Do You Like The Person You See In The Mirror?

It's January and I expect you're reflecting on the coming year. You are probably thinking about things you want to change in your life. The old saying "there is always room for improvement" is right. We all know there is no silver bullet in success. There are many factors that will improve your chances of success like hard work, determination, persistence, who you know and the most importantly pushing past your comfort zone.
I am three-quarters through the book "The Brain That Changes Itself" by Dr. Norman Doidge. The stories in the book of the people who over came tremendous odds to their mental challenges is extremely inspiring. The one common theme in the book is the brain can rewire itself if given the task. The old use it or lose it is a requirement for a healthy brain. This does not mean use it the same every day but quite the opposite. Dr. Doidge tells us we are victims of our habits. Our daily routines have our brains using the same brain passage ways to accomplish our daily requirements. This creates a lazy brain. I expect the comfort zone travels this route many times in the run of a day!
I expect you're asking what does all this brain stuff have to do with telling the truth to the person in the mirror? I see this as a critical step. Your brain will believe what you tell it. I feel it's easy to look in the mirror and say your a victim. I am who I am due to external circumstances. This belief is disguised as an excuse you believe as fact. It's like leaving the bill that came in the mail unopened. Even though you know it's not good news you believe if you ignore it that it will go away. What I don't know won't hurt me so to say.
If I have not hit a nerve with you yet then you need to spend some extra mirror time. Take a long look yourself and ask yourself the question. Am I being honest with myself?
Things do not change for the better by wishing it to be so. Your allowing external forces to guide your direction in life will only lead to discontent. Your life will change because you made a conscious decision to improve yourself. Deep down inside you know you must do this. Don't wait until tomorrow to have that look in the mirror. The first step is believing your worth it. Your family and your career deserve the best that you can possibly be.

The Power Of Delayed Gratification

We are living in a microwave society. It has become an instant world. Thanks to the power of advertising, we have been told time and time again. We can have it now. When we look at this from a success standpoint, the skies start to get cloudy. The real question becomes how long do you have to wait until you get the reward for your efforts and desires. The money managers of the world will tell you that your better to be earning interest than paying interest. You know that they are right. But why can't you wait?
I just love the Mark Twain quotation "People are spending money they have not earned yet to impress people they don't like". Upon reflection you will discover there is not allot depth to instant gratification. Don't think for one minute that I am a master of this theory. I struggle with this like many of you. At my age the need to impress others has diminished. Yes, we all have an ego to fuel however I suggest to you there are many ways to quench that thirst.
Studies have shown that people who are able to delay gratification have higher intelligence. This makes sense as people with higher intelligence are often better educated. These people understand the importance of the passage of time. Yes, this is a tough theory to digest for the living life in the moment crowd. Can we consider a university education as a form of delayed gratification? I guess we could say that as they are delaying earning money now so they can later earn more money in a career that they want. One glaring example of instant gratification is the high turnover of jobs. Intelligent people are switching companies to earn more money at the drop of the hat. This activity often results with less than the expected out come.
As a person who has struggled with delayed gratification for much of my life I have learned the following tips to better practice this important principle of success.

• Set a target or goal you must first obtain before you purchase a vacation or new vehicle.
• Study the landscape of opportunity in your current company of employment before you jump ship. There is a reward for patience especially if you are a consistent performer.
• Create a Vision Board that not only has material things you want on it, but also copies of credit card statements that show a zero balance.
• Delay making decisions until you have thoroughly thought them through.
• Be cognitive of the consequences from making snap decisions that have lasting effects.

I believe that the longer you can delay the gratification the bigger the reward. This does not mean that you have to live life with a seat belt on. The best outcomes most always follow careful consideration. Success is often dependent on your tolerance for delayed gratification.

Want To Stand Out? Six Tips On Being Unique

No matter what you do in your professional life it's difficult to stand out in the crowd. If you're looking to attract business you can't walk, talk and smell like the rest. If you do then it becomes a lottery. Success can be found by taking your own path. Lasting success is earned over the a longer period of time. People will come to you through referrals because of the solid work you do, or the service that you provide. You become trusted. That in itself is unique.
The flood of people posting to social media sites to increase rankings which leads to more hits on their web sites is important. In my opinion the world of reposting to gain clic's or suggest that your knowledgeable and want to share your knowledge is just fluff, unless the repost is thought provoking or has relative information. Is it important to your personal brand to be in social media? You bet. Is it important that you drive more traffic to your web site? Of course it is. Once they come to you, what's your value proposition. You better know why you are different and that should be transparent to your potential customers.
I believe that success comes with finding a niche. Niche means a smaller or a narrow market. It's easier to stand out where there is less competition. Less competition then leaves room to own a larger market share and bigger profit margins. Profit is not is not dirty word. I support this by my belief in providing more in value than the customer paid you for it. The last time I looked you pay your bills from gross profit. Not from gross sales. Going to were the masses go is not unique.
Here are my six tips to finding success by being unique.

