Secret of Success (PART 1)

Success Is Based On A Realistic Plan

Everyone wants to be successful. However, many people often rely on luck and chance to achieve results. The best example in this case is someone who wants to be rich but only try the most ineffective method: playing the Lotto. Of course, there are chances of becoming rich over night, but how likely is it that this will actually happen? Creating a realistic plan in order to achieve the desired results is vital in any case, no matter how high or low your goals are.

The safest way to achieve your dream is by taking successive steps and gradually increasing your chances of reaching your goal. Try to think of a metaphor and compare your desires with a professional swimming competition.

The first thing you need to do, in order to have chances of winning the race, is to make sure you are not afraid of the water. Before you even consider entering the race you have to eliminate your fears. They are the ones holding you back, but be careful, some of your fears might save you from getting hurt or failing.

Once you are convinced that your goal is worth fighting for, you have to start the hardest stage in you plan: preparation. You cannot expect to win a professional swimming race when you don’t even know how to swim. Start with the basics and never skip any steps out of desire of reaching your goal faster. The experience and knowledge you are skipping will probably come back and hurt you later on. Prepare by taking gradually increasing steps. Swim half a lap first, and then move on to a full lap. Your skills will progress each time and you will soon beat your own lap records every time you enter the swimming pool.

It might take days, weeks or years to prepare for the “race”, depending on what your goals are. The main thing is to enter the race feeling confident in your own success and having all the skills that would allow you to win.

Taking steps one at a time and keeping your plan realistic gives you two important benefits. The order and precision of a plan brings confidence. You don’t feel like you are reengaging each new issue on a day-to-day basis. Organizing your strategy reduces the chances of making wrong moves or taking less efficient decisions.

Secondly, having a sound plan has many psychological benefits and your subconscious mind worries less, giving you more energy to concentrate on what’s important. You are creating a pattern in your awareness that accepts success and integrates it in your plan.

When both you conscious and your subconscious mind believe in your chances of reaching a goal you benefit from a power of concentration and focus that eliminate outside interference and let you follow the shortest path to success.

Even though chance may still play an important role in your quest to reach your ideal, having a realistic plan let’s you change the “unlikely” into “possible”.

Success Is Just A Matter Of Time

There is a great quote that goes "Time is God's way of keeping everything from happening at once" and perhaps this is key to our understanding of why things are the way they are. Time is there for us to experience and through that experience, learn and grow. Our limited sensory perception allow us only to experience events one at a time. We then memorise these events and from these memories are able to predict the consequence of certain actions. The concepts of past and future become firmly embedded in our psyche. The problem is that we have been duped into believing they are absolute truths. The mind becomes our driving force, using time to control our lives!

Instead of fully experiencing the moment and all it has to offer we tend to spend most our lives either dwelling on the past or projecting into the future. Very little mind activity is concerned with the now. Yet, isn't this the only time things are done? If we are constantly being dragged away from the task at hand by subtle and intrusive time related thoughts are we not letting the mind control us rather than us control the mind? Isn't our attention diverted from doing the very best we can do now? Holding onto the past keeps us in our habitual state. Constantly living in the future keeps us from ever getting to the place we dream about.

There is no doubt that to lead a successful life we should make our dreams big and design a plan of action to get there. We break the hold of our habitual condition by coming into the present and taking the action we know we must take to achieve our dreams. We don't allow fear to enter our lives because we don't dwell on future outcomes or what if scenarios. It is pointless trying to second guess everything. It will only lead to disappointment and failure. We can't know everything that is going to happen so we should only deal with what does happen.

The degree to which we can alter our circumstances is directly related to how much power the mind has over us. We overcome that power by coming into the present. If you were to observe your thoughts for a moment by shifting into the present, you would notice that you are in fact not your thoughts. How can you be if you are observing them? You are the observer and have full control over that which you can observe. The more we think and act in the moment the easier it becomes for us to control the mind and to transcend the limitations of time.

When we shift from our current state into the present we look through the window of eternity. From out of nowhere comes now and here. The place from which all creativity springs and where we think and do our very best. Success can be found in the present, a gift from God to you.

Success Lessons From Baseball - Enthusiasm and Excitement Can Make The Difference

I remember, about 35 years ago, reading two books by Frank Bettger, the baseball player, about how enthusiasm made all the difference in his life. His books made a difference in my life at the time and are still well worth reading and re-reading.

Probably the most famous of his books is "How I raised myself from failure to success in selling". Frank died in 1981 but his books and priceless ideas live on.

In 1907, he played baseball for Johnstown in Pennsylvania for $175 dollars a month. He was young and ambitious but was fired for being lazy. He was not really lazy but had been trying to control his nervousness by being laid back.

His manager told him: "Whatever you do after you leave here, for heaven's sake, wake yourself up and put some life and enthusiasm into your work."

