The Determinant of Your Success
Posted by Brian Tracy on Dec 27, 2007
Perhaps the most powerful single factor in your financial success is your beliefs about yourself and money.
Perhaps the most powerful single factor in your financial success is your beliefs about yourself and money. We call this the Law of Belief. It says simply this: Whatever you believe, with feeling, becomes your reality.
What Successful People Believe
Whatever you intensely believe becomes your reality. That we have a tendency to block out any information coming in to us that is inconsistent with our reality. What we’ve discovered is that successful people absolutely believe that they have the ability to succeed. And they will not entertain, think about, or talk about the possibilities that they’ll fail. They do not even consider the possibility of failure.
Positive Thinking Versus Positive Knowing
You always act in a matter consistent with your beliefs. The most important belief system you can build is a prosperity consciousness where you absolutely believe that you are going achieve your financial goals. We call this positive knowing versus positive thinking. Positive thinking can sometimes be wishing or hoping. But positive knowing is when you absolutely know that no matter what, you will be successful.
The Foundation of Willpower
Another principle related to your beliefs is willpower. We know that willpower is essential to any success. Willpower is based on confidence. It’s based on conviction. It’s based on faith. It’s based on your belief in your ability to triumph over all obstacles. And you can develop willpower by persistence, by working on your goals, by reading the biographies of successful people, by listening to audio programs, by reading books about people who’ve achieved success. The more information you take into your mind consistent with success, the more likely it is that you will develop the willpower to push you through the obstacles and difficulties you will experience.
Beat the Odds on Success
Remember that success is rare. Only one person in one hundred becomes wealthy in the course of a lifetime. Only five percent achieve financial independence. That means that the odds against you are 19-to-1. The only way that you’re going to achieve your financial goals is if you get really serious. To succeed, you must get serious. You must get busy. You must get active. You must get going. Remember, everything counts.
Resolve to Achieve Greatly
Self-mastery, self-control, self-discipline are essential for anyone who wants to achieve greatly. And control over your thoughts is the hardest exercise in self-mastery that you will ever engage in. See if you can talk and think about only what you desire and not talk or think about anything that you don’t want for 24 hours. Then you’ll see what you’re really made of. It’s a hard thing to do but with practice, you can reach the point where you are thinking about your goals and desires most of the time. Then, your whole life will change for the better.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to build a belief system consistent with the financial success you desire:
First, continually repeat to yourself the words, pictures and thoughts consistent with your dreams and goals. Whatever you repeat often enough, over and over, becomes a new belief.
Second, set a goal for yourself to think and talk only about the things that you want for the next 24 hours. This will be one of the hardest things you ever do. But if you can keep your mind on what you want and off of what you don’t want for 24 hours, you can begin to change your entire future.
Two Personality Powers for Motivating Others
Posted by Brian Tracy on Dec 26, 2007
There are two powers of personality you can develop that will increase your charisma and your ability to influence others.
There are two powers of personality you can develop that will increase your charisma and your ability to influence others.
Decide Exactly What You Want
The first of these powers is the power of purpose. Men and women with charisma and personal magnetism almost invariably have a clear vision of who they are, of where they’re going and of what they’re trying to achieve. Leaders in sales and management have a vision of what they’re trying to create and why they’re doing what they’re doing. They’re focused on accomplishing some great purpose. They’re decisive about every aspect of their lives. They know exactly what they want and what they have to do to get it. They plan their work and work their plan.
Set Clear Goals For Yourself
You can increase your charisma and the magnetism of your personality by setting clear goals for yourself, making plans to achieve them, and working on your plans with discipline and determination every day. The whole world seems to move aside for the person who knows exactly where he is going.
In fact, the clearer you are about your purposes and goals, the more likely people will be to attribute other positive qualities to you. They will see you, or perceive you, as being a better and more admirable human being. And when you have clear goals, you begin attracting to yourself the people and opportunities necessary to make those goals a reality.
Believe in Yourself
The second personality power is self-confidence. Men and women with charisma have an intense belief in themselves and in what they are doing. They are usually calm, cool and composed about themselves and their work. Your level of self-confidence is often demonstrated in your courage, your willingness to do whatever is necessary to achieve a purpose that you believe in.
The Secret of Attraction
People are naturally attracted to those who exude a sense of self-confidence, those who have an unshakable belief in their ability to rise above circumstances to attain their goals.
