ONE HOUR OF STUDY MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE

Did you know that one hour per day of study will put you at the top of your field within three years?

Think about it. You've gone as far as you can with what you now know. Any progress you make from this moment onward will require that you learn and practice something new.

Commit to Lifelong Learning

One quality of leaders and high achievers in every area seems to be a commitment to ongoing personal and professional development. They look upon themselves as self-made people, as “works in progress.” They never become complacent or satisfied. They are always striving toward ever greater heights of knowledge and understanding.

Get to the Top in Five Years

Earl Nightingale said many years ago that one hour per day of study in your chosen field was all it takes. One hour per day of study will put you at the top of your field within three years. Within five years you’ll be a national authority. In seven years, you can be one of the best people in the world at what you do.

Read Everything You Can

Read all you can about your field. Subscribe to the executive book clubs and book summaries. Build your own library of important books in your field. Never be cheap about your education.

In fact, if you make a decision today to invest 3% of your annual income back into yourself, back into your own personal and professional development, you will probably never have to worry about money again.

Go Through 50 Books Per Year

If you read one hour per day in your field, that will translate into about one book per week. One book per week translates into about 50 books per year. 50 books per year will translate into about 500 books over the next ten years.

 

Join the Top 1% of Money Earners

If you read only one book per month, that will put you into the top 1% of income earners in our society. But if you read one book per week, 50 books per year, that will make you one of the best educated, smartest, most capable and highest paid people in your field. Regular reading will transform your life completely.

Action Exercises

Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into practice.

First, ask the successful people around you for their best book recommendations. Whatever advice they give you, immediately go out and buy those books, take them home and begin reading for one hour every morning before you start work.

Second, when you read, underline and take notes when you find important ideas that you can use. Implement them immediately. Take action of some kind on good ideas. You will be amazed at the change in your career.

4 FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE YOUR DECISION MAKING SALES PROCESS

By using factors that influence customers during the decision making process, you’ll be able to close more sales and double your closing ratio. The purpose of the sales process is to convince customers that they will be better off with the product or service than they would be with the money necessary to buy the product.

Factors That Influence the Decision Making Process

During the sales process, you are asking customers to engage in a trade. You are telling customers that if they give you their money, you will give them a product or service in return that will be of greater value to them than the money they pay. In addition, it will be of greater value than anything else that they could buy with the same amount of money at the same time. Here are four factors of influence you must know in order to influence the customer’s decision making process:

Satisfied Needs

The customer always acts to satisfy the greatest number of unmet needs, in the very best way, at the lowest possible price. During the sale process, a major part of your job is to demonstrate that customers will get more of what they want, faster, by purchasing your product or service than they would get if they bought something else.

Credibility

One of the major factors that influence customer’s decision making process is credibility. Proof that the other people similar to the customer have purchased the product builds credibility, lowers resistance, and increases sales. Every bit of information that you can present showing that other people, similar to the customer, have already wrestled with this buying decision, have decided to purchase, and have been happy as a result, moves you closer to making the sale. One of the most powerful of all the factors that influence buying decisions in our society is called “social proof.” We are all influenced by what others have done or are doing. We are much more open to buying a product or service when we know that other people like us have already bought it and are happy with it.

Testimonials

Another one of the factors that influence customer’s decision making process are testimonials. Testimonials of any kind increase desirability and lower price resistance to a product or service. Testimonial letters or photographs of happy customers using and enjoying your product or service, or lists of satisfied customers, is one of the most powerful factors that influence a person to buy. You should persistently solicit testimonials from your customers. Acquire them from every source possible and every way you possibly can. Testimonials can make your sales process and ability to influence the decision making process much easier. You will find that almost all top salespeople use testimonials that praise and support the product or service they are selling and that are relevant to the customer they are selling to.

Perception and the Sales Process

The level of competence and expertise that a person perceives that you have, the more likely it is that that person will be persuaded by you to do the things you want them to do. A person who is highly respected for his or her ability to get results is far more persuasive and influential than a person who only does an average job.
The perception that people have of your performance capabilities exerts itself as one of the most important factors that influence how customer’s think and feel about you. You should commit yourself to being the very best in your field. Sometimes, a reputation for being excellent at what you do can be such a powerful decision making factor that it alone can make you an extremely persuasive individual in all of your interactions with the people around you. They will accept your advice, be open to your influence and agree with your requests.
Thank you for reading this post on powerful factors that influence customer’s decision making process. Please contribute your thoughts and feel free to share your tips on how to develop the sales process to close more sales!

