Success Is Easy, But So Is Neglect
"We’ve all heard the expression, ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away.’ Well, I’ve got a good question for you: What if it’s true? Wouldn’t that be easy to do, to eat an apple a day? Here’s the problem: It’s also easy not to do."
People often ask me how I became successful in that six-year period of time while many of the people I knew did not. The answer is simple: The things I found to be easy to do, they found to be easy not to do. I found it easy to set the goals that could change my life. They found it easy not to. I found it easy to read the books that could affect my thinking and my ideas. They found that easy not to do. I found it easy to attend the classes and the seminars, and to get around other successful people. They said it probably really wouldn’t matter. If I had to sum it up, I would say what I found to be easy to do, they found to be easy not to do. Six years later, I’m a millionaire and they are all still blaming the economy, the government, and company policies, yet they neglected to do the basic, easy things.
In fact, the primary reason most people are not doing as well as they could, and should, can be summed up in a single word: neglect.
It is not the lack of money—banks are full of money. It is not the lack of opportunity—America, and much of the world, continues to offer the most unprecedented and abundant opportunities in the last six thousand years of recorded history. It is not the lack of books—libraries are full of books, and they are free! It is not the schools—the classrooms are full of good teachers. We have plenty of ministers, leaders, counselors and advisors.
Everything we would ever need to become rich and powerful and sophisticated is within our reach. The major reason that so few take advantage of all that we have is simply neglect.
Neglect is like an infection. Left unchecked, it will spread throughout our entire system of disciplines and eventually lead to a complete breakdown of a potentially joy-filled and prosperous human life.
Not doing the things we know we should do causes us to feel guilty, and guilt leads to an erosion of self-confidence. As our self-confidence diminishes, so does the level of our activity. And as our activity diminishes, our results inevitably decline. And as our results suffer, our attitude begins to weaken. And as our attitude begins the slow shift from positive to negative, our self-confidence diminishes even more... and on and on it goes.
So my suggestion is, when given the choice of “easy to” and “easy not to,” that you do not neglect to do the simple, basic, “easy” but potentially life-changing activities and disciplines.
There Are Four Steps To Building A Large And Successful Network Marketing Organisation
2. Know what to say to them.
3. Train people to do the first two.
4. Commit to doing the first three.
The Determinant of Your Success
Perhaps the most powerful single factor in your financial success is your beliefs about yourself and money. We call this the Law of Belief. It says simply this: Whatever you believe, with feeling, becomes your reality.
What Successful People Believe
Whatever you intensely believe becomes your reality. That we have a tendency to block out any information coming in to us that is inconsistent with our reality. What we've discovered is that successful people absolutely believe that they have the ability to succeed. And they will not entertain, think about, or talk about the possibilities that they'll fail. They do not even consider the possibility of failure.
Positive Thinking Versus Positive Knowing: You always act in a matter consistent with your beliefs. The most important belief system you can build is a prosperity consciousness where you absolutely believe that you are going achieve your financial goals. We call this positive knowing versus positive thinking. Positive thinking can sometimes be wishing or hoping. But positive knowing is when you absolutely know that no matter what, you will be successful.
The Foundation of Willpower
Another principle related to your beliefs is willpower. We know that willpower is essential to any success. Willpower is based on confidence. It's based on conviction. It's based on faith. It's based on your belief in your ability to triumph over all obstacles. And you can develop willpower by persistence, by working on your goals, by reading the biographies of successful people, by listening to audio programs, by reading books about people who've achieved success. The more information you take into your mind consistent with success, the more likely it is that you will develop the willpower to push you through the obstacles and difficulties you will experience.
Strangers and Friends
By Seth Godin
Most marketers are organized around more. More share. More customers.
And if you want to do that fast, it means marketing to strangers. Strangers that don't care about you, don't trust you and aren't listening to you.
You market to a friend differently. A friend isn't necessarily someone you went to summer camp with, it's someone who gives you the benefit of the doubt. Someone who will listen, at least once, to your pitch.
I was talking to an author about his next project. The question I asked him was, "are you writing this for strangers or friends?" The implications are huge. It impacts how you design the cover, how you price it, what it's about, where you sell it, when you publish it, how much you pay for store displays, etc...
You need to treat friends differently at every step along the way. First, don't confuse the moments you're supporting them or connecting with them with the moments when you are doing business. Second, understand that the most powerful win is when your friends tell their friends about you. This is worth 1000 times more than you talking about yourself.
The cool thing is that now, everyone has ten times as many friends as they used to. The social graph online is a fascinating, exponential factor in growing the list of people who might be willing to hear what you have to say (once).
Which means that your site and offer and products can be organized around friend selling instead of stranger setting.
Guaranteed: if you sell a friend the way you sell a stranger, you've made neither a sale or a friend.
Two halves of the value fraction
By Seth Godin
In a down economy, marketers fret a lot about price. We think that since times are tough, people care about price and nothing but price.
Of course, people actually care more about value. They care about value more than they used to because they can’t afford to overpay, they don’t want to make a mistake with their money.
Value = benefit/price. That means that one way to make value go up is to lower price, right?
The thing is, there’s another way to make the value go up. Increase what you give. Increase quality and quantity and the unmeasurable pieces that bring confidence and joy to an interaction.
When all of your competitors are busy increasing value by cutting prices, you can actually increase market share by increasing value and raising benefits.
Facing the Enemies Within Oneself
By Jim Rohn
We are not born with courage, but neither are we born with fear. Maybe some of our fears are brought on by your own experiences, by what someone has told you, by what you've read in the papers. Some fears are valid, like walking alone in a bad part of town at two o'clock in the morning. But once you learn to avoid that situation, you won't need to live in fear of it.