Assume the Result in Advance
One of the ways you demonstrate self-confidence is by assuming that people naturally like you and accept you and want to do business with you. For example, one of the most powerful ways to close a sale is simply to assume that the prospect has decided to purchase the product or service, and then go on to wrap up the details. One of the best ways to achieve success in your relationships is to assume that people naturally enjoy your company and want to be around you, and then proceed on that basis. The very act of behaving in a self-confident manner will generate personal charisma in the eyes of others.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:
First, think on paper. Write out your goals and plans in detail and then review them regularly. Discuss them with others. Upgrade your goals and plans and revise them when you get new information. Be clear about them.
Second, express your level of self-confidence to others all the time, even if you have doubts inside. Always walk, talk, act and move like a winner, like a person who is absolutely confident of success and ultimate victory.
The Science of Self-Confidence
The Three Factors of Time
Posted by Brian Tracy on Dec 26, 2007
You need to become a master of your time rather than a slave to continuing time pressures.
Organize Your Life Around Your Family, Your Career and Your Personal Goals
You need to stand back on a regular basis and analyze yourself, your life and your time usage. You need to become a master of your time rather than a slave to continuing time pressures.
Your Most Precious Resource
Time is your most precious resource. It is the most valuable thing you have. It is perishable, it is irreplaceable, and it cannot be saved. It can only be reallocated from activities of lower value to activities of higher value. All work requires time. And time is absolutely essential for the important relationships in your life. The very act of taking a moment to think about your time before you spend it will begin to improve your personal time management immediately.
The Starting Point
Personal time management begins with you. It begins with your thinking through what is really important to you in life. And it only makes sense if you organize it around specific things that you want to accomplish. You need to set goals in three major areas of your life. First, you need family and personal goals. These are the real reasons why you get up in the morning, why you work hard and upgrade your skills, why you worry about money and sometimes feel frustrated by the demands on your time.
Decide Upon Your Goals
What are your personal and family goals, both tangible and intangible? A tangible family goal could be a bigger house, a better car, a larger television set, a vacation, or anything else that costs money. An intangible goal would be to build a higher quality relationship with your spouse and children, to spend more time with your family going for walks or reading books. Achieving these family and personal goals are the real essence of time management, and its major purpose.
How to Achieve Your Goals
The second area of goals is your business and career goals. These are the "how" goals, the means by which you achieve your personal, "why" goals. How can you achieve the level of income that will enable you to fulfill your family goals? How can you develop the skills and abilities to stay ahead of the curve in your career? Business and career goals are absolutely essential, especially when balanced with family and personal goals.
Personal Development Goals
The third type of goals is your personal development goals. Remember, you can’t achieve much more on the outside than what you have achieved and become on the inside. Your outer life will be a reflection of your inner life. If you wish to achieve worthwhile things in your personal and your career life, you must become a worthwhile person in your own self-development. You must build yourself if you want to build your life. Perhaps the greatest secret of success is that you can become anything you really want to become to achieve any goal that you really want to achieve. But in order to do it, you must go to work on yourself and never stop.
Action Exercises
Here are three things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, develop the habit of stopping on a regular basis and thinking about what is really important to you. The more often you stop and think, the better decisions you will make.
Second, decide clearly upon your personal and family goals. Write them down. Discuss them with others. Be clear about why you are doing what you do.
Third, take some time to think about your career goals and the steps you will have to take to achieve them. Do something every day that moves you forward in all three areas.
Consulting Versus Selling
Posted by Brian Tracy on Dec 26, 2007
One particular self-image possessed by high-achieving salespeople is that they see themselves as consultants rather than as salespersons.
View Yourself As A Consultant
One particular self-image possessed by high-achieving salespeople is that they see themselves as consultants rather than as salespersons. They see themselves as problem solvers with their products or services rather than as vendors looking for someone who will trade them money for what they have to offer.
Approach Them As Clients
They do not approach their customers with hat in hand, hoping for a sale. They approach their "clients" with the attitude that they are consultants calling on the prospect to help him or her solve a problem or achieve a goal.
Ask Questions and Listen Carefully
Seeing themselves as consultants, they ask questions carefully and listen intently. They focus all of their energies on understanding the customer’s situation so that they can make intelligent recommendations based on what the customer really wants and needs.
Become An Expert in Your Field
As consultants, they recognize that they must be experts, authorities in their field. They know their products and services from one end to the other. They invest many hours familiarizing themselves with every single detail of what they sell, and of what their competitors sell as well. They know the strengths and weaknesses, the advantages and shortcomings, the features and benefits of what they are offering. They have excellent product knowledge which their customers can sense and which gives both themselves and their customers greater confidence throughout the sales conversation.
