What I am going to share with you has helped me get through tough, challenging times repeatedly in our business.  It is the idea of “Grinding it Out”.  I had heard this concept Grinding it out a couple years ago when I was watching The Masters and Tiger Woods was playing injured.  He was scheduled to have some type of surgery soon after this tournament.  So of course all eyes were on him from the beginning.  He was playing in what he later explained to be excruciating pain.  Pain that was so bad that after most shots, he buckled over and was clearly in a lot of pain.  This went on for 4 days of 18 holes a day.  Tiger won the tournament despite all of this pain that he experienced during the match.  He nearly fell to his knees and collapsed when the tournament was over.

By far the most compelling part and the main lesson for me is that when he was speaking about this experience afterwards, he said that he KNEW that his pain was coming.  He just did not know when is was coming.  So in his back swing ( the beginning of his shot) somewhere in his mind, he knew that there was possibly going to be some serious pain to follow.

When interviewed afterwards, he used the phrase “Grinding it out”.   I think what that meant to him was that even with the fierce competition AND his injury, he knew that he was still the best golfer out there and he just needed to play through the it.  He just needed to Grind it out.  Play through the pain and forget the pain he experienced on his last shot.  This is extremely difficult to do.  Mentally, this could be one of the toughest challenges that any of us will ever face.  How do you play on, how do you move forward with pain?

You Grind it out, that’s how.  Play on with pain knowing that you are bending the law of averages in your favor.  Play on with pain knowing that where dry desert ends, green grass grows.  Play on knowing that at the beginning of your day, after all of your HUGE swings, you may experience some pain.  You may experience pain on your next swing and the next one after that. Keep taking HUGE swings, keep swinging.  Grind it out.

Be Free!

Alan Mong
Speaker

Have you ever felt overwhelmed with the amount of tasks, duties, etc. that you need to get done?  Are you being stretched in too many directions?  Are you thinking about other tasks while performing the task that you are in?

Guilty, we all are.  For me, this week was all of the above.  It was a piling on affect for me because I had not been able to get things done leading up to this week.  I had been constantly thinking about other things that needed to get done while I was performing work tasks.  Scatterbrain is a great way to describe me last week.  Almost like being a novelist.  Someone who knows a little about everything however they know nothing about anything specific.  A jack of all trades but a specialist in nothing.

What I found is that NOT being focused on the task that I was presently performing, I was not performing any task to the level that I am capable of.  I was spinning my wheels.  Putting in a lot of effort and going nowhere.  Frustration is the end result feeling.

I got punched in the face yesterday, woke up and played out the events of this past week.  I got a voice mail from my mother saying that my father was in the hospital with stomach pains and had been in the hospital since Sunday.  He lives alone and had recently overcame pancreatic cancer, so we are always worried about him.  A weight hit me in my chest.  Not because he was in the hospital but because I knew that he was in the hospital.  I had spoke with him and his nurse on Tuesday.  He is just fine, nothing serious.  Thank God.  I felt heavy because I had this information on Tuesday and did not call my mother or my sister to let them know.  Looking back on the situation, the only reason that I can think of why I did not make those phone calls is because I was “too busy”.

This is where my learning comes from and why I say that “You are not that busy”.  Wow, such a reality check for me to look back and think about where my priorities had been for the past week and possibly longer.  This situation with my dad has put things into perspective for me.  Sometimes it takes something like this to happen before we take ourselves out of the situation and really look at it.

I had been so consumed with ME and the things that I needed to get done, that I missed the biggest task of the week.

OG Mandino says in his scroll from “Greatest Salesman in the World”.  I am master of my emotions.  So I started telling myself that I am master of my emotions, I have plenty of time, I have enough time to get everything done, I spend quality time with my wife and my family, I use my time to it’s fullest potential, I am master of my time.  This is the first thing that I recommend that you do, tell yourself what is truth.  The truth is that there is plenty of time and it is up to you to control it and not let it control you.  Knowing that you DO have plenty of time, you are able to prioritize tasks and accomplish them.

The other lesson here is to take the time to simply RELAX.  When you feel yourself getting worked up and spinning, RELAX. Great thing is that it only takes a couple minutes to RELAX.  Take some deep breaths, feel that calmness around you, feel the abundance, feel the love, feel the power you have over your time.  When you take small breaks throughout the day, actually take that time, clear your head and simply relax.  You can do this even when you going to the kitchen to get something to drink, let those arms go limp, relax your head and take some deep breaths.  When you relax, your ideas and thoughts are flowing more free, which leads to remembering more things that need to get done or better ways to get them done.