DO WHAT YOU DO BEST, IN BUSINESS.

In life, I love the concept of "Beginner's Mind." It's

useful to take up a new hobby or a new interest because

that's where we stretch and grow. But it does not usually

apply in business! This week, I got that loud and clear.

I have a client who's business requires extensive 

bookkeeping and accounting functions. He used to have a 

full-time bookkeeper to support his real-estate and 

investment interests, but last year, he decided "it cost too 

much, and I thought I could do it cheaper on my own." Well.

As you might guess, by now his books are a mess. The truth 

is that he's not a detail person. He does not enjoy data 

entry on the computer, and he kept "putting it off until 

later." He always thought he'd catch up next week.

Unfortunately, that never happened.

My client is extremely good at investing, and his passion, 

talents and interests are in the entrepreneurial side of his 

business. Ironically, he is very good at reading financial 

statements to evaluate a possible investment. But as a 

bookkeeper, he needs to fire himself!

We all have our areas of expertise and passion. In our areas 

of strength, we are geniuses! Outside those areas, however, 

we are doomed to frustration, exasperation, and sometimes 

outright failure.

Do what you love. Do what you do best. Emphasize your 

talents and give your customers the extras that only you can 

give them. But for goodness sake, hire someone else to do 

the things you can't do, won't do, or do badly. You can't 

afford to spend your life being inefficient, wearing 

yourself out, and spending the day being cranky.

Go with your strengths! You'll make more money, have more 

fun, and be much more successful!

7 SIMPLE STEPS FOR ACHIEVING YOUR DREAMS

Today we are going to talk about seven simple steps for achieving your dreams.

Here are the steps that you can use to lay the foundation for your very own dream life.

1.SET GOALS

One of the key steps in achieving your dream is to set goals on a consistent basis. You need to create goals both for the long term and the short term, and put them in writing!  Studies have shown that when you write down a goal the chances of achieving it are a thousand times greater. Here are some goal setting strategies that have helped me along my journey to achieving my dreams:

1        Goals must be specific, measurable, attainable and realistic.

2        Goals must have a time limit.

3        Goals must be positive, personal, and in the present tense.

4        Rewrite, review and visualize the achievement of your goals on a daily basis.

“It is a psychological law that whatever we wish to accomplish we must impress on the subjective or subconscious mind.” – Orison Swett Marden

2. VISUALIZE

Make a habit of visualizing your dream on a daily basis. Scott Armstrong said, "training for my twelfth marathon, I visualized obtaining a sub 3:10 qualify time required to run in the Boston Marathon. I saw each mile marker along the 26.2 mile course with the time I needed. I pictured myself, at the end of that race, celebrating with my wife and calling my coach to tell him the good news that I qualified for Boston! These visualization techniques worked extremely well for me and I guarantee they will work for you!

“Without a vision people perish.”

3. BE PERSISTENT

Now that you have your goals written down and you are doing your daily visualization exercises you need to have persistence! It took me twelve years and twelve marathons to achieve my dream. There were many times I wanted to give up, yet I never wavered in my goals or my ultimate dream.

4.   HAVE FAITH

I have a favorite quote that says “The size of your success is determined by the size of your belief”.  I’ve learned, along several of my own journeys, the importance of having an uncompromising faith in myself which has been a critical component in accomplishing my goals.

“Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

-Napoleon Hill

5. EXHIBIT DISCIPLINE

Discipline is a key component required to achieve your goals and dreams. When working toward your dream think of discipline as having the ability to flick the little doubting man off your shoulder who says “can you really do this?”   You need to have the “I can do it!” attitude.   Holding the vision or experience that inspired you in the forefront of your mind will help you stay disciplined.  Remember – self doubt destroys!

“With every disciplined effort there is a multiple reward.”

-Jim Rohn

6. FIND a MENTOR or COACH

The ability to seek out and learn from others, specifically those who have already accomplished similar goals and dreams, is an invaluable resource for your success.  In my case, I hired a former Olympic marathon runner, turned coach to support and inspire me.  With his help I achieved a dream that had escaped me during the twelve long years I tried to do it alone!

7. HAVE GRATITUDE

One of the most important qualities one can have on one’s journey to obtaining a dream is “an attitude of gratitude”. Every morning I make a habit of spending a minimum of five minutes reflecting on the many things I am truly grateful for in my life. When you are grateful for life’s gifts, you are truly rich.