Frank went to Chester, Pennsylvania where he played baseball for only $25 a month. Frank commented: "Well, I couldn't feel very enthusiastic on that kind of money but I began to act enthusiastic."

After a few days he was given a trial at New Haven, Connecticut. No one knew him in that league so he decided to establish a reputation for enthusiasm. Once established, he would be forced to live up to his own reputation:

"From the minute I appeared on the field I acted like a man electrified. I acted as though I were alive with a million batteries."

Frank threw the ball hard and fast around the diamond and ran like a madman to score for his team. All this was on a hot day when the thermometer was 100 degrees. The act he was putting on worked like magic.

His nervousness now worked for him by fueling his energy. His enthusiasm affected the other players on the field and they, too, became enthusiastic. He felt better during the game and after it than ever before.

Next day, the New Haven newspaper wrote: "This new player, Bettger, has a barrel of enthusiasm. He inspired our boys. They not only won the game but looked better than any time this season."

The papers began calling him "Pep" Bettger, the life of the team. Enthusiasm increased his income in ten days from $25 a month to $185 a month. This was a 700% increase.

Bettger insists that he earned the income not for his ability which was the same as before but for his enthusiasm alone. He could not catch or hit better than before. Two years later he was playing 3rd base for the St Louis Cardinals.

Another two years later, he injured his arm and was forced out of baseball. Two years after this, he ended up selling life insurance. He was a miserable failure at this until he went to a public speaking course run by the great Dale Carnegie. Carnegie, like his first manager, told him to be more enthusiastic.

Carnegie then went on to give a talk on enthusiasm to his class. He became so excited that he threw a chair against a wall and broke one of its legs. All this reminded Frank of his early experiences in the baseball world.

"That night, I decided to stay in the insurance business and put the same enthusiasm into selling that I had put into baseball."

During his first sales pitch after this decision, he became so excited that he pounded his fist. He could hardly believe it when his customer listened intently and then bought the insurance policy. He does not equate enthusiasm with fist pounding but "if fist pounding is what you need to arouse yourself inside, then I am overwhelmingly for it. I know this: When I force myself to act enthusiastic I soon feel enthusiastic."

Frank went on to become a great salesman and a man who has inspired many other salesmen and ordinary citizens to live their lives with enthusiasm.

A salesman who is enthusiastic can outsell a non enthusiastic salesman who has much greater knowledge. The enthusiastic person is like a magnet. He or she attracts and inspires others to do what they thought was beyond them.

You can acquire enthusiasm simply and quickly by forcing yourself to act enthusiastically. It also helps to re-read your favourite inspiring passages daily.

Frank, himself, was inspired by a great quote from Walter Chrysler. When Chrysler was asked to give the secret of success, he listed qualities such as 'ability, capacity, and energy' but added that the real secret was 'enthusiasm.'

"Yes, more than enthusiasm," said Chrysler, "I would say 'excitement'. I like to see men get excited. When they get excited, they get customers excited and we get business."

Enthusiasm can make a huge difference. We could all benefit by being enthusiastic about something that we currently find boring. We could be amazed at how excited we become and how skilful we become. We could also notice that the fire of our enthusiasm soon spreads to other people.

We could end up in the 'major leagues' of whatever we become enthusiastic about and we could have more friends, more fun and more money!

Success Lessons From Cricket

The first success lesson is that you and I must not dwell on our mistakes however humiliating they are. We have to be tough minded and just focus on the next ball to be bowled or the next project in our lives.

Cricket is a team game but there are only 11 players fielding (bowling and catching the ball) and they are spread out on a large field. Any mistakes you make are seen at once by your team mates and the audience. The mistakes of the batting side are also clearly visible as only two people bat at a time.

Kevin Pietersen, the promising England batsman, dropped two catches in the first test when he was fielding but then went on to a play a good batsman's innings. A commentator remarked that he must have a strong mind to get over the disappointment of dropping the catches enough to allow him to bat well

Geraint Jones, the wicket keeper, had also dropped two catches and again a commentator remarked that you can try to put your mistakes at the back of your mind but it is not that easy. The memory keeps recurring. However, Jones batted well in spite of the memory that must have haunted him. Later in the series, he also took some magnificent catches to make up for the ones he had dropped.

Both captains, Michael Vaughan and Ricky Ponting, batted poorly in the first two tests and were heavily criticized in the papers. However, in the third test match both captains batted extraordinarily well. They both showed the fighting spirit to get over the depression they must have felt after the first and second matches and the criticism they were receiving daily.

A second key success lesson is that you must not get distracted from your goal of scoring runs or anything else by mental or physical pain. In ordinary life, many painful things can happen which can demoralise you unless you are determined enough to keep going in spite of the pain. Keep focused on your goals and dreams whatever happens.