Schedule it and JUST DO IT.  When you are doing your weekly planning, put everything that needs to get done on your calender.  When that time comes to perform that task, don’t think about it, JUST DO IT!

I have an abundance of TIME, I get things done, I am a man of action.

Be Free!

Alan Mong
Speaker

We all have the same 24 hours in the day to make of, as we will, but how is it that some people are able to accomplish so much and others are scrambling to get the minimum required in any given day? How can some find the time to balance work, personal life, health, and family and still manage to take that vacation without stress or concern? What abilities do they have that I don’t?

I was asking myself these same questions five years ago as I was struggling to make a living as an actor in New York. I worked two and sometimes three jobs to barely get by and make enough to pay for the necessities of life. I was searching for the magical cure to my busy but unproductive lifestyle and coming up short.

I found myself doing very well managing my time in one specific area of my life and as a result completely fell apart in all other areas, a challenge that has plagued me throughout my life. Additionally, I would get a lot accomplished in the various areas of my life, but many times the tasks accomplished would be secondary in importance, making me feel guilty for not getting everything done. I would catch myself saying things like, “I should have gotten this done” or “I could’ve done more” thus negating the good things accomplished.

If you have found yourself asking the same questions or relating to any one of these scenarios, know that there is hope. I am going to introduce you to four ideas that have had a powerful and profound impact on my ability to accomplish more in any given week. If you’ll apply these concepts to yours, I am confident it can do the same for you.

Before I discuss my strategies, know that none of these are original ideas. I have learned these tips from some of the best. As you read further you may find yourself saying, “I already know that” or “I’ve heard that before”. My reply would be, “If you ‘know it’ already then why aren’t you doing it?” Plus, we can always use some reminding from time to time.

4 Ideas for More Effective Time Management: Delete, Decide, Determine & Do

DELETE: What I mean is to remove the “stuff” that gets in the way of you accomplishing any task. It is the difference between being busy and productive. The two areas that this has helped me most with are my use of the computer as well as reduction of clutter and distractions in my office. I reduced the amount of time spent checking email (twice daily) and simply removed the clutter in my office. Since there was less to distract me, I became instantly more productive.

DECIDE: The first step in the accomplishment of any goal or objective is the decision to pursue or achieve it. You must decide what it is you want or need to accomplish in a given week. Do this for all areas of your life and not just for business.

Plan your week in advance. Take at least one hour (two is ideal) every Sunday to schedule what needs to be accomplished in that coming week. Actually write down what you need to do on a certain day. You will find this to be a super helpful way to focus on the present and what is controllable for the week.

DETERMINE: Once you have written down your objectives for the week, determine your high-priority items and accomplish them first. This will help reduce the “I should have done that” game because you’ll have them completed. Brian Tracy refers to this in his book “Eat that Frog”, stating that you should tackle the biggest and most challenging task first because as the day goes on that task becomes even bigger, more daunting and less likely to be accomplished.

DO: After determining the most important tasks for the week the only thing left is to do it. The sooner you take action to accomplish the most difficult tasks/objectives the more likely you are to achieve them, the better you will feel and the less stress will creep in your life.

If you will follow these simple steps, “Delete, Decide, Determine & Do”, you will find yourself having more time at the end of the day and your stress will be reduced. These steps have also been very instrumental in maintaining the balance between our business and personal lives. I wish you much success and more time to do the things you truly love.

Be free.

David Shoup

Hold onto your goals lightly.

That post inspired someone to ask the questions.

“Could you elaborate? Doesn’t this go against that whole ‘magnificent obsession’ thing that Napoleon Hill describes?”

I love these questions and remain amazed and grateful for how freely we can all share thoughts and questions now.

To answer the second question directly.  No.  That’s not my experience at all.

I love when i have a ‘magnificent obsession’ burning inside of me.  Holding onto a goal lightly and having a ‘magnificent obsession’ complement each other in a perfect way.  In fact, i believe you can’t really have a ‘magnificent’ obsession without holding onto goals lightly.

