In most situations you may deal with a person who is a private individual and is the CEO of their specific household or domain. What I’d like to hone in on is CEO’s, TOP decision makers, and people who have high influence on people. The “Jane Doe’s” down the block may know a few people, but targeting in on people of influence can greatly affect your business success where the probably of growth can be highly elevated. But to succeed at a level that a CEO lives, practices, and thrives at, require many key attitudes and traits. Your ability to project these characteristics are essential.

Be Passionate About Life and Business
When you get up in the morning are you excited by the opportunity that the day will bring? There are only 1,440 minutes, 86,400 seconds in a day that once are gone, can’t be given back. One has to seize the day, carpe diem. Passion fills everything one must do each day in both their personal and business lives. Be grateful for each and every day. Ask yourself if you are passionate about your life. If not, figure out the things you have to do to get that way. Then work on them.

Till next time.

So just about everyone grudgingly work at jobs they have and become victims of their self-fulfilling prophecies that they have to work (trade hours) to make money. The truth is that you can replace that job and liberate your life to achieve real freedom. It does not have to be elusive.

Here is the case in point. Given the following observations isn’t it time to consider changing your thoughts of trading time for dollars working at your “not so rewarding job”.

Consider these five powerful reasons to manifest thoughts of freeing the precious time that you have been trading for a not-so-rewarding job.

• Does it ever end: Your need for money forces you into a cycle of work, eat, sleep, and live for the weekend or a vacation once a year? It’s your craving for more money rather than enough that victimizes your thoughts. It ends up becoming your life, “keeping up with the Jones”, so to speak. You end up engaging time in your job you are dissatisfied with, only to buy a larger home, a BMW, flat screen TV’s, designer clothes, that requires you to have to work even more.

• How much do you make: You really don’t make the money you think you do. Our government takes half of your paycheck in various taxes before you even see your first dime. You have federal taxes, state taxes, local taxes, property taxes, social security, that about to 40% of every dollar. High income earners are that way because they work for themselves to build passive income that grows tax-free.

• Are Your Goals Yours: When you trade your time for dollars, it’s your boss who determines your agenda, your work, what you do, what time you eat, and even when you can go to the bathroom, for that measly paycheck. On the other hand, as your own boss, you have the freedom to determine your own future. One that matters most to you and your family. One where by working on your goals you can achieve your dreams, no matter what they are.

• Risk: You would be amazed at the number of people that believe the myth that there is safety and security in their job. We are now aware of outsourcing, downsizing, and no business too big to fail. And because we are in a global economy, there will always be someone who will do your job for less money. There is no insurance for your position.

• Reliance on You: You can be a huge success as a surgeon, lawyer, or whatever, but your income is strictly based on the time you spend doing it. If you were to get disabled and be unable to perform your duty, chances are your income would suffer. So only as long as you are working for your boss, will you get a paycheck.

You have the power in you to move away from this treadmill by starting to take responsibility right now for your own future. The leap into being your own boss may be a lot at first so you do have the ability to do it on a part time basis till your own income is replaced.

• Daily habits. You cannot achieve instant success overnight. The old saying is that you are what you do daily. You need to take inventory of the things you do daily and ask yourself if they are things that move you toward your freedom, or away. Make adjustments accordingly.

• Make money now. Find an avenue where you can start earning money immediately. Network marketing has many opportunities where you can earn right away. Make sure you do your homework on both the company and the people you partner with. Learn what the power of leverage can do for you.

• Find a mentor. Find someone making the money you dream about and in the industry you have an interest in. That mentor has walked in your shoes, has already gone through heart aches, learned by mistakes, and basically is worth whatever they charge to coach with them. You will fast track your way by finding and following their advice.

• Schedule your time. Doing the things you need to do whenever won’t work. Treat this as a real business. Limit or eliminate your distractions. Work only on things that directly increase your income.

• You can never stop learning. Invest in self-development. Doing this will give you confidence, keep you pointed in the right direction. Read books, go to seminars, hang around successful people, and learn leadership, talk to people. This will expand your success and potential.