Those who have not played cricket may not realise how hard a cricket ball is. It is especially hard and bouncy when it is new. Fast bowlers are usually given the new ball so that they can bounce it high to hit the batsmen in the head, throat, ribs or hands.

Once the batsmen get distracted by the pain in their head or hands, they will be vulnerable to the next ball and will do something silly like knocking up a catch or failing to protect their wicket (the three stumps or sticks protruding from the ground) from getting hit by the ball.

Brett Lee, the Australian fast bowler, was run out when he hesitated before running. He wanted to flap his hand to get rid of the pain. His index finger and then his thumb had been hit by fast balls. Later, however, in another match, he redeemed himself by batting well even though he had been hit hard on the head and the arm!

On the second day of the first test England were bowling at the Australians who were having their second innings (chance to bat).

However, the England bowlers were not harassing the batsmen enough. Boycott, the former great England batsman, commented that the ball should be whistling about the batsmen's ears and hitting their gloves:

"The ball is new and hard. Now is the time to hit the batsmen before the ball gets too soft. Once the batsmen get too comfortable, they will start thinking: 'I fancy scoring a hundred.'"

Even the tailenders or weaker batsmen who bat last have to suffer. The bowlers cannot allow them to stay in too long. Boycott continues:

"Bowlers should hit the tailenders in the ribs or on the hand before they get too comfortable. That's what you have to do as a fast bowler. You have to hurt the opposition tailenders. Tailenders are alright if there is not a likelihood of them getting hurt. They're not too brave."

On Saturday, the third day of the test, the Australian tail enders were batting. Gillespie, one of the tailenders, was hit in the stomach near the belly button. He grimaced in pain. A few balls later he was hit in the groin by a ball from Harmison and doubled over in agony. The ball was travelling at about 90 miles an hour. The crowd roared with laughter. Harmison had been aiming for the throat and the toes and the crown jewels

It can take a good over (6 balls from the same bowler) or two to get focused after being hurt. But Gillespie is a gutsy player and practises hard at his batting. He realizes it is important for a tailender to score runs or at least stay in. He batted on bravely.

The gutsy performance of the Australian tailenders had much to do with the Australian success in the first test match of the Ashes series. They had learned how to overcome sharp physical pain and recover their focus quickly.

We all need to learn to accept the fact that we will suffer mental and physical pain at some point in achieving our goals. The secret is to forget the pain as quickly as possible and just concentrate on doing what we have to do.

Further success lessons came from the third test match. One of them is that sometimes it is better not to listen to the critics whether they are outside or inside your own head.

Australia had won the first test match and then England won the second test on the 7th Aug 2005 a date that will go down in history as the date of one of the greatest cricket matches ever played.

England won the match by 2 runs only - an amazingly close margin. Much of the success was due to the England captain, Michael Vaughan, but Vaughan had not scored enough runs himself in this test or the first one. He could guarantee that the papers would be having a go at him in a big way. His solution was simple. He did not read the papers.

On Thursday, England went in to bat. Michael Vaughan was in third and was under great pressure to perform. This is where his policy of not reading the papers paid off. He scored his first century of the series. The audience were up and out of their seats applauding as he succeeded. He had scored 13 fours (hits to the boundary).

A captain who scores runs can lead by example. It is important that he is in form as actions speak much louder than words. In the end he made a large total of 166 runs with about 20 four's and at least one six (a hit over the boundary).

He told an interviewer that before batting he had talked to the young boy who was the England mascot for the day. The lad had already had three heart by pass operations. This made Vaughan feel less tension as he realised that, at the age of thirty, he had so much to be thankful for and that scoring or not scoring runs was not that important in the whole scheme of things.

He also decided to bat on intuition and not to think too much. He had already done his thinking and his practice. Once he was facing some of the best bowlers in the world, he would not have time to think. His plan worked and he smashed the ball all over the place.

However, in the end Australia held out for a draw. They were saved mainly by the rain which meant that England had less time to get them out than was necessary.

So then: keep going even if you make embarrassing mistakes in full public view. Regain your focus on your goals even if you have been hit by physical or mental pain. Even the great Jim Rohn lost a million dollars after he had signed a form without realising the liabilities involved. He soon regained his focus and the lost money. Refuse to fill your mind with the views of your critics and keep your life in perspective by thinking of those millions of people who are so much worse off than you. Finally,once your thinking has been done, take action wholeheartedly without worrying about the results.

Success Lessons From Soccer - How To Win or Lose In The Game Of Life

Soccer matches are all about scoring goals and being winners. As a result, soccer can hold up a mirror to life since many humans also want to achieve goals and to be winners in the game of life. There is much to be learned about life in general from soccer players, managers and commentators.