THE 5 W's AND AN H's OF LIFE

When I was in college, I learned a technique of journalistic writing using the 5W's + H. Asking "WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHY, WHEN and HOW" was a formula we used to map out all of the details to get a complete story. By asking each of those questions we were able to reveal the whole story without leaving a rock unturned. Little did I know at that time how effective this mind mapping tool would be in uncovering the whole truth of a person's life. By asking each of these questions, you could better create a clear vision for personal growth, goal setting and timed framed achievements. Let's take a look at how these questions can be applied to your life.

WHO?

At some point, I think everyone has asked themselves "WHO AM I?" How do you define an identity? What are the true elements that make a person genuinely unique? Although the factors could change from person to person, there are some things that apply to everyone like having values and/or morals. Below are a few questions you could ask yourself to help define your identity:

What values do you hold highest?

What would you like your legacy to be?

How do you want others to view you?

What do you feel is your life's purpose?

By looking internally and taking the time to come up with honest responses, you could better form your identity and start living your true authentic self, while being aligned with your life's purpose.

WHAT?

By having a solid understanding of what you want, you are able to set goals and take steps to create your IDEAL LIFE. When I was training to become a coach at the World Coach Institute, one of my instructors shared with the class one of the most profound questions that can be used to uncover any goal or personal destination you may have.

What is your ultimate goal?

By asking this question, you can dig deep and remove all of the superficial layers and get to the root of what is going to make you successful: THE DRIVE AND MOTIVATION OF ACHIEVING YOUR ULTIMATE GOAL!!! Sounds pretty good doesn't it? The first step of achievement would be assessing your daily, weekly, monthly tasks and ensure they are stepping stones to the ultimate goal. If you start to feel lost, ask yourself if what you are doing fits in with this wonderful ultimate goal. If it doesn't, you need to get back on track by whatever means necessary.

WHERE?

Have you ever sat and day dreamed about where you'd like to be 5, 10 15 or 20 years from now. What sort of life are you living? Who is with you? What is your living environment look like? Have you achieved all of your goals? Having the drive to dream about where we would like to be is certainly a strong force in achieving your ultimate goal.

When asking yourself where you'd like to be whether literally or figuratively, you need to focus on the positive and less on where you don't want to be. If you think about as though it has already happened, you are far more likely to attract those goals. If you focus on the positive, you will attract the positive but the same works with the negative. If you continually focus on where you don't want to be, you're far more likely to attract exactly what you don't want. One thing that is very important to establishing some direction in your life is by knowing when you have reached your destination.

WHY?

Why is it so important to achieve your goals? This may seem a bit obvious but honestly if you can't name a few reasons off the top of your head, your goals may not be powerful enough. The first step could be asking yourself why these goals are important to you. You need to give your goals conviction. If you don't, you are far less likely to achieve them. Setting goals gives you a long term vision and short term motivation. There is also a sense of pride when you have completed your goals. Here are some great questions you can ask to pave your way through goal setting.

What will I gain by achieving my goals?

What will I gain by not achieving my goals?

How will my life be better by achieving my goals?

How will I feel knowing what I've accomplished?

Does this help shape my legacy?

Remember that only you can answer these questions, but you may gain some clarity and a sense of urgency in accomplishing your goals when you fully understand why you are trying to achieve them.

WHEN?

There is a great tool that many coaches and other professionals use for goal setting. It is the acronym:

S pecific

M easureable

A ttainable

R ealistic

T ime Framed

I love this tool as a coach because it makes the process of setting goals much easier. For the purpose of this segment we will just focus on the Time Framed portion of SMART. Set a time limit on when you would like to achieve your goal. Without a time limit, there is no sense of urgency in achieving your goal. Having a time frame also allows you to measure your progress.

HOW?

So I guess this is the million dollar question. You have established yourself as a truly unique individual, have an understanding of what your ultimate goal(s) is, you know what you want your life to look like and where you'd like to be, you are clear why your goals are important to you and you've given yourself a time frame for completion. Now what? You need to create an action plan for making all of these things happen. Start living the way you want your life to be, embody your goals, stay true to your vision and write down the steps you are going to take in order to live your IDEAL LIFE daily. Ensure that every life decision you make is a significant piece of your life goal puzzle and that all of the pieces fit together. Have fun, embrace your passion and stay true to "WHO" you really are. Being honest with yourself will be your compass in whatever direction you want your life to lead.

