The Road To Success Is Paved With A Positive Attitude

Staying upbeat and in the zone requires being in tune to your emotions. I also believe having a positive attitude is closely tied to a belief that you have the talent and the ability to get it done. For some this comes easy. For most it's a difficult.
Navel gazing can be a good thing if you like the possibilities of what life will bring you. To get to this mindset of a positive attitude you must push back the limiting beliefs that were created from your previous failures. These limiting beliefs could have also come from a poor support system in your childhood. So just how do we get to this condition of a positive attitude? I am certain the six tasks below will get you started.

• First, I believe you need to identify what it is you want in life and be firmly committed to that desire. Establishing the emotional pull becomes a pleasure point that will help strengthen your commitment.


• Secondly, you need to identify the negative people in your life and start to work on changing who your friends are. As tough as it may seem, make a list of the negative people in your life and make a commitment to drop them from your circle of friends. Why would you ever call someone a friend who is constantly pulling you back?


• Thirdly, is to start to meet and hang out with achievers and people who can help bring you up a notch. It's like that old saying " Success breeds success." Join a Networking Group.


• Fourthly, is to do something to improve your job or your career. This may be to take a course to upgrade your skills. Meet with your boss and have that heart to heart and express that you are genuinely committed to growing in this company.


• Fifth is what I feel to be one of the most important steps. Find a mentor. Find that someone who has earned success. This is a person you can emulate. A good mentor will help you grow and provide sound advise regarding your future success.


• Lastly is to get your hands on some inspirational books or videos. Tony Robbins, Jack Canfield just to name two. Tony has clips on YouTube. Jack does free tel-conferences on a monthly basis. 1000's attend each call. Tons of free material can be found on the internet. These inspirational leaders will help get you pumped and they will keep you pumped. Most important. They will help keep you on track.

Having a positive attitude is one thing. Staying positive when things are going against you is another beast altogether. Understanding that setbacks are a part of life and that setbacks are only temporary is key. Setbacks are life's way of measuring your commitment to success. A positive attitude will get you up and running faster. It's the fuel of your success.

Find Your Inspiration From Successful People

Last Fall I attended a banquet put on by the Better Business Bureau. Every person I spoke with while networking before the dinner portion was in my opinion successful. The people I got to sit with were nothing short of amazing. The energy in the room was electric. The BBB was honoring companies that displayed high ethics in business. Now this is a crowd that I like to hang out with. I immediately think of trust and credibility when it comes to ethics. It should be a way of life inside your businesses as well as how you interact with our external customers.
As the discussion around our table started to loosen up I became more amazed of the talent I was hanging out with. Those at the table included.

• A Real Estate magnet who does 8 figure property deals internationally. He is also a published author of his business biography.


• There was a President of a large moving company that has offices right across Canada. He is also a Board Member of the Better Business Bureau. Remember the night was about ethics in business.


• An Executive Vice President who left a career as a successful Doctor of Optometry to get into business. Now that's following your passion.


• Also seated at the table was the President of a sales training company but with a unique twist. His company works with business owners who are not sales people. He works with them on how to understand sales people and how to best engage their sales staff.


• Also at the table was a President of a large printing company who is finding success in a very competitive business.


• Seated as well with us, a Lawyer who left a large law firm to go with a three person firm. He wanted to get more engaged with his clients. That takes guts in my books.


• The host of the table is a Regional Manager for a very unique insurance company, that is not an insurance company. How is this for unique! Their customer companies self insure. That's right. Self insure. The customer company selects the benefits and the maximum that can be paid out in each benefit of the plan. His company just manages the details and the claims from the medical card they provide. Their fee is disclosed.


• Oh Yes there was me. The former President of an Office Products Company and Former President of a Computer Forms Company. I am currently a partner in a Scottish apparel company aside from my role at Answer365.

I can tell you the conversation around the table was not about who won the World Series. The purpose of this article is not to say I am good at name dropping and hobnobbing. To the contrary. What I have written about is that I made the effort to go out to this event and hear all about the successful nominees for the BBB Ethics Awards. I wanted to see and feel first hand what ethical businesses do. I left the event feeling invigorated and motivated. Success will not find it's way to you. It is by your actions and your determination that you will find success. I came away with so much more that I went in with. So get out there. Meet some people who will inspire you. You will be thankful you did.

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?