1. Find a niche market that defines who you are.
2. Post original material to social media.
3. Provide more in value than you charged for the product or service.
4. Say "Thank You,We appreciate your business" as often as possible. Say it. Just don't post it. I include this in almost every email I write and most certainly at the end of every phone call.
5. Create your own conversation questions you use every time you meet someone new. Show that you really care. Make sure you listen. Opportunities come as a result of asking a question.
6. Make decisions based on the long term. The juicy stuff comes from decisions made after careful consideration.
7. Bonus Tip. Only promote others who are exceptional and unique. This helps elevate you to their level.

Success is rarely easy. You need to be deliberate in your approach. People are naturally attracted to successful and unique people. Unique people do not have to promote themselves as much as all those folks running with the herd. Those running with the herd are frying up more energy and capital for smaller profits. Likes and shares don't pay the bills. It's a form of advertising if you manage it properly. Just remember, at the end of the day a good business product or service needs to stand on its own. Live by this standard and success will find its way to you.

Are Things As Tough As You Perceive Them To Be?

One eyes can play tricks with your mind regarding what goes on outside your own world.  Visions of nice cars coupled with vacation advertising that whisk you off to far away exotic places all create a false sense of desire. Your credit card balance continually grows to an uncomfortable balance .  The polish may have fallen off the apple in the relationship with your partner.  It goes on and on.  It's easy to allow yourself to get caught up in the life is better on the other side of the street.  To much TV will do that to a person. 20% of the time in front of the television is watching commercials.  This is where the illusion that all is well with everyone else but me, sneaks into your life. You become consumed with the notion that life has dealt you a difficult hand. No wonder you feel you have been short changed.

Pleasantville and not the movie is actually closer than you think.  I expect your living it and you don't know it. Perception can be reality just like the saying says. I suggest you perceive you already have abundance. If you don't it will soon come to you. I suggest to you just about every individual on the earth has issues that bring them stress and sadness.
So how can you get back to a mindset of abundance. How can you make that perception a reality.  Here are some ideas that have worked for me.

• Start a gratitude journal.  Yes I know what your thinking. Do it. Take a minute to write to paper all the wonderful things you have in your life. Concentrate on the non material things. Write until you can't think of any more.  Now do it every day.  You will most likely find you already have abundance.
• The best way not to have buyers remorse is not to buy it. Trust me. It urge will go away. I have never seen a trailer with all your worldly possessions being pulled behind a hearse.  Have you? You can not take your possessions with you when you die but you get to take love and your memories.
• Spend more time with your friends that are not into showing off possessions.  Remember Will Smith's famous saying. " Too many people spend money they have not earned yet to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like."
• Eat healthy and exercise. Exercise helps clear the clutter from your mind. 
• Create a new habit that will change your outlook on life. It may be as simple as writing in your gratitude journal. Do it every day for 30 days.

We all have heard, in our lives, that money can not buy happiness. I say money can but only if your mentally grounded and not driven to impress like Will Smith told us. Money can provide you with financial security. Spending it on material things will only bring you temporary happiness.  I suggest you first come to the understanding that love of friends and family is earned by who you are. I expect you already have it and did not know it.

Find Success Using A Balance Of Goals And Resolutions

With the new year just around the corner it's a great time to reflect and to set new goals. Business typically starts to wind down over the holidays and I suggest you start now with your planning for the coming year. Starting this exercise the second week of January will have a negative effect on your end result. Planning takes time and reflection. Planning is tough to do when your buried in the day to day part of your job.
What is the difference between a resolution and a goal you ask? A goal is about achieving something. For example. I am going to earn so much money. A resolution it's something you keep. You own it. When you change a habit like eating less, that transforms into weighing less. Eating less would be considered the resolution. The goal is weighing less. We can use words like intentions and habits too when comparing them to goals and resolutions. All of these words however point back to one word. Change. We all want to improve ourselves for various reasons. The net result is to make your life better. The thing that gets in the middle is change. Change can make you feel nervous. However deep down you know you need to change. That little person in the back of your mind keeps showing up saying. "Why do this, when every time you have tried, you have failed." Quite simply you gave up after just a few days because you found it to hard to change. Your not alone. It is estimated, that some where between 80 and 90 percent of all New Years Resolutions fail after just one week. You ask yourself. Why bother?
There is no single recipe for success. Here are some techniques that will help you identify what you want to resolve yourself to do. Success will soon be within your grasp.

• Don't rely on motivation alone.
• Concede to the fact that change can be and usually is difficult.
• Write down what you want to accomplish.
• Write down how you will feel once you have achieved your goal. This is a critical step as this will add emotion and it will come from your heart.
• Provide yourself with a bonus for the achievement.
• Break your resolutions and goals into daily tasks that are steps toward the end goal and result. As they say "By The Inch It's A Cinch".
• Little weekly victories add up to achievement of your goal.
• Share you resolution with someone who will hold you accountable. It's no fun telling your accountability partner you didn't do it because of some lame excuse.