Fears, even the most basic ones, can totally destroy our ambitions. Fear can destroy fortunes. Fear can destroy relationships. Fear, if left unchecked, can destroy our lives. Fear is one of the many enemies lurking inside us.
Let me tell you about five of the other enemies we face from within. The first enemy that you've got to destroy before it destroys you is indifference. What a tragic disease this is. "Ho-hum, let it slide. I'll just drift along." Here's one problem with drifting: you can't drift your way to the top of the mountain.
The second enemy we face is indecision. Indecision is the thief of opportunity and enterprise. It will steal your chances for a better future. Take a sword to this enemy.
The third enemy inside is doubt. Sure, there's room for healthy skepticism. You can't believe everything. But you also can't let doubt take over. Many people doubt the past, doubt the future, doubt each other, doubt the government, doubt the possibilities and doubt the opportunities. Worse of all, they doubt themselves. I'm telling you, doubt will destroy your life and your chances of success. It will empty both your bank account and your heart. Doubt is an enemy. Go after it. Get rid of it.
The fourth enemy within is worry. We've all got to worry some. Just don't let it conquer you. Instead, let it alarm you. Worry can be useful. If you step off the curb in New York City and a taxi is coming, you've got to worry. But you can't let worry loose like a mad dog that drives you into a small corner. Here's what you've got to do with your worries: drive them into a small corner. Whatever is out to get you, you've got to get it. Whatever is pushing on you, you've got to push back.
The fifth interior enemy is over-caution. It is the timid approach to life. Timidity is not a virtue; it's an illness. If you let it go, it'll conquer you. Timid people don't get promoted. They don't advance and grow and become powerful in the marketplace. You've got to avoid over-caution.
Do battle with the enemy. Do battle with your fears. Build your courage to fight what's holding you back, what's keeping you from your goals and dreams. Be courageous in your life and in your pursuit of the things you want and the person you want to become.
Take Control of Your Fear!
By Judi and Matthew from www.lifeismine.org
Fear rears its ugly head in many ways on many levels. Sometimes it appears incognito-as if donning a Halloween costume. But unlike the old expression, 'trick or treat', fear offers no options! It only serves up a TRICK.
Fear itself is afraid. ..afraid we will no longer have use for it as an excuse for holding our greatness hostage. As long as we remain fear-filled, there is little chance of creating an open invitation to joy, success, adventure or inspiration.
Our very life gets put on hold and becomes stagnant. The debilitating effect of fear reminds me of a stream that ceases to flow. The water stops, algae accumulates, the available space lessens and a rancid, unbearable odor ensues. Sound enticing?
Letting go of fear can be as simple as making a conscious choice in the moment! When you recognize that you are in the clutches of fear, be your best advocate and say to yourself firmly and lovingly, "Stop it, your name_! Stop it right now!" Or ask yourself this question, "Is this how I want to live my life...crippled by fear?" Or say, "Whoa! Wait just one minute! I'm in charge here...NOT fear."
There is nothing to be feared that is bigger or worse that the stifling sense of the actual feeling of being too afraid to make a move. The bottom line is that the whole concept is some illusory feeling that someone else labeled at some point when they were taken a-back by an unfamiliar experience that they had no reference point for and didn't trust themselves to create a way to handle/ interact with it. Then you bought into it!
Try seeing the whole fear thing from a different viewpoint. Use it! When you sense an uprising of fear within you...step back from it, observe it, and see it as an opportunity to get out of your comfort zone and try as new approach. Get excited about the possibility of being on the cutting edge of discovering a never before way to do something or make a decision. Notice it when it shows up, give it a 3 second acknowledgment...then show it who's boss!
"Change your thoughts, change your world." -Norman Vincent Peale
"Hate and fear can poison the body as surely as any toxic chemical." - Joseph Krimsky, M.D.
"Fear makes strangers of people who should be friends." - Shirley MacLaine
"How very little can be done under the spirit of fear." - Florence Nightingale
Whether or Which?
By Seth Godin, Founder of Squidoo.
Most marketers are busy trying to persuade people to buy their product. Confusion sets in, though, when you compare a pitch designed to get someone to buy any product in the category (you need an mp3 player because you can listen to music) vs. buying your product instead of the competition (ours is cheaper and bigger and better).
Are you trying to make the market bigger, or just grow your share?
When competing against a market dominator, your marketing generates more bang for the buck when you try to steal people who have already been persuaded to enter the category by the other guy. This is the Newton running shoe story. Nike sells fitness, running, camaraderie, effort, glory. Newton sells "buy us instead of Nike."
It doesn't pay for an insurgent energy drink to sell "thirst" because much of that marketing will just get people to go buy the brands they've always bought. The opportunity instead is to provide leverage at the last possible moment in the buying cycle.
Getting new people to enter your market is hugely expensive. There's no way I can persuade a non-book buyer to start buying books--I don't have enough time or enough money.
This thinking rarely grows the market, though, so it falls on the market leader to figure out how to market well enough to get people into the category itself. The critical issue is to decide which one you're doing. Are you working on whether or not someone should buy, or on which one they should buy once they realize a need? Do your employees have the same answer?
I Need More Time
By Seth Godin, Founder of Squidoo.
First rule of decision making: More time does not create better decisions.
In fact, it usually decreases the quality of the decision.
More information may help. More time without more information just creates anxiety, not insight.
Deciding now frees up your most valuable asset, time, so you can go work on something else. What happens if, starting today, you make every decision as soon as you have a reasonable amount of data?
Enterprise Is Always Better Than Ease
By Jim Rohn
If we are involved in a project, how hard should we work at it? How much time should we put in?
