point where you can consider what your mate likes as more important then what you would like to do. The simple decision to do this goes a long way toward developing a healthy relationship!
Learn your mate’s love language.
There is a lot of talk recently of love languages. What this is, is that each individual has certain ways they receive love from other people. Some people like to have time spent with them. Others like gifts, small or large. Still others respond best to personal touch. And others appreciate verbal affirmation. Our tendency is to show love the way that we like to receive love, but what will recharge our relationship fastest is to find out what way our mate likes to receive affirmations of our love. To next time you get a chance to speak to your mate, ask them which of the above ways they like best to receive your demonstration of love. Then make a conscious effort to begin showing your love to them in that manner.
Do the small things you did when you first fell in love with your mate.
Do remember when you were first in love? Remember the small things you did show your love to your mate? But as time went along, you probably began to get weighed down with simply living life and forgot the small things that made the difference in the beginning. Things like a phone call in the middle of the day just to talk or say “I love you,” an appreciative note, flowers, gifts, and opening doors. Re-charge your relationship by consciously going back and doing the small things that you did when your love first began to grow.
Forgive.
I've done a lot of work with couples were having troubles, and one of the most common elements I find that is working against the development of their relationship is that they are holding something against the other and they aren't willing to forgive. The fact is that your mate is going to fail you from time to time. We need to understand that. What we do when we get to that point however, is what will make all the difference in the world. In a relationship that is going to last, the people involved are committed to forgiving one another. Those who’s relationships last longest, and will be the healthiest, are those who are committed to forgiveness.
I hope these thoughts are helpful to you in recharging your love relationship. I truly believe that if we will put these principles into practice we will see our relationships grow in ways they never have before, and that in turn will make our whole life better.
Monday, May 16, 2011
WHO'S ON YOUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS?
Whether you know and acknowledge it or not, your business
can only grow with the advice, support, ideas and help of
your Board of Directors. The poet observed that “no man is
an island” and none of us can achieve anything close to
our best or highest success if we try to do it by
ourselves.
I'm always amused when I hear that Sir Edmund Hillary was
the first to scale Mt Everest, or that Neil Armstrong was
the first to walk on the moon. Yes, they were the
individuals who raised the flag, but those achievements
were not accomplished alone. Both Charles Lindbergh, the
first to fly solo from New York to Paris, and Steve
Fawcett who flew around the world solo before his untimely
death, did it in planes they did not build and with the
support of thousands of people who made their flights
possible.
Every successful entrepreneur has dozens of people
cheering them on. Every successful endeavor is the result
of many people working in concert, giving advice, sharing
the vision and encouraging us. We need our "partners" in
success.
Who sits on your "board of directors?" Who advises you and
tells you the truth? Who opens the doors and makes the
introductions? Who gives you ideas and helps you solve the
challenges? Who is your coach?
If you don’t have a “board” get one! Ask friends and
colleagues to meet with you at least once a month as your
sounding board. If you don’t have a coach, get one!
Remember the poet – “no man (or woman) is an island.” Or,
as the Beatles put it even more memorably, “We get by with
a little help from our friends.” Make sure you have a
Board of Directors!
Quotes of the Week
"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment
to improve the world." -- Anne Frank
"We are what we imagine. Our very existence consists in
our imagination of ourselves. The greatest tragedy that
can befall us is to go unimagined." -- N. Scott Momaday
"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the
service of others." -- Mahatma Gandhi
"In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is
the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing."
-- Theodore Roosevelt
can only grow with the advice, support, ideas and help of
your Board of Directors. The poet observed that “no man is
an island” and none of us can achieve anything close to
our best or highest success if we try to do it by
ourselves.
I'm always amused when I hear that Sir Edmund Hillary was
the first to scale Mt Everest, or that Neil Armstrong was
the first to walk on the moon. Yes, they were the
individuals who raised the flag, but those achievements
were not accomplished alone. Both Charles Lindbergh, the
first to fly solo from New York to Paris, and Steve
Fawcett who flew around the world solo before his untimely
death, did it in planes they did not build and with the
support of thousands of people who made their flights
possible.
Every successful entrepreneur has dozens of people
cheering them on. Every successful endeavor is the result
of many people working in concert, giving advice, sharing
the vision and encouraging us. We need our "partners" in
success.
Who sits on your "board of directors?" Who advises you and
tells you the truth? Who opens the doors and makes the
introductions? Who gives you ideas and helps you solve the
challenges? Who is your coach?
If you don’t have a “board” get one! Ask friends and
colleagues to meet with you at least once a month as your
sounding board. If you don’t have a coach, get one!
