THE JOY OF SLOW CHANGE

Most people want success NOW! Or at least they want to

achieve their goals and enjoy the fruits of victory as soon
as possible. Wiser heads, however, understand that
sometimes change takes time.
We live in an "instant" culture. Life moves quickly and
everyone wants instant relief and immediate gratification.
We want to get ahead, make money, make the sale, lose the
weight, or take next year's vacation as soon as possible. I
sometimes think we move so fast that eventually we may even
get ahead of ourselves!
This week I talked with a potential client who fears life
has passed him by. He would like to open a business, make
some "major money and retire while I can still enjoy it."
He sees younger people passing him by and he wants a coach
because he "can't wait another year or two." He wants
financial success and he wants it "now." The man is 26
years old.
That call left me sad and even a bit confused. At more than
twice his age, I wondered if there was any future for me at
all!
Now, before we go too far down this path, let me affirm
that rapid success is a good thing. In fact, I'm all for
it! If you have a chance to make major advances, I suggest
you do so! Seize opportunity whenever you can! When there
are legal, ethical and legitimate ways to take giant steps
forward, you should go for it. Like "Duh!"
But in her wisdom, I think Mother Nature has something to
say about the more ordinary path to success. Healthy,
organic change usually happens slowly.
When plants or animals are taken out of their traditional
environment, most of the time they don't do well. Rapid
changes in climate, diet, or other environmental factors
are usually harmful. Our veterinarian even recommends that
we be careful about changing Cody's diet from one brand of
dog food to another so as not to upset his system. (This
for a dog that eats anything!)
Even kids who have dreamed of college can suffer home
sickness. People who have saved for years and eagerly
anticipated a visit to another culture can still be
disoriented by language or customs they didn't expect. We
know that people who "win the lottery" often experience a
myriad of problems adjusting to their new situation.
Rapid success is not always a good thing.
That's no reason to slow down! It is, however, a reason to
persist, to be wise, and to "keep on keeping on" if your
success is arriving slower than you would like.
It's a complicated thing. On the one hand, we want to be
quick and efficient. I love being a coach precisely because
it DOES bring success more quickly and more easily. At the
same time, too often we become impatient and easily
discouraged. Sometimes, I suspect nature and life are
teaching us vital lessons while we impatiently climbing the
ladder of success.
We all know that "over-night success" often takes 20 years
or longer. I encourage you to move forward as quickly as
you can, but also to accept that whatever is happening is
apparently the way it should be, at least for the moment.
If you can safely and legitimately speed up the process, go
for it! Learn new skills, get a coach, form a team, "make
it happen." But. "Patience is a virtue" and few of us have
mastered it. Sometimes "over-night success" takes time and
life can teach us important lessons along the way.
Persist. Work hard. Be patient. Never, never give up! Look
for a better, faster way, but in the meantime, trust that
life is unfolding as it should and that in time, you will
get there. 

FALSE EVIDENCE APPEARING REAL(F.E.A.R)

Fear is, and always has been, the greatest enemy of mankind.

When Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” he was saying that the emotion of fear, rather than the reality of what we fear, is what causes us anxiety, stress, and unhappiness.

When you develop the habits of courage and unshakeable self-confidence, a whole new world of possibilities opens up for you. 

Develop the Habit of Courage

Fortunately, the habit of courage can be learned just as any other habit is learned, through repetition. We need to constantly face and overcome our fears to build up the kind of courage that will enable us to deal with the inevitable ups and downs of life unafraid.

The starting point in overcoming fear and developing courage is to look at the factors that predispose us toward being afraid. The root source of most fear is childhood conditioning, usually associated with destructive criticism. This causes us to develop two major types of fear.

These are the fear of failure, which causes us to think “I can’t, I can’t, I can’t,” and the fear of rejection, which causes us to think “I have to, I have to, I have to.” Our fears can paralyze us, keeping us from taking constructive action in the direction of our dreams and goals.

The More You Know, the Less You Fear

Fear is also caused by ignorance. When we have limited information, our doubts dominate us. We become tense and insecure about the outcome of our actions. Ignorance causes us to fear change, to fear the unknown, and to avoid trying anything new or different. But the reverse is also true.

The very act of gathering more and better information about a particular subject increases our courage and confidence in that area. You can see this in the parts of your life where you have no fear at all because you know what you are doing. You feel competent and completely capable of handling whatever happens.