REPLICATION IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS

A recent client of mine developed a wonderful business
model. I won't give away the kernel of his amazing system,
but I will describe the principles that make it work.
1. His business has a very low start-up cost. Most
professionals are surprised at the high costs of equipping
an office and launching a new business, and start out under-
capitalized. My client developed a business that can be set
up for around $20,000, so he can afford to do it right and
create momentum from the very beginning.
2. His products are low cost, quickly consumed, and
standardized. In other words, he makes lots of repeat sales.
Think McDonald's restaurants, gas stations, or dentists. His
customers appreciate the predictability and reliability, and
when they need more, they come back and make repeat
purchases. The cost of sales goes down, while volume and
profits go up. Good system!
3. Finally, because the business is modular, he can easily
duplicate himself. Once the bugs are worked out, he can
either establish more offices and hire people to run them,
or franchise the idea, or follow a number of other plans.
The key is duplication.
Unless you can duplicate yourself, no matter how well you
are paid and how fancy your title, you are basically working
for wages. A surgeon may earn thousands of dollars per hour,
but she only gets paid when she operates. 
To increase your earnings, duplicate yourself. Find a way to
"modularize" (is that a word?) your business model and let
other people make money helping you make money. You really
can't do it all yourself!
The key to duplicating yourself is coaching. You may need an
attorney to write contracts or obtain licenses, but you'll
need someone to help you design the initial structure. To
build your business and duplicate yourself, work with a
professional coach!

3 WAYS TO PROFIT LIKE A SAGE (WARREN BUFFET)

In the days leading up to Facebook's historic (and now infamous) IPO, CEO Mark Zuckerburg pursued Warren Buffet's sage advice. The young CEO, who's gone from creating Facebook in his Harvard dorm-room to billionaire in only 8 years, spoke "for hours" with Buffett about how to take the social network public.

And it's no surprise. As one of the wealthiest people in the world, Buffett is also known for his incredible business acumen and strong philosophies around business, economics, and investing.

What makes him different however, is that most of these philosophies go "against the grain" and collective wisdom of the financial markets.

Here are three of his investing lessons that will help you learn from the master.

1. Invest in Productive, Cash-Generating Businesses

Contrary to most financial managers, Buffett doesn't recommend investing in currency-backed assets or gold. Especially as a way to hedge inflation.

Instead, he favors productive assets like businesses, farms and real estate. His rationale is that these supposed "safe" investments are actually the riskiest.

The main reason is that these assets actually lose purchasing power over time, while sound productive assets should grow - despite market cycles.

And Buffett has said that the goal for his companies isn't to simply "make money".

The goal is to generate more money then you will have to pay in taxes and inflation, so that you can buy more things later than you can with the same money right now.

2. Invest in Businesses, Not Markets

Warren Buffett isn't one of the richest people in the world because he buys stocks. He's so successful because he invests in businesses.

His investing philosophy is that you should favor good, sound businesses over markets or trends.

So what makes an attractive business? Here are some of the fundamentals he looks for:

Utilities: Is the company used or consumed on a daily basis

Moats: Does the company have a defensible, competitive advantage?

High Barriers to Entry: Is the industry difficult to enter and hard to displace the position of the company? Or will a new technology disrupt the entire market?

Cash Generating: Does the company have low (or virtually no) accounts receivable and inventories?

Pricing Power: Can the business raise prices without losing significant customers to its competition?

Lack of Superstars: If the business has to rely on superstars, then all the value is tied to them.

When you can accurately assess these elements, you get closer to a stock's "intrinsic value". This is the real, underlying value - isolated from Mr. Market's volatility - that Buffett learned from mentor Benjamin Graham.

3. Look for the undervalued investments

Finally, one of Buffet's greatest lessons is to avoid investing in the hottest trends, companies and paying inflated prices.

He once told FOX Business Network anchor Liz Claman:

Liz, you never want to buy the quarterback who just won the Superbowl. He's too expensive. You want to buy the guy in the hospital bed with his leg in a sling because you know he's cheaper and the odds are, he'll get better and blossom.

A lot of this comes down to going against the current commotion in the public financial market, if it makes sense. And it's one of the reasons he passed over the social media giant Facebook's IPO.

He has another oft-quoted phrase that says, "Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful".

Buffett has no problem making these tough decisions because he's concerned with the businesses intrinsic value, not the stock price. And he proves that if you want uncommon results, then you need to stop following common advice.