Remember the poet – “no man (or woman) is an island.” Or,
as the Beatles put it even more memorably, “We get by with
a little help from our friends.” Make sure you have a
Board of Directors!
Quotes of the Week
"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment
to improve the world." -- Anne Frank
"We are what we imagine. Our very existence consists in
our imagination of ourselves. The greatest tragedy that
can befall us is to go unimagined." -- N. Scott Momaday
"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the
service of others." -- Mahatma Gandhi
"In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is
the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing."
-- Theodore Roosevelt
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
COURAGE THAT CHANGES YOUR LIFE
"The scars you acquire while exercising courage will never make you feel inferior." - D.A. Battista
"Courage is a special kind of knowledge: the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared and how not to fear what ought no to be feared." - David Ben-Gurion
"Courage is fear that has said its prayers." - Dorothy Bernard
Courage. It is a word that conjures up images of great and dramatic actions. And yet I realize that we all have the opportunity to be courageous every day, in small and large ways. And it is when we choose to be courageous that we change our lives and the lives of those around us.
Can you name anything of any significance that did not emanate from some sort of courageous decision? I can’t. Think of the changes that we have experienced in the last few decades and trace them back to their initial decision. Chances are, someone exhibited courage.
So what is courage? It is simply acting on what we want to do, regardless of any fear we may have. It is the choice to disregard worry. It is the choice to do right, to pursue our dreams, to be successful people, to lead the way for others.
Courage changes lives. Yes, it changes lives.
First, the day you begin to stare down your fears and worries, and instead act courageously, your life will change. You will be set free to fly like you never have before. You will accomplish things you once only dreamed of. You will experience things you thought were only for others – the courageous ones. You will realize that your fears were baseless and just paper tigers, a mirage. You will begin to live your dreams. You will become a person of character!
You will also change the lives of others. Simply put, courageous people pull others along with them. Everybody benefits from courageous people. I have a friend who I admire greatly. A little over a year ago he decided to leave a lucrative career and pursue a dream. All obstacles were thrown his way. The day he left his company, he found out that his wife had cancer. He went into a great deal of debt to finance his dream. He raised millions of dollars, putting his name and reputation on the line. He acted courageously. A year later, he has over fifty employees and growing monthly. Those employees are reaping the benefit of his courage! And his wife, who beat cancer, is acting courageously with him!
Here are some quick tips for acting courageously:
Know what you want.
Courage is about choice. If you are to act courageously, you need to know what the right choice is. Be clear about your dream and vision.
Do not worry.
I heard recently that worry is the wrong use of the imagination. That is perhaps the best definition I have ever heard. Worry is just thinking about all of the bad possibilities, isn’t it? Well, courage is just thinking about all the great possibilities and then acting upon them!
Do your homework.
It helps to get the facts. It helps because then you can make an informed decision that will put your heart and mind to rest. There will probably be a downside but we understand it, choose alternatives, and act decisively instead of those.
Act.
There is no substitute for the first step. Do you know what you want? Have you thought of the possibilities? Have you done your homework? Then what are you waiting for? The next step is to take the first step, and ACT!
"Courage is a special kind of knowledge: the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared and how not to fear what ought no to be feared." - David Ben-Gurion
"Courage is fear that has said its prayers." - Dorothy Bernard
Courage. It is a word that conjures up images of great and dramatic actions. And yet I realize that we all have the opportunity to be courageous every day, in small and large ways. And it is when we choose to be courageous that we change our lives and the lives of those around us.
Can you name anything of any significance that did not emanate from some sort of courageous decision? I can’t. Think of the changes that we have experienced in the last few decades and trace them back to their initial decision. Chances are, someone exhibited courage.
So what is courage? It is simply acting on what we want to do, regardless of any fear we may have. It is the choice to disregard worry. It is the choice to do right, to pursue our dreams, to be successful people, to lead the way for others.
Courage changes lives. Yes, it changes lives.
First, the day you begin to stare down your fears and worries, and instead act courageously, your life will change. You will be set free to fly like you never have before. You will accomplish things you once only dreamed of. You will experience things you thought were only for others – the courageous ones. You will realize that your fears were baseless and just paper tigers, a mirage. You will begin to live your dreams. You will become a person of character!
You will also change the lives of others. Simply put, courageous people pull others along with them. Everybody benefits from courageous people. I have a friend who I admire greatly. A little over a year ago he decided to leave a lucrative career and pursue a dream. All obstacles were thrown his way. The day he left his company, he found out that his wife had cancer. He went into a great deal of debt to finance his dream. He raised millions of dollars, putting his name and reputation on the line. He acted courageously. A year later, he has over fifty employees and growing monthly. Those employees are reaping the benefit of his courage! And his wife, who beat cancer, is acting courageously with him!