Differentiate Yourself from Your Competitors
Top salespeople, positioning themselves as consultants, see themselves as resources for their clients. They see themselves and carry themselves as advisors, mentors and friends. They become emotionally involved in their transactions and they are generally concerned that their product or service be the ideal solution to the real needs of the prospects they are dealing with. They differentiate themselves from their competitors by being more concerned with helping their prospects than with selling their products or services. Their customers often feel that they care more about them than they care about making a sale. And it’s true.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, see yourself as a problem-solver rather than as a salesperson. Take sufficient time to understand the prospect’s real need before you start selling.
Second, think of ways to tailor your product or service to your customer’s needs so that he sees what you sell as the ideal solution for him.
Solving Problems Effectively
Posted by Brian Tracy on Dec 20, 2007
Your ability to communicate is the most important skill you can develop to get on to the fast track in your career.
Your ability to communicate is the most important skill you can develop to get on to the fast track in your career. Perhaps the most important thing you do in business is to solve problems and make decisions, both by yourself and with other people.
Use A Systematic Process
A major type of communication in the business organization is meetings for problem solving and decision making. The key to effective problem solving and decision making discussions, is for you to all go through the process systematically.
Define the Problem Clearly
Right at the beginning, you ask the question, "What exactly is the problem?" Clarity of definition will resolve 50% of the issues before they go any further.
Focus on the Future
When discussing a problem, be sure to focus on the future over the past. Ask the question, "Where do we go from here?" "What do we do from here?" "What are our options for the future?" Too many problem-solving discussions end up focusing all of the attention of all the people present on what happened in the past and who is to blame. The effective executive uses this type of communication to focus on where the company and the individuals are going, and what can happen in the future - the only part of the equation over which anyone has any control.
Talk About the Solutions
A second element in effective problem solving communications, is for you to talk about the solutions instead of talking about the problems. It is for you to keep the attention of the individuals in the meeting focused on the possible solutions and what can be done rather than what has already happened.
Release Creativity
The discussion of solutions is inherently positive, uplifting and has a tendency to release creativity amongst the group. A discussion of problems is inherently negative, demotivating and tends to inhibit creativity.
The Key to Positive Thinking
You can become a positive thinker simply by becoming a solution-oriented person rather than a problem-oriented person. If you get everyone in your organization thinking and talking in terms of solutions, you will be astonished at the quality and quantity of ideas that will emerge.
Action Exercises
Now, here are two things you can immediately to become a better problem solver and decision maker.
First, take some time to be absolutely clear about the problem that is under discussion. Give some thought to what an ideal decision or solution would accomplish. Instead of focusing on the situation as it is, talk about the situation as you would like it to be.
Second, keep the conversation focused on solutions, on what can be done in the future. The more you think and talk about solutions, the more positive and creative everyone will be and the better ideas you will come up with.
How You Can Start, Build, Manage, Or Turn Around Any Business
The Efficiency Curve
Posted by Brian Tracy on Dec 19, 2007
The more you discipline yourself to working non-stop on a single task, the more you move down the “Efficiency Curve.”
The more you discipline yourself to working non-stop on a single task, the more you move down the "Efficiency Curve." You get more and more high quality work done in less and less time.
Each time you stop working however, you break this cycle and move back up the curve to where every part of the task is more difficult and time consuming.
Self-Discipline Is the Key
Elbert Hubbard defined self-discipline as, "The ability to make yourself do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not."
In the final analysis, success in any area requires tons of discipline. Self-discipline, self-mastery and self-control are the basic building blocks of character and high performance.
The True Test of Willpower
Starting a high-priority task and persisting with that task until it is 100% complete is the true test of your character, your willpower and your resolve.
Persistence is actually self-discipline in action. The good news is that the more you discipline yourself to persist on a major task, the more you like and respect yourself, and the higher is your self-esteem.
And the more you like and respect yourself, the easier it is for you to discipline yourself to persist even more.
Focus Clearly on Your Number One Task
By focusing clearly on your most valuable task and concentrating single-mindedly until it is 100% complete, you actually shape and mold your own character. You become a superior person.
You become a stronger, more competent, confident and happier person. You feel more powerful and productive.
Build Your Self-Confidence
You eventually feel capable of setting and achieving any goal. You become the master of your own destiny. You place yourself on an ascending spiral of personal effectiveness on which your future is absolutely guaranteed.
And the key to all of this is for you to determine the most valuable and important thing you could possibly do at every single moment and then, "Eat That Frog!"
Action Exercises
Once you start your most important task, discipline yourself to persevere without diversion or distraction until it is 100% complete. See it as a "test" to determine whether you are the kind of person who can make a decision to complete something and then carry it out. Once you begin, refuse to stop until the job is finished.
