Neel Raman and Focused On Productions

Take Control of Your Circumstances by Bob Proctor

noreply@blogger.com (Neel Raman) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:10:29 PST

I want to suggest that beginning today for the next thirty days, you attempt to take control over your circumstances.

George Bernard Shaw once said, People are always blaming circumstances for what they are; I don’t believe in circumstances, the people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want and if they can’t find them, they make them.

Millions of people are missing golden opportunities every day because they permit circumstances to stop them from accomplishing what they must accomplish to get what they want. Whenever you find yourself saying or thinking I would like to do this or that but I can’t because … understand that whatever follows the because is a circumstance and the moment you say those words you have given circumstance control over you.

The other day I was speaking with the executive officer in charge of a well-known sales organization. He explained they were fifteen percent behind quota for the year. When I asked him what they were going to do to make up for the shortfall, he quickly replied they would not be able to. He then began justifying his position.

Shun Fugimotto, a Japanese gymnast with a fractured leg in a plastic cast from his hip to his toe, was a gold medal winner at the Olympics in Montreal. He would not permit circumstances to keep him from realizing his dream.

In the 1950’s there was good reason why you could not fit a powerful computer in a briefcase. Someone would not accept that idea and today you can carry a computer in a briefcase.

High achievers make things happen because they will not permit circumstances to stop them.

Are you prepared to invest a few minutes a day to improve the quality of your life? If you are, check out Bob Proctor's Six Minutes To Success. Please click here for all the details.

Daily Little Tasks by Bob Proctor

noreply@blogger.com (Neel Raman) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:25:32 PDT

If you happen to be like most people, there are very likely a number of activities you are involved with every day, which are becoming monotonous. These of course are habitual, routine activities that you are called upon to do each day, some of which you may not even enjoy performing. Well, don’t despair because there is ways you can add a shot of enthusiasm to these activities, which will, in turn, add pleasure to your work.

Arthur Rubenstein, the famous pianist, lived to be 95 years old and was still performing in public when he was 90. Anyone who watched him playing could easily see that Mr. Rubenstein got enormous joy out of his work.

One day he was asked about the secret of his exuberance: how could he play pieces so enthusiastically which he must have played so many hundreds of times before? Rubenstein replied, I try to imagine I am playing each piece for the very first time, so the music comes new to me every time.

That is a principle you and I could apply to many aspects of our lives. Think of the boredom that would be eliminated with that type of an attitude.

Yule Brenner played the role of the King of Siam thousands of times on stage, repeating the same lines over and over, night after night. Every time he stepped onto the stage he fascinated and inspired his audience with a magnificent performance.

In his writings Wattles said, “You become great by doing little things in a great way every day”.

I know for a fact that if you make that principle a habit, as many true professionals have done, you will be milestones ahead of the masses. Start today!

Are you prepared to invest a few minutes a day to improve the quality of your life? If you are, check out Bob Proctor's Six Minutes To Success. Please click here for all the details.

An Interesting Word by Bob Proctor

noreply@blogger.com (Neel Raman) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:45:26 PDT

When you learn something, the quality of your life is improved because you have become a more effective individual. Why then, when an individual passes a course of instruction with high marks, possibly at the top of their class, do they remain an ineffective person? Do you think it is possible that the individual in question never actually learned anything? They merely gathered information and remembered it.

Gathering information means exactly what it implies - gathering information. Learning is when you consciously entertain an idea, you get emotionally involved with that idea, and you act on the idea and improve your results. The bottom line is results.

Reading, remembering and repeating do not constitute learning. That concept may earn you a degree but it will not necessarily make you an effective person - at anything.

Permit me to use a salesperson as an example - we could just as easily use a lawyer, a cabinet-maker or a clerk typist. The salesperson only closes one sale in twenty; he or she is ineffective. The hypothetical salesperson attends a course on closing sales. They pass the course with flying colors. Ask this person a question on closing a sale and they will answer it correctly. However, back in the marketplace they still only close one sale in twenty. They have learned nothing.

Eric Hoffer once said, “To learn you need a certain degree of confidence, not too much and not too little. If you have too little confidence you will think you can’t learn; too much and you will think you don’t have to learn”.

To improve your results you must learn. We can all improve and we are either learning or we are not.

Learning - it is an interesting word.

Are you prepared to invest a few minutes a day learning how to be more effective in life? If you are, check out Bob Proctor's Six Minutes To Success. Please click here for all the details.

The Opposite of Courage is Conformity by Bob Proctor

noreply@blogger.com (Neel Raman) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:31:00 PDT

If you want to succeed you must be different from the masses. Be yourself. Do not be afraid to assert your true personality. Don’t ever forget that you are a unique individual. As soon as you tow the line, you are denying your true personality and virtually denying yourself the opportunity to grow.

Although society, in general has done an excellent job of turning most of us into clones by eliminating difference and nipping our personal aspirations in the bud, a tiny inner voice nevertheless survives within each of us. Timid and worried, it whispers to us that our public images are false, that our genuine personalities are hidden and unexpressed. Frustration, sadness, and in some cases, a feeling of being dead inside, are some of the disadvantages we heap upon ourselves.

The fear of being different and the need to conform are false and destructive. It is an acquired concept, not something we were born with. Here are five powerful affirmations. Read these affirmations aloud a number of times every day for thirty days:

. Day after day I am asserting my true personality more and more.

. I am unique and feel completely free to express my desire to succeed.

. It is my right and duty to be myself.

. The success I achieve will be in keeping with the extent to which I assert myself. I am asserting myself more and more in all areas of my life.

. Every day I am increasing my self-worth ten fold and becoming more and more successful.

Repeating these affirmations on a daily basis will develop courage. The opposite of courage is not cowardice; the opposite of courage is conformity. Be yourself. Dare to Win.

If you have a few minutes to invest each day for your own development, check out Bob Proctor's Six Minutes To Success. Please click here for all the details.

The Safari Called Life by Dr. Denis Waitley

noreply@blogger.com (Neel Raman) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:37:37 PDT

Many of my keynote presentations to major corporations have focused on my experiences in Africa and how they can be applied to our individual and collective performance in pursuit of excellence and quality of life. I view life as a way of traveling on a mysterious, ever-challenging safari, where the trail is blazed by our daily choices, actions and responses.

There is an oft-repeated cliché I have heard ever since I was a boy: “It’s a jungle out there!” Every television and newspaper headline seems to shout about the perils of existence. Bad news is always the special meal of the day, and because of the media’s increasing preoccupation with what’s wrong in the world, each generation believes it is living in the most difficult times in history. How are we to face our deepening feelings of apprehension and fear in view of increasing global unrest and insecurity? How can we achieve survival, success and serenity in this savage paradise called life?

What I have learned on my pilgrimages to Africa on safari can be applied to our own daily lives. Life in every environment today is a savage paradise—savage to the ignorant, uneducated, unskilled, prejudiced and ill-informed. But it’s a paradise to those who have learned to adapt to and manage change, remain flexible, unhook prejudices, view failures and mistakes as temporary detours and target corrections, and remain lifelong learners. Our safari guides were comfortable and at ease in the dangerous ecosystem of Africa. We, on the other hand, felt vulnerable, insecure and hesitant. We were the newcomers, the tourists. They were the guides, confident through training and experience.

In my book, Safari to the Soul, I mention another book that had made the same parallel as I had, entitled The Jungle is Neutral, written by Col. F. Spencer Chapman, an officer in the British army during World War II. Col. Chapman survived for four years as a guerilla fighter in Malaysia. Cut off from the outside world, which listed him as “missing, believed killed,” he was isolated deep in the jungle, undergoing ordeals such as few individuals have ever lived to document. He escaped twice from prison camps because, in his own words: “I needed to get back to my assignment!”