When you listen to commentators on soccer matches, the key words they use again and again when teams are winning are words about character and attitude like belief, excitement, confidence, effort and so on. Soccer skills and strategies are important but mean little without the right attitude.

Team managers urge their players to show focus, determination and maximum effort. They tell them they should expect to win and not to show too much respect for their opponents no matter how famous they are.

I love listening to the comments of the great soccer managers. They have all been to hell and back. They are praised and popular when their teams win. They are criticised and even sacked when their teams fail to win. They know the heights of elation and the depths of despair. They have to find ways to deal with both and to keep motivating their teams to win.

Gordon Strachan took over as manager of Celtic, one of the top two clubs in Scotland, in 2005. It was not long before he experienced "the worst night of my life"

Bratislava beat Celtic 5-0 in the Champions league, the top European competition. His watch stopped after the match and he still wears it to remind himself that it was the worst night of his life. Celtic, the pride of Scotland, had been humiliated by a less famous team.

Other failures seemed small to him by comparison. We can all learn to deal with difficult situations by reminding ourselves of worst situations in our past or by imagining how much worse our lives could be than they actually are.

None of us knows for sure what will happen to us tomorrow. We could be seriously ill or even dead. Gordon has faced this possibility already. He told the media that on his gravestone he would like these words carved:

"This is better than that night in Bratislava."

He uses the humour of exaggeration to deal with the criticisms of the media when things go wrong. A reporter commented when his team lost a match in Scotland:

"Bang, there goes your unbeaten run. Can you take it? "

"No," said Strachan. "I'm just going to crumble like a wreck. I'll go home,
become an alcoholic and maybe jump off a bridge. Hmmm….I think I can
take it, yeah."

He knows the importance of positive thinking if you wish to achieve success.
One reporter foolishly asked: "There's no negative vibes or negative feelings here?"

Strachan replied: "Apart from yourself, we're all quite positive round here.
I'm going to whack you over the head with a big stick; down negative man,
down."

Strachan often speaks with disarming honesty and schoolboy cheek. He is ready to admit that he and his players are not always at their best. He is ready to face reality. Facing up to reality is a key characteristic of the successful.

When he managed a team in England, a reporter asked him: "So, Gordon, in what areas do you think Middlesbrough were better than you today?"

Strachan replied: "What areas? Mainly that big green one out there...."

Strachan has had his defeats but recently he has led his latest team, Celtic, to undisputed victory in the Scottish Premier League. He is widely accepted as a great manager.

Another great manager now works in the English Premier League. He is Jose Mourihno, the manager of Chelsea. He came to England in June 2004 and soon showed his confidence in himself and his players. He wants only to be judged by the results. A good manager wins. A bad one loses:

"I'm not a defender of old or new football managers. I believe in good ones and bad ones; those that achieve success and those that don't. Please don't call me arrogant, but I'm European champion and I think I'm a special one"

He soon proved himself to be a 'special one' in England as well as in Portugal, his native country. As the name 'the special one' suggests he believes in himself in a big way. A key factor in his success in England is his self-belief and a rich Russian backer who allows him to buy the best players in Europe. You can safely bet money that Chelsea will win almost all their matches.

The odds are not great but you could put £100 on Chelsea to win and make an easy £26 from your bet. Of course, this does not always work out. No team is perfect!

Mourinho is passionate about soccer but retains his sense of perspective and humour. Recently he was asked in London if he was concerned about losing the championship to his main rivals, Manchester United. His reply was typical of him:

"No, I'm more concerned about bird 'flu." The assembled press started laughing.

"Seriously; it's that swan in Scotland that concerns me. It's not that far from here!" (The swan was the first creature with bird 'flu in the UK in 2006)

Over the last few weeks, his team, Chelsea, have been criticised for having players sent off for breaking the rules. When Jose was asked about his success away from home against West Brom, he commented ironically:

"Maybe we won because we played with ten men. That is our best tactic at the moment."

However, he realises that the main reason Chelsea win so often is as follows:"We have top players and, sorry if I'm arrogant, we have a top manager."

Public confidence is so rare in the UK that it is often mistaken for arrogance.

Jose does not believe in having favourites; he believes in the power of the team rather than the individual:

"I don't want special relations with one of them (his players). I hate to speak about individuals. Players don't win you trophies, teams win trophies, squads win trophies."

Another great manager is Harry Redknapp of Portsmouth. He commented about his players in a match with Burnley which ended in a 2-2 draw:

"When the crowd was on their backs no one wanted to try anything in case they got booed. They were defensive and wanted to avoid mistakes."

Harry understands human psychology. If we are too worried about appearing foolish or making mistakes we will fail to make things happen and we will not make full use of our abilities. We go into our shells and play safe.

I remember feeling like this when I played cricket at school. I tried to avoid being anywhere near the ball in case I dropped a catch. It was many years before I realised that I was quite good at catching!