Our philosophy about activity and our attitude about hard work will affect the quality of our lives. What we decide about the rightful ratio of labor to rest will establish a certain work ethic. That work ethic - our attitude about the amount of labor we are willing to commit to future fortune - will determine how substantial or how meager that fortune turns out to be.
Enterprise is always better than ease. Every time we choose to do less than we could, this error in judgment has an effect on our self-confidence. Repeated every day, we soon find ourselves not only doing less than we should, but also being less than we could. The accumulative effect of this error in judgment can be devastating.
--- FORTUNATELY, IT IS EASY TO REVERSE THE PROCESS ---
Any day we choose we can develop a new discipline of doing rather than neglecting. Every time we choose action over ease or labor over rest, we develop an increasing level of self-worth, self-respect and self-confidence. In the final analysis, it is how we feel about ourselves that provides the greatest reward from any activity. It is not what we get that makes us valuable, it is what we become in the process of doing that brings value into our lives. It is activity that converts human dreams into human reality, and that conversion from idea into actuality gives us a personal value that can come from no other source.
So feel free to not only engage in enterprise, but also to enjoy it to its fullest along with all the benefits that are soon to come!
Marketing Ideas To Niche Market
Ideas that spread, win. Sometimes ideas get changed in transmission, and sometimes those changed ideas spread even farther and with more impact than the ideas that came before them.
In business, if you lock down ideas, make them difficult to change and spread and have impact, you fail. If you accept the fact that change is real, that there is competition for your ideas and that amplifying the good stuff works, you can grow and thrive.
Marketing is telling a story that sticks, that spreads and that changes the way people act. The story you tell is far more important than the way you tell it. Don't worry so much about being cool, and worry a lot more about resonating your story with my worldview. If you don't have a story, then a great show isn't going to help much.
Marketing is not the same as advertising. Advertising is a tiny slice of what marketing is today, and in fact, it's pretty clear that the marketing has to come before the product, not after. As Jon points out, the Prius was developed after the marketing thinking was done. Jones Soda, too. In fact, just about every successful product or service is the result of smart marketing thinking first, followed by a great product that makes the marketing story come true.
The secret to being the best in the world is to make the 'world' smaller.
It's entirely possible that you will choose a niche that's too small. It's much more likely you'll shoot for something too big and become overwhelmed. When in doubt, overwhelm a small niche.
The Goals You Never Heard About
Doing goal setting with friends and colleagues is always motivating and invigorating for me. You hear things ranging from, "I want to help this village get out of poverty," or "I want to double our market share," or "I want to be financially independent."
What you rarely hear is, "I don't want to fail," "I don't want to look stupid," or "I don't want to make any mistakes."
The problem is that those goals are really common, and left unsaid, they dominate. If your goal is not to be called on in class, that's a largely achievable goal, right?
Think about how often your goal at a conference or a meeting or in a project is, "don't screw up!" or "don't make a fool of yourself and say the wrong thing." These are very easy goals to achieve, of course. Just do as little as possible. The problem is that they sabotage your real goals, the achievement ones.
It's not stupid to have a stated goal of starting several ventures that will fail, or asking three stupid questions a week, or posting a blog post that the world disagrees with. If you don't have goals like this, how exactly are you going to luck into being remarkable?
--Seth Godin
Be Willing to Do Something For Yourself
Be willing to say to yourself, "I'm on the right road. I'm doing OK. I'm succeeding." We too frequently become adept at pointing out our flaws and identifying failures. Become equally adept at citing your achievements. Identify things you are doing now that you weren´t doing one month ago... six months ago... a year ago. What habits have changed? Chart your progress.
Doing well once or twice is relatively easy. Continuously moving ahead is tough, in part, because we so easily revert to old habits and former lifestyles. Over the long run, you need to give yourself regular feedback to monitor your performance and reinforce yourself positively. Don't wait for an award ceremony, promotion, friend or mentor to show appreciation for your work. Take pride in your own efforts on a daily basis.
-- Denis Waitley
What is Greatness?
“Greatness is not measured by what a man or woman accomplishes, but by the opposition he or she has overcome to reach his goals.”
- Dorothy Height
Nine Things More Important than Capital
By Jim Rohn
When starting any enterprise or business, whether it is full-time or part-time, we all know the value of having plenty of capital (money). But I bet we both know or at least have heard of people who started with no capital who went on to make fortunes. How? You may ask.
Well, I believe there are actually some things that are more valuable than capital that can lead to your entrepreneurial success. Let me give you the list.
1. Time.
Time is more valuable than capital. The time you set aside not to be wasted, not to be given away. Time you set aside to be invested in an enterprise that brings value to the marketplace with the hope of making a profit. Now we have capital time.
How valuable is time? Time properly invested is worth a fortune. Time wasted can be devastation. Time invested can perform miracles, so you invest your time.
2. Desperation.
I have a friend Lydia, whose first major investment in her new enterprise was desperation. She said, "My kids are hungry, I gotta make this work. If this doesn't work, what will I do?" So she invested $1 in her enterprise selling a product she believed in. The $1 was to buy a few fliers so she could make a sale at retail, collect the money and then buy the product wholesale to deliver back to the customer.
My friend Bill Bailey went to Chicago as a teenager after he got out of high school. And the first job he got was as a night janitor. Someone said, "Bill, why would you settle for night janitor?" He said, "Malnutrition." You work at whatever you can possibly get when you get hungry. You go to work somewhere -- night janitor, it doesn't matter where it is. Years later, now Bill is a recipient of the Horatio Alger award, rich and powerful and one of the great examples of lifestyle that I know. But, his first job -- night janitor. Desperation can be a powerful incentive. When you say - I must.
