Creating An Exceptional Mindset

Creating An Exceptional Mindset You can t possibly expect to BECOME successful, without a good grasp of just what BEING successful is! Many definitions have been bandied about, but here is my definition of success: The ability to do WHATEVER you want, WHENEVER you want, WHEREVER you want, WITH WHOMEVER you want, and AS MUCH OF IT as you want. Success is a Journey, not a Destination. Everyone is so concerned with BECOMING successful, as if it is some magical place that you just arrive at someday. In reality, success is the JOURNEY towards the goals that are important to you. This journey is where you truly become successful. Make sure you stop to smell the cappuccino along the way. Success takes risk. Very few things in life that are worth having don t require some element of risk. The general rule is the greater the reward, the greater the risk. Achieving greatness is risky, because it usually requires you to go outside of your comfort zone, and expose yourself to failure. This is very risky for some, while others handle it a little easier. Regardless of what type of individual you are, knowing that a little risk is simply part of the many benefits of achieving success makes the whole process much easier. Remember, your COMFORT zone usually equals your INCOME zone. Success requires TOTAL commitment! If you aren t prepared to TOTALLY commit to something, chances are very slim of you ever becoming successful at it. Can you imagine being at a party, and overhearing someone say, I think I m going to TRY a little Brain Surgery. I m just going to start part time though. Would YOU want that person operating on you? I don t think so. Without FULL COMMITMENT to our endeavors, there can be no excellence. This means staying committed ALL THE TIME, and maintaining that commitment during difficult times. Anyone can be committed when things are going well, but it s the hallmark of a true Champion to keep forging ahead relentlessly when surrounded by difficulties. Napoleon Hill, author of the classic work Think And Grow Rich, had the following thoughts about commitment. He said, The moment you commit and quit holding back, all sorts of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance will rise up to help you. The simple act of commitment is a powerful magnet for help. Examine your commitment on a scale of 1-10 to our program, and see how your rate. You must be BRUTALLY honest with yourself. On a sheet of paper, list 3 1

ways you can improve your level of commitment to this activity. Pause the recording while you do that now. You must expect to "Win in Advance." Every winner I ve ever known has EXPECTED to win at everything they ve tried. Henry Ford said it best If you think you can, you re right. And if you think you can t, you re right! When you call a prospect, EXPECT to be successful. You have no idea how that positive expectation will begin an automatic process within you, that will cause you to simply become more confident, positive, and yes, more successful. Unfortunately, the reverse of that mindset is also true. If your thought process is of NOT being successful, you likely won t disappoint yourself. The achievement of Success requires a COMMITMENT to Positive Expectation. This means a consistent application of this mindset. You must condition yourself to expect a winning result with absolutely everything you begin. This means eliminating the word TRY completely from your vocabulary, and replacing it with the word DO! We don't always get what we want in life, but we almost ALWAYS get what we expect. This is a universal truism, and those that don t accept this premise will likely never achieve their true potential. This means you ALWAYS need to focus on the result you WANT, not the result you DON T want. Remember, we almost ALWAYS get what we expect. If you continually focus on what you DON T want (being broke, no free time, being unsuccessful,) that s what you will continue to manifest in your life. We become what we think about most. If you obsess about the negative things in your life, that s what you will become - this is an absolute certainty. You will begin a subconscious process that will move you towards that which you focus on the most. This is an incredibly powerful ability, because if you focus on stuff you want, you can actually direct yourself to acquire it. Mental obsessions DO become physical manifestations. A friend of mine always says, I get my migraine every day at 4:00 - here it comes! Guess what happens every day at 4:00 pm? You got it. Remember, what the mind harbors, the body manifests. Positive Expectation is what turns "challenges" into "opportunities." This is what REALLY separates the Champions from the also-rans. Within each challenge lies an opportunity, and the people who have developed the winning mindset are able to see these opportunities when most others don t, and inevitably they are able to capitalize on them. Failure is Not an Option. If you approach everything in life with this belief, your success is virtually assured. People who approach challenges with absolutely no thought of failure are the ones who succeed the majority of the 2

time. This mindset automatically creates many more options for you to choose from, many of which you might never have considered. Build on your strong points - what are your strengths? It s very important to identify your strengths, and continue to improve and strengthen them. This gives you a good foundation upon which to build newly acquired skills. Also, invest most of your time every week doing what you do best, and let OTHERS do what THEY do best (like letting your CTS Presentation Center explain how our program works). Focus on those activities you do brilliantly, and the ones that produce extraordinary results for you. Approach your commitments with "intentionality." When you have committed to something, make sure you approach it from a purposeful viewpoint. Always be prepared, and give it your all. Visualize your successes in advance, with as much detail as possible. With every endeavor, this step is paramount to the successful person. Always look at new goals as if they have already been achieved, and continue to visualize in great detail the accomplishment of your objective. Expect to succeed, and you will SEE more opportunities. It s remarkable that we all are presented with about the same number of opportunities; it s just that people who have that positive expectation seem to recognize many more of them than people who don t. It s not that they GET more opportunities, they just SEE more opportunities. When opportunity knocks, make sure you re home - not down at the store buying a lottery ticket! As Thomas Edison once remarked Most people don t recognize opportunity because it s dressed in overalls and looks like work. Expect the best of others and yourself. You have the right to demand excellence from your colleagues, but be prepared to provide excellence in everything you do yourself. This will cause you to stretch yourself, and you will be astonished at how quickly and consistently your results in all areas of your life will improve. Anything your mind can conceive and believe, you can achieve. This is one of the oldest truisms in life from Napoleon Hill. Every achiever virtually lives by this credo. If you can t visualize yourself accomplishing something, and you don t approach it with an absolute belief you can do it, you have very little chance of ever being successful at that particular thing. On the other hand, if you CAN see yourself accomplishing something, and you approach it with your very best effort, you can literally master anything. William Somerset Maugham, who wrote The Razors Edge, once said, "It is funny about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the very best you will very often get it." -- 3