SIX LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE OLYMPICS

These past few weeks, billions of fans watched athletes from around the world compete in the London Olympics. These diverse games reflect the delicate balance between reality and entertainment; the Olympics can satisfy the yearning for distraction from your immediate concerns about economic instability and caring for your family-in-flux.

The Games provide color, drama and a broad demonstration of excellence. In addition to news about the venues, there is information streaming from London that goes beyond who is winning and losing gold medals. Here are 6 tips about how to incorporate the deeper meaning of the Olympics into your life:

1. Find your unique passion and cultivate it. There are hundreds of events at the Olympics, each representing a specific activity that athletes have chosen to pursue. They range from rhythmic gymnastics to javelin throwing, from fencing to sailing, from synchronized swimming to boxing. What brings you joy and the ability to be fully engaged? Recognize the creativity and excitement that emerge as you follow your dreams.

2. Excellence comes with hard work and practice. Learning about the training schedules of Olympic athletes reminds us that accomplishments don't come easy. Repetition is the handmaiden of success. Set long-term goals as well as realistic and incremental steps to reach them. Give yourself credit when you achieve an objective and, as you set the next one, aim to move ever closer toward your ultimate goal. Strive for your personal best - and remember the most important competitor you have is actually you.

3. Expect to fail sometimes. And when you do, pick yourself up and start over again. Every athlete who has made it into Olympic competition has suffered injury and disappointment along the way - but that has not been the end of the quest. They know that they can learn more from failure than success. You, too, can treat your setbacks as a teaching tool. And as you do, you will become more resilient and adaptable.

4. Relish support that comes from those who care about you. Individual athletes depend on an entourage of people assisting them - coaches, trainers, family, friends, sponsors and teammates. As you work toward your own goals, the cheering section may be more limited - family, friends, teachers, support groups. But, whatever the size, accept the encouragement. Function as a team and be available to help sustain others when they need it. Athletes talk about the Olympic village and see themselves as part of that community. Who makes up your community?

5. Explore other cultures. With its symbol of five interlinking rings, the Olympics celebrate the unity of the games while honoring individual nationalities. Athletes pay tribute to each other by trading pins with those from other countries. Learn more about people who are different from you. This doesn't necessarily mean travel to exotic places - it could just be a bus ride to another part of town. You will be enriched by your openness to those who do not share your history and experiences.

6. Enjoy your successes. Observe the Olympic athletes when they stand on the winners' platform with their medals, listening to their national anthems. Their pride and emotionality are palpable. Reward yourself when you reach a significant target and savor the feelings of power that come from your achievement. You deserve it.

Don't be seduced into remaining a spectator - getting your only exercise from having a finger on the remote button. Jump into the game of life and become a winner yourself.

MAKE IT EASY TO DO BUSINESS

One of the obvious basics for any business is that it should
be easy for customers to do business with you. Make sure you
are easy to find and easy to talk with. Make it easy for
your customers to order and above all, make it easy for them
to get great service when it's needed.
Don't do that to your business!
And yet businesses do that every day. One local restaurant
has an impossible parking lot. I think it's dangerous and I
hate going there. I see businesses without good signs, and I
call businesses who don't accept calls from "blocked"
numbers! How dumb is that?
I see home-based businesses without dedicated business
phones, or worse, that share an answering machine with their
kids!
I remember once on the television show, "The Apprentice," a
candidate cursed during an interview in the board room.
Would Donald Trump hire an executive who uses that kind of
language in a formal meeting? The guy got the famous,
"You're fired!"
Make it easy to do business with you, and remember--
"everything counts!" Success and failure are in the details.
Make it easy to do business with you.

AN ACCUMULATION OF RICHES.

One of the greatest success principles of all is called the Law of Accumulation. This law says that everything great and worthwhile in human life is an accumulation of hundreds and sometimes thousands of tiny efforts and sacrifices that nobody ever sees or appreciates.

This law says that everything accumulates over time and that you have to put in many, many, many tiny efforts that nobody sees or appreciates before you achieve anything worthwhile. It's like a snowball. A snowball starts very small, but it grows as it adds millions and millions of tiny snowflakes and continues to grow as it gathers momentum.

Learn What You Need to Learn

There are three areas where the law of accumulation is important. The first is in the area of knowledge. Your body of knowledge is a result of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of small pieces of information.

Any person with a large knowledge base has spent thousands of hours building that knowledge base one piece at a time. And what you see when you meet the individual is an expert in his or her field, with that high level of knowledge that makes him very valuable in the marketplace.