A commentator remarked: "Harry knows how to get his teams going and how to restore their confidence. Now they expect to win at Fratton Park (the Portsmouth ground). They firmly believe they will win." Recently they have won three games in a row and are on their way to escaping relegation to a lower division.

Another manager, Stuart Pierce, of Manchester City also knows the importance of confidence: "We need to go out and really believe we can play a bit."

What key success lessons can we learn from the above?

Skill is important but attitude is even more important. We should expect to win and not show too much respect for the obstacles in our path whether they are human or otherwise and whether they are real or imaginary. We need to believe in our own ability and expect to win even if this makes us seem arrogant.

We should handle failures by reminding ourselves that things could be much worse. Retaining our sense of humour also helps. Teamwork is a key factor in many types of achievement. We should not be worried about making mistakes whether we are playing soccer or cricket or the game of life.

We need to face up to reality and be willing to be judged by the results we achieve as well as the effort we put in. On the whole, I think, that the effort we expend is more important. We cannot always control the results but we can control the effort we put in. The same manager can lose with one team and win with another. He is still the same person and he still made the same efforts.

I'll leave you with a final quote from Gordon Strachan who has been both a winning and a losing manager:

A reporter asked: "Gordon, can we have a quick word?"

"Velocity", replied Gordon as he walked off.

Success on Purpose!

We are always living – seems obvious but many people seem to go through most of their life on autopilot. Sure they have hopes and dreams, they have ideas and plans, yet few actually achieve them. With every second that passes we lose time given to us to accomplish and experience various things. Not many people around the world can afford to sit in front of a computer and read articles like this compelling them to live life on purpose. They have a clear purpose – survival. They are not dreaming of riches or retirement, they are hoping to survive another day.

This is not a guilt trip, we are extremely blessed to be living in North America or some other developed nation where opportunities abound. But to whom much is given, much is expected. It is your duty to succeed, and despite the challenges you have faced, they are by no means an excuse.

I grew up in a third world country, and have many relatives who would be thrilled to be offered the chance to live in North America. They do what they can to get by, feed their families, raise their kids – not unlike us over here… but they have very little to aspire in the way of opportunity. In North America, we can aspire to the heights of society, finance, status, fame, etc and with hard work and some help, we can achieve it in our lifetime as a select few have. Sure its slim, but the chance exists.

I feel a responsibility to make the most of my life. Do you? What would a successful life look like to you? Try exploring your dreams beyond the typical riches and faming dream. John Maxwell says “Success is knowing your purpose, growing to reach your maximum potential and sowing seeds that benefit others.”

My definition of success is actively closing the gap between whom you are now and who God purposed you to be. The big question is, “What is your purpose?”

Here are some foundational principles on purpose, that apply to any created or invented things or being.

1. Everything is life has a purpose
2. Not every purpose is known
3. If you don’t know the purpose of a thing, you will abuse it. (E.g. a surgeon’s scalpel can be used to save or take a life.)
4. If you want to know the purpose of a thing, never ask the things.
5. The purpose of a thing is only found in the mind of the maker of that thing.

Only the original manufacturer of a car can know the full purpose of the car and each of its components. Only they know the potential and can give correct directions of use. Everyone else is guessing. You won’t find a Ford Manual in a Toyota Car, neither could you get one to fix the other’s product. (Without voiding the warranty and performance guarantee!)

Purpose while it may seem obvious is actually hard to pin down. Myles Munroe has put it best:

Purpose is the original intent for the reason of the making of a thing.

OR

Purpose is what caused the maker to make something.

OR

Purpose is what was wanted, that made a maker make a thing.

What a maker made was created to produce what he wanted. What he wanted was purpose, what he made was product. Product comes after purpose and product is created to produce purpose. I know its heavy – but its true.

E.g. Man wanted an easy way to light fire (purpose), so he invented matches (product)

The fact that you exist implies that there was a purpose behind your creation. No, it wasn’t an accident (no matter how you were conceived) and your success in life is determined, not by how much you make or spend, or what people may say. Success in this life is determined by whether you have fulfilled your purpose, and every second that goes by ought to be spent in the pursuit of that purpose.

In fact succeeding is not so much about achieving, but being on the journey towards what we were born to do… Challenge yourself to live a life of purpose. Seek out that purpose – only your Maker can reveal that – don’t let people put you in a box! Always Live your Life on Purpose!

Success or Bust!

Success or Bust!

We’ve all been driving down the road and seen those infamous signs in the back of all types of automobiles that say something like “Disneyland or Bust”. What does this mean? Basically, it means that those people are on their way to Disneyland and they will do absolutely anything no matter how much money, time or gas that they waste. They will get to Disneyland or BUST (go broke, run out of gas, waste too much time) trying to get there.