Analyze Your Fears

Once you have identified the major factors that cause you to feel afraid, the next step is to objectively define and analyze your personal fears. At the top of a clean sheet of paper, write, “What am I afraid of?”  

Remember, all intelligent people are afraid of something. It is normal and natural to be concerned about your physical, emotional, and financial safety and that of the people you care about. A courageous person is not a person who is unafraid. As Mark Twain said, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear.”

Action Exercise

Begin your list of fears by writing down everything, major and minor, that causes fear, stress, or anxiety. Think about the parts of your work or personal life where your fears might be holding you back or forcing you to stay in a job or relationship in which you are not happy. Once you have written down your fears, arrange them in order of importance, and then pick them apart one by one.

THE NATURAL FLOW OF SUCCESS

Every human being wants to live a great life. We have
dreams and aspirations. We have a picture of how we want
things to work out, and one of the essential tasks of adult
life is to find a way to make our lives work out well.
We all try a variety of strategies. We work for someone
else, or start our own business. Perhaps we choose a life
partner, or find a community to put down roots. Some of us
climb the "corporate ladder" while others choose life on a
farm or in a small town. Whatever our strategy, the task is
the same: To create the life we truly want and perhaps
leave a legacy for our children.
The question is, whether success starts with achievement in
the outer world, or whether it starts on the "inside" with
personal development.
While most people SAY they believe success begins with
personal development, what I notice is that we ACT as if
success is primarily a matter of outward achievement and
recognition. I find that most people start by focusing on
financial or other external success in the hope that inner
peace and personal fulfillment will come with it.
The question is whether this strategy actually works.
For hundreds of years, wise writers have said the natural
flow of success is from the inside out. Benjamin Franklin
had a list of 13 personal virtues that he worked on
throughout his life. About a hundred years ago, James Allen
wrote the classic, "As A Man Thinketh" and said that
success always begins with our THOUGHTS.
In the 1930's, Napoleon Hill wrote his famous, "Think and
Grow Rich." He argued that our actions are pre-determined
by our thoughts and noted that personal development is the
spring from which all success flows.
Few people seriously question that success is an "inside
job." It begins with our thoughts, with our values and
our personal integrity, and FLOWS TOWARD or RESULTS in
external success at every level.
I suspect most long-time readers of IMPACT agree with this.
And yet we still fall into the trap of thinking that
success is mostly or primarily based on external skills or
circumstances. We up-grade our computers, change jobs, or
in some cases we move to a new city or even change spouses,
hoping that if we change the right "things" our personal
lives will be transformed. It doesn't work that way.
First, be a person of integrity. First, "know thyself."
First, clarify your values and your priorities. First, know
your ultimate purpose, your long-term destination and your
most important values, then build on these things.
Success is only partly about marketing or money or getting
a promotion, and it has almost nothing to do with the size
of your house or the price of a new car. And the ultimate
irony is that those nice things (and there's no denying
they are nice and they are fun!) often come quickest and
easiest to those who start with personal development.
For every hour you spend working on your sales skills,
spend an hour getting to know yourself. For every dollar
spent on training and professional development, spend a
dollar on yourself or your family. For every new tool you
buy, read a book on relationships, spirituality or personal
growth. Success is an inside job and the best success comes
from a balanced, total approach.