The Importance of Mental Fitness
Posted by Brian Tracy on Dec 19, 2007
Selling is hard work.
The Hard Work of Selling
Selling is hard work. It is one of the most difficult jobs in our economy. As a salesperson, you face continual rejection, potential failure, persistent disappointment, setbacks, obstacles and difficulties not experienced by most people. Selling is not easy and it has never been easy. It never will be easy. It will always have varying degrees of difficulty, from hard to very hard, to very, very hard. And to be successful in selling you must be tough, as well.
Your Attitude Makes the Difference
In selling, your attitude is probably eighty percent of your success. Your attitude is the outward expression of everything that you are, and everything that you have become over the course of your lifetime. Your attitude has the greatest single impact on the people that you deal with. The development of a positive mental attitude is the indispensable requirement for great success in your field.
Learn to Bounce Back
Psychologists have defined the "hardy personality" as the type of personality that is most suited to the rigors of the , modern business world. The hardy personality, the personality you need to develop, is resilient, optimistic, tough, strong, and capable of bouncing back continually from temporary disappointments and defeats.
Respond Constructively to Stress
A positive mental attitude is a constructive response to stress. It is a solution-oriented, objective approach to difficulties that you face every single day. A positive mental attitude is expressed as a general optimism toward life and the inevitable challenges of earning a living. A positive mental attitude is the most outwardly identifiable quality of a winning human being, and it is the characteristic most closely identified with success in selling of all kinds.
Practice Mental Fitness Every Day
To become and remain physically fit, you must engage continuously in physical exercise. To become mentally fit, to develop the kind of attitude that leads on to success and happiness, you must engage in continuous mental exercise. It is a never ending process. Just as you do not achieve physical fitness and then discontinue physical exercise, you can not achieve mental fitness without working on it regularly, every day, like breathing in and breathing out.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:
First, decide in advance that, from now on, you are going to respond in a positive and constructive way to each and every stress situation in your life. Be tough!
Second, practice mental fitness every day by forcing yourself to remain cheerful and optimistic in the face of difficulties and disappointments.
Remember, you can do it if you decide to!
Back to the Balkans
Posted by Brian Tracy on Dec 13, 2007
Business seminar in Macedonia
Some months ago, I received an invitation from a company called Triple S Learning in Skopje, Macedonia to conduct a business seminar on Management, Sales and Personal Effectiveness.
Last Monday, I flew from San Diego to San Francisco, caught a ten-hour flight to Frankfurt, and then flew on to Vienna and Skopje in the South of what used to be called Yugoslavia, arriving at 4:30 in the afternoon.
Macedonia has been one of the poor countries of Southern Europe for many years. Now, it is aggressively seeking foreign investment by introducing a 12% flat tax, plus a series of incentives for new business development that make it one of the most attractive places in Europe to start a new business.
In the U.S., the debate about the flat tax has been going back and forth for many years. In 1995, I facilitated the Kemp Commission on Tax Reform in Washington. Our goal was to bring together the opinions of leading economists and businesspeople from throughout the country and consolidate their ideas into a single proposal for a flat tax for the United States.
Our final proposal was so good that, when it was rejected by the politicians, Steve Forbes took it up and ran for president in 1996 on this single issue.
Today, the flat tax idea is sweeping the world. Russia has a flat tax of 13%. Estonia has a flat tax, Lithuania has a flat tax, and several other countries are introducing the flat tax. To the amazement of the economists, under the flat tax, not only do people pay less, and more easily, but the government actually collects more money because there is less tax evasion.
The current proposals for a flat tax in the U.S. would exempt the first forty-six thousand dollars of income for a family of four and then charge a flat tax of 17% to 19% on all income earned above that balance, with few or no deductions allowed. You could fill out your tax return on a large postcard, as opposed to the forty-four thousand pages of the tax act that are currently strangling the U.S. economy, individuals and businesses.
We had a very successful seminar for 350 business owners and entrepreneurs in Skopje, Macedonia on Wednesday, November 28th. The next morning at 6:00AM, I flew to Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, where we conducted another full day seminar for 550 Serbian Businesspeople. The people of the x-Balkan countries are eager to learn how to start and build successful businesses, improve sales and marketing, boost profits and achieve financial success. The audiences were open, responsive, positive and very enthusiastic.