3. Determination.
Determination says I will. First Lydia said, "I must find a customer." Desperation. Second, she said, "I will find someone before this first day is over." Sure enough, she found someone. She said, "If it works once, it will work again." But then the next person said, "No." Now what must you invest?
4. Courage.
Courage is more valuable than capital. If you've only got $1 and a lot of courage, I'm telling you, you've got a good future ahead of you. Courage in spite of the circumstances. Humans can do the most incredible things no matter what happens. Haven't we heard the stories? There are some recent ones from Kosovo that are some of the most classic, unbelievable stories of being in the depths of hell and finally making it out. It's humans. You can't sell humans short. Courage in spite of, not because of, but in spite of. Now once Lydia has made 3 or 4 sales and gotten going, here's what now takes over.
5. Ambition.
"Wow! If I can sell 3, I can sell 33. If I can sell 33, I can sell 103." Wow. Lydia is now dazzled by her own dreams of the future.
6. Faith.
Now she begins to believe she's got a good product. This is probably a good company. And she then starts to believe in herself. Lydia, single mother, 2 kids, no job. "My gosh, I'm going to pull it off!" Her self-esteem starts to soar. These are investments that are unmatched. Money can't touch it. What if you had a million dollars and no faith? You'd be poor. You wouldn't be rich. Now here is the next one, the reason why she's a millionaire today.
7. Ingenuity.
Putting your brains to work. Probably up until now, you've put about 1/10 of your brainpower to work. What if you employed the other 9/10? You can't believe what can happen. Humans can come up with the most intriguing things to do. Ingenuity. What's ingenuity worth? A fortune. It is more valuable than money. All you need is a $1 and plenty of ingenuity. Figuring out a way to make it work, make it work, make it work.
8. Heart and Soul.
What is a substitute for heart and soul? It's not money. Money can't buy heart and soul. Heart and soul is more valuable than a million dollars. A million dollars without heart and soul, you have no life. You are ineffective. But, heart and soul is like the unseen magic that moves people, moves people to buy, moves people to make decisions, moves people to act, moves people to respond.
9. Personality.
You've just got to spruce up and sharpen up your own personality. You've got plenty of personality. Just get it developed to where it is effective every day, it's effective no matter who you talk to - whether it is a child or whether it is a business person - whether it is a rich person or a poor person. A unique personality that is at home anywhere. One of my mentors, Bill Bailey, taught me, "You've got to learn to be just as comfortable, Mr. Rohn, whether it is in a little shack in Kentucky having a beer and watching the fights with Winfred, my old friend or in a Georgian mansion in Washington, DC as the Senator's guest." Move with ease whether it is with the rich or whether it is with the poor. And it makes no difference to you who is rich or who is poor. A chance to have a unique relationship with whomever. The kind of personality that's comfortable. The kind of personality that's not bent out of shape.
And lastly, let's not forget charisma and sophistication.
Charisma with a touch of humility. This entire list is more valuable than money. With one dollar and the list I just gave you, the world is yours. It belongs to you, whatever piece of it you desire whatever development you wish for your life. I've given you the secret. Capital. The kind of capital that is more valuable than money and that can secure your future and fortune. Remember that you lack not the resources.
Leadership
Be Strong but Not Rude
Be Kind but Not Weak
Be Bold but Not A Bully
Be Thoughtful but Not Lazy
Be Humble but Not Timid
Be Proud but Not Arrogant
Have Humor but Not Folly
Follow Your Heart
By Jackie Khor
19 December 2008
An empowering thought is ...
Don't limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what
they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets
you. What you believe, you can achieve.
- Mary Kay Ash
It's time to get ready for 2009.
2009 will be a great year for the Network Marketing Industry because some amazing things are going to happen to those who decide to lead. For those that decide to take control of their life.
The current economic conditions are incredible for us. All you have to do is adjust what you say to as many people you can and do to ensure the market will respond to you, that is to "market to the appropriate group of people".
Yet first it must start with YOU. Follow your heart.
You must work on YOU.
But did you know that with a little work you can become your own expert?
It's true! When I started a home business and later on online I didn't know much but I learned.
It was hard. It was work. It was hard work!
But I'm willing to bet that you are not afraid of a little hard work, are you? If you are, think about one most desirable thing you want to achieve for you or your family or for those who are kin to you.
To start you need the right philosophy and we can learn from people who inspire us.
Someone who inspires me is Steve Jobs - CEO of Apple Computer Inc. & Pixar Animation
In the attached YouTube clip he gives us three incredible lessons that formed his philosophy to life, work and success.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc
In addition, I have attached two e-books below written by Tamara Baruhovich, a Life Coach. She has been an inspiration to many people and she has written other bookd which you can check out at her website - Abundance4me
I hope you enjoy them as much as I did
Jackie
| develop_a_positive_attitude1.pdf |
| goals_ebook_-_tamara1.pdf |
Of All the Wisdom I Have Gained, the Most Important is the Knowledge
By Denis Waitley
Time and health are two precious assets that we rarely recognize or appreciate until they have been depleted. As with health, time is the raw material of life. You can use it wisely, waste it or even kill it.
To accomplish all we are capable of, we would need a hundred lifetimes. If we had forever in our mortal lives, there would be no need to set goals, plan effectively or set priorities. We could squander our time and perhaps still manage to accomplish something, if only by chance. Yet in reality, we're given only this one life span on earth to do our earthly best.
Each human being now living has exactly 168 hours per week. Scientists can't invent new minutes, and even the super rich can't buy more hours. Queen Elizabeth the First of England, the richest, most powerful woman on earth of her era, whispered these final words on her deathbed: "All my possessions for a moment of time!"