Here are some quick tips for acting courageously:
Know what you want.
Courage is about choice. If you are to act courageously, you need to know what the right choice is. Be clear about your dream and vision.
Do not worry.
I heard recently that worry is the wrong use of the imagination. That is perhaps the best definition I have ever heard. Worry is just thinking about all of the bad possibilities, isn’t it? Well, courage is just thinking about all the great possibilities and then acting upon them!
Do your homework.
It helps to get the facts. It helps because then you can make an informed decision that will put your heart and mind to rest. There will probably be a downside but we understand it, choose alternatives, and act decisively instead of those.
Act.
There is no substitute for the first step. Do you know what you want? Have you thought of the possibilities? Have you done your homework? Then what are you waiting for? The next step is to take the first step, and ACT!
Monday, May 9, 2011
THE TOP 3 WAYS TO MAKE MORE.....
No matter what you sell, there are only 3 ways to make more money. Do you know what they are?
1. Attract more prospects
2. Convert more of your prospects into paying clients
3. Get each client to buy more from you
That’s it! Just 3 simple ways to grow your business. Which are you focused on? Most people make the mistake of focusing on the…
first, attracting more clients. And while it’s important, to be honest it’s the hardest and takes the longest to get results.
The truth is it’s much easier to convert more prospects into clients with a few small tweaks to your small business marketing system or to up-sell your existing clients and give them more of what they want.
1. Attract more prospects
The simple way to do this is to do the following:
- Create a client focused marketing message
- Come up with a free report or series of videos to give away
- Setup your free offer on your website
- Use your opt-in form to build your list
- Follow up with your list, using your email autoresponder series
- Help them get to know you, like you and trust you
- Provide a compelling offer to get them to buy from you.
It’s a proven formula that works. But I’m not going to lie to you – it’s going to take some serious effort on your part and some time to get it running smoothly.
So let’s take a look at option 2.
2. Convert more prospects into paying clients
Let’s assume you already have some form of lead generation system in place. What percentage of the leads become paying customers?
In most cases, small business owners who sign up to work with me are only converting a fraction of a percent of all the people they market to into paying customers – at least at the start. It’s like spending a fortune on grass seed to plant your lawn and only getting one or two blades of grass. Pretty embarrassing – which is why few people want to admit it.
But ask yourself, is this they way you want to run your business?
The first step is to start tracking your conversion rate. Then, take a few simple steps to improve it.
Typically, just by inserting a follow up email, call or other simple marketing step into the sequence, most small business owners can double or triple their conversion rates practically overnight, adding another $20,000 to $200,000 per month in revenue.
3. Get each client to buy more from you
Once you have a prospect ready to buy from you, helping them get more of what they want is easy. They’ve just reached the point where they know you, like you and trust you and have agreed to put their faith in you by paying you for your product or services.
It’s at this point in the process where you can easily up-sell them or cross-sell them. That’s what every phone company and cable TV service does. They offer a killer deal to get you in the door, and they up-sell you on the package of services or the product you really want.
The secret that no one tells you, is… the purpose of the first sale is to get people in the door, so you can sell them more, again and again.
So how does this work in practice and how long does it take to get results?
I had one client, Jane, who was charging for her services on an hourly basis. The first week I showed her how to repackage and reprice her services.
The second week she put her new pricing plan into place and instantly increased her profits by 50%, without doing anything else.
All she had to do was just change the description of what was included in her services and her pricing plan. And insert the changes into the phone conversations she was already having with her prospects.
Where should you focus your time if you want to make more money?
Of course I’m not advocating you quit trying to attracting clients. I’m just saying – take the time to make sure you’ve optimized your conversion process and your up-sell strategy first. Because, really, it doesn’t make any sense to spend time and money on attracting clients if you’re not getting the most out of your efforts.
So what’s the status of your small business marketing?
Is it optimized to boost your profits in the short term and help you prosper in the long term?
Questions? Comments?
More Small Business Marketing Ideas: http://www.marketingforsuccess.com/blog/small-business-marketing/the-top-3-ways-to-make-more/#ixzz1LqZfg4Q6
1. Attract more prospects
2. Convert more of your prospects into paying clients
3. Get each client to buy more from you
That’s it! Just 3 simple ways to grow your business. Which are you focused on? Most people make the mistake of focusing on the…
first, attracting more clients. And while it’s important, to be honest it’s the hardest and takes the longest to get results.
