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Success

Jan 24
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Don’t let analysis paralysis stop you from achieving your goals

By Blogpost, Success

The-Thinker-580x385

Did you achieve everything you wanted in the last 12 months?

– did you achieve your business goals?
– did you achieve your personal goals?
– did your net worth grow or shrink?
– did you have more free time?
– did you spend more time with family and friends?
– did you take good care of your body, mind and soul?
– was there an improvement or a decline in your quality of life?

Now is the time to honestly answer these questions. Take the time to reflect on your past achievements and struggles. What can you learn right now, before you take action on this year’s plans? For each answer, ask yourself…

– what did I do right?
– what did I do wrong?

(It’s important to ask “what did I do wrong” even when you succeeded, because there is always room for improvement)

For the areas which saw no improvement or even a decline, ask yourself,

– what did you KNOW you should have done but did not do?
– WHY?

Waiting for the “perfect time” to take action is a terrible way to let a year go by: “I can’t take action now because… stars-aren’t-aligned, I don’t have enough time/money/skills, I won’t do it right…” all that does is NOTHING.

Don’t let perfection be your enemy. Don’t be scared to do the wrong thing. Make a plan of action and DO first. Apologize later if you must, because some of the directions you choose will be nothing more than helpful lessons.

Just don’t throw the year away waiting for “permission” from yourself to take action. Learn from the past, improve on it with a better plan of action.

Put one foot in front of the other. Repeat as needed.

 

Inspired by vlogs at:

http://www.lifetosuccess.com/

Jul 23
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Build Relationships, Create Customers

By Blogpost, Success

Many business owners approach sales from the perspective of what the customer can do for the business – in other words, the dollar value of each customer and “closing the sale.” That is common, but it’s also a completely backwards approach.

Without customers, your business is nothing.

If you approach your customers from the perspective of what you can do for them, you will succeed. Your marketing strategy and your sales process must revolve around “how may I serve you?”

How May I Serve You

That is the essence of relationship marketing and relationship-based customer service. How do you do this? By making each prospect feel comfortable; being trustworthy; providing a solution to their problem.

1. What does your customer need? Demonstrate a genuine interest in helping them solve their problem and you will create a relationships no matter if they purchase from you or not:
● Listen: when you’re focused on closing the deal, you are focused on yourself, not the customer. Give your customer 100% attention and really listen to what they are saying. Every person is unique and every problem is unique. To provide the best solution, you must know exactly what the situation is. AVOID scripted or canned replies. These transparently say to the customer, “I want to make the sale so would you hurry up and say yes!” – canned replies do NOT say, “I care about helping you.”
● Based on what the customer needs, offer information, resources, options, solutions and ideas. They will remember your integrity and the care that you took in helping them and that you went the extra mile to do research and offer innovative solutions. Be HONEST! If your offering doesn’t meet the customer’s needs, say so. False claims will come back to haunt you! Be honest, and they’ll be back – and/or they will refer friends.
● Treat everyone with respect… especially when there’s a problem. Put yourself in their shoes – how would you feel, and what would your expectations be? Always remember that helping the customer solve their problem is your #1 priority!

2. Be easy to reach. Don’t make your customers hunt you down. They won’t. If you have a small business and cannot afford a receptionist, make sure you answer ALL phone messages or emails in the same business day if at all possible; or the next day at the latest. When people decide they want something, they want it NOW. Don’t get left behind because somebody else was available!

3. Stay in touch and show them you care. Customers LOVE hand-written thank you notes and birthday/holiday wishes. There’s nothing like a small gesture like this to make a customer feel special and it takes almost no time to do. Who doesn’t love a personalized thank-you? Don’t let “out of sight, out of mind” ruin a relationship. Customer appreciation goodies like special discounts, incentives and prizes for loyal customers are a great way to show you care. Many companies offer new-customer bonuses, but neglect their old customers. Keep existing customers happy by showing your gratitude!

4. Offer ongoing support. Even if a product doesn’t ever need repair or replacing, the customer may have questions. If you offer a service, the same applies: people forget things and they always have questions. Rule #1 is to never treat ANY question as a dumb question. To the person asking, it’s perfectly valid and reasonable.

Focus on adding value to your customer. They will notice. They will appreciate it. And they will reciprocate with loyalty and referrals!

Inspired by a blog on http://blog.ideacafe.com/

Jun 07
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Lessons From Sir Richard Branson

By Blogpost, Success

Talk about the epitome of the “Success Mindset”! Sir Richard Branson is living every entrepreneur’s dream. So what is it about him that made him so… beyond successful?