I believe by using the suggestions above you will not become a statistic. It's good to have lots of goals. Many of these goals can be on your wish list or often referred to as a bucket list. I personally have a long list of goals with completion dates that are two to three years out. It's the resolutions which require change now that are the toughest to achieve. It takes 30 days to break a habit. It also takes 30 days to create a new one. Imagine what you can accomplish having removed what is holding you back from success. Prepare yourself now to take flight in the new year. Have fun.

Are You Pushing Business Or Pulling Business ?

Time and time again sales people have pitched me with features and benefits before they have even asked me if I have any knowledge of what they have to sell or program they propose. They just keep talking and move to a close. Two things come to my mind. That poor person just does not get it. Even worse that poor person's boss does not get it. These types of people are the types who give sales people a bad wrap. I honestly could not sleep at night having sold someone something they did not need or want.

We all have to carve a living out of life. Some of us get the chance to do what really turns us on. How good is that? For me I get to do two things that really excite me. One is being the sales leader for a contact centre. I work with companies who have some pain in their processes that I help resolve. Having been an entrepreneur most of my life I know that the biggest issue with business is growing business. More important is growing business profitably. Most successful business owners know they can't be good at all things. Basically I love helping my customers grow their business. I am also a business coach. I help my clients turn their dreams into successful businesses. I also help business owners turn their struggling companies around. This is all very rewarding to me. I am a lucky guy. For me it's not sales.

I ask that you think hard about what I have stated in the previous paragraph. I get joy in helping other people find their success. The only way I can do this is to find out what they want to achieve. I can only do this by asking questions. This is where the pulling business part kicks in. It is only through asking the questions and really listening that the solution become obvious. I should point out that it should also be obvious for your customer or client too. It is when you get to this stage you can then ask your potential customer how would it feel if this was the solution that would benefit their business. Please note that I have asked two questions here. One was the emotional part and the second being the good for your business part. I truly believe if you marry the two questions together and the answer is yes to both you have sale. The potential customer came to the determination of what they need to do. They are making the purchase. I did not sell them anything. This is what I call pulling business.

I agree that at some point of the process there has to be a features and benefits conversation. To be really successful at selling you have to be good at pulling. This is achieved by asking good and thought provoking questions. It is only after answering these questions that you can move to the benefits and successful ending. My experience is, don't rush. It pays to be patient. When your customer has made a purchasing decision it has been made for the right reasons. Have you noticed that no where in this article did I mention price? If you do not focus on the price your potential customer will not focus on the price either. Isn't it time you started pulling your way to successful selling?

Bring In 2012 With A Positive Attitude

We have heard all our lives that if we focus on something we will be able to accomplish that desire. To focus is to zero in on our desires through intense thought. Speaking to the title of my article it is positive thoughts that we need to concentrate on. I have been a positive thinker most of my life. In looking back on my life the rough years were the ones that I allowed negative thoughts to get a hold of me. I wish I understood the power of thought back in those years. It has given me a wonderful appreciation on how older people gain wisdom.

So how do you get to this space that you are able to stay in this positive frame of mind? There are so many external pressures in our lives. Perhaps you do not like your job. The kids need your attention. It seems there is not enough time left for you. Your whole life has become about reacting to external forces. You feel like you have lost control of your day to day life. No wonder there are so many divorces in today's society. There are so many pressures coming at you from many sources. You often become bitter because you do not have enough "me time". You become very defensive of what little personal time you have to yourself. Can you be number one in your life yet be a loving caring husband and father? The answer is without question, yes. You can accomplish this by getting control over the "me time" so you can better enjoy the "we time". Once you have the "me time" figured out you now have the opportunity to gain control your thoughts. So how do you get to this space. The way there is very simple. Things will not change if you keep doing things the same old way. What it will take is for you to create a couple of new habits. Ready? Approach these suggestions with an open and positive attitude.

• Go to bed earlier. Insure you get the sleep that you need. Starting the next day from an exhausted state is unproductive and unhealthy. Using the TV to decompress is OK however it robs you of your precious "me time". Much needed time for you to think and look after yourself.
• Much of the news on television is about catastrophic events. I recommend you control the intake of this information. You can be a compassionate person however focus on how things will get better. Not on what has just happened.
• Become an early riser. Approach the day on your terms. Enjoy a cup of coffee and perhaps a little reading. The phone does not ring. No need to stand in line for the shower. Start the day tending to you and your needs. This is the time to be grateful for all you have Personally I get up at 5 am most mornings. I look out over the night ocean from our living room watching the navigation buoy lights flickering in the distance. Very soothing. In summer time I get to watch the sun rise. What a way to bring in the day. I keep a note pad beside me and jot down what I need to accomplish today and then I organize them.
• Start a gratitude journal. Yes a book that you will write in every day expressing your gratitude for all that you have. When you know and appreciate what you already have you can focus on gaining more.
• Never ever allow yourself to leave the house mad or upset. You will carry that baggage with you all day. Head out the door ready to embrace the day.