Now, let me ask you a question. Are you wearing this sign on your back as you head down the road to financial freedom?

SUCCESS OR BUST!

No, I don’t mean a real sign but you are doing everything possible to become successful no matter how much money, time or relationships it cost you. If this is you, then here’s a suggestion…stop the madness! Your success journey should progressively improve as you head down the path. Let me give you an example.

One of my coaching clients had been building her business for five years without any financial gain. That’s right, absolutely no progress. After just a few coaching sessions, she realized that she had been building her business wrong for five years. The minute that she began implementing strategies and techniques that actually work her business went through the roof. She’s now on her success journey and she is paving her way with golden bricks. This lady refuses to wear that sign that most of you are wearing…Success or Bust!

So, how do you know if you have that sign on your back? Here are some clues:

· You are flipping through a phone book or buying names/numbers instead of getting out and networking with people. You can’t expect to build an outstanding team if you don’t put forth the effort to actually meet Champions like yourself. Yes, it is hard to build a mastermind team that’s why I have compiled a Champions Forum where you can meet other Champions.

· You are taking advice from a coach, mentor, upline, business partner, etc. that has never done what you want to do or has never gone where you want to go. For example, if you are building a direct sales/marketing business then you wouldn’t want to take advice or direction from someone that has never built a direct sales/marketing business or has never made millions in the industry.

· You have spent hundreds if not thousands on personal development materials or services but you have nothing to show for it. You must research before you invest. For instance, I have had great success with my Millionaire Maker Boot Camps but I would never expect for you to take my word for it so I developed www.FindYourWhy.com/bootcamp. You can actually go to that link and listen to audio testimonials from past boot camp attendees. If you can’t find real testimonials from real people that a personal development program or service works, then don’t invest in it!

If you relate to any of these examples, then here’s what I want you to do. Are you ready?
Take your hand, put it in the center of your back and rip that “Success or Bust” sign off of your back! You shouldn’t become physical, emotionally, socially or financially broke on your Success Journey. I challenge you to start paving your path with golden bricks today by networking with other champions, taking advice from a successful coach and investing in personal development materials that work.

Success Snippets: Challenging Times

Ride the Wheel

It's a challenge to stay at the centre of the wheel of change. It's like riding the merry-go-round in a playground. The centre is the safest part to stay, with much less risk of being thrown off. Yet the centrifugal forces of our emotions threaten to send us to the edge as we struggle to maintain our grip of the centre. The longer we can stay there, the more laughter we experience in the face of adversity. I've been experiencing that too. Today was a bit of a challenge and I rode the ledge for a couple of hours. Having this perspective of existence that I've spoken of before, I'm finding it easier to find my way back to centre. Even so, I've also noticed that to edge away a bit from centre propels me into more action. There's a fine line there that must be negotiated. The dance of life.


Never Give Up

You know, I just responded to someone this evening and wrote that I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. We all know that saying. When times are hard and the situation seems hopeless, we usually turn a corner and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Looking at the situation, I fully saw this about a month or two ago and figured that the light at the end of the tunnel would've materialized by now. I mean, it's there, just not here yet. I still have more tunnel to go through. In the dark, I've noticed, the distance of the light is deceiving. Will I reach the opening today, tomorrow, next week, next month, or 2009? I don't know. Hanging on is really tough some days but I still refuse to give up.

Success Stories—Reliving The Past Helps You Build The Future

One of the exercises that I have many clients do is list out all the successes they’ve had in life. I ask them to start with early childhood and list everything they can remember being successful at. One of my clients recently gave the assignment to his girlfriend. She asked me afterwards what the point was. She hadn’t found it very useful.

What I told her is that that I’ve found that this exercise serves two important services. First, it’s a self esteem booster. Most people don’t realize how many successes they’ve had in their lives until they write them down. Some express surprise and sometimes some modesty when sharing their successes. I’d recommend this exercise just for this boost alone, but the second reason for doing this is even more valuable. Success leaves clues behind.

When I ask a client to list their successes, it’s usually because they are stuck in some area of their business. They’ve tried several strategies to get unstuck and nothing has worked. When we take some of their major successes and analyze them, we find patterns. I ask them how they accomplished major tasks. What methodology did they use?

What we typically find is that they have a natural success style. For some people this is setting a goal and creating a detailed plan to meet that goal. For others it’s just jumping in and doing whatever it takes to make it work. Others might just go with the flow and do what appears easy or exciting. One client set a small goal and met it. Then he set higher and higher goals meeting each one before he moved on to the next. It ended with four consecutive world championships.

So if you are finding yourself stuck in trying to accomplish a task in your business, stop right now and list out your successes. Start from being born—it’s not easy to get out and start breathing. Move through your entire life and write down every success you can remember. You might have things like starring in a school play, completing a century on your bicycle, getting an A in a difficult subject. Make sure you cover graduations, college degrees, advanced trainings. Don’t limit it to just work related or school related successes. Make sure you include the things you most enjoyed succeeding at.