Save Your Money

The second area where the Law of accumulation works is with regard to money. Every large fortune is an accumulation of hundreds and thousands of small amounts of money, and the place to start is to take any amount of money that you can right now and begin to save it. When you begin to save money, it sets up a force field of energy and it triggers the law of attraction. As a result you begin to attract to you even more bits of money to add to your savings.

Attract Riches Into Your Life

And I've spoken to many, many successful people and they've told me the same story. That as soon as you start to put savings aside, it starts to attract into your life and into your work all the money that you need to achieve your goals. The reason why most people retire poor is they never put the initial savings aside to start with.

Get The Experience You Need

The third area where the law of accumulation applies is in the area of experience. You'll find that successful people in any field are those who have far more experience in that field than the average. And there is nothing that replaces experience. Whether it's in business or entrepreneurship or management or parenting or selling or anything else. Many people do not take the risks that are necessary to move out of their comfort zone because they're afraid it won't work out.

Everything Counts

But the fact is that until you move out of the comfort zone and get the experience from making the mistakes, it's not possible for you to grow and become capable of earning the kind of money that you desire. Now here's the key to the law of accumulation. It says that everything counts. Everything that you do counts. The biggest mistake that people make is they think that only what they want to count, counts. That when you read a book, when you listen to an audio program, when you go to a course, when you go to bed early and you get up early and you work, it all counts. And it's all going on the plus side of your ledger.

Use Your Time Well

But when you watch television, waste time, hang out, fool around and so on, all of that counts, as well, and it's going on the negative side. A person who has a great life, by the law of accumulation, is a person who's accumulated far more credits on the credit side than debits on the debit side. And here's an important point. If what you are doing is not moving you towards your goals, then it's moving you away from your goals. Nothing is neutral. Everything that you're doing is either moving you toward the things that you want to accomplish in life, the person you want to be, the wealth you want to accumulate, or it's moving you away. Everything counts. The law of accumulation says that everything counts.

3 SIGNS IT'S TIME TO WALK AWAY FROM AN OPPORTUNITY

One of the hardest things to do in sales is to walk away from an opportunity, even when it’s business that’s just not going to close. When your funnel is in danger of drying up, it can be hard to resist any opportunity that comes your way.

Your energy and resources are not unlimited, so focus on where you have a fact-based reason to believe there will be success. Here are a few of many situations where it's best for you and the prospect to 

part ways.

There are Glass Walls. Penetrating an account where your competition is deeply entrenched can be tough. Some companies invite you to bid as a matter of compliance, when in reality they have a preferred provider who already has won the business. Go head-to-head with an established vendor if there’s a potential for good return. Otherwise, your next best alternative is to keep a presence in the account as a potential second option, rather than to pour endless resources into an attempt to take the business away from a

deeply-rooted rival.

The prospect does not fit your Ideal Customer Profile. Think of your gallery of regrettable sales – those you wish you hadn’t closed in the first place. Selling to everyone just to boost numbers is bound to create a few bad matches at some point. Create your Ideal Customer Profile by analyzing the characteristics common to your past and current best customers. Judging your prospects against an Ideal Customer Profile will keep those undesirable sales to a minimum.

Trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. At the heart of every honest and successful sale is a real fit between what your customers need and what you have to offer. Sure, you can still sell a product or service when it does not solve your customer’s real requirement. But, wherever repeat business is important, playing the I-Win-You-Lose scenario hurts your credibility and can be disastrous to your organization down the line.

We’re not saying you should just walk away at the first sign of trouble. It’s important to remain optimistic and aware of the realities of each opportunity but it’s even more important to let go when you hit a dead-end.