This list of course is not a comprehensive list of the steps by any means, needed by you, but without these as a minimum, you will find it hard to be your own boss, and will end up going back to your old job.

If you found this post interesting and helpful to you in any way, please share it via your social network. If you would like to personally discuss anything feel free to use the CONTACT ME link above and I would look forward to speaking with you.

Do you want to work in your job the rest of your life?
Do you want to have much much more vacation time?
Do you want to raise your kids, not the day care center?
Do you want to earn money in things your passionate about?

Pareto

Pareto

We’ve all heard about Pareto’s Law, otherwise known as the 80-20 rule. It states that as a percentage of time and effort that only 20% of your time will be effective, 20% of people earn 80% of all income, 20% of people will grow in your enterprise, 20% of customers account for 80% of sales volume, 20% of advertising yields 80% of the campaign’s results. So it only goes to say that you should be spending as much time with these 20%ers. There’s one hitch though. You never know who those 20% are going to be. So there are several strategies you can use to either expand that 20%, lower that 80%, or both. Let’s examine.

It only goes to say that in the networking industry, if you want to grow a thriving business, you need to spend 80% of your time prospecting. Anything less would label your enterprise as an amateur hobby. If you really are serious, you need to spend 80% of your available time prospecting. If you break down the steps of prospecting to the ridiculous, you really are only doing 3 things. One, talking to people you know or talking to people you don’t. Two, sending them to a message; website, webinar, conference call. And three, calling them back and enrolling them. You want to be doing these 3 things for 80% of the time you devote to your business.
So what other things can we do increase the rate that our business grow? We can become more efficient in who we choose to target in our marketing and connecting. Asking for referrals fall into this category. Ask for referrals from existing business partners to help them grow their business and from people that you know or are prospecting, even including people who have said no to the opportunity. There are various methods and scripts and strategies that you can use. If possible, try to find out what type of profession they are in. This will give you a clue as who to target. Professions that deal with sales, marketing, people, and networking are prime targets. But so are people who know lots of other people in their professions. A good example would be teachers, coaches, and nurses. Ditto to existing business owners. So you can increase the effectiveness of the 20% by spending your time focusing on people with large networks.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention another principal called Parkinson’s Law to the equation. We can expand the 20% also by understand and applying the concept of Parkinson’s Law. Parkinson’s Law states that the amount of work expands to fill the time available for its completion. Remember back in college when you had a month to do a term paper. 80% or more of the people waited to the last minute to complete them or even start them. So even though you had only a month to do it, you really only spent 2-7 days. In some cases it may have been even less. Why? Well you had to outline, had to research, had to refine your premise, had to draft, had to review, had to revise, had to finish final copy. You completed it. Well now what would have happened if your professor simply said on a Friday that you have a term paper due next Monday. If that grade mattered to you would you find a way to get it done? You would become laser focused. You would set priorities to spend your time in the most efficient manner. You wouldn’t be dilly dallying and getting ready to get ready. Come Monday you would turn in a paper.
Well folks, you can do the same with your business. I like to think of prospecting and recruiting as a sprint. When you are running full blast, you don’t consciously think through your mind that I need to lift my left foot after I push the ground and then lift my right foot when I do the same. No! You just go! You have to do that same thing when it comes to prospecting. You don’t need to think about that person who just said no. You should already be on the next person. But to do it over a long time you need to train just like an athlete. Try prospecting with 100% laser focus where nothing can stop you, for a period as long as you can. Do it as if your future and your business depend on it. You can do it in several chunks of time or intervals. Then try putting them together. Then put those together. I guarantee after one months’ time, you will be able to produce more in one week that the average person does in a month. Roger Bannister, the first person to run a mile in under 4:00 minutes used this principal and trained in 220 yard chunks the started putting them together and set the record. You too have a chance to set a record in your company.
Your results will speak for themselves. Then teach the people in your business about Pareto and Parkinson.