My new friends at Triple S Learning – Dusko, Dragan, Igor, Teo, Marko, and Marija, are aggressively building a multi-national business training organization and doing a wonderful job. We went out for dinner on Tuesday night at a traditional Macedonian restaurant, with violin players, music and Macedonian wine. On Thursday night, after our seminar in Belgrade, we went to a traditional Serbian restaurant, again with wonderful food, wine, music, minstrels, singing and a lot of laughter.
At 4:00 AM Friday, November 30, I woke up in Belgrade, caught a 6:30AM flight to Frankfurt, flew to San Francisco, and arrived home in Solana Beach at 6:00 PM in the evening for a total of 22 hours of travel. Whew!
Even with the sub-prime meltdown, the American economy is still strong. We have low unemployment, and a growth rate of 4.9% in the last quarter, one of the highest and best in the world. The estimate is that 265 million dollars of mortgage loans will default over the next few months. But there are 15 trillion dollars worth of mortgages issued, and even the mortgages that default will not result in the complete loss of the underlying home value. It will merely decline by 20% to 30%. Life will go on. The economy will remain strong. As we go into 2008, the US economy is still the strongest and most powerful in the word, and will continue to be for many years to come.
Each year at this time, I make a decision that, “Next year will be the best year of my life!” I suggest that you make that decision as well. Say to yourself, and even write it down, “2008 is going to be the best year of my life!”
I’ll talk to you again soon.
Brian Tracy
Think Outside of Your Mental Box
Posted by Brian Tracy on Dec 13, 2007
Human beings are mental organisms. Everything we are or ever will be, will be as the direct result of the way we think.
Improve the Quality of Your Thinking
Human beings are mental organisms. Everything we are or ever will be, will be as the direct result of the way we think. If we improve the quality of our thinking, we must improve the quality of our lives. And, there is no other way to do it.
Youth and Creativity
In one series of I.Q. tests given to children ages 2 - 4 years, 95% of the children were found to be highly creative with curious, questioning minds and an ability for abstract thinking.
When the same children were tested again at age 7, only 5% still demonstrated high levels of creativity. In the ensuing years, they had learned to conform; "If you want to get along, you had better go along," is what they had discovered.
The Dangers of Conformity
They had learned to color between the lines, to sit in neat little rows, to do and say what the other kids did and said, and to do as they were told. Over time, they lost the wonderful fearless spontaneity of youth and learned to suppress ideas and insights that were unusual or different.
Aggressively Seek New Ideas
Most of us have had similar experiences. The "Not invented-here" syndrome in many large companies is simply the adult version of "not rocking the boat." But fortunately, since creativity is your birthright, a fundamental part of your nature, you can tap into it at any time, no matter how long it has been since you really used it.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to start thinking outside of your mental box.
First, imagine that there was a vastly better, cheaper, faster way to do your job - and somebody else had already discovered it and was going to put you out of business.
Second, imagine doing exactly the opposite of what you are doing today. Allow your mind to float freely and consider how current trends will change your business.
How You Can Start, Build, Manage, or Turnaround Any Business
Closed-Ended Questions
Posted by Brian Tracy on Dec 12, 2007
Closed-ended questions allow you to get definite answers and move toward closing the sale.
Start Sentences With Verbs
Closed-ended questions allow you to get definite answers and move toward closing the sale. Closed ended questions start with verbs, such as "Are," "Will," "Is," "Have," "Did," and even contractions such as "Aren’t," "Didn’t," and "Won’t." This is often called a convergent question. It brings conversation gradually to a convergence on a single point or decision. It is answered with a "yes" or a "no." You use this question when you want to begin narrowing the conversation and getting specific answers that lead you to a conclusion or a commitment.
Solicit More Specific Answers
You can use closed ended questions to get more specific answers. "Will you be making a decision within the next two months?" "Are you considering changing your suppliers for this product?" "Is this the sort of thing you are looking for?"
Ask Them To Take A Position
A closed ended question forces the prospect to take a position. "Do you like what I’ve shown you?" "Does this make sense to you, so far?" "Would you like to get started on this right away?" You use this type of question when you want to get clear answers and bring the sales conversation to a close.
When A "No" Means A "Yes"
The third type of question is a variation on the first two and is called the "negative answer" question. This is when a "no" means a "yes" to your proposition. "Are you happy with your existing supplier?" If the customer says "no" it means that they are interested in considering a new supplier. "Are you getting the kind of results that you expected?" If the customer says "no", it means that the customer is open to considering your product or service as an alternative.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, begin closed-ended questions with verbs. Whenever you want the customer to be more specific or to take a definite stand on your product or service.
Second, ask closed-ended questions in a warm, friendly, curious tone of voice. Always be courteous, caring and concerned. Never use pressure or manipulation.