View setbacks as "stepping stones", not "stopping stones." When you have setbacks, as virtually everyone in life does, take advantage of these learning opportunities, and use them as a springboard to succeed next time. Getting depressed and crying poor me gets you nowhere. Use the knowledge learned from your experience to propel you to success in your next attempt. Look CAREFULLY for the opportunity within every challenge. Believe me, they re there. You just have to look for them. Some of my best people have been the most difficult at first. Some of them presented a huge challenge, but sticking with it and maintaining a vision of success more often than not resulted in a successful conclusion. When trouble comes calling, "stop stewing and start doing." Never fret over disappointments and setbacks. A much better alternative is to get busy working on something constructive (like looking for another prospect,) and keeping your vision of success first and foremost in your mind. It s difficult to be depressed and active at the same time. Doing something is what leads to accomplishing something. It s the law of the universe - a body in motion tends to stay in motion! There's no such thing as an "occasional optimist." Success isn t a sometime thing, it s an all the time thing. You must practice this positive expectation and mindset with everything you do, and it will become an extremely productive habit for you. Focus on what you WANT, not what you DON T WANT. Hit for the green, NOT to stay away from the sand trap! Always focus your mind totally on the result you WANT to achieve, never on the result you DON T want. Your mind can t focus on the reverse of an idea. Remember, we tend to gravitate to that which we think about most. A sustained attitude of Positive Expectation will make the winning difference. The operative word here is sustained. As with any achievement, a sustained, consistent effort is required to produce the desired results. This will require the courage to forge ahead during very difficult times, when others around you will quit. Samuel Johnson reminds us about the importance of being courageous. He said, Courage is the greatest of all the virtues. Because if you haven't courage, you may not have an opportunity to use any of the others. Proceed with CONFIDENCE! Confidence comes from focusing EXCLUSIVELY on the outcome you WANT. In contrast, worry is present when we focus on outcomes we DON T want. Marcus Garvey, an esteemed Jamaican political leader remarked "If you have no confidence in self you are twice defeated in the race of life. With confidence you have won even before you have started." I certainly share that sentiment, as confidence will play a key role in your success in any undertaking. Former women s tennis great Chris Evert put it this way: 4

"You've got to take the initiative and play your game. In a decisive set, confidence is the difference." It s the difference in our program too! THE "TO DO" LIST Associate with positive people. Carefully examine your closest associations. You can tell a lot about which direction your life is heading by looking at the people with whom you have chosen to spend your time and share your ideas. Do you regularly hang out with people that negatively influence you? If so, you need to take a close look at the effect that relationship is having on your ability to be successful, and make the appropriate adjustments. The time to do this is RIGHT NOW! Listen to "Optimistic" people - avoid the pessimists. The nay sayers can be found everywhere, and they just love an audience. Remember, misery loves company. You can very easily BECOME whom you associate with. When you surround yourself with people from whom you can learn - instead of just people who are learning from you - you are more likely to grow. It s not always COMFORTABLE to associate with people who are ahead of you in their growth, but it s always PROFITABLE! Henry Ford said, My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me. Mark Twain also had this observation. He said, Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that, you too, can become great. Embrace change - fear of change can be at the root of imaginary problems. We all get very comfortable with some things. However, only change continually challenges and stretches us, and allows us to grow. You are constantly growing as an individual if you respond enthusiastically to change, and you will come to appreciate the new things that come into your life as a result. Remember, there can be no growth without change, and people who are unwilling to grow will NEVER reach their full potential. As quoted in his runaway best seller Who Moved My Cheese? Spencer Johnson, MD, noted If you don t change, you can become extinct. Eliminate the practice of creating a crisis that doesn't exist. Examine every difficulty that comes along carefully, and review all of your options. You ll find there are really very few crises in life, and with many things, the worrying about the problem is usually far worse than the actual problem itself. Here s another great quote from Who Moved My Cheese? What you are afraid of is never as bad as what you imagine. The fear you let build up in your mind is worse that the situation that actually exists. I love that one. You need to remember that what happens IN you is far more important that what happens TO you! 5

PRACTICE making positive expectation a part of your daily life. This is certainly a recurring theme isn t it? Like any other skill, it requires constant practice. You will then become habitually positive about every outcome, and your life will never be the same again! The fundamental difference between worry and confidence is that worry is focusing on the outcome you DON T want, and confidence is focusing on the outcome you DO want. Your outcomes are directly connected to which you choose to focus on, and they can easily become habits. Winning is a habit - unfortunately, so is losing. Enthusiasm and Attitude are contagious - are yours worth catching? One sure way to engender enthusiasm and excitement in your group is to be enthusiastic and excited about what you re doing. This creates a contagious sense of urgency and hustle within everyone. Also, when you get excited about our program, your prospects will get excited. We have a special name for prospects that get excited - they re called NEW MEMBERS! 6