Let’s start by clarifying what a magnificent obsession is and why it’s so important.  When you look around at people that accomplish things that are awe inspiring…. it could be writing a piece of music, building a company, doing an amazing job raising a child, helping people in need, it could be anything … often when you look closely at the person, they have a level of commitment, believe and determination that could be described as obsessive.  The adjective magnificent is sweetly used by Mr. Hill to differentiate that positive, inspiring obsession, from that of a closed-minded or destructive obsession.  To be fair, there IS a narrow margin between a ‘magnificent obsession’ and that of a destructive one.

That margin is separated by the attachment to the doing or the having.  This is why my experience leads me to hold onto my goal lightly.

The beauty of a magnificent obsession is found in the activity itself. The love of the game.  The bliss of experiencing the activity.  The joy of the steps along journey.  A person feels good while thinking about and engaging in their obsession.

The problem with other obsessions is that they don’t bring joy and fulfillment in the process of creating or doing.  The obsession lies with the having.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to have something.   What I find quite ironic is that the less i am attached to having something, and the more passionate I am about doing the activity, the more likely it is that the have shows up.

My recent climb of Mt. Everest is a perfect example of this.

My magnificent obsession was climbing the mountain.  Climbing that mountain started with 7 years of planning and general preparation.  Followed by four months of intense conditioning (think of 4-6 hours of training per day starting at 4:39am). Concluded by the climb itself.  Sixty-two days of life in a tent in an environment that doesn’t sustain human life.

I loved the entire journey. The workouts.  The planning.  Coming up with the money.  The cold nights in a tent.  Stepping my crampons onto the rock and ice.  Then entire experience was fabulous.  That doesn’t mean their weren’t setbacks and frustrations.  It just means that i loved the process.

My goal was to “climb as high as I can safely go.”

I held onto the goal of climbing to the summit very lightly.  If it happened this trip in this time, great.  If it didn’t, no problem.  The mountain will always be there and I lived to climb another day.

I was feeling great about what i was doing -  with or without the attainment of having stood on the top.

This is equally as true for my other goals.  I’d encourage anyone reading this to look at where their obsession lies.  Is it in the being and doing?  Feeling great along the way.  Or in the having?  And they how does it feel when you don’t have what you want exactly when you want it?

I think that the number one goal is to feel good along the way.  I’d love to hear what you think.

Be Free!

Eric Plantenberg

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While I was walking in my neighborhood I had the good fortune to come across an amazing garden. Now, I know it was amazing because I don’t spend a lot of time noticing gardens and if I noticed it, it must be pretty good. This was the kind of garden you see in magazines. Looking at it, you would guess the owner spent hours and hours of time each day to keep it in the shape it was. It was truly beautiful.

The reason this is even important is because the next house I passed had a garden that was almost the polar opposite of its neighbor. Simply put, it was a wreck. The owner happened to be at this house and was diligently picking at the weeds, which seemed to me a futile effort because they were everywhere. In passing, she said with frustration that she “waited to long to prepare the garden for the season” and that she “was going be playing a lot of catch up on this garden from hell.” I agreed, and wished her luck in her efforts, but knew she was in for a lot of disappointment.

On my way back around the owner of the “amazing garden” (who I’ll call Mr. Gardener) happened to be out watering his plants. So, after I congratulated him on his beautiful work I asked him what he did to keep his garden is such good shape. He chuckled and said, “This is going to sound crazy, but I don’t do much anymore.” He could tell by my confused expression I didn’t believe him so, he quickly elaborated. “Of course, I spend time on upkeep, but I only need to do a little each day now to maintain what I have created.” I asked him if there was anything else he did to keep it so sharp looking and without a second thought he said “Don’t you know, this is a prize-winning garden?”  “Really?” I asked with excitement. “No, not literally, but I treat it like it was. I believe my garden is the best in the neighborhood and as a result it is.”

Well, I thanked him for his time and, in my mind, I thanked him for the wonderful lesson he gave me and rushed home to write it down. From the most unlikely of situations and the most unlikely of people, thank you Mr. Gardener, I learned (re-learned is more like it) these three things:

1) Get Your Hands Dirty Early

The main difference between Mr. Gardener and his counterpart was that he put all his hard work on the front end so; he could reap the benefits on the back end. Albert E.N. Gray says that successful people “form the habit of doing things that failures don’t like to do.” What made Mr. Gardeners yard a success was that simple rule.

2) Weed Your Garden NOW!

Whenever Mr. Gardener saw a weed he took care of it immediately. He took action and did not let any unwanted plant take root. The more we wait to accomplish the simple tasks, whether in business or in life, the more pain it causes you in the future and the bigger and more daunting the task becomes.