Success

Branson embodies the fearless, believe-in-yourself attitude essential for success. Here is a list of traits he personifies; you may recognise some in yourself – and work on developing those you currently lack:

1. Mindset:

– Purpose: have a clear sense of why you’re here and what you can contribute. What is your real gift to the world and how can you share it?
– Values: family, fun, integrity, adventure, contribution, honesty, teamwork, being the best, quality of life, respect, leadership by example, responsibility, challenge.
– Beliefs: unlimited, open, creative… anything is possible and everything is negotiable
– No real line between work and play; passion for everything
– Fascination and curiosity about everything

2. Skills:

– Flexible thinking; open-minded
– Negotiation and persuasion
– Communication, including listening and painting a clear picture of a desired future.
– Building relationships

3. Behaviours:

– Takes calculated risks
– Takes time to learn
– Visioning, dreaming, planning
– Being surrounded by positive, uplifting, forward-thinking people including mentors
– Journals (always carries notebook to write down ideas
– Constantly hunting for new opportunities; or creating them
– Making it a habit to step out of the comfort zone
– Challenge current ways of thinking; seeing from alternate perspectives
– Enjoys trying new things

 

Will you end up as wildly successful as Richard Branson if you adopt all of these traits? Maybe. You might just surpass him. But don’t measure yourself against him or anyone else – learn from them, but remember that you will be as successful as YOU want to be, according to your definition of success and within the parameters of who you are – a unique individual with a unique and needed gift. Start today by choosing one trait to develop in yourself and go do it!

 

Inspired by an IQ Matrix Mind Map by Adam Sicinski at www.iqmatrix.com

Apr 19
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The Magnificent Seven: 7 Ways to Success

By Blogpost, Success

7-clear-goal

Is there a secret to success? No. Well, actually there is. It has nothing to do with luck. It has something to do with visualization and clearing out limiting beliefs. But ultimately, the secret to success is so ordinary that it seems impossible. Go get what you want. Here’s how:

1. Stop worrying about what you “should do” or about what other people want and get clear on what you really, really, really want. Anything other than what you really want is somebody else’s idea of what’s right and good for you! You’re not here to play out their agendas.

2. Take responsibility for your life. You created whatever situation you’re in right now. Life is all about choices, and the choices you’ve made over the course of your life have led you… right here. Most of these choices are made based on your beliefs (that’s why changing your limiting beliefs is important) so don’t be too upset if you don’t like your life and now you’re supposed to own it. Think of it as empowerment. You’re taking back control of your life.

3. Be willing to be confused and scared – and keep pushing on anyway. At first, confusion will reign; doubt will be strong; clarity might be hard to find; and you will feel fear. All you have to do is take the next step, the one right in front of you. Don’t worry about the big picture, just keep on moving with determination, toward your objective.

4. Get help. Humans aren’t made to go it alone. Sure, there are intrepid souls who brave the unknown completely on their own; but realistically, most of us aren’t like that. We need teachers; suppliers; role models; supporters; fellow dreamers; naysayers; customers… We need people to guide us, push us, redirect us, challenge us and annoy the hell out of us (because without discomfort and annoyance, nothing would ever change).

5. Commit to it and do something! What’s your next smallest step? Take it! Just focus on what you need to do next and DO IT, despite whatever temptations or distractions come your way. Nothing manifests magically. You have to go get what you want. Make taking action more fun and appealing than NOT taking action. How? By falling in love with your dream, day after day after day, and creating a habit of daily action to move you toward your goal.

6. Set the right expectations, persevere and HAVE FUN. In this day of instant gratification, it’s really hard to wait for results. And it’s very easy to give up before you see any real signs of forward progress or success. But how many dreams end up forgotten because nothing seemed to be happening and you got frustrated or bored? Be realistic in your expectations – avoid the marketing hype, because things take time. They just do. So roll with it and enjoy the process as much as you enjoy the achievement. If you’re having fun along the way, who cares how long actual manifestation takes?

7. Be the boss. Manage your excuses. Drive yourself through the temptation of procrastination. Push yourself through inaction. Motivate yourself to do your best. You might have heard the saying, “If you don’t want something, you’ll find a million excuses why you can’t; and if you want something, you only need one reason why you can.” Throw out the excuses. Hold yourself accountable (and if you can’t, a coach will do that for you!).

Basically, you are changing your mindset from settling for what is, to expecting and going after what you really want. That’s the mindset of success.