The truth is it’s much easier to convert more prospects into clients with a few small tweaks to your small business marketing system or to up-sell your existing clients and give them more of what they want.
1. Attract more prospects
The simple way to do this is to do the following:
- Create a client focused marketing message
- Come up with a free report or series of videos to give away
- Setup your free offer on your website
- Use your opt-in form to build your list
- Follow up with your list, using your email autoresponder series
- Help them get to know you, like you and trust you
- Provide a compelling offer to get them to buy from you.
It’s a proven formula that works. But I’m not going to lie to you – it’s going to take some serious effort on your part and some time to get it running smoothly.
So let’s take a look at option 2.
2. Convert more prospects into paying clients
Let’s assume you already have some form of lead generation system in place. What percentage of the leads become paying customers?
In most cases, small business owners who sign up to work with me are only converting a fraction of a percent of all the people they market to into paying customers – at least at the start. It’s like spending a fortune on grass seed to plant your lawn and only getting one or two blades of grass. Pretty embarrassing – which is why few people want to admit it.
But ask yourself, is this they way you want to run your business?
The first step is to start tracking your conversion rate. Then, take a few simple steps to improve it.
Typically, just by inserting a follow up email, call or other simple marketing step into the sequence, most small business owners can double or triple their conversion rates practically overnight, adding another $20,000 to $200,000 per month in revenue.
3. Get each client to buy more from you
Once you have a prospect ready to buy from you, helping them get more of what they want is easy. They’ve just reached the point where they know you, like you and trust you and have agreed to put their faith in you by paying you for your product or services.
It’s at this point in the process where you can easily up-sell them or cross-sell them. That’s what every phone company and cable TV service does. They offer a killer deal to get you in the door, and they up-sell you on the package of services or the product you really want.
The secret that no one tells you, is… the purpose of the first sale is to get people in the door, so you can sell them more, again and again.
So how does this work in practice and how long does it take to get results?
I had one client, Jane, who was charging for her services on an hourly basis. The first week I showed her how to repackage and reprice her services.
The second week she put her new pricing plan into place and instantly increased her profits by 50%, without doing anything else.
All she had to do was just change the description of what was included in her services and her pricing plan. And insert the changes into the phone conversations she was already having with her prospects.
Where should you focus your time if you want to make more money?
Of course I’m not advocating you quit trying to attracting clients. I’m just saying – take the time to make sure you’ve optimized your conversion process and your up-sell strategy first. Because, really, it doesn’t make any sense to spend time and money on attracting clients if you’re not getting the most out of your efforts.
So what’s the status of your small business marketing?
Is it optimized to boost your profits in the short term and help you prosper in the long term?
Questions? Comments?
More Small Business Marketing Ideas: http://www.marketingforsuccess.com/blog/small-business-marketing/the-top-3-ways-to-make-more/#ixzz1LqZfg4Q6
Thursday, May 5, 2011
BECOMING A POSITIVE FORCE IN THE WORKPLACE
In order to become a positive force, Barber says there are two key
steps that a person can take.
Order your private world.
Connecting the dots between your heart (your desires), mind (what you
choose to think about), and spirit (your connection with God that will
yield imagination and passion) is essential.
First, consider your heart's desires. If money and other pressures
weren't an issue, what would you be doing with your day-to-day
activities? Where would you be making a difference?
Second, quit listening to the negative influences of people around
you. Rework your thinking so that you consider all the things you can
do and the positive differences that you can make. Find others to
model your life after and fill your mind with the same kinds of things
they read and listen to.
Third, sit in solitude before the Lord and ask Him to guide you in
what you're doing. Pray about your goals and the challenges you
experience on a daily basis. "It's the Lord who helps to energize our
imagination and our passions," says Barber.
You'll know you've connected all the dots — heart, mind, and spirit —
when you can lie down at night or get up in the morning and the
desires of your heart meet with the opportunities in your hand. On the
flip side, if you go to bed thinking, How much longer do I have to do
this? I wonder how I can jump ship and do that, then the dots aren't
connected.
If this is the case, it's time to reassess and think about approaching
your job differently. Rather than looking at what you're not getting
or how others are mistreating you, tap into the mission of your
organization and start thinking about it and your part in it.
"However, if you can't do this where you are because you don't agree
with the things your company stands for, or it's just not within the
makeup of who you are, then yes, start dreaming about other things you
can do," says Barber.
steps that a person can take.
Order your private world.
Connecting the dots between your heart (your desires), mind (what you
choose to think about), and spirit (your connection with God that will
yield imagination and passion) is essential.