EXCELLENCE IN ALL THINGS

There are two famous recommendations that I don't believe
are helpful. They are supposed to lead to the "good life"
but I don't think they work: The first is "moderation in
all things" and the second is the quest for "perfection."
Regarding moderation, I much prefer the wonderful quote
from May West that "too much of a good thing is just
right." What a great attitude!
I deserve LOTS of great things in my life! I deserve
all the health, joy, love, great memories, passion and
fulfillment I can get!
Now, I admit, I have noticed that moderation in some things
is a good thing. Moderation in drinking, for instance,
seems to reduce hangovers, accidents, addiction, and all
sorts of embarrassing moments. Moderating my consumption of
chips seems to be a good thing. (Super Bowl
Sunday may be an exception - I'm still checking data on
that one.)
Moderating my spending to match my income seems to be a
good thing.
But when it comes to the things that make life worth-while,
I HATE moderation! Why would I settle for a "little"
happiness when the world seems designed to fill my life
with joy?! Why would I work like a slave, when wealth and
play and freedom and love are all around me? Sure, I have
to work to earn money (and to make my unique contribution),
but I'd much rather practice "moderation" in work and "let
'er rip" when it comes to joy and personal development!
I don't believe in "moderation in all things." Be very,
very careful about the things you "practice in moderation!"
Similarly, trying to make life "perfect" is a trap. Very
few things in life are "perfect" because life is always
changing. If it was perfect a moment ago, it may already be
deteriorating or evolving into something new. Or my tastes
may have changed - perhaps I've outgrown it - and I'm no
longer satisfied. Very few things in life are "perfect."
More importantly, since we aren't perfect, very few of the
things we do are perfect. There's a wonderful quote about
Howard Hughes that for all his genius and wealth and
determination, "he sought a perfection that assured
failure."
Don't do that to yourself! It doesn't work out well.
Instead, strive for excellence. Strive for a GREAT life,
not a perfect one. Trouble happens. Mistakes happen. Bad
luck and misfortune, and yes, evil raises its head and
tragedy happens, but good things happen, too. Excellence
and wisdom, love and joy never go out of style. We never
outgrow our desire for celebration, achievement, personal
growth and learning new things.
I am totally convinced it is possible to live a World Class
Life! In fact, I believe it is the MINIMUM we should
expect of ourselves. Who would choose to live a mediocre
life? Who would choose to develop only part of their
potential, to use only some of their talent or a bit of
their creativity? No one would do that!

10 CRITICAL AREAS THAT DETERMINES SUCCESS OR FAILURE OF YOUR BUSINESS

Did you know that there are ten critical areas that largely determine the success or failure of your business? The greater clarity you have in each of these areas, the better decisions you will make and better results you will achieve. Let's take a quick look at each of them.

Key Purpose - Create Customers

What is the purpose of a business? Many people think that the purpose of a business is to earn a profit, but they are wrong. The true purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer.

And 50 percent of your time, efforts, and expenses should be focused on creating and keeping customers in some way.

Key Measure - Customer Satisfaction

The key measure of business success is customer satisfaction. Your ability to satisfy your customers to such a degree that they: buy from you rather than from someone else, buy from you again and again, and bring their friends to buy, are the key factors of growth and profitability.

Key Requirement - Adding Value

The key requirement for wealth building and business success is for you to add value in some way. All wealth comes from adding value. All business growth and profitability come from adding value.

Every day, you must be looking for ways to add more value to the customer experience.

Key Focus - The Customer (always)

The most important person in the business is the customer. You must focus on the customer at all times. Customers are fickle, disloyal, changeable, impatient, and demanding -- just like you.

Nonetheless, the customer must be the central focus of everything you do in business.

Key Word - Contribution

In life, work, and business, you will always be rewarded in direct proportion to the value of your contribution to others, as they see it. The focus on outward contribution, to your company, your customers, and your community, is the central requirement for you to become an even more valuable person, in every area.

Key Question - How?

The most important question you ask, to solve any problem, overcome any obstacle, or achieve any business goal is, "How?" Top people always ask the question, "How?" and then act on the answers that come to them.

Key Strategy - Continuous Improvement

In a world of rapid change and continuing aggressive competition, you must practice continuous improvement in every area of your business and personal life.
As Pat Riley, the basketball coach, said, "If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse."

Key Activity - Selling

The heartbeat of your business is sales. Dun & Bradstreet analyzed thousands of companies that had gone broke over the years and concluded that the number-one reason for business failure was "low sales". When they researched further, they found that the number-one reason for business success was "high sales." And all else was commentary.

Key Number - Cash Flow

The most important number in business is cash flow. Cash flow is to the business as blood and oxygen are to the brain. You can have every activity working efficiently in your business, but if your cash flow is cut off for any reason, the business can die, sometimes overnight.

Key Goal - Growth

Every business must have a growth plan. Growth must be the goal of all your business activities. You should have a goal to grow 10 percent, 20 percent, or even 30 percent each year. Some companies grow 50 percent and 100 percent per year, and not by accident.

The only real growth is profit growth. Profit growth is always measurable in what is called "free cash flow." This is the actual amount of money that the business throws off each month, each quarter, and each year, above and beyond the total cost and expense of running a business.

Action Exercise

You should have a growth plan for the number of new leads you attract and for the number of new customers you acquire from those leads. You should have a growth plan for sales, revenues, and profitability. If you do not deliberately plan for continuous growth, you will automatically stagnate and begin to fall behind.

Growth is not an accident; so you must plan and map out your growth plan if you want your business to see a bright future.