When questioned later about his adversaries being expert jungle fighters and the fact that he was up against scorpions, yellow fever, malaria, poisonous snakes, incessant rain, wild tigers, leeches and undergrowth so thick it can take four hours to walk a mile, these were Col. Chapman’s observations:

“I had my bouts with most of what you mentioned. Some of it I was prepared for. Some of it I learned on the job. I managed to get around by bicycle, dugout canoe, mostly on foot, and some of the time on my belly crawling through the jungle muck. The jungle provides drinking water, fruit and food, shelter, and plenty of places to hide. I also made friends with the tribal chiefs and natives who had lived there all their lives and who taught me coping skills.”

When it was brought to his attention that others who spent only days or weeks in the jungle swore that the jungle is hostile, cruel and vindictive, Col. Chapman answered resolutely: “To me, the jungle is neutral. It is your knowledge, attitude, skills and habits that see you through. The jungle is what it is. It doesn’t think. It is the backdrop for your journey. Your preparation, training, resourcefulness and dedication are what count.”

On your own safari in pursuit of your professional and personal goals, as you look forward to a new beginning and the climb to a higher level, where you have never journeyed before, remember that acronym called the “KASH-flow” of life.

K is for Knowledge. Invest fully in your lifelong learning. The shelf life of your formal education, with any and all of your degrees, is about 18 months. Every five minutes, there is a new scientific or technological breakthrough that upgrades or makes obsolete what had gone before. Knowledge is the new power and the greatest tool for combating fear and prejudice.

A is for Attitude. Examine your “why,” and compare it with those who are peak-performers in every business. View problems as opportunities to grow and understand that virtually every successful entrepreneur has been a problem-solver and risk-taker. Taking the calculated risk is what creates security. Seeking security, provided by others, is the greatest risk to your personal freedom and fulfillment. Your attitude is either the lock on or key to your door of success.
S is for Skills. Attend meetings and conference calls, and take advantage of every opportunity to gain insights and experiences from successful role models and mentors. We learn by observation, imitation and repetition. Model yourself after mentors with proven track records of success, whose character traits and personal lives match their professional accomplishments. Behind every world-class athlete, there is a world-class coach. The same holds true in every business arena. Surround yourself with winning coaches.

H is for Habits. By the inch, success is a cinch. By the yard, it’s hard. Break your major goals down into mini-goals and stair-step your way to the top by establishing a dynamic daily routine that eliminates time-wasting activities and maximizes performance-achieving activities. Remember, the more you train, the more you gain. Habits are like submarines. They run silent and deep. Repetition is the key. Habits grow, over time, from cobwebs into cables and then shackle or strengthen our lives. Practice makes permanent. Only perfect practice makes perfect. You don’t break habits; you replace them.

By using the KASH formula, you will increase your cash flow and your productivity, giving you more free time to go on safaris when and where you want. Instead of a tourist, you’ll become a tour guide, with a greater awareness of your environment, courage based on skills and training, and an attitude of confidence to turn every stumbling block you face into a steppingstone to success and fulfillment.
Life is a safari into a savage paradise. The quality of your journey will depend on your preparation, choices and responses. Become a guide, instead of a tourist!

For more details on Denis Waitley's products, please visit www.yoursuccessstore.com

Three Keys to Greatness by Jim Rohn

noreply@blogger.com (Neel Raman) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 15:53:30 PDT

Some years ago I went into the studio and recorded a 56-minute video for teenagers called Three Keys to Greatness. Although my focus was for teenagers, the principles I shared certainly apply to adults as well.

Recently I was asked to list these three things using one to two sentences for each. Now for your benefit here they are again.

1) Setting Goals. I call it the view of the future. Most people, including kids, will pay the price if they can see the promise of the future. So we need to help our kids see a well-defined future, so they will be motivated to pay the price today to attain the rewards of tomorrow. Goals help them do this.

2) Personal Development. Simply making consistent investments in our self-education and knowledge banks pays major dividends throughout our lives. I suggest having a minimum amount of time set aside for reading books, listening to audiocassettes, attending seminars, keeping a journal and spending time with other successful people. Charlie “Tremendous” Jones says you will be in five years the sum total of the books you read and the people you are around.

3) Financial Planning. I call it the 70/30 plan. After receiving your paycheck or paying yourself, simply setting aside 10 percent for saving, 10 percent for investing and 10 percent for giving, and over time this will guarantee financial independence for a teenager.

If a young person, or for that matter an adult, focused on doing these three simple things over a long period of time I believe they will be assured success!

Check out www.jimrohn.com for more details on Jim Rohn's products.

Defining Success by Bob Proctor

noreply@blogger.com (Neel Raman) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 01:08:55 PDT

Our success in life is achieved through understanding and gaining a higher level of awareness of who we are and what we’re capable of being.

Many people would be quick to define their success as it relates to an object such as a new car, a bigger home, or whatever the circumstance might be. I would suggest you look at those achievements as a reflection of your own level of awareness.

Success should not be measured by things, but more, by the experience and learning gained as a result of moving from one level of awareness to the other. What did it take to get the car, the bigger home? Did it move you out of your comfort zone? Did the goal scare and excite you at the same time? Did you experience and overcome obstacles along the way?

If you can answer yes to any of those questions then, in my opinion, you have been successful. If you cannot, then you are probably more a “thing collector” rather than a “success achiever.” Big wins and great success requires growth.

We all trade our time for something. What are you trading your time for? What is your worthy goal, or ideal? In choosing a goal, the question we should ask ourselves is NOT whether we are worthy of the goal, but rather, is the goal is worthy of us!

Alfred Adler said, “I am grateful for the idea that has used me.”

Are you prepared to invest a few minutes a day to improve the quality of your life? If you are, check out Bob Proctor's Six Minutes To Success. Please click here for all the details.

Imagination by Bob Proctor

noreply@blogger.com (Neel Raman) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:02:58 PDT

Have you ever wondered how children can sit through replay after replay of their favorite Lion King or Little Mermaid video? It amazes me that they’ll voluntarily watch the same show every day without a single complaint or request for something new.

What’s more amazing, though, is that adults do the very same thing with their days. The majority of men and women play “movies” in their heads again and again, relentlessly focusing on the review of past events, most of which are unpleasant and disturbing experiences that have come their way.

If they’re actually able to stop their contemplation of past events, they allow impressions of their current surroundings and results to govern their lives. And, once in a while for variety’s sake, they’ll contemplate the future by either worrying about it, or daydreaming and wishing that something better might come along. And then they wonder why bad things keep happening to them, or why they never rise above the issues and obstacles in their lives.

Frankly, they would be better off watching The Lion King 40 times a day –because at least then, they’d be immersed in a creative and upbeat, positive process. See, most people have never learned how to “program” creative and upbeat “movies” in their heads because they’ve never been taught the value of creative visioning and purposeful thinking. If you doubt me, listen to the varied conversations going on around you. Sadly enough, I can readily predict that you’ll hear a Dante’s nightmare of disconnected thoughts with very little effort put forth in carrying on a purposeful (much less positively-minded) conversation. While it is true that people are free to think anything they please, as long as they remain set in their ways, there is very little that can be done to change the unpleasant experiences that keep cropping up in their lives.

There is, however, a strong movement that is stirring the multitudes into a new conception of living. The study of the mind – and its veritable unearthly power – is at last taking its proper place in modern civilization. Proper use of the mind and its various faculties will give you anything you choose – but the emphasis here is on the word “proper.” To move in this favored direction requires study and focused, consistent effort … with a good measure of creative juices stirred in. In the classic movie, Miracle on 34th Street, Kris Kringle tells young Susie Walker she can become whatever she chooses through the aid of her imagination. Kris went on to explain, the “Imagi-Nation” is a place we can all go … just like the British nation or the French Nation.

Although this may seem a cute line from a movie, it’s also a very healthy way to view the imagination. Your mind is a place you can purposely go to. And FREE WILL is your passport. No one is ever refused entry. There are no borders or limits put on the size of what can be built. And best of all, it’s a universal nation that allows all of us citizenry!