First, consider your heart's desires. If money and other pressures
weren't an issue, what would you be doing with your day-to-day
activities? Where would you be making a difference?
Second, quit listening to the negative influences of people around
you. Rework your thinking so that you consider all the things you can
do and the positive differences that you can make. Find others to
model your life after and fill your mind with the same kinds of things
they read and listen to.
Third, sit in solitude before the Lord and ask Him to guide you in
what you're doing. Pray about your goals and the challenges you
experience on a daily basis. "It's the Lord who helps to energize our
imagination and our passions," says Barber.
You'll know you've connected all the dots — heart, mind, and spirit —
when you can lie down at night or get up in the morning and the
desires of your heart meet with the opportunities in your hand. On the
flip side, if you go to bed thinking, How much longer do I have to do
this? I wonder how I can jump ship and do that, then the dots aren't
connected.
If this is the case, it's time to reassess and think about approaching
your job differently. Rather than looking at what you're not getting
or how others are mistreating you, tap into the mission of your
organization and start thinking about it and your part in it.
"However, if you can't do this where you are because you don't agree
with the things your company stands for, or it's just not within the
makeup of who you are, then yes, start dreaming about other things you
can do," says Barber.
Monday, May 2, 2011
THE FORMULA FOR MARKETING SUCCESS - Philip E. Humbert PhD.
Every week, I receive emails from business owners about
coaching to grow their revenue, and many of those requests
focus on marketing. It seems most professionals, from
Accountants to Veterinarians, want more customers.
I've developed a formula that helps my clients strategize
their marketing campaigns and it works like this:
R = (N x I) – C
The amount of new Revenue (R) created by a marketing program
is a product of the Number of people (N) in your audience,
multiplied by the Impact (I) of your presentation, minus the
Cost (C) of the campaign. It’s very simple. To increase
revenue, you must either reach more people, increase the
impact of your presentation, or reduce the cost. Here are
three examples.
A radio ad in a major market might reach a million listeners
(N), but the impact (I) will be very small and the cost (C)
may be too high. Changing the ad to a radio talk-show might
still reach the same number of listeners, but by increasing
the Impact, you'll attract more business and perhaps reduce
the cost.
Similarly, a speech to a local service club might have an
audience (N) of only 100 people, but if your presentation
creates enough Impact (I) and the cost of doing it is very
low (an hour of your time, and they'll even buy your lunch),
you may attract several new clients at minimal cost.
If you mail 1000 brochures, and the Impact (I) or "response
rate" is 1%, and the cost of printing and postage is seventy
cents per brochure, then the formula of [R = (N x I) - C]
works out to be: Ten Clients = (1000 x 1%) - $700.
You can attract more business and increase profits by
increasing the Number of prospects, by increasing the Impact
you have on each of them, or by reducing your Costs. Some
people prefer contacting lots of people via the Internet,
while others prefer the personal contact of doing workshops.
Any method can work, but the formula remains the same:
[R = (N x I) – C].
coaching to grow their revenue, and many of those requests
focus on marketing. It seems most professionals, from
Accountants to Veterinarians, want more customers.
I've developed a formula that helps my clients strategize
their marketing campaigns and it works like this:
R = (N x I) – C
The amount of new Revenue (R) created by a marketing program
is a product of the Number of people (N) in your audience,
multiplied by the Impact (I) of your presentation, minus the
Cost (C) of the campaign. It’s very simple. To increase
revenue, you must either reach more people, increase the
impact of your presentation, or reduce the cost. Here are
three examples.
A radio ad in a major market might reach a million listeners
(N), but the impact (I) will be very small and the cost (C)
may be too high. Changing the ad to a radio talk-show might
still reach the same number of listeners, but by increasing
the Impact, you'll attract more business and perhaps reduce
the cost.
Similarly, a speech to a local service club might have an
audience (N) of only 100 people, but if your presentation
creates enough Impact (I) and the cost of doing it is very
low (an hour of your time, and they'll even buy your lunch),
you may attract several new clients at minimal cost.
If you mail 1000 brochures, and the Impact (I) or "response
rate" is 1%, and the cost of printing and postage is seventy
cents per brochure, then the formula of [R = (N x I) - C]
works out to be: Ten Clients = (1000 x 1%) - $700.
You can attract more business and increase profits by
increasing the Number of prospects, by increasing the Impact
you have on each of them, or by reducing your Costs. Some
people prefer contacting lots of people via the Internet,
while others prefer the personal contact of doing workshops.
Any method can work, but the formula remains the same:
[R = (N x I) – C].
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