It is no accident that people end up walking through life settling for average results in many aspects of their lives. To understand the language that we use is paramount. So why do we say and use the words we do? Is there a connection between the words that we use and the results that acquire? Yes! Your words are your energetic expression of your thoughts, your feelings, and your beliefs. If you look around you will discover your reality you find yourself in is a physical manifestation of the energy you have received in return for those words you have spoken.

So there are some key words that you use that you could release right now today or at least become conscious of that you use in your everyday vocabulary, that you are using that DO NOT serve you to create the results that you seek and desire. They are what differentiate the difference between subsisting a life and designing a life that you desire.

So the words you use need to be in alignment with the results you desire to achieve the life you seek in the areas of finance, family, and your future. There are many words that we use that we’ve been conditioned to use because they are so predominate in our society. In fact, we are not even aware that we use them when we speak.

Key words to eliminate:
1. “Need” means that no matter how much of something you receive it will never be enough. And that belief will continually perpetuate the situations you find yourself in so as to always be true. Replace the word with deserve. No more saying you “need” more money, use “deserve”. The more you think you deserve, the more time you will be in a position to take advantage of opportunity, and thus you will receive more money.

2. “Try” is a word that has no commitment. It’s a word that means I’ll think about it. But in the end it means I’ll still be sitting on the couch. I’m not going to do anything that moves me forward. It’s akin to “wish”, “if only”, “I should”. The operative word to use is “will”. It emotes action. When asking something of someone if they use the word “try”, chances are they won’t do what is asked. When asking questions you are looking for decisive answers. Um, well, maybe won’t cut it. Anything less doesn’t not qualify for your emotional energy.

Start using language that is congruent to your message. People understand when their are being directly asked. They don’t have an out. They don’t perceive you as a walking contradiction. Understanding the language you use and being confident in your language will give you posture. It will also give you a clue as to where the person you are communicating with is at. Take time to understand the words you use, the words others say to you, and how you can use them to your advantage and you will be much further to the things you desire.

Let me explain. Remember these are broad brush characterizations and in no way are they always true. People who drive high end cars, Mercedes, Lexus, BMW’s typically can afford to travel to exotic destinations. It’s not much for them to hop on a plane several times (3-4 times) a year and go to a resort in some far destination and relax in a nice resort. The relationship was that because they drove expensive cars, they had money, and thus could afford to go on vacation frequently.

Another would be that because someone is a teacher or educator they typically are nurturers or amiable relaters. Because their nature is to help, teach, and make impacts on others lives. This would also include nurses and other care givers. Because of this their propensity to socialize and be involved with activities that help people are greatly enhanced.

One last one would be that people who dress in sharp clothes, the top of the line, male and female, probably have bought some expensive jewelry, watches, perfumes and cologne. Also we can also delve into shoes, handbags, sun glasses, and other accessories.

Here’s another application of using this knowledge that will become a large part of your arsenal in your prospecting basket. These relationships don’t necessarily have to be about products. They can be about interests as well. Someone interested in aviation may also be interested in sailing who may be interested in diving. Someone interested in martial arts may be interested in fitness, in nutrition, in exercise equipment. The amiable relaters may be interested in personal health which is associated with nutrition and fitness who by this association is related to divers and sailors. So do you see where I’m coming from. Just about any activity or interest is only a few levels away from many others. Even if you are not coming at it from the angle of products, knowing related interests can give you some common language that you can use to build a rapport.

So understanding some of these relationships can provide you common ground to talk about that will take your prospects out of apprehension when they fear you are going to sell them something into a relaxed stage where you can build trust.

Take the time to figure out what these relationships are from a product aspect as well as an interest aspect. You’ll be able to relate and connect with many more people than you think.