I know this all seems simple. But if you are not aware of your thoughts the negative thoughts and images can creep into your mind. Misery does like company. These are not the kind of friends you want. Stop them dead in their tracks. With this formula you will look forward to each day. A "Happy You" will be an inspiration for a happy family. A "Happy You" will be a creative contributor at work. Make it your plan to get control of your life and your mind. The first step is with a positive attitude.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6751417

Can You Simplify Your Life And Be Successful?

Just this week I was going through some boxes in the garage. Not looking for anything in particular. I came across some old photographs of when I had hair on the top of my head. Plaques acknowledging all the boards I used to sit on. Great memories. Then I came upon a box that had some books I had read years ago. One of then a little gem. "Don't Sweat The Small Stuff" by Dr. Richard Carleson. So I pulled the book out of the box and brought it in from the garage.

What a wonderful and light thinking book this is. Each chapter is just two or three pages with a little nugget in each chapter. I felt it would be fun to read just a couple of chapters a day. I smiled to myself thinking this would be a great way to help me really concentrate on slowing down. My life too can be hectic with all the community service work I do. Yes I do over commit. I surrender. But I get so much back from all the giving I do.

One of the little nuggets I read this morning was this. "There will still be things on your to do list the day you die". The to do list is a working document. It lives and has a life all it's own. That's why there is always things on it to do. Weather or not the screen on the patio door gets repaired today or next week is not life altering. The lesson from this is slow down and enjoy your life. Many things in our lives can indeed, wait until tomorrow.

So the question remains can you slow down and still achieve success? Absolutely. So how do we approach this? It's always a great time to plan for the coming year. So lets not leave it until December 28th or 29th or make them News Year's Resolutions. These changes in the way we lead our lives will take some reflection and some planning. So let's have some fun. If you have the ability to laugh at yourself this exercise will be easy. Why you ask? Because we all know we have these little quirks. Quirks about ourselves that we know we should change. Are you are a list completer? Having lists are good. Having them control our day in and day out lives is tragic.

So here we go.

1. Pull out your to do list and see what lays there.
2. Next is to start a new list but put the items in order of importance.
3. Now is a good time to add or delete items with the emphasis being on delete.
4. The next step is to put completion dates on them and makes sure you have left lots of time to complete them.
5. You may not add new items on the to do list unless it something like the garage door stopped working. Only "have to" things can be added to the list until you have mastered management of your list.
6. The second last step is to schedule these "to do" things in your diary. Yes, the day on which you will do them.
7. The last and most important step is to schedule free time in your diary. Time to read, sleep, go hiking. Go to a movie with your kids. Schedule time you are not doing task related activities.

Here in lies the prize. I expect your saying this is to simple an approach. That's the purpose of this exercise. Simplification. Why should we choose to live life the hard way? I personally believe we can achieve our goals and stay on track and enjoy your down time. Going slow from time to time will allow you to better enjoy the journey. Going slow will allow you time to reflect and to make better decisions because you thought them through. I suggest you learn to embrace your to do list. Once you take this approach you will take ownership of the list instead of the list taking ownership of you. Your family and state of mind will thank you.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6738082

Three Steps To Understanding And Achieving Prosperity

Many of the things we want in life are finite. Homes, cars and boats are all material things and are measurable. But it's not just material things that make our lives complete. What is it that gives us piece of mind? What is it that brings us happiness and joy?

Abundance and prosperity is really a state of mind because it comes as a collective feeling of emotional well being and material things. I believe abundance and prosperity to be personal and it can mean different things to each of us. In the most simple of terms there is no score card for abundance and prosperity. We just need to appreciate there is more than enough abundance and prosperity for all to enjoy.

So how do you obtain abundance and prosperity? Here are what I believe to be the three steps that will help you understand where you are and where you want to be.

1. The first step is believing you already have abundance. I suggest you take stock of what you already have. Good health would be number one in my book. Family and good friends help us to stay grounded. Having a good home would rank up there too. If your health is fair you can always work towards a healthier life. You can seek out good friends. It's fine to want a nicer home. The exercise is to improve on what we already have. The world has more abundance than we could ever have. It is an endless supply. The very financially wealthy understand this. They could not get to where they are without a limitless mindset.
2. The second step is to be grateful for all that you currently have. You have so much more than you think. Having gratitude and being thankful for what you already have is so important in appreciating and understanding prosperity. I am not a deeply religious person but I consider myself to be spiritual. I believe there is a greater being who will bring us what we ask for. The key is to be a partner in this exercise. Thinking and praying for it is not enough. It's a team effort.
3. The third step is to make a list of things that will bring you joy that are both emotional and material. Plant these feelings and material things firmly in your mind. Think of them often and I suggest at least twice a day. Imagine you already have them. I have used this technique over the years to unbelievable success. The many riches I have in life both material and emotional have come to me in many ways. Some have come as a result of my direct efforts and are purely earned financially while other gifts of prosperity have come to me from others who have wanted to share what they have with me. In effect my thoughts attracted these gifts of abundance. Accept these visions manifested into reality with grace and gratitude no matter the origin.