Sadly, most people never get what they want. They have the opportunity but they let it slip away and at the end of it all, they have a lot of regrets and no real joy. The secret to success lies within you. YOU have to decide, “yes or no.” You have to do the work. There’s no magic pill so don’t bother looking. YOU are the magic pill. That is, your desire, willingness and determination are the combination of forces that will make your greatest goals come true.

Inspired by Henri Junttila’s blog at www.pickthebrain.com

Mar 13
Love0

The Components of Goal Sucess

By Blogpost, Success

Goal achievement is a very dynamic process. Sometimes you’re flying along; other times you’re wondering if all of your hard work is ever going to pay off. Sometimes you neglect your goal. There is doubt. There is confusion. There isn’t enough time. So how do you keep motivated when you’re in the thick of it? And how do you fit your goal into a busy life?

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These are the key elements of success:

1. WRITE DOWN YOUR GOALS! Narrow the list down to the top 5, so you don’t overwhelm yourself – and focus most of your energies on the #1 goal. Magic happens when you write what you want. It’s the first command you give to your brain: “This is what I want.”

2. GIVE YOURSELF DAILY COMMANDS. You’ll have moments of doubt and fear; or times when you focus on the problems and not the solutions. Create a daily habit of visualization and self-talk, imagining and speaking of your goal already achieved. The more detail and emotion you incorporate, the better. Now, I know that some people view this as silly new-age lala stuff. But think about it – anytime you’ve ever achieved something, you first pictured yourself doing it.

Even getting yourself a cup of tea requires an instant’s worth of visualizing yourself having a cup of tea. It is a command to your brain to help you take the physical actions required to make tea. Before you get out of your chair, walk to the kitchen and fill the teapot, you picture the goal (enjoying a cup of tea) as already accomplished. You don’t sit there and picture yourself not being able to turn on the faucet to fill the teapot, or spilling tea all over your desk! And you certainly don’t get up and make a cup of tea without first having the idea to do so!

You picture yourself HAVING TEA. Goal. Accomplished. Only then does your brain know what to do next! You have to give your brain a command so it knows what to look for in your environment (the people and resources to make your goal happen). Visualizations/affirmations create BELIEF that your goal can, and will, be achieved – and then you’ll take action. Without belief, you won’t get up and do a thing. If you believe that for some reason you can’t have a cup of tea, you’ll never get up and make one.

3. CREATE AN ACTION PLAN. How do you get from A to B? Look at the big picture and then break the whole thing down into TINY daily action steps. Unless you’re able to work a goal full-time, you will have to be realistic and fit it into your schedule. Finding 10-30 minutes every day to work your goals is realistic and manageable and eliminates the excuse of “I don’t have time.” Sorry- hate to take that excuse away, but there it goes!

10-30 minutes a day is nothing in the grand scheme of things. Make daily action a HABIT. Commit to working your goal every day. Just like you brush your teeth every day. Persistent and consistent action will get you there. Sporadic activity will not. Set aside a short scheduled chunk of time where you can focus on your goal (10-30 minutes a day), and DO something.

Persistent and consistent action is easier and creates more forward momentum than taking occasional huge leaps. It’s like spending 10 minutes a day cleaning the house (it’s nothing!), versus spending an entire weekend at it and resenting and hating every second because you’d much rather be playing or relaxing!

Track your progress. Milestones and deadlines are great motivators. Set milestones as part of your action plan, and you’ll feel great about how much you’ve already accomplished. Create a timeline or a chart and set deadlines for yourself. And reward yourself by celebrating the milestones you achieve!

4. GET SUPPORT. You might need help creating an action plan (most of us haven’t got a clue as to where and how to even start, let alone continue!); you might need help with skills and knowledge. Don’t be afraid to ask for help! Don’t be afraid to ask someone to mentor you!

Together, these steps will move you closer to your goal every day. Don’t let the big picture overwhelm you! Achieving any goal is easy, if you ‘see’ it, feel it and work it, every day.

Inspired by a blog written by Tracy Brinkmann on www.goalsontrack.com

Oct 17
Love0

A Positive Attitude and Success

By Attitude, Blogpost, Success

 

 

Surrounding yourself with positivity in your work environment might sound like a lot of New Age la-la stuff, and you might bristle at the thought of pasting motivational quotes in your office.

Good news. You don’t have to.

But maybe, after reading this, you’ll want to. At least one or two that will keep you accountable and on track.

If you’re a businessperson, you have goals and your time is precious and scarce. Frequently reading positive quotes actually create a more positive mindset that is more prone to taking action, interacting with people, and taking calculated business risks that move your business forward.