Just as the oak tree develops from the gene that lies within the acorn, and a bird develops from the gene that lies asleep in the egg, so too will your achievements grow from the organized plans that first begin with your imagination. An image in your mind is the first stage of the creative process in life. From your imagination your visions and plans arise.

In his best selling book "Think and Grow Rich" Napoleon Hill wrote, “You will never have a definite purpose in life; you will never have self confidence; you will never have initiative and leadership unless you first create these qualities in your imagination and see yourself in possession of them.” He went on to say that, “… imagination is the most marvellous, miraculous, inconceivably powerful force the world has ever known.”

Are you prepared to invest a few minutes a day to improve the quality of your life? If you are, check out Bob Proctor's Six Minutes To Success. Please click here for all the details.

17 Principles of Personal Achievement by Napoleon Hill

noreply@blogger.com (Neel Raman) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 16:17:16 PDT

Lesson 1: Definiteness of Purpose
Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement. Without a purpose and a plan, people drift aimlessly through life.

Lesson 2: Mastermind Alliance
The Mastermind principle consists of an alliance of two or more minds working in perfect harmony for the attainment of a common definite objective. Success does not come without the cooperation of others.

Lesson 3: Applied Faith
Faith is a state of mind through which your aims, desires, plans and purposes may be translated into their physical or financial equivalent.

Lesson 4: Going the Extra Mile
Going the extra mile is the action of rendering more and better service than that for which you are presently paid. When you go the extra mile, the Law of Compensation comes into play.

Lesson 5: Pleasing Personality
Personality is the sum total of one’s mental, spiritual and physical traits and habits that distinguish one from all others. It is the factor that determines whether one is liked or disliked by others.

Lesson 6: Personal Initiative
Personal initiative is the power that inspires the completion of that which one begins. It is the power that starts all action. No person is free until he learns to do his own thinking and gains the courage to act on his own.

Lesson 7: Positive Mental Attitude
Positive mental attitude is the right mental attitude in all circumstances. Success attracts more success while failure attracts more failure.

Lesson 8: Enthusiasm
Enthusiasm is faith in action. It is the intense emotion known as burning desire. It comes from within, although it radiates outwardly in the expression of one’s voice and countenance.

Lesson 9: Self-Discipline
Self-discipline begins with the mastery of thought. If you do not control your thoughts, you cannot control your needs. Self-discipline calls for a balancing of the emotions of your heart with the reasoning faculty of your head.

Lesson 10: Accurate Thinking
The power of thought is the most dangerous or the most beneficial power available to man, depending on how it is used.

Lesson 11: Controlled Attention
Controlled attention leads to mastery in any type of human endeavor, because it enables one to focus the powers of his mind upon the attainment of a definite objective and to keep it so directed at will.

Lesson 12: Teamwork
Teamwork is harmonious cooperation that is willing, voluntary and free. Whenever the spirit of teamwork is the dominating influence in business or industry, success is inevitable. Harmonious cooperation is a priceless asset that you can acquire in proportion to your giving.

Lesson 13: Adversity & Defeat
Individual success usually is in exact proportion of the scope of the defeat the individual has experienced and mastered. Many so-called failures represent only a temporary defeat that may prove to be a blessing in disguise.

Lesson 14: Creative Vision
Creative vision is developed by the free and fearless use of one’s imagination. It is not a miraculous quality with which one is gifted or is not gifted at birth.

Lesson 15: Health
Sound health begins with a sound health consciousness, just as financial success begins with a prosperity consciousness.

Lesson 16: Budgeting Time & Money
Time and money are precious resources, and few people striving for success ever believe they possess either one in excess.

Lesson 17: Habits
Developing and establishing positive habits leads to peace of mind, health and financial security. You are where you are because of your established habits and thoughts and deeds.

For a free mentoring program on Napoleon Hill's book, Think and Grow Rich, please click here.

Focusing and Acting on Your Dream by Les Brown

noreply@blogger.com (Neel Raman) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:34:25 PDT

Whatever dream you decide to go after, whether it is a family or a career goal, you must consciously decide that it is your life’s mission. Benjamin Disraeli said, “The secret of success is constancy to purpose.” You must go at it obsessively and set high standards for yourself along the way. There is no room for compromise when you are charting a course for your life or your career.

I spoke to a group of sharp young people not long ago, and when I finished, some of the fellows came up to me and said they were interested in becoming professional speakers. They invited me to go out with them that evening to have a good time. These fellows looked as though they knew how to have a seriously good time.

I had planned to work on my delivery that night by listening to the audio of my speech. (I record my speeches and listen to them later so I can study what works and what does not work with a particular audience. In effect, I listen to the audience listening to me.)

I was tempted to go with these fellows, and back when I was their age, I probably would have given in to that temptation and gone. But I have become more disciplined and more committed to my craft. A friend of mine, Wes Smith, wrote a humor book called Welcome to the Real World, and in it, he offered advice to fresh high-school and college graduates. He had a line in the book that pertains to the situation I faced that night. It said, “Having a drink with the boys after work every night is a bad idea. Notice that the boss doesn’t do it. That is why he is the boss and they are still the boys.”

Wes told me that he wrote that line with one particular group of hard-partying young businessmen in mind, and five years after the book came out, he ran into one of them. The guy volunteered that he’d read that line in Wes’s book and decided never to go drinking after work again. It paid off, he said. He had risen to a vice presidency at a savings and loan firm.

In my drive to become a public speaker, I developed that kind of focus, too. There is not a lot of time for hard partying if you are pursuing greatness. It was not that these young fellows were not serious about their interest in professional speaking, but that they were just as serious about having a good time. I don’t believe they were focused on their goals. They were seeking a profession, but they were not on a mission to make a dramatic difference in the world. I am. You should be, too.

Rather than the party crowd, I prefer to seek out people with knowledge that might be useful. I like to find out what books successful and intelligent people are reading. I want access to the information that contributes to their success and intelligence.

Les Brown is one of the teachers featured in the DVD "Beyond The Secret." For a sneak preview of Beyond The Secret, please click here.

Create That Winning Feeling by Bob Proctor

noreply@blogger.com (Neel Raman) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:53:00 PDT

I believe we would all agree that having a winning feeling is prerequisite to achieving outstanding results. A person can’t possibly expect to win if they’re constantly focusing on failure! The real secret here is to capture that winning feeling of success as often as you can to create the environment necessary to succeed.

If you’ve been a little down in the dumps, feeling insecure or perhaps not feeling as confident in your ability as you’d like, I have a great tip for you. My suggestion to anyone looking for a success track to run on, or to a person who is looking to get back on one, is to start capitalizing on short-term victories. That means specifically focus on tasks you can achieve daily. The principle is to start with an adversity over which you can succeed, and gradually take on more and more difficult tasks. Nothing succeeds like success.

Another technique used by many people in developing or maintaining a winning feeling is what we call the reflection method. Think back during a time where you were really successful at something… we all have times to which we can relate. It could have been a sale, a particular speech, a school play, or standing up to the town bully. Each one of us can reflect back on a moment in time to recapture that winning feeling.

Professional sports coaches often replay winning games of the past for their team prior to a big game to stimulate and create a winning feeling!
Years ago, a good friend of mine had left his job and a company that he had worked with for many years. He was one of the top VPs with his company and had done extremely well. He had left because he wanted to start his own business. I told him he could use one of our offices until such time as he was ready to open up his own office.

In any event, I happened to be in the office one afternoon and Grant, who normally was very upbeat and positive, was really having a difficult time. After a few moments of small talk, it became apparent what the problem was. Grant had hit the terror barrier and the possibility of starting his own company was overwhelming him… he just didn’t think he could do it. Here’s a man who had risen to the top of his field, made a high six-figure income for years… and yet was still having doubts as to his ability to start his own company.

I asked Grant to go home, get a notebook and start to write down all of his accomplishments, as far back as he could remember. The look on his face was priceless—I’m sure he thought I’d lost my mind. I told him that the accomplishment could be small or large… it didn’t really matter. The point was to focus on something positive. I still remember him asking, “Well, what if I only fill half a page.” I just smiled and asked him to do his best and start writing.