3) Treat Your Business like a Prize-Winning Garden

Our hero had a clear vision of what his garden was going to look like and as a result settled for nothing less than a prize-winning garden. When he got it he was not surprised because he had been treating it that way from the beginning. Here is a quote I am bringing back that was extremely helpful as I started my business. “I am the best! Some may be as good as me, but no one is better. I am the best!”

Thank you, Mr.Gardener.

Well, if you said yes to these questions than I am going to share something that will revolutionize the way you do business!!! It is a brand new approach I (and I alone) came up with and if you’ll apply what I am about to impart to you even a little bit, you will grow your business to amazingly high levels. Levels only people the like of Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Donald Trump, Steven Segal, Paula Abdul and Ryan Seacrest have ever seen.

Are you ready for the earth shattering, weather changing phenomenon that is sweeping the country? You are? Okay.The brilliant idea I am going to share is… Now this info should stay within the walls of those reading this article ‘cause if it gets out it will become a global epidemic and you may lose your edge over the competition.

Okay, so here goes…We should get more referrals!!! Bam! There, I said it!! I know, astounding concept, huh? You didn’t think of that did you? That’s why I am the one writing this and your reading it. Because I am a pioneer!

Some of you may be thinking, “I can see how you, David, the king of referrals can obtain them, but I am just a mere human and you are obviously part alien. How can I also, do the same?” Well, never fear. I am going to prove that you do not have to be from space to experience out of this world results. Here are four quick tips that will enhance your ability to get referrals and increase the amount and quality of them as well.

4 Tips to Get More Referrals

1) Ask, Ask, Ask – This is obvious, I know. Everyone in any type of sales position knows the importance of having a constant flow of referrals to continue to grow or maintain their business, but for whatever reason can’t get themselves to ask for the referrals. This happens for 2 reasons: Either they are lazy and sloppy in their business or the are intimidated to ask for fear of looking folish or too “salesy”. Think about it this way, if you would like more referrals wouldn’t it stand to reason that others would too? By this logical you have every right to ask for them and if you don’t ask you will not get them. The worst thing that has happened to me so far is someone told me “no”. Fortunately that experience didn’t cause me to explode which means I can ask someone else without fear of explosion. Good to know that. It starts by simply asking for the business.

2) (If applicable) Scout Area Before Meeting – If you find yourself in a sales position where you go to the office or home of a client arrive in the area 20-30 minutes early. By doing this, you will not only ensure that you are on time for your meeting, but also allow you to check out the other businesses or potential clients in the neighborhood. This will also allow you to prime your prospects with great local business leads when you are in the process of getting referrals. When they are running out of ideas you can simply ask “How about ACME Business next door? Do you know who I might ask for there?”

3)       Prep Client in Advance – Remind your client to be thinking of who he/she knows that might benefit from the product or service you provide. Not that they would buy, but who would ‘benefit’”. What this does is cause our prospect to actively think of others who would be candidates and therefore psychologically they are now selling themselves on the benefits, which increases their likelihood of buying as well. Also, mention that you will catch him/her after your meeting to go over that list of possible referrals. When you prepare your Contact ahead they will not be surprised when you follow up with them later.

4) Enthusiastically Expect – Your enthusiasm for what you do is contagious and will rub off on your client. When you enthusiastically expect to get referrals something happens to your physiology that effects those you are around and makes them more likely to be giving you high quality referrals. I have had clients say to me after handing over 4-7 referrals that “I never give out referrals”. That has everything to do with the fact that when I walk in to sales situation I know with certainty that the service I provide is so good that they will want others to share in the fun. Just expecting to get referrals and asking for them enthusiastically will get you that extra one or two to bring you over the top in your business.

I encourage you to apply these brilliant revolutionary tips to your business and I’ll virtually guarantee that you’ll experience unprecedented growth and quite possibly join me and Steven Segal and receive the levels of success you deserve.

Looking back to the time in my business when I was really rolling, particularly my first two years as a speaker at FPD. Here are my top 4 Keys that allowed me to break records and bust loose.

1) Attitude:    Simply put, from the beginning I believed that I was the best. I would be willing to wager one of the reasons Alan Mong kicks so much tail is because he has a very healthy belief in his skills. I actually, stole this idea from Roger, who is responsible for teaching me the phrase: “I’m the best, I’m the best. Others may be as good as me, but none are better. I’m the best.” I challenge you all to find your own phrase or mantra and say it everyday for an entire month and than see how much it impacts your performance.