“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”– Dale Carnegie

Everybody is wrapped up in their own lives. They don’t have a whole lot of time for your life story… they are too busy being focused on their own needs and wants. That includes your clients and your prospective clients. The more interested you become in them and their needs, the more sales you’ll generate because you’ll figure out a way to make your product or service meet those needs!

 

“Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.” – Benjamin Franklin

 

You KNOW procrastination is a dream-killer. So instead of a “to-do” list, make a “hit list” of the most important tasks and systematically take care of them immediately. Everything else can wait.

“I think that much of the advice given to young men about saving money is wrong. I never saved a cent until I was forty years old. I invested in myself – in study, in mastering my tools, in preparation. Many a man who is putting a few dollars a week into the bank would do much better to put it into himself.” – Henry Ford

How much time do you spend learning about your business, your product or service, and your market? Never stop learning. You will never become a master of anything because there is always more to learn; if you think you’ve learned it all, you’ll stagnate and get left behind. Be curious and look for more to learn, every day.

“Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill

Business life is full of disappointments and obstacles. How do you cope? Do you take the lessons from your failures, or do you allow them to knock you down?

These quotes by some of the world’s greatest achievers will instill a sense of optimism and personal power in you. Watch your results increase as you change your mindset!

With thanks to www.goalsnaspirations.com for the inspiration for this post.

 

 

Feb 03
Love0

Look….Where you want to go!!!

By Blogpost, Success

Lookingforsomething

 

Every athlete knows this: look where you want to go. The mountain biker has a choice between looking at the line between the trees, or looking at the tree – and inevitably experiencing an abrupt and unpleasant physical encounter with said tree. The tennis player has a choice between looking at the ball (no matter if it is coming straight at her head or off into the stands) or looking at her opponent and trying to anticipate the opponent’s move – and inevitably missing the shot by being a fraction of a second too late on the backhand.
 

All success in sports has two key element: the athlete has to look where he (or she) wants to go, both during the physical act of the sport itself, as well as in visualizing the desired result. Elite athletes (you’ve seen this during the Olympics) spend time visualizing the downhill ski run, or the dive, or the gymnastics routine. Scientists have, in fact, discovered that you can learn something simply by visualizing it just as effectively as by physical practice!
 

But athletes aren’t the only ones who have to keep their eye on what they want: so do you!
 

That is, if you plan on accomplishing your goals. Can you clearly, vividly imagine your end result? Are you IN that mental movie? Do you believe that this mental image is as real as the blog you’re reading? Do you have the courage to look past the immediate (“I don’t have it”) and the “obvious” (“I can’t do that”) and GO FOR GOLD?

 

 

Visualization is essential to success.

 

There is nothing, and I sincerely mean nothing, you can’t achieve if you visualize a successful result; by the same token, you won’t achieve anything if you can’t visualize a successful result.

 

I can’t stress enough how important a vision board or a vision book is to success. The mind is very visually-oriented. Even our speech is full of things like “look at” or “see how” or “imagine” or “watch what.” You are conjuring up images right now about the sentence you’ve just read, based on your own experiences! This should give you a clue as to how critical visualization is. So the more visual elements you have in your workspace, home or wherever you keep reminders of your goals, the better. Of course that can include the written word, since every word or sentence is translated or converted into an image. Here’s one for you: BLOOD-RED SUNRISE. You can’t help but imagine something – based on your background, the image is good, bad, exciting, scary, whatever – but the point is, there is an image.

 

So go wild with your vision board. Make several of them! Or make an entire vision book, such as a small notebook full of especially colorful and evocative words and images. See what you want. See yourself IN it. Feel it. Smell it. Hear it. Taste it. Immerse yourself in it.

 

Visionboard
And have it.

 

Inspired by Gary Ryan Blair at www.everythingcounts.com

 

 

Oct 04
Love0

Your Success Team

By Blogpost, Success


In my years of studying personal development, wealth building and business management, I’ve become a firm believer in Success Teams. What is a “Success Team?” and why is it so important? Why should you build a Success Team rather than going at it on your own? And who are these people?
 

I think the simplest answer is found in the people in your life. Look around. How many of them truly support your goals and offer unconditional support and encouragement? How many of them push their own limited viewpoints on you? How many of them instill doubt in you? How many of them hold you accountable? How many of them poke fun at your goal or say “you can’t?” How many of them say “you can do anything you want to do” but you intuitively sense the doubt they’re projecting?
 