Abundance and prosperity is what we all strive for in life. It will have a different meaning for every person on this planet. Appreciating that you already have abundance is a great place to start. This whole exercise will cost you nothing financially. Opening your mind to accepting an even more abundant life is really very simple. Prosperity will follow soon after you have that vision firmly planted in your mind.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6598320

Stop Making Excuses - Take Ownership Of Your Actions

When you make excuses it can say so many things about you. Things I would say are not enduring, It tells me you are not committed to what you said you would do. There was something more important that came along so you decided to do that instead. Perhaps you are faced with the fear of failure or you do not want to feel the rejection. In short you are living in the blame game. You chose to externalize your actions. You foolishly believe it's somebody else's fault.

In a real life experience, I was in a meeting with a Head Hunter where I was asked why I was recently fired from the high level position I held with a large corporation. I told the interviewer that I blew it. I said I had made the wrong political move. The interviewer looked at me puzzled and said" How interesting. Most people would have blamed someone else or externalized the situation." That's the way that I saw the situation. We all make wrong decisions and mistakes in our lives. For heavens sake own up to it. Find out what you learned from this? The best thing to do is create a clean slate and move on.

I believe that answers do not appear on their own. Answers only come after you ask a question. This is true even if you are problem solving on our own. When you have made an excuse you better have a real good reason because somewhere along the line, someone is going to ask you the question. Why? What happened? Some of my most favorite sayings and quotes come from Mark Twain. This one pretty much sums it up. " If you tell the truth you do not have to remember anything." Consider the notion that being dishonest is hard work. You constantly have to remember what you said. Channel your energies to something positive. As odd as this may sound, I believe that owning up to the truth, as hard as it may seem will bring your respect.

Excuses hang out with procrastinators. Procrastinators always seem to have a reason not to get it done. If your procrastinating, I recommend you search for the reason why. Procrastination is predicated on fear of the unknown and the inability to deliver on what you said you could do. For many of you and especially sales people, it's the fear of rejection. The easy stuff and the fun stuff seem to get scratched off the to do list with ease. I recommend you do the hard stuff first. You will find the balance of the day will breeze by with ease. I suggest you plan your day this way and there be no need for excuses.

To be truly successful in any aspect of life, we must have sound plans to move forward. When you take ownership of your actions you have removed guilt from the situation. Making excuses is easy. Success can be easy to if you are committed to your master plan and goals. Mistakes just become bumps in the road. No need to blame anyone else when you hit a bump because you are the one with your hands firmly on the wheel. When you make excuses you are not in control of your situation. To be fully in control is when we take ownership of your actions.

Do You Like To Win Or Do You Hate To Lose?

Everyone likes to win. That is a given. The reality is not all of you will win because you have not prepared yourselves to create the opportunity to win. When you hate to lose it brings up the level of commitment because the outcome of loosing is not acceptable to you. This leads to the question. Can you be successful without being competitive?

I was once asked this win or lose question in a job interview about ten years ago. The interviewer who was the owner of a fast paced growing company only wanted those people who had the burning desire to win. I knew in my mind the correct answer was "I hate to lose". It was for this instance the correct answer. It was not until after the interview and I was working with the company that I came to fully understand to true meaning of the question.

Winning is comfortable. It is good for our ego. Everyone wants to deal with a winner. It speaks volumes to your ability. We all know that to win we have to train and prepare ourselves for the match be it in business or on the sports field. In sports, it's a blend of physical and mental preparedness. In business it's about mental preparedness, the right product or service and the personality to win the deal. In many cases with business, losing is not an option. Your lively hood depends on it. I believe in the business environment one must adopt to the hate to lose side of the question. Losing is not an option.

I believe that many top athletes do well in business and especially in sales because they have the competitive attitude. Both my sons attended a boarding school and it was compulsory they play a competitive sport. The school knew it was important to have its students being very good on and off the field. The schools attitude reinforced what I personally knew to be true. Participants will win the day over spectators every time.

So how can you achieve that competitive edge? How can you obtain that burning desire to get to the top? I believe the following tips will get you started.

• Create and write down a goal related to you being the best in your field. Remember to make sure that your goal is matched with an action plan of steps to obtain that goal.
• Spend some time with a competitive winner. Ask some questions. Learn what it is that drives them.
• Write down how you would feel if you were the top in your field. This should put a smile on your face and have you pointed in that direction.
• Do some research on being competitive. Remember that being competitive is not always about beating someone else. It can just easily be about performing better than you every have before.