Monday morning came and Grant was back in the office with a notebook full of accomplishments. I smiled and said, “You must have been fairly confident, you picked up a good sized notebook!” We both had a good laugh. Grant went on to build a multimillion-dollar financial planning company and later franchised the operation to extend across Canada and the United States!

This is a great exercise for anyone needing a bit of a boost. What would give you a winning feeling of pride and satisfaction? Remember… a winning feeling is a confident feeling and one that forgets misses, and reinforces successful attempts.

For a free download of an audio program called Purpose, Vision and Goals by Bob Proctor, please click here.

Building Rapport by Tony Jeary

noreply@blogger.com (Neel Raman) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:54:07 PDT

What: Dictionary.com defines Rapport as...

1. A relationship of mutual understanding or trust between people
2. A feeling of sympathetic understanding
3. A sympathetic compatibility

In the world of presentations, all of these can apply. In our context, Rapport is an important connection made between the presenter and the participants based upon some level of real or perceived commonality.

Why: Rapport is important because it reduces tension. It allows the audience members to be more open to your message, more likely to accept your logic and facts, and be ready to respond favorably to your proposed actions.

Without rapport, the presenter is at risk of being dismissed out of hand, without getting a chance to get the facts on the table or argue the case. In extreme cases, people may say (to themselves) “Who you are speaks so loud I can't hear what you're saying.”

How: The ability to build rapport begins with knowing your audience.

With a clear picture of the participants' backgrounds, likes and dislikes and views on the subject at hand, you can be prepared to build a positive relationship.

Importantly, you can also avoid sensitive areas and potential “hot buttons” that might otherwise cause unintentional triggering of emotional reactions.

Here are nine specific suggestions on how to use your audience knowledge in a positive way to build the rapport that you need:

1. Meet & greet beforehand, and turn these people into Audience Champions who can provide support during the session.

2. Make contact. Shake hands, and when appropriate, demonstrate warmth by placing a hand on their shoulder or even by giving a hug.

3. Use a Host Introduction. This provides trust transference and establishes initial credibility.

4. Demonstrate that you've done your homework. Communicate the research you've done and the knowledge you have about the participants' situation. Share their thoughts, and express the doubts that they may have about you or your proposition. Show how what you're going to say directly relates to and benefits their world.

5. Understand that like attracts like. When people are similar to each other they tend to like each other. When people are not like each other they tend not to like each other. Language and attire are the first tip-offs – if you're presenting to a corporate board, suit up and use the big words. If you're meeting on the plant floor, lose the tie and adjust your vocabulary accordingly.

6. Adjust your body language, tonality, volume, pitch, and speaking speed to suit the audience. These factors can have a significantly greater impact on how your communication is received than the words that you use in your pitch. Especially in one-on-ones, sales situations and small groups, try to match the voice tonality and physiology of the other person. If they are fast talkers and your pace tends to be slow it would behoove you to speed it up. If they sit ramrod straight and cross their legs – you do the same. You will be amazed at how this simple technique will help you make your point.

7. Eye contact is very important as well, both before and during the presentation. A friend and associate of ours, Jim Heaney, recommends that as you shake hands, you hold eye contact long enough to note the color of the person's eyes. This demonstrates that you care about them personally and can make them feel special. In large room settings where you can't see well past the stage lights, pick target faces in the audience and hold your direction for about 7-10 seconds. Even though you don't make literal eye contact, you'll be perceived as making a connection that will add warmth to your delivery.

8. Demonstrate Caring and Generosity. Give away things of value, make yourself accessible, and incorporate a personal touch. Learn people's names and use them.

9. Prove you respect their time – begin and end on time.

Benefits:

A. Good rapport, established early, will get you past a critical "credibility checkpoint", and open minds to what you have to say and message you are trying to deliver.

B. In addition to basic receptivity, skilled use of the techniques noted above will set you up for a more effective and a much easier "close." People will be open to what your call to action is suggesting.

C. In addition to credibility and compatibility for the moment, a good job in building rapport for a single event sets you up to come back again, and gives you a “leg up” for future presentations.

Action Plan:

- Before your next presentation, think about who will be attending and do your homework.

- Plan ahead to set up key supporters. Contact and arrange for both a strong Host Introduction and for positive Audience Champions.

- Work out the words that both you and your supporters will be comfortable with, and be careful not to go overboard with glowing comments. The rest of the audience will spot an insincere "shill" a mile away.

For more details on Tony Jeary's programs, please visit www.yoursuccessstore.com

Attitude is Everything by Jim Rohn

noreply@blogger.com (Neel Raman) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:25:29 PDT

The process of human change begins within us. We all have tremendous potential. We all desire good results from our efforts. Most of us are willing to work hard and to pay the price that success and happiness demand.

Each of us has the ability to put our unique human potential into action and to acquire a desired result. But the one thing that determines the level of our potential, that produces the intensity of our activity, and predicts the quality of the result we receive is our attitude.

Attitude determines how much of the future we are allowed to see. It decides the size of our dreams and influences our determination when we are faced with new challenges. No other person on earth has dominion over our attitude. People can affect our attitude by teaching us poor thinking habits or unintentionally misinforming us or providing us with negative sources of influence, but no one can control our attitude unless we voluntarily surrender that control.

No one else "makes us angry." We make ourselves angry when we surrender control of our attitude. What someone else may have done is irrelevant. We choose, not they. They merely put our attitude to a test. If we select a volatile attitude by becoming hostile, angry, jealous or suspicious, then we have failed the test. If we condemn ourselves by believing that we are unworthy, then again, we have failed the test.
If we care at all about ourselves, then we must accept full responsibility for our own feelings. We must learn to guard against those feelings that have the capacity to lead our attitude down the wrong path and to strengthen those feelings that can lead us confidently into a better future.

If we want to receive the rewards the future holds in trust for us, then we must exercise the most important choice given to us as members of the human race by maintaining total dominion over our attitude. Our attitude is an asset, a treasure of great value, which must be protected accordingly. Beware of the vandals and thieves among us who would injure our positive attitude or seek to steal it away.

Having the right attitude is one of the basics that success requires. The combination of a sound personal philosophy and a positive attitude about ourselves and the world around us gives us an inner strength and a firm resolve that influences all the other areas of our existence.

To find out more about Jim Rohn and his services/programs, please visit www.jimrohn.com

The Four Steps to a Super Attitude by Brian Tracy

noreply@blogger.com (Neel Raman) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:15:32 PDT

Decide How to React
It is not what happens to you that counts. It is how you react to what happens to you, especially when you have unexpected problems of any kind.
Here are four things you can do to assure that your attitude is the very best it can be, under all circumstances.

Focus on the Future
First, whatever challenges you face, focus on the future rather than on the past. Instead of worrying about who did what and who is to blame, focus on where you want to be and what you want to do. Get a clear mental image of your ideal successful future, and then take whatever action you can to begin moving in that direction. Get your mind, your thoughts, and your mental images on the future.

Think About the Future
Second, whenever you´re faced with a difficulty, focus on the solution rather than on the problem. Think and talk about the ideal solution to the obstacle or setback, rather than wasting time rehashing and reflecting on the problem.
Solutions are inherently positive, whereas problems are inherently negative. The instant that you begin thinking in terms of solutions, you become a positive and constructive human being.

Look for the Good
Third, assume that something good is hidden within each difficulty or challenge. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, a major proponent of positive thinking, once said, “Whenever God wants to give us a gift, he wraps it up in a problem.’ The bigger the gift you have coming, the bigger the problem you will receive. But the wonderful thing is that if you look for the gift, you will always find it.

Seek the Valuable Lesson
Fourth, assume that whatever situation you are facing at the moment is exactly the right situation you need to ultimately be successful. This situation has been sent to you to help you learn something, to help you become better, to help you expand and grow.