It is worthwhile to take note of the level of support you receive from the people in your life, because it will likely make you think about finding people who don’t pass judgment, who don’t preach negativity, who don’t make you feel guilty, who don’t say “you can’t”… As loving and well-meaning as your friends and family may be, you have to understand that your goal is not necessarily something that is important to them. It is not necessarily something they understand. Or approve of! And since our friends and family are important to us, we value their opinions, right? There’s the problem. Are you able to NOT be affected by someone saying “oh, but you can’t make money doing (what you love)”? Do you realize that the speaker is really saying, “I can’t…?” Because that’s what people do, they project their own limitations on YOU. Many of us consciously or unconsciously accept these beliefs and we let our dreams slip away. How sad is that!
 

So, it’s worthwhile to surround yourself with people who understand that achievement of your goals is not only important to you, but that once you’ve achieved your goal, there will be positive results for people around you! This is because as you reach for a goal, you must grow. You simply cannot be the person you are now, and achieve something greater than yourself. You must become someone greater! Think for a minute about the many ways a “new and improved” you will better the lives of people around you.
 

In the end, your success benefits more than just you! So it’s time to take the initiative and find a Success Team… as opposed to the “Things Aren’t That Bad, Let’s Not Rock the Boat” team.
 

Your Success Team is a group of like-minded people. Those who say “I’m going for it!” and won’t take no for an answer. They understand what it’s like to want something, and they are committed to helping you reach your goals just as you are committed to helping them reach theirs. You can call this collaboration “goal-tending” – just like in hockey, it takes more than the goalie to keep the other team from scoring; and it takes more than one player to score on the opposing team. Sure, there is the rare miracle moment when a single player makes that one lucky shot that wins the game. And there are people whose determination and grit alone gets them to their destination. But the reality is, all of our goals rely on the help of others! Think about anything you’ve ever achieved in your life and thank everyone who helped you get there. Even if it felt like you did it all on your own, did you, really? Or did you gain bits of wisdom and advice along the way? Did someone run a household errand for you so you could concentrate on your goal-oriented activity? Did anyone help you by introducing you to just the right person? Even if there are no obvious helpers, dig deep and think of everyone who was there in the right place at precisely the right time… and you will soon see how no goal is a true solo effort.
 

Finding a supportive atmosphere among like-minded people will greatly speed up your success. It goes beyong encouragement, into accountability. It’s far easier to lie to yourself and tell yourself that you’ll act… tomorrow… (if the stars are aligned, and right after that TV show you just can’t miss…) than it is to face your Success Team and explain why you didn’t do something. As a group, you will see right through each other’s lame excuses. You’ll push each other. You’ll encourage and congratulate each other, motivate each other, brainstorm together. And, you’ll succeed together.

Sep 28
Love0

How to use a Vision Board to achieve your goals!

By Blogpost, Goals, Success

Humans are creatures whose brains operate on imagery. We don’t have words swimming around in our heads, we have movies (or little clips and sound bytes). This is why a vision board is such a powerful tool in creating the results you want.

You may already know that a vision board has real power behind it. You may know that when you look at an image consistently and with feeling, that image will manifest in the physical world. What you may not know is how to use your vision board to its best potential. I have an idea I’d like to share with you:

Stop worrying about how your goal will manifest. Of course I’m not talking about just sitting there, staring at your magic vision board and doing nothing while you wait for your goal to drop into your lap. Races aren’t won without training; businesses are not made successful without some effort on your part – and so on. I’m talking about silencing the inner chatter, those gossipy, nagging and annoying hens in our heads that chant “can’t” and “but” and “what if” until you make yourself crazy. The trick is, to use your vision board to plant seeds and nurture them… NOT to get you worrying about “how.”

So as you sit there gazing longingly and lovingly at your vision board, don’t start managing your budget in your head. Don’t start measuring watts or making sales calls in your head. Don’t start putting images of “how” in there (images which usually involve backbreaking labor, hard hours, sacrifice and no fun).

For a little while each day, just feel the images on your vision board.

Put yourself into those images – give yourself the starring role in that movie. It can be really helpful to talk to a coach, who can sit down with you and help you create a vision board that has the right images, and reinforce those images with the right self-talk. Self talk such as, “how does (achieving x) make me feel?” “How do people treat me now that I’ve (achieved y)?” and many other questions that get you feeling good about the end result and not how you’re going to get there.

Like any other tool in goal achievement, a vision board is only as good as the thoughts you put into it. If your inner speech says “can’t” and “but” and “what if”, then a hundred vision boards in your home won’t do a thing. But one board, with the right images and reinforced by the right inner dialogue, can and will help you.