Once you have the list, go through and pick two or three major ones and analyze them. What did you do to succeed? How did you feel? Were you afraid beforehand? If you were, how did you cope with or minimize the fear? Did you do a lot of planning? Did you jump right in? Were you alone or did you have help? Find the reasons you succeeded.

Now look for a pattern. I did this recently because I was really struggling to get my business going strongly. The exercise revealed that many of my successes came when I had a structured environment with a lot of creative activities. I realized that I needed more structure in my business. I had plenty of creative time. So I found a friend that I can do weekly check-ins with that holds me accountable for my actions. Each week I share with him my goals or homework for the next week. Then when we meet I share how well I met the goal. This is making a huge difference in the success of my business. Try mapping your past successes and watch as it makes a huge difference in your current success.

Success Through People

You need people. That’s a fact. Developing your people skills is probably one of the wisest investments you could ever make for yourself. Brilliant people who have already developed their people skills are already on their way to the top. Others who have also realized the importance of improving people skills have built their businesses on helping individuals improve the way they relate to other people.

Examine the way you relate to people. How good are you when it comes to working with people? Do you listen carefully to others or do you do most of the talking? Do you expect people to follow your command or do you create a win-win situation for parties concerned?

Improving your people skills starts with the right understanding of people. One of the keys to understanding human nature is frequent interaction with people. This will certainly be a big boost in establishing great relationships with your boss, officemates, spouse, children, friends, relatives, etc. These people can lift you up in victory, or these same people can refuse to do so.

Why do people refuse to extend assistance?

Two of the major reasons why people refuse to extend support or assistance are the perceived fear of losing and the absence of gain. Part of understanding human nature is to realize that most people always look after their own welfare first before the welfare of others.

The fear of losing prevents people from extending assistance most especially if it involves money, confidence, health, time, energy, and security (not necessarily in that order!). The trick then is to frame your request in order to minimize the fear of losing and emphasize the gains. Highlight the idea of winning and give assurance that losing is remote.

After you succeed in taking off the fear of losing, the next thing you need to do is to show the benefit they will gain from your offer. Among people, the fear of losing is paramount over the benefit of gaining. With this in mind, the gains should be equal or greater than the perceived fear of loss.

Another important factor in developing people skills is to have a good reputation. In establishing good relations, people look at the reputation of the person making the offer.

Reputation is built on first impressions, and first impressions last. With this, it is extremely important that you establish good impressions right at the very onset of the meeting. With a good reputation, succeeding requests will sail through. It is easier to make a first good impression than correct a previous bad one.

The bottom line is this: In order to succeed in life, you have to develop your people skills. Part of this is understanding human nature and how people relate with each other. You also have to practice interacting with a variety of personalities. Improve your people skills and increase your odds for success!

Success Through The Eyes Of A Child

Adults, with eyes to see, can learn so much about success in life from children.
When a baby is born, it has instinctively in it everything needed to succeed in life. A child is like a fresh piece of canvas, ready to become a unique contribution to the world. A child has had less exposure to adult conditioning with regards to behaviour and expectations. Every child has the seeds of success for life within them. By observing children being children, adults can re-learn principles of success that have been buried by their adult world.

As I was driving home last week, I noticed a little boy and his mother by the side of the road. They had stopped walking and the mother was adjusting a toy crossbow to fit more comfortably over the boy’s shoulder. I realized that at that moment in the heart and mind of that small boy, he was not on a sidewalk by a busy road. Perhaps he was hunting in a forest, or was an intrepid explorer of the unknown, ready to pull out his bow and arrows at the slightest hint of danger. In his imagination he was a hero, confident, skilled, and brave. He was alert, prepared, with the expectation of overcoming danger or threat with his skill and swift reflexes.

For a child involved in imaginative play, there is very little distinction between fantasy and reality. Children live and play out their dreams totally in the moment.

There are many principles of success that can be learned by looking through the eyes of a child. Children’s eyes see with clarity and perception and reflect the reality of who they are. Children are uncluttered by training, brainwashing, and by living according to the unwritten rules and etiquette that have assailed the adult mind. For a child life has limitless possibilities that have not been squashed by logic, common sense, or limiting expectations that become part of the adult mind.

What principle of success can be drawn from the little boy with his bow and arrow?

One of the most powerful and yet unused principles of success is the process of visualization. Visualization is the act of creating compelling and vivid pictures in your mind. This is just what the little boy was doing. He was “that hero”; he acted like him, dressed like him, and could picture himself in another time and another place. For him, it seemed like reality. This is a spontaneous, natural process for a child.