LESSONS FROM THE OLYMPICS

This week, I watched the Olympics with some friends and
picked up two themes in the conversation, both of which
troubled me.
The first was the wistful refrain, "If only I had that kind
of talent." Sadly, most of the people who say this will
never actually know whether they have the talent for the
Olympics or not! They don't have the training or the youth,
but more importantly, they've never really tried! Very few
of us ever commit to finding the absolute limits of our
abilities.
The second familiar excuse was, "I never had the chance." I
heard stories about bad coaches, bad referees, parents who
weren't supportive, and on it went. "If only…."
What amazes me are the people who have done extraordinary
things once they decided they really wanted to. A middle-age
woman I know, Margo Chisholm, climbed the highest mountain on
six of the seven continents (including Antarctica), and almost
made it to the top of Mt Everest...twice! Somewhere along the
line, she decided it was worth the trouble, so she "went for it."
I won't go into Margo's personal story except to say that if
you knew her medical background, you'd appreciate that story
even more!
This week, I saw a story about a young woman who picked a
car up off her father, then gave him CPR to save his life.
If you'd asked her the day before if she was strong enough
to lift a car, she would have laughed in your face! But she
did it when she "had to."
Few of us know how much talent, strength, ability and
endurance we really have. Until we are pushed to our limits,
we rarely get the chance to find out what we are capable of.
And, that's when a critical decision has to be made.
For most people, the decision is, "Since I never have, I
probably can't." But, there is another alternative!
The other possibility is to decide, "I never have, but maybe
I could. I'll give it my best shot and see what happens."
I've had the privilege of meeting several U.S. Navy SEALS,
and reading about their training. They emphasize that
strength and size are not the critical factors. They say
attitude and mental toughness are more important than
physical strength. Some candidates are determined,
persistent and relentless, and they become SEALS. Others get
tired or injured or worn-out and "ring the bell"--they quit.
In business and in life, it's fun to watch the Olympics. We
love watching the very best. We admire the best athletes,
the best entertainers, the best business leaders. But while
we admire them, I fear that too often, instead of learning
from them, we find excuses for our own relatively mediocre
performance.
We say "I'm too old" or "they got all the breaks." Instead
of trying to learn their techniques and copy their skills,
we dismiss them as unusually blessed and different from us.
I think that's a mistake. And we can do better.

THE 10% RULE

Do you know the 10% rule?
It's simple. 10% of people are the ones destined to succeed. They are the ones who are like you, looking for ways to improve their businesses, and are willing to take action to make it happen.
How about you? Are you ready to move beyond stagnant sales or a few percentage points of growth?
Enough! There's no reason to put up with minimal results or to be stuck waiting for something big to happen someday. Especially when the solution is a simple mental trick that anyone can master.
No, I'm not a magician, but let me explain how you can perform magic with your sales and your profits just by regularly tracking some key numbers.
The Power of Numbers

In the 1950s KitchenAid, the maker of "high-quality" mixers, was having a problem in their manufacturing plant. A huge percentage of the mixers that were coming off the line didn't work or had defects. Repairing all the defective machines was adding unnecessary costs. The plant manager talked to every employee telling them how important quality was, but it hardly made a difference.
Then a highly paid industrial psychologist came up with a simple idea. He hung a big banner on the wall of the shop and each week posted the number of machines with defects and the number without. That was it. Within a few months, the defect rate plummeted and almost every machine was coming off the manufacturing line ready to be shipped.
Amazing! It worked like magic!
It didn't take bonuses, raises, threats, or training to get the employees to do better work. The simple act of putting up the number for all to see motivated the plant workers to get it right and increase the plant's profitability.
Measuring performance is a powerful tool. It's one magic trick anyone can use to get better results.
Take losing weight. Studies show that people who weigh themselves weekly, versus those who don't, are 11 times more likely to lose a minimum of 5% of their body weight in six months.
Think how much money could be saved and weight lost, if people just used a scale, even if they did nothing else! Of course, creating a chart of their weekly weight would help even more.
How about your profits? Which numbers can help you grow your profits?
Most people already keep track of their monthly revenue, which is useful, but it's not the number you need to focus on to grow your business. The numbers you need to track are the precursors to the sale.
For example: 
The number one indicator of a sales person's success (all else being equal) is the number of phone calls they make. That's it!
Want to increase your sales by 47% or more?
Set up a spreadsheet for the sales team (or yourself), and have them note how many sales calls they made each week and how many sales. Spend a few minutes reviewing this with the team each week, not to scold or praise them, but to get them to focus on the key numbers that determine their sales.
What other numbers are helpful to track?
99% of all business owners I talk to love getting referrals, but they rarely, if ever, ask their happy clients for them. So what could they -- and you -- do to get more referrals?
Remind yourself and your sales staff to ask for referrals and then track how many you get each week. You'll be amazed how the simple act of reviewing the numbers will motivate you and your staff to get into the habit of asking for - and getting -- referrals.
If you're marketing online there are a couple of additional numbers you'll want to track, including:
- The number of visitors your site gets each month

