It’s A Wonderful World
Posted by Brian Tracy on Sep 27, 2007
This is a wonderful world that we live in!
This is a wonderful world that we live in! With more than one billion people living on less than one dollar per day, and problems of incredible magnitude affecting billions more all over the world, we here in America are preoccupied with whether or not OJ Simpson legally or illegally entered a hotel room in Las Vegas to get back some of his twenty year old sports memorabilia.
Meanwhile, the newspapers are preoccupied with the sub-prime mortgage problems and predicting a potential US economic meltdown. What they don’t tell you is that there are approximately fifteen trillion dollars worth of mortgages outstanding in the US today. Of this amount, a maximum of one trillion can be categorized as sub-prime, or loaned to people who do not have sufficient credit to carry their increased mortgage payments.
Of the one trillion dollars in sub-prime mortgage debt, perhaps 10% of that, or one hundred billion dollars is in default or at risk of going into default. But these houses do not disappear and lose 100% of their value. They are merely revalued downward by the marketplace, resold for a lesser amount than before, and reoccupied by new homeowners.
Bottom line? The very best calculations suggest that there may be losses of as much as thirty-six billion dollars before the sub-prime problems are ironed out and the real estate market reestablishes itself on a straight and level keel. This is a large amount of money, but compared to the thirteen trillion dollar ($13,000,000,000,000) economy, it is an amount that primarily large banks and investors, nationally and internationally, can and will absorb. Life will go on. Don’t get excited.
The situation in Iraq appears to be improving. Regardless of your opinion of the war, it must be prosecuted intelligently and brought to a proper end. The primary reasons for going into Iraq were the threats of weapons of mass destruction, to which all the major intelligence agencies in the world (US, Canada, British, German, French, Russian and Chinese) agreed existed. We are facing an enemy, “Islamo fascist extremism” that believes that all that do not bow down to Allah should be immediately murdered, including men, woman and children, even if they are Muslims but do not except a particular and extreme interpretation of the Koran.
It is hard to deal diplomatically or intelligently with people, like those who flew into the twin trade towers in New York, who believe that mass murder is a legitimate way of expressing their hatred for all who disagree with their way of believing and their way of life.
If we were to pull out of Iraq abruptly, the first thing that would happen would be a blood bath on a scale unimaginable since the Second World War. Hundreds of thousands of innocent people would be murdered by one faction or another, and the US would be held responsible.
In addition, if the US were to pull out of Iraq precipitously, it would confirm what Osama Bin Ladin has been saying, that the US is a “paper tiger” and lacks the character or guts for a sustained fight. This would encourage and embolden Muslim extremists from all over the world to commit even more mass murder.
Freedom loving peoples, who inherently dislike war of any kind, would eventually have to respond to defend themselves. The consequences of such a belated response, in the face of an enemy that wants to annihilate us, could be more severe than anyone today imagines.
The most important thing is to stay calm. Read the news with an open mind. Refuse to allow the extremist fringes in American politics to sway your thinking. Above all, think long term.
The true mark of intelligence is your ability to think into the future and to accurately calculate what might happen then, based on what you do today. This ability to play down the chessboard of life is the hallmark of true wisdom.
I’ll talk to you again soon.
Best regards,
Brian
Self-Image in Selling
Posted by Brian Tracy on Sep 26, 2007
Why Your Self-Image is a Key Part of Your Personality
Your self-image is the way you see yourself and think about yourself. It is often called your "inner mirror." You look into this mirror in every situation to see how you should perform on the outside. You always behave on the outside in a manner consistent with the picture you have of yourself on the inside.
How Do You See Yourself
For example, if you see yourself, as calm, confident and competent in any aspect of selling, when you are engaged in that activity, you will feel calm, confident and competent. You will be positive and happy. You will perform well and get excellent results. If, for any reason, it doesn’t go well at that time, you will throw it off and dismiss it as a temporary situation. Your self-image is clear. In your mind’s eye you see yourself as good and capable in that area, and nothing can interfere with your mental picture.
Change Your Self-Image
The most rapid improvements in sales results come from changing your self-image. The moment that you see yourself differently, you behave differently as well. And because you are behaving differently, you get different results.
My Own Story
Some years ago, when I was selling club memberships from office to office, I would end my presentation by giving the prospect a booklet outlining the membership benefits and encourage him to "think about it." My self-image was such that I could not bring myself to ask the prospect to make a buying decision. All day long, I would go from office to office giving my presentation and leaving a little book with descriptions to read. And as you might imagine, I was not making any sales. When I called people back after they had time to think about it, they would invariably say that they were not interested.