Does Your Positive Attitude Run On Automatic

Recently while attending a Rotary District Leadership weekend, I found myself in a room full of people with high energy and positive attitudes. People who want to effect change and make the world a better place both at home and in countries in need. It's one of the many reasons I belong to Rotary. My article this week is not about Rotary but it's the people of Rotary who planted the seed for this weeks positive attitude article.
I find personally that I focus on the positive result and not the act of being positive. Spend the energy on the result. The only way to obtain the positive result is with a positive attitude. This means that you are already in the positive attitude mindset. Say good-bye to that voice in the back of your mind saying, " I have to be positive, I have to be Positive". Do you see what I mean by this? One of the keys to getting to this space is to be cognitive of your thoughts. If your thoughts are positive outcome based, it's about the outcome.
I often refer to myself as the opportunity salesman. Do you suppose you can be the best you can be with a limp attitude? I don't think so. Do you want to go through life without becoming better than you are today? I would hope not. The human race is evolving. Do you suppose that evolution is taking place because of the doubters and negative minded types. I don't think so. The can do positive minded individuals are leading the charge. To use an analogy. Many of us in North America are disgruntled with politics and politicians. So what happens. We vote leaders and governments out. All the energy is spent combating the other political party. I ask you. What do suppose would happen if all were pulling in the same direction? I expect the social and business agendas would be met. That's why I don't watch the news. It's counter productive. I get my news from the Internet. My reading includes business news and good new stories. There is no room for negativity in my mind. Yes I would agree that we can not go through life with blinders on however I prefer to spend time in the space that I have some control over.
Here are some simple tips that will certainly get your head in a positive state of mind.

1. Start a gratitude journal and write in it every morning. You will discover you have much to be thankful for.
2. Review your goals. To do lists are good however they are activity based and not big picture. I caution you not get your to do list and goals mixed up. You may find that if your trying to change a habit that is related to a goal you will need to put this on your to do list until it becomes automatic.
3. Look for a couple of inspirational web sites and save them on your favorites list. Read a few of these each morning.
4. At the end of each business day write down what you will do first thing in the morning. Open your email second as that creates reacting to external forces. Yes you will have to deal with these emails but you should deal with them on your terms.
5. Look for positive minded new friends whether they are social or business.

It is my belief the can do people are those who have their positive attitude in automatic. All their energy is focused on the end result. The bonus is, that it's one heck of allot more fun to do than grinding through things you deem a pain in the butt. How are you going to start your day tomorrow? I know how I am going to start mine.

Life Lessons In This Message

We as humans generally become more risk adverse as we mature. Why do you suppose that happens? I believe there are two answers to that question. With age one has less time to recover from a set back, financial or otherwise. The second is that we have become conditioned to react from certain events because we have been there before. I will share some of what I have learned from both my successes and my failures. Making sound decisions should be a process whether you are young or old. This is where the study and reading part plays a role. Knowledge can be learned through study, while wisdom for the most part is earned.
Quite simply it shapes up this way. I have been broke twice in my life and lived to tell about it. Yes, this builds character but it should not have to be that way. Both set backs were a result of bad decisions. In both instances I was owner of bricks and mortar businesses. Yes industry consolidations played a large role in the failures. But, to be perfectly honest some impulsive decisions in my personal life played a big part as well. You will notice on my Linkedin Profile that my education is a Masters In Common Sense. I can honestly say I gained this degree the hard way. I grew up with a strong family background that included decency and work ethic. The common belief in our home was this is a land of opportunity and you have loads of talent. I did not formally go to university however I was continually taking courses in business as well as attending personal development workshops. I was heavily engaged in personal development long before it became in vogue. Being an ADHD I knew I must invest time in this area, as it would help me be more cognitive of my decisions. I believed it would help me make more rational decisions. For the most part it did. ADHD's are emotionally charged and running with your heart is not always the best practice. This life course has brought me to where I am today as a coach to business owners. I have learned that many entrepreneurs get so emotionally involved it often clouds the decisions they must make.
One of life's toughest experiences came during a period when I owned a small business with a staff of 12. It was a successful business for 9 years followed by 2 years of a living hell. A consolidation in the industry coupled with a large life style left myself and the business with little wiggle room during a down turn in the economy. I lost everything including my pride. I managed to hold on to our house with the help of family. Through these times I lost my self-esteem and confidence. I hit rock bottom. I wondered. Could things ever get better? I can assure you they can.
This is where the lesson part comes in. I felt I always took the responsibility for my actions. For the most part that is true but it is easy to blame external forces. I also blamed these external forces as a form of personal denial. Taking responsibility for your actions is only half of what is required for you to move on after such events. One must make changes in how we approach the next steps. More of the same way of doing things will produce the same results. You need to understand why things went wrong. Were these events things you had control over? If that is the case it's time for some real soul-searching and understanding of yourself. Ask yourself. Is a change required of your habits and the way you do things? You have to peel back the layers of the onion and see what's in the middle. Often there is a smell associated with this exercise. It takes courage to look that deeply inside ones inner self. I did it and I moved forward.
Lessons can also be learned from our successes. I believe time should be taken to reflect and learn from our success. It's only natural to take success for granted. Success and victory feel great and do not carry the anguish and pain that comes from failure. You should take a step back and look at what took place to reach your goal. Was there pain, or were there roadblocks that you over came? What I have learned from my success as a businessperson is that I work well with people. I love to grow business and relationships. I am good at letting staff be the best they can be and to allow them to learn from their mistakes and to grow. What I am not good at is too much structure and repetitive work. I hate being managed. I need things to be fresh and engaging. I like strategic thinking that is solution based. I like projects because they have a beginning and an end. I ask many of my clients. Whats your end game with your company? What's your exit strategy? Many do not have an exit strategy. You should build your life or business plan around that outcome. That was one of my toughest lessons in business. I had an opportunity to sell my business at it's height. The irony is that three years later the business collapsed. You can not begin to appreciate the pain associated with that decision. But I learned from that.
Yes the toughest lessons come from failure. It is through your failures that you are able to have bigger success in the future. Success is rarely easy. You see, even in success we often say to our selves "I would do it a little differently next time".