We worry about things we want to do - but can't - instead of doing the things we can do - but don't. How often have you said to yourself, "Where did the day go? I accomplished nothing," or "I can't even remember what I did yesterday." That time is gone, and you never get it back.
Staring at the compelling distractions on a television screen is one of the major consumers of time. You can enjoy and benefit from the very best it has to offer in about seven total hours of viewing per week. But the average person spends more than thirty hours per week in a semi-stupor, escaping from the priorities and goals he or she never gets around to setting. The irony is that the people we are watching are having fun achieving their own goals, making money, having us look at them enjoying their careers.
Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you've wasted in the past, you still have an entire today. If you've just frittered away an hour procrastinating, you will still be given the next hour to start on priorities. Time management contains one great paradox: No one has enough time, and yet everyone has all there is. Time is not the problem; the problem is separating the urgent from the important.
Be More Courageous
One of the best escapes from the prison of procrastination is to take even the smallest steps toward your goals. People usually procrastinate because of fear and lack of confidence and, ironically, become even more afraid when under the gun.
Aristotle believed, and I think correctly, that courage is the first of the human virtues, because it makes the others possible. Courage is the ability to exercise your free will and make things happen in the face of setbacks and unforeseen challenges, by selecting healthy role models and mentors and taking daily actions that define who we are to become.
We are not what society and randomness have made us. We are a nation of immigrants, most of whom arrived with nothing more than hope and a willingness to do whatever it takes to achieve our own dream. We are what we have chosen to be from the depth of our very souls and being. We are self-made based upon our beliefs.
No significant decisions -- personal or business -- have ever been undertaken without the attendant feelings of anxiety, uncertainty and guilt. The commitment to wade through these inevitable crises is the meaning of courage. To gain courage is to change your beliefs about what you deserve and about what's possible with patience and persistence.
Get out of your comfort zone and stretch your limitations this week!
Denis Waitley
Persistence
“As long as we are persistence in our pursuit of our deepest destiny, we will continue to grow. We cannot choose the day or time when we will fully bloom. It happens in its own time.”
- Denis Waitley
Change Begins With Choice
By Jim Rohn
Any day we wish; we can discipline ourselves to change it all. Any day we wish; we can open the book that will open our mind to new knowledge. Any day we wish; we can start a new activity. Any day we wish; we can start the process of life change. We can do it immediately, or next week, or next month, or next year.
We can also do nothing. We can pretend rather than perform. And if the idea of having to change ourselves makes us uncomfortable, we can remain as we are. We can choose rest over labor, entertainment over education, delusion over truth, and doubt over confidence. The choices are ours to make. But while we curse the effect, we continue to nourish the cause. As Shakespeare uniquely observed, "The fault is not in the stars, but in ourselves." We created our circumstances by our past choices. We have both the ability and the responsibility to make better choices beginning today. Those who are in search of the good life do not need more answers or more time to think things over to reach better conclusions. They need the truth. They need the whole truth. And they need nothing but the truth.
We cannot allow our errors in judgment, repeated every day, to lead us down the wrong path. We must keep coming back to those basics that make the biggest difference in how our life works out. And then we must make the very choices that will bring life, happiness and joy into our daily lives.
And if I may be so bold to offer my last piece of advice for someone seeking and needing to make changes in their life - If you don't like how things are, change it! You're not a tree. You have the ability to totally transform every area in your life - and it all begins with your very own power of choice.
Problem Solving
By Zig Ziglar
Fortunately, problems are an everyday part of our life. Consider this: If there were no problems, most of us would be unemployed. Realistically, the more problems we have and the larger they are, the greater our value to our employer.
Of course, some problems are small, like opening a ketchup bottle. Others are monumental like a seriously ill or injured child or mate, which present ongoing, daily complications. Successful living comes when we learn to handle those business and personal problems with as little fanfare as possible.
The successful business executive can handle challenges and solve problems at a remarkable clip. He/she makes quick and final decisions as a result of years of experience. The homemaker with small children at home handles many "catastrophes" each hour with the same dispatch.
Many people use counter-productive methods to deal with problems: They refuse to recognize them, deny responsibility for them, pretend they will go away if they ignore them, or are just flat insensitive to them.
The first step in solving a problem is to recognize that it does exist. Next, we determine whether the problem is our responsibility. If the answer is yes, we must determine how serious and/or urgent it is. When that last determination is made, we either take immediate action if the problem is simple and quickly solvable or develop a plan of action and prioritize it if the solution is more difficult and time-consuming.
Problem solving becomes a very important part of our makeup as we grow into maturity or move up the corporate ladder. I encourage you to take the time to define the problem correctly, learn the skill of quick analysis and remember, if it weren't for problems in your life, your position might not be necessary in the first place. Ironing out the wrinkles and solving the problems is what most jobs are about.
Think about it.
The First Step for Getting Better Results
By Jim Rohn
How dramatically we can change our results is largely a function of imagination. In 1960, it was a technological impossibility for man to travel into outer space. Within ten years, however, the first man stepped out onto the surface of the moon. The miraculous process of converting the dream into reality began when one voice challenged the scientific community to do whatever was necessary to see to it that America "places a man on the moon by the end of this decade." That challenge awakened the spirit of a nation by planting the seed of possible future achievement into the fertile soil of imagination. With that one bold challenge the impossible became a reality.
- THE SAME PRINCIPLE APPLIES TO EVERY OTHER AREA OF OUR LIFE! -
Can a poor person become wealthy? Of course! The unique combination of desire, planning, effort and perseverance will always work its magic. The question is not whether the formula for success will work, but rather whether the person will work the formula. That is the unknown variable. That is the challenge that confronts us all. We can all go from wherever we are to wherever we want to be. No dream is impossible provided we first have the courage to believe in it.