Everyone has the desire to win. Those with the burning desire to win are those who hate to lose. Success as we know comes in many forms. In the business world it's about relationships and the numbers. In the personal world it's about meeting milestones and personal achievements. To win we need passion and persistence. When you have those two elements, losing is not an option.

3 Tips for Getting Over Bad Habits Hindering Your Success

The most widely read of my articles are those articles dealing with setbacks and roadblocks to your success. The truth of the matter is we all are faced with attempting to change how we currently do things. We strive to improve our present situation in life. It does not matter if it's personal or business. Deep down we want to improve our selves. The difficulty with shaking those unwanted habits has to do with our conditioned preferences. I believe habits are formed as a route of least resistance to do what needs to get done. With out even thinking about it!

For those of you who are or have been smokers know the habit thing only to well. I too was an on again, off again smoker for over 20 years. I tried the patch. I tried to not drink coffee or have alcohol which were the association triggers in an effort to quit. What it came down to was my wife saying she loved me and she did not want me to do this to myself. The same can be said for weight gain. We eat foods that we know are harmful towards our health but we continue to do so. I my view smoking and eating are classic examples of habits we all want to break. I also believe they do not really impact our future success as a business person but they do have an impact on how we view ourselves. Habits like procrastination, the fear of failure and laziness are the real stingers that hold us back from achieving personal and or financial success.

Lets assume you know you need to make some changes. The most important thing you need to do before you even start with the three necessary steps is to remove any doubt that you will not succeed. You must to get past the limiting beliefs that you do not have the ability to do this. Will power and determination are crucial to succeeding in changing your unwanted habits. This is a given.

Tip One, Write it Down.

Get out your pen and write down the habit you want to shake. Before you say what the heck Paul. Yes. writing it down validates the issue. When you write it down, it requires thought. After you have acknowledged the habit you want to break you now have to write down how it will feel once you have achieved making the change. This is the feeling and the vision that will propel you.

Tip Two, Change Your Routine

I believe that most of our habits appear during your daily routines. They just happen without our even thinking about it. So a good way to make a change is to change our routine. Make sure that you leave out the unwanted habit in the new daily routine. Vacations are also a great way to make a change. Once you have a change in your environment the association factors do not come into play. This works. They say it takes 30 days to change a habit. The first 7 days are the toughest. Start making the change on a vacation. It works.

Tip Three, Find an Accountability Partner

Back in April I wrote an article, Six Reasons You Will Achieve Success Faster With An Accountability Partner. I believe this is the second most important step in finding success. Second only to commitment and determination. When we have an accountability partner we have to report what we did this week toward achieving our goal. In this case the goal is to shake or change a habit. Telling our accountability partner we did not get it done can be difficult. That's why it works. Simple as that.

You are not alone in wanting to make changes and improve your life. In fact it's very natural. Identifying the habit and why you want to make the change is the key. The support structures you put in place are equally important as we are all human and we often seek the road of least resistance. Success is found on the road less traveled. The road of new experiences that will take you to new heights. Go for it. You can do it.

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Sell Like You Don't Need The Money

Selling is more than just an art. Selling is about listening. When we listen opportunities often present them selves. More importantly your potential customer knows when you are rushing to close the sale. They can sense when you need the commission. This is a terrible position to find yourself in because the transaction becomes about you and not them. Your deal is toast. When you sell like you don't need the money it becomes about the value in what you are proposing.

Why is it that some people are better sales people than others. Of course the reasons vary on this. Many books have been written on the subject and I expect many more will be written in the future. Once again there is no single solution that works for all. Companies Like Sandler, Xerox, Miller Heiman and Dale Carnegie all have succesful programs that will help you close a higher percentage of sales due to their proven sales formulas. If you have never taken a professional training session you should understand that two things are certain. You have to have a system and you have to present yourself as being credible.

I was a certified Miller Heiman sales trainer for a large corporation. It was not the full Miller program but adapted to their Conceptual Selling studies related to the Office Products Industry. I traveled the Eastern US and Canada presenting the Conceptual Selling system to the companies sales teams. What I saw in the field amazed me. So much of the training was about products and not about how to create loyalty and respect. I can tell you when it's about products the next place the customer goes is price. There is no loyalty in price, so get over that notion. Your only as good as you last quote when it's about price. Selling like you don't need the money makes it about them and helping them purchase the product adverse to you selling the product or service.

There is a sales tactic made by many sales people in the financial industry that sends me over the wall. They often open the appointment ask, stating they would like to get together and go over your financial needs and make an assessment of your current state of affairs. What I hear in this situation is this. Tell me everything about your finances and I will find something to sell you. Your prospect feels uncomfortable sensing you are trying to sell them something. You must find a way to be unique in your approach and make the ask related to a benefit for them that is not painful.