Researchers have found that visualization accelerates achievement in powerful ways. It has been proved by research that when performing any task in life the brain uses the same identical processes that it would if you were only vividly visualizing that activity. The brain sees no difference at all between visualizing something and actually doing it.

This principle also is applicable when a person is learning something new. Visualization makes the brain achieve more. In a study by researchers at Harvard University, it was found that students who visualized in advance were able to perform tasks with nearly 100 percent accuracy. Students who performed tasks without using visualization only achieved 55 percent accuracy.

Visualization is frequently used by Olympic and professional athletes to improve performance.
Jack Nicklaus, a legend in the golfing world, once described how he uses visualization. “I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp in-focus picture of it in my head. It’s like a color movie. First I “see” where I want it to finish, nice and white and sitting high on the bright green grass. Then the scene quickly changes, and I “see” the ball going there: its path, trajectory, and shape, even its behaviour on landing. Then there’s a sort of fade out, and the next scene shows me making the kind of swing that will turn the previous images into reality.” The results of the power of visualization for Jack Nicklaus are convincing: he has won over 100 tournaments earning over 5.7 million in the process.

For a child a high proportion of time is spent in visualization. Adults may say, “He’s only playing” and not see the potential power for success that the child is practicing. Visualization is a process that is naturally strong in the learning and formative years of the child. Research now confirms that visualization activates the creative powers of the subconscious mind. It focuses the brain by programming its reticular activating system (RAS) to notice available resources that were always there but previously unnoticed. Visualization, incredibly, also magnetizes and attracts you to the people, resources, and opportunities you need to achieve your goal.

Next time you see children playing, pause to watch visualization in its purest form. What can you learn and apply to your own life to accelerate and achieve greater success using the principle of visualization?

Success Through The Way You Think About Yourself

If you think you are a loser, you train or work like a loser i.e. sloppily and half-heartedly. If you think you are a winner you train like one i.e. with maximum focus, great expectations, excitement and consistent effort. This article takes a look at why people think like winners or losers and what they can do about it.

Steve Siebold describes in his recent book -"177 Mental Toughness Secrets of the World Class" - how he wanted to be a tennis champion. He had all the talent and the desire necessary but at times he lacked the belief that he was a potential champion. He writes:

"When I believed I was a champion, I trained like a champion. When I believed I was washed up, I trained like a loser."

When he was only ten years old, he defeated nearly everyone he played and, as a result, was thinking like a champion. He expected to win and so he trained and worked hard as winners should.

As he grew older his rankings started to drop and he no longer expected to win and so he started training like a loser instead of a winner.

He still had the desire to be a champion but so do lots of people. He believes that what made the difference was his belief in himself or his lack of it.

He lost some of his belief in himself through associating too much with what he calls the 'middle class' instead of the 'world class'. The middle class are too easily satisfied with mediocre results. The world class are only content when they become champions in whatever they are doing whether it be playing tennis or making money.

When I went to school at the age of 11, I worked hard and did all the work set with full attention and the desire to do well. I did so well that the principal of the school suggested I move up a whole year.

This was a mistake. I now came under the influence of class mates who did not like the fact that I had jumped a year. Some of them called me a swat and a bighead. Maybe they were right but I don't think so. Working hard was frowned on by this bunch.

They changed my thinking about myself so much that instead of thinking of myself as a champion student, I saw myself as some kind of a freak for working so hard. My effort dropped along with my self-image. Never underestimate the influence of those around you. I was lucky in the end to pass my exams and get to university.

It has taken me many years to regain belief in myself. I was helped by the great American positive thinkers like Norman Vincent Peale, Frank Bettger and William James.

One English writer who has also helped greatly in this is the multimillionaire Stuart Goldsmith. His book 'The Midas Method' explains how most of us are brainwashed at an early age into thinking there is an invisible ceiling to our progress which we will never break through.

Once we realize that this ceiling is only a figment of the imagination of ourselves and our so-called 'friends', we will be able to break through our limitations and achieve world class results which will astonish us.

We need to re-examine our beliefs about ourselves and to realize that many of them originated in the beliefs of people who thought that great results were only for the few and that our dreams were just 'pie in the sky'.

Instead of listening to the middle class or the poverty class (those who are not even aware of the possibility that they could be champions), let's start listening to the world class. Let's replace negative beliefs about ourselves with empowering ones and then start working hard to achieve our dreams.

We don't need a degree in psychology to do all this. A little bit of commonsense and observation can show us the way. It also helps to read the books of people like Steve Siebold and Stuart Goldsmith and - if I dare say it without being called a bighead - myself!

You may or may not have access to world class neighbours or friends but you do have easy access to world class writers and thinkers through the media of books, audios and video tapes. The internet has, of course, widened that access exponentially.

It is high time you and I joined the world class and made the most of the championship potential which is there in all of us.