The Turning Point
I was getting desperate. I was living from hand to mouth at the time. Although I was seeing lots of prospects, I was making very few sales. Then I had a revelation which changed my career at the time. I realized that it was my fear of asking for the order that was causing all my problems. It was not my prospects. It was me. I needed to change my self-image and thereby change my behavior if I wanted results to improve.
Make A Decision
The very next morning, I made the decision that I would not call back on a prospect. The size of the purchase was small and, when I had completed my presentation, the prospect would know everything that he needed to know to make a decision. There was no benefit or advantage of leaving material behind or giving the prospect several days to think about it. At my very first call, and I still remember it, when I had finished my presentation, the prospect said, "Let me think it over." I smiled and told him that I did not make call backs because I was too busy, and then I said, "You know everything you need to know to make a decision right now. Why don’t you just take it?" I remember him shrugging his shoulders and saying, "OK. I’ll take it. How would you like to be paid?"
Double Your Earnings
I walked out of that office on a cloud. That very day I tripled my sales. That week, I sold more than anyone else in the company. By the end of the month, they had made me the sales manager with 42 people under me. I went from making one or two sales per week to making ten or fifteen sales per week. I went from worrying about money to a large salary with an override on the activities of all my salespeople. My sales life took off and, with few exceptions, it never stopped. And the turning point was that conscious choice to modify my self-image and make it more consistent with the results I wanted rather than the results that I was getting.
Action Exercises
Now, here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, begin to see yourself the way you want to be. See yourself as strong, confident, competent and professional in every way. The person you see is the person you will be.
Second, identify an area of selling where your own ideas about yourself and the situation are holding you back. You always perform on the outside the way you see yourself on the inside.
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Three Easy Ways to Maximum Motivation
Posted by Brian Tracy on Sep 24, 2007
Appreciate People for Everything They Do
There are three keys to getting the best out of others, and the first of these is appreciation. Every time you thank another person, you cause that person to like themselves better. You raise their self-esteem and improve their self-image. You cause them to feel more important. You make them feel that what they did was valuable and worthwhile. You empower them.
Build Your Own Self-Esteem
And the wonderful thing about thanking other people is that, every time you say the words “thank you,” you like yourself better as well. You feel better inside. You feel happier and more content with yourself and life. You feel more fully integrated and positive about what you are doing. When you develop an attitude of gratitude that flows forth from you in all of your interactions with others, you will be amazed at how popular you will become and how eager others will be to help you in whatever you are doing.
Praise and Approve Others Continually
The second way to make people feel important, to raise their self-esteem and give them a sense of power and energy, is by the generous use of praise and approval. Psychological tests show that, when children are praised by the people that they look up to, their energy levels rise, their heart rates and respiratory rates increase and they feel happier about themselves overall.
Make People Feel Important
Perhaps the most valuable lesson in Ken Blanchard’s book The One Minute Manager is his recommendation to be giving “one-minute praising” at every opportunity. If you go around your home and through your social relationships praising and giving genuine and honest approval to people for their accomplishments, large and small, you will be amazed at how much more people like you and how much more willing they are to help you achieve your goals.
Practice the Law of Reciprocity
There is a psychological law of reciprocity that says, “If you make me feel good about myself, I will find a way to make you feel good about yourself.” In other words, people will always look for ways to reciprocate your kindnesses toward them. When you look for every opportunity to do and say things that make other people feel good about themselves, you will be astonished at not only how good you feel, but at the wonderful things that begin to happen all around you.
Pay Attention When They Talk
The third way to empower others, to build their self-esteem and make them feel important is simply to pay close attention to them when they talk. The great majority of people are so busy trying to be heard that they become impatient when others are talking. But this is not for you. Remember, the most important single activity that takes place over time is listening intently to the other person when he or she is talking and expressing himself or herself.
Take Every Opportunity to Build People Up
Again, the three general rules for empowering the people around you, which apply to everyone you meet, are appreciation, approval, and attention. Voice your thanks and gratitude to others on every occasion. Praise them for every accomplishment. And pay close attention to them when they talk and want to interact with you. These three behaviors alone will make you a master of human interaction and will greatly empower the people around you.
Action Exercises
Now, here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, make people feel important. Look for ways to express praise and approval at every opportunity.
Second, practice the special art of listening to people when they want to talk. It makes people feel special and appreciated.