- The number of leads your site generates

- The number of sales you generate

- The dollar volume of sales
If you want more sales, you'll need more visitors and prospects contacting you.
 Are you catching on? Numbers are motivators!
Tracking a few key indicators can "trick" your mind and the minds of people on your team into focusing their efforts -- and you'll see the results in increased revenue.Record your key numbers, keep them "public" and review them weekly or at least monthly with your entire team.
And while the above performance measures are good ones, they're nothing in comparison to the power of the one I am about to share with you. This number alone can increase your income by up to 100 times.
No, I'm not making this up!
In 1979, the Harvard Business School did a study of its incoming students and here's what they found:
- 84% had no specific goals

- 13% had goals but hadn't written them down

- 3% had clear, written goals and plans to accomplish their goals

Ten years later they checked back with the students they'd interviewed and discovered:

- The 13% that had identifiable goals were making twice as much as the other 84% who didn't had any goals when they entered the program

- The 3% who had clear, written goals were making, on average, 10 times as much as the remaining 97% put together or HUNDREDS of times more than the average graduate.
Incredible!
Just by writing down your financial goal and creating a plan for reaching it, in 10 years you could be making literally hundreds of times more than your colleagues and competitors!
So what are you going to do next?
How about this:

1. Open up a document and write down your ten-year goals.

2. Map out your plan for reaching your goals in one page or less.

3. Create a spreadsheet to track the number of:

- sales calls made

- referrals received


- website visitors


- web leads generated

- online and offline sales


4. Print it out. Tape it to the wall. Update it each week.

To your success,

SUCCESSFUL LEADERS TOP 10 SKILLS

Struggling to achieve success? Maybe you need to hone some skills.

What skills exactly?

Well, after some intensive reading and study of successful leaders in business, industry, government, and personal development, I've found that there are 10 core skills that the most successful leaders all share.

While these leaders may not be masters of every particular skill, they have, at least, a basic knowledge of them.

Anyone looking to achieve higher levels of as a leader, in business, volunteering, or even just at home, would be well served by strengthening their abilities in each of these skill sets.

1. Critical Thinking
Successful leaders all have powerful critical thinking skills. The ability to quickly survey and analyze a situation then identify the core issues that need to be dealt with is key to business success. As is, the ability to understand new issues and factors that impact one's goals and designs.

2. Creative Thinking
These leaders also have varying abilities to think, well, differently. They have the ability to step out of rigid mindsets so that they can explore potential new ideas that others may consider risky, crazy, or silly.

3. Listening
Great leaders are great listeners. Experienced at focusing their energy to the task, this includes listening, so that when they listen, they are very focused on hearing everything that's being said so that they can make well-informed decisions.

4. Reading
The ability to read is vital to lifelong personal and professional success. Leaders in any industry or area all tend to be good readers who are exposed to large amounts of information through reports, newspapers, white papers, books, etc. While they may not be speed readers, they are excellent at grasping the main ideas and context of the material they do read.

5. Writing
They may not write often. And they may not write a lot. But when they do, successful leaders are clear, concise, and to the point.

6. Speaking
Perhaps the most important language skill, the best leaders are also good speakers. They are able to present their ideas verbally to audiences of all types and sizes, as well as easily change their presentation style so that they meet an audience's needs. While it may not be a skill that a leader is ever completely comfortable with, she understands that if she can't speak about the issues her business faces, nobody can.

7. Motivating
Skilled leaders are superb motivators. They understand that each of us is propelled by our own, personal, motivations. These leaders are able to apply all of their language skills (listening, reading, writing, and speaking) to create powerful group goals and visions that spur people to give 110%.

8. Networking
Successful people have successful networks. They have contacts, associates, and friends in a wide array of fields who they can call on for ideas, input, and assistance. These leaders actively cultivate and grow their networks all the time.

9. Delegating
To some, this may not seem like a leadership skill, but it is. Leaders who excel are leaders who don't try to take everything on themselves. Indeed, they understand that they can't do everything. They easily delegate all but the most important of tasks to their employees, assistants, and networks. They create systems so that they are available to focus on the most important issues at any moment.

10. Evolving
In evaluating successful leaders, I think this is the most powerful, yet most difficult skill to master. Evolving is the ability to adapt, quickly, to the newest technologies, styles, and modes of thinking that create success. It is a skill requiring a supreme sense of self-confidence coupled with extreme humility. For leaders, it is a skill applied not just for personal success, but also for the success of their business, their workers, and their families. It provides those who can master it, the opportunity to achieve life-long success in all areas of life.

Which of these skills do you already excel at and which do you need to work on? Evaluate yourself and hone your abilities in order to be a truly great leader.