All the best closing techniques are useless if your prospect senses you need the money.

Selling like you don't need the money says several things.

• The customers best interest are at hand.
• That you are knowledgeable and confident your product or service fits the need.
• The process is a shared experience and no one is in complete control.
• The solution takes into account the long term benefits and not just the immediate requirement.
• You don't need this sale to make your car or mortgage payment.

Selling like you don't need the money has benefits for you to.

• Your creating life long customers.
• Business finds it's way toward you, I call it pulling business instead of pushing business.
• Your income will become more even.
• Your existing customers will provide you with referrals.
• You don't have to sell the product twice because it was sold(purchased) right the first time.

There is nothing like good old fashioned respect and self confidence as a good starting point. All the best sales people out there make it about the customer. It's your role to help your potential customers and prospects make an informed consenting purchase to their customers benefit.

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How Perseverance Will Help You Succeed

Perseverance is a powerful word. It eclipses similar words like determined, persistence, want, chase and pursue. When I envision perseverance. I think of never giving up, no matter what. We climb over and go around obstacles larger than can be imagined. We endure pain and rejection. We endure hardship and loss. We feel the pain and do it anyway. We do this to succeed with our goal. Perseverance lives in our heart and soul. It is much more than give it the "Good Old College Try". Look at it this way. Do you like to win or do you hate to lose? Every one likes to win. So do you put yourself in the place where everyone else plays. Perseverance lives in the hate to lose category.

How many times in life have you heard someone say "I would give anything to be able to do that". Well actually many would not give anything. Anything is practicing your violin 8 hours a day for years and years to even have a chance at becoming a concert violinist. Anything is putting off years of taking vacations until your business is on solid ground. Anything is practice and pursue until you achieve excellence.

Yes, there are times in life when we need to step away and reconsider, as the odds are stacked against you. It becomes obvious you need to take a different course of action. For example, you may be determined to own your own business, but it may be a different one than you had set out to obtain. You will however, persevere to own your own business. So what sets those with perseverance apart from those who do not have perseverance. First of all you can not be a spectator and deal with life as it comes at you. You must be a wanting, willing and deserving participant. Success comes to those who focus and work on their goals. Many goals take extraordinary measures to achieve success.

Perseverance is an important habit of the lives of most successful people. Here they are, simplified.

• Perseverance is pursuing your dreams until they become reality.
• Perseverance is what gets you past the set backs to your success.
• Perseverance is knowing what you want and nothing will stop you from obtaining it.
• Perseverance shows your commitment to finish a project.

A deep level of commitment to yourself and to your goals will gain you respect from your peers. People with perseverance are often assigned the tough tasks because they will see the job through. There is no greater respect and honor in the business world than to be asked to lead and complete a project that others would not consider attempting. Those with perseverance also reap the greatest rewards, financial or otherwise because they earned them. They achieve where others fail to even attempt. Perseverance is the Road Less Traveled.

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Living Life Abundantly Starts With Thinking Abundantly

Abundance and Prosperity is available for all on the planet to obtain. Many of the people on the Western Hemisphere and Europe will have a greater chance to achieve this status mostly due to education, opportunity, inheritance and connections. Abundance is relevant to your current state no matter where you live. If any of my readers have read my article on "Finding Success in All Aspects of Your Life", I elaborate on the topic that abundance is not just about money. That's where the Prosperity bit comes into the picture. Just go have a look at the meaning in a dictionary. No matter where you look it refers to The Condition of Being Prosperous. It's a condition?

How do we find abundance and prosperity? Well in my view it starts with what you already have currently. I expect many of you have abundance in your life and you just don't know it. This does not mean we can not obtain more. To the contrary, there is more abundance on this planet than we will ever use and more is being created. So lets take a minute to write down what we have. Your home, Your Children, Your Spouse, Your Sexy Car, Your Great Job, Your Many Friends. Do you see where I am going with this? You first have to believe you already have abundance before you can obtain more. You can't climb any higher without knowing where to start from. Go Ahead. Don't feel foolish. Write them down.

Lets look at the best selling book "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne. This book was promoted as a way to get what you want through the power of the law of attraction. Yes, in my opinion the power of attraction exists and yes it will get results. However, there is more than just closing your eyes and willing things to happen. If that's what your doing and wondering why you have not obtained any results yet, just stop. It won't work. If your willing that you will win the lottery there is a allot of competition out there doing the same thing. The funny part is that the winner of the lottery will likely say they willed it to happen. Millions of others willing it to happen had no results at all.