Achieve Success By Managing Your Goals

Normally I do not focus on myself when writing success tips however due to a series of personal events the past year, I was forced to reevaluate some of my goals. What took place caused me to focus even more intensely on some goals and put other goals in the parking lot.

For my regular readers you will notice I have not written an article in 9 weeks. This is a big change after a steady pace of writing an article a week for over 15 months. So what happened? Several things. I took the lead on a huge project at work that consumed a ton of hours. The result of these efforts will make a huge difference to the company and it also means I will achieve my income goals for this year. What became very clear is my number one goal was receiving most of the attention.

One of the events that took place is both my parents broke their hips 8 months apart if you can imagine that. Being with them has taken up much of my time. Both these events were beyond my control. But they happened. My being there for my parents is extremely important to me and that caused me to prioritize my time to accommodate what was important. More importantly I had to evaluate the goals I would have the time to work toward.

These following four things had to be put on the back burner because there was not enough time to achieve them.

1. My weekly article writing became unimportant.


2. My 20 mile a week walking regime dropped way off which put my target weight goal on hold.


3. The book I am working on fell right off the radar with the completion date being pushed out. I have allowed myself two years.


4. I had to cut down on my volunteer work. Perhaps the toughest one to put on hold. Doing this without having some guilt was difficult for me. I have so much to be thankful for it's hard to imagine cutting back on my giving.


5. What did take off as a result of adjusting my goals were these three things. All good things to be proud of.


6. The number of new big accounts has taken off at work. This as a result of my diligent and well planned marketing to an untapped market. These new deals are very strategic and rewarding. I am helping other companies grow their business. As an entrepreneur for many years of my life it is a total sense of joy. Building business is what entrepreneurs do. What a rush.


7. My coaching and mentoring career is starting to take flight. Once again I am helping others grow and prosper. This is a very rewarding experience.


8. Thirdly I am spending more quality time with my family. All four generations of them. I do this with intention and purpose. I do not leave it to chance that I will have the free time. I accomplish this by scheduling this time with my family.

So what's the lesson here? What has become very clear is that we must always stay conscious of our goals. Reviewing and measuring these goals at least several times a week it critical to your success. Prioritize your goals and adjust them so they are clear and relevant. My goals that were placed in the parking lot are not dead. I simply say they are in hibernation. One thing for certain is if your not committed to a goal then it's not well thought out. If you are going to do it, make sure it is for the right reason. Some of your goals may become less important in time. This is much the same in life as what matters changes with age. You should be OK with that. Does it not make sense to excel with fewer stretch goals than achieve six easy ones? Exactly.

The real bonus for me is that my most important goals are flourishing. Yours can too. I am having so much fun achieving my most important goals and I have a renewed energy. I know that I am being the best that I can be. Our staff depends on that. Our customers deserve that too. The time I have spent writing this article has also freshened my love to write. That goal of completing my book is not lost. Success is in your grasp too. Managing your goals will give you a boost toward your future success. Take the time to do this. Your worth it.