2) Work Harder than Anyone: This does not necessarily mean work more hours although at the time, I have confidence I put in more hours than the majority of our company if not all. The difference is I focused on putting in as much productive hours as possible. That meant if I was not doing speeches, making booking calls or visiting offices prior to the presentation I was listening to recordings of my work and talking to those in the business who were top sales people. What in your business can you do to be more productive in your work hours?

3) Have a Target: Some of you know that my 1^st two years I spent my time focusing on beating the stats of the top salesperson in our company. At the time, it was Brian Qualls. Specifically, I focused on four major categories: Dials, Bookings, Kept Speeches & Referrals. I charted Brian’s numbers for every single week of the year and my only focus was to try and beat each of those four categories. I figured if I matched or beat each one of those weekly targets I was bound to have a pretty good year. Feel free to check the stats of your favorite top salesperson and work to match their work efforts. I bet you’ll be glad you did.

4) Focus on Service: I could write an entire blog article on this one point but, I will keep this brief and quote one of my mentors, the great Zig Ziglar: “You can have everything you want out of life if you help enough others get what they want.” This idea of service has calmed, excited, relaxed & at times focused me during my presentations cause the saying is true, “It is hard to be nervous when your mind is on service.” I will close with asking, who are you being of service to?

I hope these 4 Keys have been helpful. Let me know your thoughts and if I can be of any help as you break your own records.

Be free.

David Shoup

If you answered “yes” to any or all of the above questions than you are essentially hand-cuffing your ability to function optimally in your business. This was the story for much of my last quarter and it clearly showed in my results. You may be thinking, “wait a minute David, my business was booming last quarter and I lived in a tornado zone at home. What do you have to say about that? Booya!!” Okay, maybe the “booya” part is a little over the top…

I’m not saying you can’t be successful while you are living in disorder. In fact, I am sure many can be extremely productive with a little clutter. What I am trying to convey is that when you remove the concern and stressful thought of  “I need to clean this” you free your mind to focus on other more useful business pursuits. For example, when we see the same mess in the garage week after week on continue to neglect mowing our lawn, for whatever reason, this causes us more stress and occupies a space in our brain that would be better suited for higher payoff activities.

According to author, John Medina we are incapable of dividing our attention. In his book, Brain Rules he says, “… the brain naturally focuses on concepts sequentially, one at a time.” So, unless we have supreme control over our focus we will find ourselves continuing to gravitate to those things that cause us the most stress as in the situations explained above. In other words, by default we will place them higher in our sequential order until we can remove them.

This same principle applies, not only to how clean our home is but, to disorganization in our business, our relationships, school etc… All of these scenarios are competing for space in our brains and the more we can reduce or eliminate these scenarios from our thoughts, the higher our brain function and focus will be. As a result our business cannot help but reap the benefits and improve.

So, what is the solution, you may ask? Here is my 2 step solution to clearing your mind.

1)      Create a Cleaning List – By walking through your house and noticing all the things or tasks that need to be accomplished and then writing them down you will now have a point of reference to work from. You will also be getting it out of your mind which will help to open up more space for you to focus your energy on better things.

2)      Delegate or Do It Yourself – Decide what you can either accomplish yourself or that you can pass along to someone else to take care of it. For example, you can hire a cleaning service once a month to clean your home or recruit the services of a neighbor kid to mow your lawn etc… Be creative. Whatever you haven’t delegated be sure to take care of it as soon as possible. Don’t allow your brain to split it’s energy and focus on silly activities that can easily be handled with a little effort.

Have a great time cleaning your home and get excited about the benefits you will experience as a result. I know it has definitely had a big impact on my production.

Be free.

On Wednesday, August 31st, Eric Plantenberg will share his experience of ascending and summiting the worlds highest peak, Mt. Everest. 

In addition to Co-Founding Freedom Personal Development, Eric is the founder of “We Climb for Kids” and has climbed mountains all over the world in an effort to raise money that is used to build schools for Pakistani and Afghani girls.

Come join us as Eric takes you on an adventure that only very few ever get to experience first hand.

This is an open invitation to a free event.  All you need to do is register.

Free Registration

Event Details

Wednesday August 31st at 7:00 PM

Location:
Marriott Madison West
1313 John Q Hammons Dr
Middleton, WI 53562
Map and Directions

We Climb for Kids

To learn more about the project, go to; www.weclimbforkids.com

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