Decide to Be Positive
A Positive Mental Attitude is indispensable to your success. You can be as positive as you want to be if you will simply think about the future, focus on the solution and look for the good. If you do what other successful people do, if you use your mind to exert mental control over the situation, you will be positive and cheerful most of the time. And you will reap the benefits enjoyed by all successful people.

Action Exercises
Here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action:

First, become solution-oriented with every difficulty you face. Make a habit of looking for the answers to your questions, the solutions to your problems.

Second, seek for the valuable lesson in every adversity. Make a list of every idea or insight you can gain from every setback or difficulty.

Third, think on paper. Take some time to write out every detail of the problem, and then take the most logical next step to solve it.

Achieving Your Dreams by Jim Rohn

noreply@blogger.com (Neel Raman) — Sat, 02 May 2009 17:40:23 PDT

While most people spend most of their lives struggling to earn a living, a much smaller number seem to have everything going their way. Instead of just earning a living, the smaller group is busily working at building and enjoying a fortune.

Everything just seems to work out for them. And here sits the much larger group, wondering how life can be so unfair, so complicated and unjust. What's the major difference between the little group with so much and the larger group with so little?
Despite all of the factors that affect our lives - like the kind of parents we have, the schools we attended, the part of the country we grew up in - none has as much potential power for affecting our futures as our ability to dream.

Dreams are a projection of the kind of life you want to lead. Dreams can drive you. Dreams can make you skip over obstacles. When you allow your dreams to pull you, they unleash a creative force that can overpower any obstacle in your path. To unleash this power, though, your dreams must be well defined. A fuzzy future has little pulling power. Well-defined dreams are not fuzzy. Wishes are fuzzy. To really achieve your dreams, to really have your future plans pull you forward, your dreams must be vivid.

If you've ever hiked a fourteen thousand-foot peak in the Rocky Mountains, one thought has surely come to mind "How did the settlers of this country do it?" How did they get from the East Coast to the West Coast? Carrying one day's supply of food and water is hard enough. Can you imagine hauling all of your worldly goods with you... mile after mile, day after day, month after month? These people had big dreams. They had ambition. They didn't focus on the hardship of getting up the mountain.

In their minds, they were already on the other side – their bodies just hadn't gotten them there yet! Despite all of their pains and struggles, all of the births and deaths along the way, those who made it to the other side had a single vision: to reach the land of continuous sunshine and extraordinary wealth. To start over where anything and everything was possible. Their dreams were stronger than the obstacles in their way.

You've got to be a dreamer. You've got to envision the future. You've got to see California while you're climbing fourteen thousand-foot peaks. You've got to see the finish line while you're running the race. You've got to hear the cheers when you're in the middle of a monster project. And you've got to be willing to put yourself through the paces of doing the uncomfortable until it becomes comfortable. Because that's how you realize your dreams.

Thinking Success by Tom Hopkins

noreply@blogger.com (Neel Raman) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 03:41:14 PDT

Success in anything you want to accomplish in life begins with your thinking. The problem with too many people is that they don't think about what they're thinking. I once heard a speaker say, "You will become that which you think about most of the time." Those words have had a tremendous impact on me and on those with whom I've shared them. I heard that statement at a time when I was just beginning to understand what self-improvement was all about. The basis of all self-help materials is that you must have a healthy self-image, or attitude about yourself, in order to succeed.

You see, your thoughts are reflected in your attitude. If you think about failure, rejection and pain, your attitude will be negative. You'll even have a tough time getting out of bed in the morning. How many prospects do you think will want to get involved with your product if you cannot express a positive attitude about what you do to earn your living? I guarantee you it won't be many.

In fact, if you think about those negatives frequently enough, that's probably what you'll become comfortable with. Then, it won't bother you to fail. You'll be thinking, "Yep, that's just what I expected to happen." And, as crazy as it may sound, acceptance of failure will become an accepted fact in your subconscious. At this point, I would suggest making a career adjustment because you won't be selling enough to keep food on your table.

To counteract acceptance of negativity, you must begin by consciously stopping those thoughts. Whenever you realize you're thinking negatively, worrying or feeling anxiety about facing rejection, think to yourself, "Hey, that's not what's going to happen." Then, force yourself to turn those thoughts around. Come up with a positive thought for each negative thought. You'll have to concentrate on this for a while, but eventually, those negative thoughts will have to face too tough a battle to stay in your mind and they'll go away.

At that point, you will be free to become one of the high achievers in your field. The training and support offered by your organization will become more valuable to you. You'll think more about giving service than receiving income. And, as I've stated many times before, the income you earn is little more than a scoreboard reflection of the service you give.

If you have any doubts about that statement, take notice of the top producers in your industry. They think achievement, service and professionalism. You can see it in their eyes. You can feel it when you meet them. They are comfortable only with achievement, recognition and acceptance. They are so uncomfortable with failure, that it, too, has become a motivator for them.

Once you have achieved a state of thinking positively you will believe more strongly in what you are doing, take the steps necessary to practice, drill and rehearse, and receive the tremendous rewards for doing so.

Salespeople are often confronted with spontaneous situations. And, selling is a very emotional business. So, when faced with the unexpected, the untrained, unpracticed ones throw all their training out the window and act on reflex. If your reflexes aren't aimed at serving clients and closing sales, you're sunk. The great ones practice thinking success so much that their attitude and knowledge carry them through situations that may not have been covered in training. Thinking success will help you, too, continue to radiate warmth, pride and knowledge during those spontaneous moments.

Get Triple Play Savings on 3 powerful audio programs on Sales Success, Small Business Success and Verbal Success--with experts including Tom Hopkins! For complete details, go to http://www.yoursuccessstore.com/tripleplay

Four Essentials for Happiness by Brian Tracy

noreply@blogger.com (Neel Raman) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 13:42:21 PDT

You may have a thousand different goals over the course of your lifetime, but they all will fall into one of four basic categories. Everything you do is an attempt to enhance the quality of your life in one or more of these areas.

The first category is your desire for happy relationships. You want to love and be loved by others. You want to have a happy, harmonious home life. You want to get along well with the people around you, and you want to earn the respect of the people you respect. Your involvement in social and community affairs results from your desire to have happy interactions with others and to make a contribution to the society you live in.

The second category is your desire for interesting and challenging work. You want to make a good living, of course, but more than that, you want to really enjoy your occupation or profession. The very best times of your life are when you are completely absorbed in your work.

The third category is your desire for financial independence. You want to be free from worries about money. You want to have enough money in the bank so that you can make decisions without counting your pennies. You want to achieve a certain financial state so that you can retire in comfort and never have to be concerned about whether or not you have enough money to support your lifestyle. Financial independence frees you from poverty and a need to depend upon others for your livelihood. If you save and invest regularly throughout your working life, you will eventually reach the point where you will never have to work again.

The fourth and final category is your desire for good health, to be free of pain and illness and to have a continuous flow of energy and feelings of well-being. In fact, your health is so central to your life that you take it for granted until something happens to disrupt it.

Peace of mind is essential for every one of these. The greater your peace of mind, the more relaxed and positive you are, the less stress you suffer, the better is your overall health.

The more peace of mind you have, the better are your relationships, the more optimistic, friendly and confident you are with everyone in your life. When you feel good about yourself on the inside, you do your work better and take more pride in it. You are a better boss and coworker. And the greater your overall peace of mind, the more likely you are to earn a good living, save regularly for the future and ultimately achieve financial independence.

Life is very much a study of attention. Whatever you dwell upon and think about grows and expands in your life. The more you pay attention to your relationships, the quality and quantity of your work, your finances and your health, the better they will become and the happier you will be.

Action Exercises

Here are three things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, take time on a regular basis to think about what would make you really happy in each of the four areas.

Second, set specific, measurable goals for improvement in your relationships, your health, your work and your finances and write them down.

Third, resolve to do something every day to increase the quality of some area of your life - and then keep your resolution.