Defining Qualities of a 360º Leader
By Dr John Maxwell
1. Adaptability – Quickly adjusts to change.
Leaders in the middle may not be the first to know, but they are often the ones in charge of implementation. Adaptable managers in the middle are willing to embrace a change operationally even if they are not yet ready to do so emotionally.
2. Discernment – Understands the real issues.
Good leaders cut through the clutter to see the real issues. A smart person believes only half of what he hears, but a truly smart person knows which half to believe.
3. Security – Finds identity in self, not position.
Effective 360º leaders are secure enough in who they are to not worry about where they are. Instead of focusing on reaching a position, they focus on reaching their potential.
4. Service – Gains fulfillment in serving everyone.
A servant leader serves the mission and leads by serving those on mission with him or her. The true measure of leaders is not the number of people who serve them but the number of people they serve.
5. Resourcefulness – Finds creative ways to make things happen.
Creativity is the joy of not knowing it all. We seldom, if ever, have all the answers, but we always have the imagination to create solutions to our problems.
6. Maturity – Puts the team before self. Nobody who possesses an unrelenting me-first attitude is able to develop much influence with others. A mature leader sees beyond his or her personal vantage point and has the courage to make sacrifices which advance the team.
7. Communication – Links to all levels of the organization. We often think of communication in organizations as being primarily top-down. Leaders at the top cast vision, set direction, reward progress, etc. However, good communication is a 360-degree proposition. In fact, oftentimes the most critical communication comes from leaders identifying problems or solutions at the ground level and sending them up the chain of command.
The Law of Sowing and Reaping - Second Law
By Jim Rohn
Now, here's the second law that changed my life forever in network marketing. I learned the law of sowing and reaping. And in the law of sowing and reaping is also the story of the law of averages.
Jot this down…the story of the sower. It comes from the Bible. I am an amateur on the Bible, but this is such a useful story. Here's what the story says, and take notes, because the drama's in the details.
The sower was ambitious. Evidently, he was ambitious. When you read the whole story you'll conclude yes, this was an ambitious sower.
Here was number two. He had excellent seed. The sower who sowed the seed had excellent seed. And the excellent seed could be an excellent opportunity, an excellent product, an excellent story.
So we've got an ambitious sower with excellent seed. But now here are the rest of the details of the story. For your information, for the drama of your life, so you can understand things better, learning some of this is how I got rich by age 31.
The sower goes out to sow the seed, but the first part of the seed falls by the wayside and the birds get it.
So jot this down. The birds are going to get some of the seed. The birds are going to get some of the seed.
Now you say, "Mr. Rohn, what does that mean?"
Well, I invited John to come to a meeting. He said he'd be there Tuesday night. Tuesday night I show up. John isn't there. I say, "I wonder why John didn't make it."
Now I know the answer. The birds! The birds! John had this great idea of coming to the meeting to look at an opportunity, and somebody stole it and said, "You're not going to go see network marketing." And he says, "Well, maybe not."
So have you jotted that down now? The birds are going to get some.
Now when the birds get some, you've got two options. Number one is to chase birds. You say, "Well, let me get hold of the person who talked him out of coming to the meeting. I'll tear him a new page." I wouldn't do this.
Here's what happens if you go chasing birds. You leave the field. If you go chasing birds now, you leave the field. Which is going to distract from your future, not add? So you can't chase birds and try to straighten this stuff out.
Here's what it is. It's just one of those things, and here's the best comment when things are a little disappointing. "Isn't that interesting?"
You just have to say, "I thought sure he would be there. He promised me. He promised me! But I know it was the birds." And you just have to say, "Isn't that interesting?"
Now here's the rest of the story.
The sower kept on sowing. See, that was the secret to his success. He kept on sowing. And if you keep sowing, you can sow more than the birds can get because there aren't enough birds. If you keep sowing, there are some birds but there's not enough, because the Law of Averages will work for you.
My mentor taught me, "You know, Mr. Rohn, there are only nine or ten real nasty, miserable people in the whole world. Now you know they move around a lot and you're liable to bump into one once in awhile, but when you bump into one you say' 'There's only 9 more like you--I can handle that--in the whole world?'"
Now here's what else it says. The sower now keeps sowing the seed. Now the seed falls, the story says, on rocky ground where the soil is shallow. And the rocky ground where the soil is shallow is not of your making, because you had excellent seed and you were an ambitious sower.
So the rocky ground where the soil is shallow is not of your making. But here what it says happened. This time, the little seed that falls in the ground starts to grow and the little plant starts to grow. But the first hot day, it withers and dies. Not an easy thing to watch.
I finally get John started. Sure enough, three or four days later somebody says "Boo!" and he's gone--doesn't show up at the second meeting. And I say, "I thought sure John would last a week."
What happened? Jot this down. The hot weather is going to get some. And this is not of your making. Here´s what you must say when that happens. "Isn't that interesting?" What can you do? The answer is nothing.
You say, "Well, I'm going to try to change this!" I wouldn't take that class. You know, the sun comes up in the east and somebody says, "Why is that?" I wouldn't spend much time on that. Just let that happen.
Don't go for this why, why, why stuff. I'm giving you the answers here. The answer is in the structure and in the consequences and is in the deal. The answer is in the deal. Anything beyond that is not worth studying.
You say, "Well, how come some just last a little while?" I wouldn't sign up for that class. Here's the answer: Some don't stay. You just have to jot that down. And when some leave you say, "That's one of those that don't stay."