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Catastrophe Exaggerated
Posted by Brian Tracy on Sep 13, 2007
There is no evidence whatsoever, anywhere, in any scientific study, that carbon dioxide emissions are harmful to the globe, or to any living creature.
During this summer, I have done a good deal of reading on the subject of “climate change” and “global warming.” Since these subjects are extremely controversial today, I wanted to fully understand the truth about the subjects. What I have found is very different from what you read in the popular press.
When I was in Phoenix in July, the temperature reached 115 degrees in the daytime. There was then a story in the paper saying that “This is the hottest that it has been in Phoenix since 1990.”
The often-repeated fallacy that 2007 has been the hottest summer since 1998, which was the hottest summer on record, has been disproved by fact. The truth is that the temperature in the U.S. in 1934 was the hottest summer on record. In fact, the world has been gradually cooling since 1998, all the warnings to the contrary notwithstanding.
It turns out that the emission of carbon dioxide takes place worldwide, at all times, and less than 2% of carbon dioxide emissions are caused by “anthropogenic activity” or activities caused by human beings. The flatulence from cows, which also contains methane, emits more carbon dioxide than all the SUV’s in the world.
There is another little-known factor: There is no evidence whatsoever, anywhere, in any scientific study, that carbon dioxide emissions are harmful to the globe, or to any living creature. In fact, the opposite is true. High concentrations of carbon dioxide lead to larger, richer, fuller crops and extended growing seasons, thereby increasing food production and lowering food costs for many people in the world.
It also turns out, according to worldwide experts, that global warming seems to follow carbon dioxide increases with a lag of about four hundred years. It turns out that almost every single statement in Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth are false, distorted, or misleading.
There is only one correlation between global temperatures and anything else, and that is sun spot activity. Whenever the world tilts in its orbit so that it faces the sun more directly, combined with intensified sun spot activity, the globe goes through a period of warming. The global warming enthusiasts do not want to discuss the fact that the temperature on Mars has increased at exactly the same rate as the temperature on the earth over the last few years. This is all caused by sun radiation and not by man-made activity.
It is true that the earth today is about one degree warmer on average than it was fifty years ago. It is also true that the temperature of the earth has fluctuated for several thousand years, according to ice core samples taken from the Antarctic. And by the way, the Southern Hemisphere of the earth is actually cooling, not warming. Global warming is primarily in the Northern Hemisphere because it is more oriented toward the sun at this time of increased sun spot activity.
Why is there so much controversy over global warming and the role of human activity? Simple. If you are a meteorologist or weather scientist, you can only get a job, or get government grants or research grants if you bang the drum for man made global warming. If you question man made global warming, you lose your job, your tenure and your research grants. You have to leave your field of science and find another way to feed your family.
Keep your mind open. Everything I am telling you about here has been reprinted in the newspapers many times. It is not a secret. This is the best of all times in all of human history to be alive, and it is only going to get better in the years ahead. Believe it.
Talk to you again soon,
Brian
Write and Grow Tired
Posted by Brian Tracy on Sep 6, 2007
The Way To Wealth
This has been a busy summer for me. I have been working non-stop on the writing of three books:
1) The Way To Wealth – Part III – Blueprints For Business Success. This book contains more than seventy blueprints and forms that an entrepreneur can use to plan and organize every part of the business, improving marketing, increasing sales, reducing costs and boosting profitability.
2) Speak To Win – This is the definitive book on how to speak fluently and effectively in every situation, especially in front of large and small audiences. It is based on my twenty-five years of speaking experience, more than five thousand times to more than five million people in forty-six countries. It will be released by Amacom in January.
3) Flight Plan – The Real Secret Of Success – This book explains the real reasons for success using the metaphor of a cross-country airplane journey requiring first of all, that you be absolutely clear about your destination. Second, that you have the courage to launch in faith toward your destination, to “take off,” without any guarantee of success. And third, that you then make continual course corrections, and persist until you succeed.
My fourth book for the summer is entitled The Miracle Of Self-Discipline – The Key To Personal Greatness. This book explains twenty-one areas of life where self-discipline brings about greater self-esteem, self-confidence, personal pride and higher achievement. It goes on to explain in detail why all successful people are extremely well disciplined in their area of success, and how you can develop self-discipline at a greater level in everything you do.
As it happens, I do not consider myself an author as much as I see myself as a speaker, trainer and consultant. Nonetheless, I continuously write four or more books each year and have now been published in thirty-six languages, in fifty-two countries. I must be doing something right.
Well, I have to get back to my keyboard. I’ve just thought of another book – for 2008.
Best regards,
Brian Tracy