For more about Brian Tracy and his programs, please go to www.briantracy.com

The Formula for Failure and Success by Jim Rohn

noreply@blogger.com (Neel Raman) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 13:29:43 PDT

Failure is not a single, cataclysmic event. We do not fail overnight. Failure is the inevitable result of an accumulation of poor thinking and poor choices. To put it more simply, failure is nothing more than a few errors in judgment repeated every day.

Now why would someone make an error in judgment and then be so foolish as to repeat it every day? The answer is because he or she does not think that it matters.
On their own, our daily acts do not seem that important. A minor oversight, a poor decision, or a wasted hour generally doesn't result in an instant and measurable impact. More often than not, we escape from any immediate consequences of our deeds.

If we have not bothered to read a single book in the past ninety days, this lack of discipline does not seem to have any immediate impact on our lives. And since nothing drastic happened to us after the first ninety days, we repeat this error in judgment for another ninety days, and on and on it goes. Why? Because it doesn't seem to matter. And herein lies the great danger. Far worse than not reading the books is not even realizing that it matters!

Those who eat too many of the wrong foods are contributing to a future health problem, but the joy of the moment overshadows the consequence of the future. It does not seem to matter. Those who smoke too much or drink too much go on making these poor choices year after year after year... because it doesn't seem to matter. But the pain and regret of these errors in judgment have only been delayed for a future time. Consequences are seldom instant; instead, they accumulate until the inevitable day of reckoning finally arrives and the price must be paid for our poor choices - choices that didn't seem to matter.

Failure's most dangerous attribute is its subtlety. In the short term those little errors don't seem to make any difference. We do not seem to be failing. In fact, sometimes these accumulated errors in judgment occur throughout a period of great joy and prosperity in our lives. Since nothing terrible happens to us, since there are no instant consequences to capture our attention, we simply drift from one day to the next, repeating the errors, thinking the wrong thoughts, listening to the wrong voices and making the wrong choices. The sky did not fall in on us yesterday; therefore the act was probably harmless. Since it seemed to have no measurable consequence, it is probably safe to repeat.

But we must become better educated than that!
If at the end of the day when we made our first error in judgment the sky had fallen in on us, we undoubtedly would have taken immediate steps to ensure that the act would never be repeated again. Like the child who places his hand on a hot burner despite his parents' warnings, we would have had an instantaneous experience accompanying our error in judgment.

Unfortunately, failure does not shout out its warnings as our parents once did. This is why it is imperative to refine our philosophy in order to be able to make better choices. With a powerful, personal philosophy guiding our every step, we become more aware of our errors in judgment and more aware that each error really does matter.
Now here is the great news. Just like the formula for failure, the formula for success is easy to follow: It's a few simple disciplines practiced every day.
Now here is an interesting question worth pondering: How can we change the errors in the formula for failure into the disciplines required in the formula for success? The answer is by making the future an important part of our current philosophy.
Both success and failure involve future consequences, namely the inevitable rewards or unavoidable regrets resulting from past activities. If this is true, why don't more people take time to ponder the future? The answer is simple: They are so caught up in the current moment that it doesn't seem to matter. The problems and the rewards of today are so absorbing to some human beings that they never pause long enough to think about tomorrow.

But what if we did develop a new discipline to take just a few minutes every day to look a little further down the road? We would then be able to foresee the impending consequences of our current conduct. Armed with that valuable information, we would be able to take the necessary action to change our errors into new success-oriented disciplines. In other words, by disciplining ourselves to see the future in advance, we would be able to change our thinking, amend our errors and develop new habits to replace the old.

One of the exciting things about the formula for success - a few simple disciplines practiced every day - is that the results are almost immediate. As we voluntarily change daily errors into daily disciplines, we experience positive results in a very short period of time. When we change our diet, our health improves noticeably in just a few weeks. When we start exercising, we feel a new vitality almost immediately. When we begin reading, we experience a growing awareness and a new level of self-confidence. Whatever new discipline we begin to practice daily will produce exciting results that will drive us to become even better at developing new disciplines.

The real magic of new disciplines is that they will cause us to amend our thinking. If we were to start today to read the books, keep a journal, attend the classes, listen more and observe more, then today would be the first day of a new life leading to a better future. If we were to start today to try harder, and in every way make a conscious and consistent effort to change subtle and deadly errors into constructive and rewarding disciplines, we would never again settle for a life of existence – not once we have tasted the fruits of a life of substance!

To read previous articles and quotes from the Jim Rohn Weekly E-zine Archives, or to get a complete listing of Jim Rohn's books, audios, videos and seminar schedule, or to place an order; please go to: http://www.JimRohn.com

You Deserve to Be Happy by Brian Tracy

noreply@blogger.com (Neel Raman) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 00:46:11 PDT

Achieving your own happiness is the best measure of how well you are living your life and enjoying your relationships. You can learn how to be happier and more fulfilled in everything you do.

Everyone is Different
Happiness in life is like a smorgasbord. If 100 people went to a smorgasbord and each put food on their plate in the quantity and mix that each felt would be most pleasing to him, every plate would be different. Even a husband and wife would go up to the smorgasbord and come back with plates that looked completely different. Happiness is the same way. Each person requires a particular combination of those ingredients to feel the very best about himself or herself.

Listen to Your Heart
And your mix is changing continually. If you went to the same smorgasbord every day for a year, you probably would come back with a different plateful of food each time. Each day-sometimes each hour-only you can tell what it takes to make you happy. Therefore, the only way to judge whether a job, a relationship, an investment, or any decision, is right for you is to get in touch with your feelings and listen to your heart.

Be True to Yourself
You´re true to yourself only when you follow your inner light, when you listen to what Ralph Waldo Emerson called the “still, small voice within.’ You´re being the very best person you can be only when you have the courage and the fortitude to allow your definition of happiness, whatever it may be, to be the guiding light of every part of your life.

There Are No Limits
A very important point on the subject of happiness is whether or not you feel that you “deserve’ to be happy. Accept the notion that you deserve all the happiness you can honestly attain through the application of your talents and abilities. The more you like and respect yourself, the more deserving you will feel of the good things in life. And the more deserving you feel, the more likely you will attain and hold on to the happiness you are working toward.

Make Happiness Your Key Measure
You should make happiness the organizing principle of your life. Compare every possible action and decision you make against your standard of happiness to see whether that action would make you happier or unhappier. Soon, you will discover that almost all of the problems in your life come from choices that you have made - or are currently making - that do not contribute to your happiness.

Pay the Price
Of course, there are countless times when you will have to do little things that don´t make you happy along the way toward those larger things that make you very happy indeed. We call this paying the price of success in advance. You must pay your dues.

Sometimes these interim steps don´t make you happy directly, but the happiness you achieve from attaining your goal will be so great that it totally overwhelms the temporary inconveniences and dissatisfactions you have to endure in order to get there.

Action Exercises
Here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, accept that you deserve all the joy and happiness you can possibly achieve through your own efforts.

Second, make your own happiness the chief organizing principle of your life and judge everything against that standard.

Third, be willing to work hard and pay the price for the satisfaction and rewards you desire. Always go the extra mile and your success will be assured.

For more details on Brian Tracy and his products, please go to http://www.briantracy.com

Success is Not an Accident by Brian Tracy

noreply@blogger.com (Neel Raman) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 03:00:13 PST

Success is not a miracle. Nor is it a matter of luck. Everything happens for a reason, good or bad, positive or negative. When you are absolutely clear about what you want, you only need to copy others who have achieved it before you, and you will eventually get the same results that they have.

This is referred to in the Bible as the Law of Sowing and Reaping which says that, "Whatsoever a man soweth, that also shall he reap."

Sir Isaac Newton called it the third principle of motion. He said, "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."

For you and I, the most important expression of this universal law is that, "Thoughts are causes and conditions are effects."

Put another way, "Thought is creative." Your thoughts are the primary creative forces in your life. You create your entire world by the way you think. All the people and situations of your life have only the meaning you give them by the way you think about them. And when you change your thinking, you change your life, sometimes in seconds!