Now, you know what category to put them in, and you can't solve this now. It's like rearranging the seasons. You can't fool with that. All you can do is cooperate with the way things are set up. I didn't set it up.
You say, "Well, it shouldn't be this way." Well, when you get your own planet you can rearrange this whole deal, but on this planet you´re a guest. You've got to take it as it comes.
Now, here is the secret to the ambitious sower with good seed. It said he kept on sowing.
Now, here's what he had to do to keep on sowing. He had to discipline his disappointment. This is a key phrase now to use for the rest of your life. You must learn to discipline your disappointment. Because you didn't set up the set up, and some are not going to stay, and that is not of your making.
Now, if you made gross errors and you ran them off, see that'd be different. Now you're responsible for that. But if it's in the normal course of things, this is the way things are.
Now, here's what it says. The sower keeps on sowing. Now it says the seed falls on thorny ground. And somebody says, "Well, how much of this do you have to go through?"
Well, hang on. It's not the end of the story now. Now the little seed falls on thorny ground and now the little plant starts to grow again but as the little plant starts to grow, the thorns choke it to death and it dies.
So jot this down. The thorns are going to get some. And that's not of your making.
And what are these thorns? The story even called these little thorns little cares, little distractions, little something's. Who knows what all they are.
I said, "John, we had a meeting last night. You weren't here." And John says, "Well, I can't make every meeting."
I say, "Why not? You're part-time."
He said, "Well, the screen door came off the hinges and you can't just let your house fall apart. You've got to take some time and fix things up."
And I can hear the thorns growing. He said, "Some extra trash had piled up in the garage. You can't let mountains of trash take over. You've got to keep your trash hauled out."
People who let little things cheat them out of big opportunities. People who let little things cheat them out of big opportunities, and you feel almost helpless. What could I do about that? And that's nothing. And you say, "Well, why is this?"
I'm asking you not to sign up for that class. Don't sign up for these, "Why is this?" classes. It's just the way it is--like winter following fall and spring following winter.
So have you got that? The thorns are going to get some.
But now here's the good news. Let's read the rest of the story now quickly. The sower now keeps on sowing the seed. Keeps on sharing the story. Keeps on giving an invitation. Yes the invitation can be more powerful for me as it was one year later than it was the first month, because now I'm saying I'm making twice as much money part time as I'm making on my full-time job.
Yes, the story can be more powerful, but the Law of Averages is still going to work. But now here´s what the story says. Finally the seed falls on good ground. Now put this in parentheses. It always will, if you keep sowing. If you share a good idea long enough, it will fall on good people.
But now here's the rest of that story. Some of the good ground did 30%. And some of the good ground did 60%. And some of the good ground did 100%.
You say, "Well, why the difference in numbers?" I wouldn't sign up for that class! Have I said that often enough now? Don't register for that class. It's just the way it is.
Now I tried to get the 30´s to do 60. Found out it was more than I could handle. I used to say, "I'll make them successful if it kills me." I almost died. No, you can't do that.
Here's what you do. Let the 30's do 30 to the best of their ability and keep doing 30, because that's how they build their lifestyle and get what they want out of life. And let the 60's do 60. And let the 100's do 100.
Now how can you get some to do a 100%? You've got to go through all these experiences and you've got to talk to all these people.
The Ant Philosophy
By Jim Rohn
Over the years I taught children about a simple but powerful concept - the ant philosophy. I think everybody should study ants. They have an amazing four-part philosophy, and here is the
First part: ants never quit.
That's a good philosophy. If they're headed somewhere and you try to stop them; they'll look for another way. They'll climb over, they'll climb under, and they'll climb around. They keep looking for another way. What a neat philosophy, to never quit looking for a way to get where you're supposed to go.
Second part: ants think winter all summer.
That's an important perspective. You can't be so naive as to think summer will last forever. So ants are gathering in their winter food in the middle of summer.
An ancient story says, "Don't build your house on the sand in the summer." Why do we need that advice? Because it is important to be realistic. In the summer, you've got to think storm. You've got to think rocks as you enjoy the sand and sun. Think ahead.
Third part: ants think summer all winter.
That is so important. During the winter, ants remind themselves, "This won't last long; we'll soon be out of here." And the first warm day, the ants are out. If it turns cold again, they'll dive back down, but then they come out the first warm day. They can't wait to get out.
Fourth part: How much will an ant gather during the summer to prepare for the winter? All he possibly can.
What an incredible philosophy, the "all-you-possibly-can" philosophy.
Wow, what a great ant seminar. 1. Never give up 2. Look ahead 3. Stay positive and 4. Do all you can.
Willingness To Try Things Out
By Denis Waitley
In a way, human beings behave like bees. If you place several bees in an open-ended bottle and lay the bottle on its side with the base toward a light source, the bees will repeatedly fly to the bottle bottom toward the light. It never occurs to them to reverse gears and try another direction. This is a combination of genetic programming and learned behavior.
Put a bunch of flies in that bottle and turn the base toward a bright light. Within a few minutes, all the flies will have found their way out. They try all directions – up, down, toward the light, away from the light, often bumping into the glass – but sooner or later they flutter forth into the neck of the bottle and out the opening.
We often allow ourselves to become locked in our present circumstances – even if we are unhappy and really want to be reaching in a new direction. What we're doing may make us miserable, but at least it's familiar. One of the most important factors in achieving personal success is the willingness to try things out, to experiment, to test new grounds. In fact, this is the only way to learn and progress: trial, error, feedback, knowledge, trial and success. It is a far better thing to try to succeed and fail, than to do nothing and succeed.
This week:
* Try it
* Change it
* Do it
Stop stewing and start doing!