"The Secret" was written about carrying forward to todays time, a book written by Wallace D Wattles over 100 years ago. This gem " The Science of Getting Rich" clarified many things for me on the topic of abundance. You will likely struggle to get past the use of the English language used from that period in time. In my view "The Secret" comes up short of what Wattles intended. There are many great authors and goal setting Guru's who wrote Chapters in "The Secret" but they said just enough to drive the readers to their websites or go out and buy their own book. "The Science of Getting Rich" is a quick afternoon read and it packs allot of punch. Wattles discusses abundance in great detail. His writing will convince you there is more than enough to go around. What he also elaborates on is that you have to focus on your desires and aspirations. Focus on obtaining abundance in areas that are not competitive. That makes sense. If you got it from someone else I guess that means you can lose it to someone else. What Wattles suggests is that you focus on the universe and all the abundance in it. Concentrate on things in the universe that you can create and grow without competition? Focus on this idea every day. Take action and it will happen. The take away from this is, TAKE ACTION. The power of attraction lives in our mind. Think of it as emitting a signal. If we think about it long and hard enough it will happen. We naturally gravitate towards our thoughts but at some point these thoughts turn into action.

There is a chapter in Wattles book that suggests we not give money to the poor. What he suggests is those people with the ability to give, do so to those people who given the opportunity will grow or make things that will enhance their lives and make those people self sustainable. Proof of this is in the success of the Micro Credit movement. The abundance in the universe will take over from there and continue to create abundance. The wealthiest people on earth all believe in abundance. They understand abundance and have what is called an abundance mindset. The great thing about these wealthy people is they like to give some of their wealth away. It's not about greed. They know there is a never-ending source of abundance. They have more money and prosperity than they will ever need.

Think for a moment about something like oil. We have been told for years we are going to run out of oil. There is still lots of oil and likely will be for many years to come. Because of abundance money is being spent to find more oil and ways to extract more oil in an efficient manner. Money from abundance is being spent to make our vehicles more fuel efficient. Because of abundance alternative sources of energy are being invented right now.

Understanding abundance is critical to your obtaining more. There is no taking abundance from someone else. Your success in finding, and growing abundance, is in the believing there is more than enough for everyone. Abundance is a never-ending supply. It is because of abundance you will be able to obtain prosperity. The two are very much connected. Connecting the two can be the challenge. Abundance followed by Prosperity can be obtained by thinking positive thoughts that leads you to take action. Actions that will take you to heights never thought possible.

How Your Habits Will Determine Your Success

Humans are born with the ability to self diagnose. The earliest forms of this become evident in our conscience. What is right from wrong. Things our parents began to tell us at an early age get molded into our fiber. But at some point as we grow older we are tested as views from a world outside our home start to creep into our lives. So what does all this have to do with habits and self diagnosis you ask. Without the proper direction from our parents it becomes very easy to become conditioned to take the path of least resistance. A constant amount of don't touch. Don't say that. Stay away from there, sets our conditions that later create habits we wish we could change.

Changing habits creates fear in the unknown. Change is usually not immediate and can take some time. What impact will change have on my relationship with my spouse. Change is hard work. We also know that hard work is usually rewarding. So why do we continue to slide along the same old way and not make those changes to our habits we know are holding us back. Good habits will lead you to success in your personal life as well in your working life. But it's so hard to do. How many of your New Years resolutions have gone by the way side?

So how do we go about insuring we make changes to our day to day habits? We know if we make the changes they will bring success into our lives. The most common habits we think about changing are to quit smoking, to eat less,spend less money and exercise more. The fast recipe are the following. Step One, My suggestion to you is write down why you want to make the change and how you will feel after having made the change. Step two is to write down what you will do day by day to effect the change. Step Three is to have a date that the new habit will have taken full root and you no longer have to think about your new habit as it is now part of your every day life. Step Four is to share your goal for your habit change with someone who will help you keep on track. Stand fast to these steps and you will be on the road to success.

For those of you driven to really make a big change there is a book by Stephen R Covey called The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. 15 million copies in print will convince you that there are millions of people out there who want to effect change in their lives. I must tell you in my opinion this book can be as dry as cotton batten. I tried numerous times to push through it and had to put it down. What I did not realize back then is that I was pushing back change.

Covey's Seven Habits are as follows:

1. Be Proactive Move from dependence to independence.
2. Begin with the End in Mind Self discover your character values and life goals
3. Put First Things First (I personally like this one. You can't build a house without a set of plans.)
4. Think Win Win If all sides of an arrangement are mutually beneficial every one wins
5. Seek First to Understand, Then be understood
6. Synergize Creativity comes from cooperation
7. Sharpen the Saw Covey Calls this, Principals of Balanced Self-Renewal

Very Powerful Habits. Very Powerful Personal Intentions. Intentions that change the whole way we think and approach everything we do. Follow these 7 fundamental character changing habits and success will surely be in your grasp.

I can share with you that when you are committed to such changes your mind becomes all consumed and for a period of time will effect your sleep. This is natural and as uncomfortable as it sounds is a good sign that you are pushing through the old habits. Your embracing change and acceptance to be a best the best you can be will be worth a few nights of restless sleep. Like your old habits those sleepless nights will soon forgotten.