The most important principle of personal or business success is simply this: You become what you think about most of the time.

It is not what happens to you but how you think about what happens to you that determines how you feel and react. It is not the world outside of you that dictates your circumstances or conditions. It is the world inside you that creates the conditions of your life.

To find out more about Brian Tracy and his programs or products, please go to http://www.briantracy.com

It’s Not About the Money by Bob Proctor

noreply@blogger.com (Neel Raman) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 13:19:11 PST

One of the key concepts to creating wealth is to understand that money is not the goal. That’s right, I said, money is not the goal.

Frequently people will tell me that they want to make money. However, I know it is not money they are really after. It is the things that money can buy and the freedom of time to do what they really want. While you may think this is an insignificant difference, it is actually the reason so many people never become wealthy.

Most of us were taught throughout our childhood that the whole point of making money is to sock it away and build our own ‘nest egg’. We think of this as a type of insurance against bad fortune, accidents or old age when we can no longer work. The wealthy know that money only works when it is in motion – not when it’s sitting in a bank account. You must understand that wealth is an ongoing journey of growth and circulation and if that circulation is stopped, then the flow of money will cease.

While it may seem that there are many roadblocks on your journey to wealth, the only real obstacle is what you believe, think, and feel about money. Most of us were raised with the cliché “Seeing is Believing” which is a skeptical and negative view of life. Still, we hear it our whole lives until it becomes a part of our thought process without our even realizing it. Wealthy people understand that this cliché is exactly backward – you must believe in what you can achieve before you will see it happen in your life. They know that “Believing is Seeing.” The only thing that separates a millionaire from you right now is a wealthy mindset and the foundation of that mindset is belief.

Does this mean that the wealthy have some special skill or knowledge? No – but they do possess some key characteristics that help them become wealthy.

The first of these characteristics is a willingness to listen to their own heart. If you could become wealthy by listening to the masses, then the masses would be wealthy and they are not. It is a natural tendency to ask the opinions of those we love or respect.

Unfortunately, we listen to their comments and biases not taking into account the results in their own lives. We make a decision to listen based on our emotional attachment rather than by looking at what they have achieved. How can anyone who has not accumulated wealth advise you on how to do it? They can’t.

A second characteristic of the wealthy is the ability to act when opportunities present themselves. Opportunity is often imagined to be something that you can’t miss or pass up. However, I know from personal experience that opportunity is often only a whisper that comes during some of the most trying times of life. If you read the life stories of very wealthy and successful people, you will frequently find they were fired from jobs, kicked out of school or dealt with significant personal tragedies that other people would view as devastating. Instead, they viewed the challenges as opportunities and prospered.

The wealthy also understand that wealth is an ongoing process. It is not a destination you arrive at one day and then stop. It is also rarely accomplished overnight – although it can occur in a short period of time. However, if you gain wealth before you have gained a wealthy mindset then you are in danger of losing that wealth forever. We have all heard of those that win the lottery only to be near penniless a few years later. Since they were never taught to think wealthy, they have very little chance of achieving wealth that lasts and ultimately they lose what money they have.

Those with a wealthy mindset do what they love – and make money at it. Often I see individuals who are seeking wealth like it’s something outside that they have to search for. In reality, wealth exists within you. You have activities and hobbies that you love and you can make these into your business if you choose to. Those who are successful and create a great deal of wealth do so because they are doing something they love. The money follows and is just a logical result of them realizing their dream. Money is not the dream.

Whether you grow up in the worst circumstance or have every advantage, you have the exact same potential inside of you to create the life you want. No matter how many times you read or hear someone talk about how to become wealthy, your life will never change until you believe that it can – Believing is Seeing.

Bob Proctor is widely regarded as one of the living masters and teachers of The Law of Attraction. Featured in the blockbuster hit, The Secret, Bob Proctor has worked in the area of mind potential for over 40 years, is the best-selling author of You Were Born Rich, and has transformed the lives of millions through his books, seminars, courses and personal coaching. For more details on how you can create additional income working from home, please click here.

Coming in from the Cold by Dr. John Maxwell

noreply@blogger.com (Neel Raman) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 17:39:50 PST

Sir Ernest Shackleton was a great explorer who found himself and his crew in a life-or-death crisis when they had to abandon ship in the icy waters around Antarctica.

It was 1914, and Shackleton's expedition had planned an unprecedented land crossing of the frozen continent. When the ship got stuck in the ice and sank, the crew began an unscheduled 18-month survival test. They stayed alive as they moved among the drifting ice floes until they eventually found an island, where they established a camp. When their provisions began to run low, Shackleton and several crewmembers boarded one of their salvaged lifeboats and made a daring 800-mile voyage to a whaling station. They returned with a ship, and all 27 men survived the ordeal.

There are two types of people during a crisis - those who freeze and those who focus. Shackleton might have been stranded in one of the coldest places on the planet, but his creativity never froze. Instead, it was critical to the team's survival.

As I studied Shackleton's experiences, three principles about leading with creativity during crisis came to mind.

1. Creative activity increases creative ability.
As you become active in creativity, you gain more creative ability. Many people would love to have creative ability, but they've never done creative activities. When we freeze, we stop creating. Shackleton practiced "routine" creativity, for himself and for his crew. So when problems presented themselves, he and his crew never gave up on their ability to come up with creative solutions.

2. The rulebook no longer rules.
Everybody wants to give you the rulebook. David Kelley was right when he said, "The most important thing I learned from big companies is that creativity gets stifled when everyone's got to follow the rules." And Thomas Edison, probably the greatest inventor ever, would tell people who visited his laboratory that, "There ain't no rules around here! We're trying to accomplish something." Structure and rules serve us well, but legalism can choke our creative spirit to its death.

3. God is the Great Creator.
It doesn't make sense not to bring God - the Creator of the universe - into the creative process. No matter how much natural talent God has given us, God always can make it greater, better, bigger. That's why I pray for creativity. And when I pray for creativity, I ask for two things - I ask God to give me an idea or give me an example.

In our fast-paced, competitive marketplace, few resources are more valuable to organizations than creativity. But during a crisis, which is when real leadership either rises or falls, creativity often finds itself swallowed by urgency. Who has time to think outside the box when the box is collapsing around you?

Shackleton, however, saw beyond the problems to the big picture. He recognized creativity's importance in keeping him and his crew alive and functioning as a team when they had little margin for error in the bitter cold and isolation of Antarctica. More than a skill, creativity was an attitude in his life that enabled him to find solutions to the obstacles they faced. When others would have frozen - literally as well as figuratively, in this case - Shackleton focused creatively on surviving the crisis.

John Maxwell is part of the powerful speaker lineup at the 2009 SUCCESS Symposium. Tickets for this extraordinary event are on sale now and going fast! You don't want to miss this year's SUCCESS Symposium! Log on to www.SUCCESS.com/symposium

Develop the Do-it-now Habit by Tom Hopkins

noreply@blogger.com (Neel Raman) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 02:11:20 PST

Self-Discipline really encompasses nearly everything in life. Do you remember in school when you were given 30 days to write a term paper? Did you start it that first night?

Most of us didn't. Instead, we thought about it every night. "Got to get moving on that ratty project. But I've got almost a whole month left--it can wait." As time goes by, worry about getting a failing grade looms larger in our minds. At first the pain of starting the term paper is greater than our concern about the failing grade, so after a week we still haven't started. Two weeks go by. What are we doing every night before we go to sleep? Worrying about that F. "I better start. Tomorrow I'll get moving on it."

A week before the term paper is due, the F is getting larger--but it's still not quite large enough to offset the pain of working at preventing it. All of a sudden there are only three days left before it's due, and at last the F looms larger than the pain of working on the term paper. So we start.