Personal Philosophy
By Jim Rohn
In the process of living, the winds of circumstances blow on us all in an unending flow that touches each of our lives.
We have all experienced the blowing winds of disappointment, despair and heartbreak. Why, then, would each of us, in our own individual ship of life, all beginning at the same point, with the same intended destination in mind, arrive at such different places at the end of the journey? Have we not all been blown by the winds of circumstances and buffeted by the turbulent storms of discontent?
What guides us to different destinations in life is determined by the way we have chosen to set our sail. The way that each of us thinks makes the major difference in where each of us arrive. The major difference is the set of the sail.
The same circumstances happen to us all. We have disappointments and challenges. We all have reversals and those moments when, in spite of our best plans and efforts, things just seem to fall apart. Challenging circumstances are not events reserved for the poor, the uneducated or the destitute. The rich and the poor have marital problems. The rich and the poor have the same challenges that can lead to financial ruin and personal despair. In the final analysis, it is not what happens that determines the quality of our lives, it is what we choose to do when we have struggled to set the sail and then discover, after all of our efforts, that the wind has changed directions.
When the winds change, we must change. We must struggle to our feet once more and reset the sail in the manner that will steer us toward the destination of our own deliberate choosing. The set of the sail, how we think and how we respond, has a far greater capacity to destroy our lives than any challenges we face. How quickly and responsibly we react to adversity is far more important than the adversity itself. Once we discipline ourselves to understand this, we will finally and willingly conclude that the great challenge of life is to control the process of our thinking.
Learning to reset the sail with the changing winds rather than permitting ourselves to be blown in a direction we did not purposely choose requires the development of a whole new discipline. It involves going to work on establishing a powerful, personal philosophy that will help to influence in a positive way all that we do and that we think and decide. If we can succeed in this worthy endeavor, the result will be a change in the course of our income, lifestyle and relationships, and in how we feel about the things of value as well as the times of challenge. If we can alter the way we perceive, judge and decide upon the main issues of life, then we can dramatically change our lives.
Making The Most Of Today
What each of us is doing this minute is the most important event in history for us. We have decided to invest our resources in THIS opportunity rather than in any other.
It is helpful to remember this when we consider the passage of time. As the years pass, I am acutely aware that the bird of time is on the wing. I remember at my fortieth high school reunion, I saw people who claimed to be my former classmates. We all had big name tags printed in capital letters so we wouldn't have to squint with our reading glasses on trying to associate the name with each well-traveled face. It seemed like only yesterday that I was really enjoying high school. What had happened to the four decades? Where had they flown?
To the side of the bandstand, where the big-band sound of the late 1940s and 50s blared our favorite top-ten hits, there was a poster with a printed verse for all of us to see. I read the words aloud: "There are two days in every week about which we should not worry, two days which should be kept free from fear and apprehension."
"One of these days is YESTERDAY, with its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains. Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back yesterday. We cannot undo a single act we performed or erase a single word we said. Yesterday is gone."
"The other day we should not worry about is TOMORROW, with its possible adversities, its burdens, its large promise, and its poor performance. Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control."
"This leaves only one day, TODAY. Anyone can fight the battles of just one day. It is only when you and I add the burdens of those two awful eternities - Yesterday and Tomorrow - that we break down."
"It is not the experience of Today that drives us mad, it is remorse and bitterness for something which happened yesterday and the dread of what tomorrow may bring. Let us therefore… Live this one full TODAY."
Malcolm Forbes believed the important thing is "never say die until you're dead," and he lived that example to the hilt. It is, as we realize when we suddenly attend our fortieth high school reunion, a short journey.
But it is difficult to be depressed and active at the same time. So get active! Live TODAY.
-- Denis Waitley
How To Show Interest in People
A great stage director once said, "Acting is reacting. It's done with the ears, not the mouth." Contrary to popular belief, listening is not passive, it's active. How do you get someone's attention? It's not by talking or by making clever remarks or by trying to impress others with yourself. If you want to get people interested in you, talk about what's important to them. The biggest mistake most people make in communicating is talking about Me, Myself and I: "What I want to sell"... "These are my needs"... "I would like this to happen because I"...
Instead, turn your attention to the other person: "What are your needs?" "How can I help you?" Then listen. Always pivot the conversation around the other person. Talk about people, places and things that are important to him or her.
It's been said that by showing interest in people you can make more friends in twenty minutes than you can in twenty weeks by showing how interesting you think you are.
So Be an Active Listener.
-- Denis Waitley
Must You Dream Big?
“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” -Henry David Thoreaur
Leadership
"A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit." Arnold H. Glasgow
"Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions." Harold S. Geneen
"My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be the first group. There is much less competition."
Indira Gandhi
Five Strategies of Exceptional Leaders
1. Cultivate Postitude
Everyone talks about the importance of attitude-and with good reason. Attitude always comes up in conversations with high achievers in all types of professions as the top factor in their success.
2. Lead by Serving
Great leaders from the past and present agree that the leader who serves others is the most effective.
3. Dare to Make a Difference
Difference makers have vision, are willing to take risks, know how to tune into the inner voice and have found a way to serve the vision not the other way around.
4. Embrace and Employ Discipline
While this may sound like a business principle, like most of the others it is a principle of leadership. Therefore it is present in leaders in all sectors, whether it is business, government, non-profit or church.
5. Update Snapshot Regulary
Don't get stuck in the old ways of thinking about people, projects, yourself and the world around you.
Why Do People Fail In Business?
People fail in business for these three reasons:
1. They never decide what they really want to accomplish.
2. They don't find out what it takes to get it.
3. They fail to get up when they get down.
Think about it.
Hilton Johnson, MLMCoach