As you lay it out you begin feeling some enthusiasm. "This isn't bad. I may get an A if I do this and do that." When you walk in with your paper you're happy, but you wasted 27 days worrying about starting. In other words, you operated at a deficit emotionally for 27 days when you could have been in the profit column the whole time. Move into the emotional profit column right now; starting today, get your priority tasks and actions handled promptly. Plan your actions, then act on your plans. Apply this determination to every area of your life and it will make an enormous difference in your income, growth rate in business as well as your satisfaction and growth rate personally.

The portrait of a man who was being called the Whiz Kid on Wall Street appeared on the cover of a national magazine many years ago. He was one of the first to put a conglomerate together, and some of the federal laws affecting business in the early '70s came about because of the trends that his creativity set off. At the time he was 42; he was running one of the largest industrial combines in the country, the conglomerate he had built himself. So the magazine had assigned a journalist and a team of researchers to do an in-depth report on this entrepreneur.

One of the researchers went to the small city the dynamic executive had left 15 years earlier. A few items turned up there about an alcoholic with the same name who had been sleeping on park benches at that time. The researcher passed this information along, and as the journalist was concluding his interview with the Wall Street powerhouse in his plush office, the journalist laughed and said, "Believe it or not, a man with your exact name was sleeping on park benches and getting ousted by the police when you lived in your home town. I guess the poor guy was a real wino. Isn't that something?"

The president looked up and smiled. "That was me," he said.

The reporter was flabbergasted. "This can't be. You're kidding."

The president of the conglomerate leaned back in his leather chair and shook his head. "I'm not kidding. The wino sleeping off drinks on park benches was me."
The journalist stared at him for a moment and realized that the man was telling the truth. He also realized that now he had a whole new story. When his apologies were waved aside, he said, "I have to ask, what made you change?"

Listen to what he said because so many people fit this mold: "When I was sleeping under newspapers in the park 15 years ago, I knew that someday I would do what I'm doing now. I was just waiting until I was ready to start."

Do you know how many people are like that? "Well, next year's my year. I'm going to get to work then. You just wait and see--right after the first of the year I'm gonna start shaping up." But, of course, the time to get going never quite comes for most people. They have good intentions, but are lacking the two most vital components of any good deed: the motivation to begin and a strategic plan to keep them moving forward.

You see, by not beginning, you're not risking failure, but you're also confining yourself to the level of success you currently have. If you're happy with that, fine. If not, make that plan and get fired up!

If your potential for greater success is nagging at you, don't wait. Time is flying by so fast. Start today to achieve the greatness you know is within you.

To find out more about Tom Hopkins and his programs, please visit http://www.yoursuccessstore.com

A Special Kind of Courage by Brian Tracy

noreply@blogger.com (Neel Raman) — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 14:20:14 PST

There are several different aspects of courage. Perhaps the most important is the courage to endure, to persist, to “hang in there’ in the face of doubt, uncertainty and criticism from others.

Practice Patience in Adversity
This is called “courageous patience,’ the willingness and the ability to “stay the course’ in the face of uncertainty, doubt and often criticism from many quarters.

Stay the Course
In my experience, there is a critical time period between the launching of a new venture and the results that come from that venture. During this hiatus, this waiting period, many people lose their nerve. They cannot stand the suspense of not knowing, of possible failure. They break and run in battle, they quake and quit in business.

The True Leader
But the true leader is the person who can stand firm, who refuses to consider the possibility of failure. The turning points of many key moments in human history have been the resolution, or lack thereof, of one person. Courageous patience is the acid test of leadership.

To encourage others, to instill confidence in them, to help them to perform at their best requires first of all that you lead by example.

Allow Honest Mistakes
The second thing you can do to help alleviate the fears of failure and rejection in others is to encourage them to take calculated risks and allow honest mistakes.

Build People Up
Give the people who look up to you regular praise and approval. Celebrate good tries as well as success, large and small. Create a psychological climate where people feel safe from censure, blame or criticism of any kind. Then do things that make people feel terrific about themselves.

Become Unstoppable
Courage comes from acting courageously on a day-to-day basis. Your personal development goal should be to practice the behaviors of a totally fearless person until you become, in your own mind, unstoppable.

Action Exercises
Here are two ways for you to develop courageous patience.

First, prepare yourself in advance for the inevitable disappointments and setbacks you will experience on the way to your goal. Don't be surprised when they occur.

Second, resolve in advance that you will bounce rather than break and continually encourage others to think and act the same way.

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The Hot-Air Factor: How Full of It Are You? by Jeffrey Gitomer

noreply@blogger.com (Neel Raman) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 12:44:09 PST

Sometimes salespeople get a bad rap. Sometimes they create it.

Sales requires self confidence -- but there's a fine line between self confidence and cockiness. A finer line between self-assured and arrogance. And the finest line -- between proud and egotistical.

As a professional salesperson, there's a career of difference between self talk = self performance (the right way) and loose lips sink ships (the ultra-wrong way).
Salespeople are not the most loved group of professionals to begin with. We rank above politicians, tax collectors, and (especially) lawyers, but below dentists and dog catchers. All that a salesperson can hope to do is establish a great reputation, and let that propel him to success.

Since the prospect buys the salesperson first -- reputation is as valuable (and critical) an element as a he or she can have. How is yours?
One bad event, situation, or story can ruin years of hard work. Continuing stories of neglect or overpromising breed career destruction. A salesperson's self-delusion (failure to admit the problem, and thinking nothing is wrong) will make the situation worse.

Sales hot-air can occur at any level. Customers, prospects, bosses and co-workers are all potential victims.

"Come on Jeffrey," you say, "Get to the point. Give me some examples of self-destructive talk -- what is sales "hot-air?" Relax, helium breath, here `tiz.

7.5 examples of Hot Air -- (even though I'm sure none of these apply to you).

1. BTNA -- Big talk - no action. Too much time talking about the sales you're going to make and not enough time making them.
2. Bragging too soon - Before the deal is signed, sealed, and a check delivered.
3. Bragging too much -- No one but you wants to hear it. If you really need to hear yourself -- just make a tape of yourself and replay it in your car until you get as sick of it as others.
4. Bragging at the expense of others -- Beat the competition, but don't beat them into the ground. A variation of this is making someone else look like a fool. Bragging about someone you took advantage of or tricked.
5. Using others as scapegoats to get yourself off the hook -- Better known as covering your butt, or the inability to accept responsibility. Blaming others for your failings is obvious to those listening, and makes a fool out of the teller.
6. Exaggerating the facts -- Each year the fish that got away increases in size. Stay within the parameters of what you know to be true -- or less. Understated is always better.
7. Using insincere words -- Honestly, truthfully, quite frankly, and I mean that, are words that alienate.
7.5 Talking past the sale -- Knowing when to shut up and go home. Employing any one of the above elements after a sale has been consummated -- but before you leave will jeopardize the sale. It's known as "buying it back," and it happens often. The rule of thumb in sales is "less is more."

Hot air has interesting negative side effects...
• It wastes everyone's time.
• It's the most unproductive and negative use of your time possible.
• It makes you look like a fool.
• It lowers your respect factor by 100.
• It gets people talking behind your back.
• It prevents advancement.
• It can get you fired.

Who wants that? No one, but these side effects are linked to people with severe cases of hot air.

How do you know if this is you? How do you know if you're blowing hot air? Well, no one is without some guilt. It's hard not to brag if you just made a big sale, and took it out from under the nose of your biggest competitor.

The rules are simple:
• Don't say anything behind anyone's back you wouldn't say to their face.
• Don't say something you wouldn't want said about you.
• Don't say anything you have to remember (lies must be remembered, or you get tripped up with the truth).
• Don't say anything you couldn't say in front of your mom.

The key is to temper your remarks with humility.
Your challenge is to always bring out the good side in your words.
Your challenge is to employ self-discipline in getting past hot-air.
Your challenge is self-rule or self destruct.

Super sales programs by Jeffrey Gitomer are included as part of our ultimate sales boost package. Buy programs individually and save or save even more when you purchase the package! To learn more, go to http://www.yoursuccessstore.com/sales-bundle