I always like to use niches that are subsets of broader niches or some that have a very common thread. Let’s say you are marketing a health and wellness opportunity and products. This in of itself is a very large industry, and some would even say saturated. I would approach it by using the premise that people who are health conscious buy supplements, nutrients, and vitamins items that enhance, prevent, and increase their health. That being said, they probably would buy items such as water purifiers, air purifiers, exercise equipment, health club memberships, travel packages, etc. Finding people and companies that market these products may already have a huge list of past customers and/or people on their mailing lists. What’s to stop you from mutually sharing each others lists, and/or even proposing them to join you in your business. This would be another revenue stream for them that is not in direct competition with their products. Be creative.

The relationships between niches is similar to the 6 degrees of separation. I’ll explore some of these relationships next time and open the world of possibilities.

Part Two

So with all the great companies out there, what differentiates them. Well, not a whole lot. The above average can succeed in just about any of them. What does differentiate them however, is their culture. By culture I mean the access to training and personal development, lead generation, webinars, seminars, edification, reproducibility, mindset, encouragement, and many others. Any good company or organization within a company, should have these. They should have them for free. So company culture can attract a lot of people to an opportunity.

Even more, having a team culture where you have team meetings and events, not necessarily company sponsored is where you can differentiate yourself in both what other companies do but even in your own company. Having your own team contests and bonuses can expand your business volume and growth. But even beyond business, you’ve chosen to work with people who are like minded and are striving for the same types of goals you are. There was something about you. You had something in you that attracted them. Sure they like the opportunity, but they choose you. You see the people you are going into business with and the leaders you surround yourself with also will become just like family. Over the years your families will share, learn, and conquer together. You will see each others families grow. This growth will not only be in business, it will be in just about everything you do. Your finances, family, dreams, and outlooks. You will share things like vacations and travel, fishing, flying, balloon rides, charities, and developing people. Explaining and getting people into their dreamspace, their why, and opening yourself to the possibilities will not only make you better than average, it will allow you to soar with the eagles.

2. Take things one day at a time – Focus on today. As the band Fleetwood Mac said, “Yesterdays Gone”. There is nothing that can be changed. Use it as a rudder but deal with today, now.

3. Focus on opportunity, not fear, worry, or panic. We are living in an opportune time to help individuals and businesses become streamlined, healthy, more productive. Focus on that and your fear, worry, or panic will go out the door.

4. Optimize your business. Tasks that can be done by others that cost less than your time should be outsourced. Not everything needs to go oversees or anything. Use fiverr.com or hire your high school or college students.

5. Expand your comfort zone. Flex your braveness. There really is nothing to fear. The worse thing anyone can do is say no.

6. Track your results daily. Set daily goals. Maybe even hourly. Track them.

7. Plan you day on paper before the day starts. Know what you are going to do and when. Then do them.

8. Complete your scripts. Know what you are going to say for each situation. People are predictable. Use it to your advantage.

9. Focus on revenue producing activities. For most of us that is going to be prospecting. That should be 80% of what you do.

10. Play at a level 7+ each day. Know what you are going to do, don’t be timid, act like Donald Trump and take no hostages.

Your business will love you for it.

Underneath our conscious thinking ability we have an incredible thinking and problem solving machine that is operating beneath the conscious level of our awareness. So what does that mean? Well sorry to say, most of the decisions we make are ones that are processed through our unconscious mind before we are even aware of them.

So how can we control what we are not even consciously aware of? And what kind of dialog is going on when we have some conscious thinking going on that does not align with our subconscious? Well I’m no psychologist but I do know that when we are using reason consciously, we will tend to have favor over those factors that we can easily articulate and we then tend to give them more weight than they should deserve. There the one we brought to the dance so to speak. Unfortunately, this can lead to bad decisions. So do you scrap the conscious reasoning? Nope. The conscious reasoning powers that you have are perfect for serial and logical deductive thinking. However, they can’t grasp the parallel processing that usually occurs in your unconscious mind.

What to do? Well this certainly can’t answer all your questions. If I had all the answers I’d be rich. I can tell you this from experience that the things that you are conscious of eventually, if practiced enough will work their way into your subconscious. I also know that the saying, “Garbage In, Garbage Out’, is especially true. You are not going to succeed in something when you are barraged by negative thoughts about an endeavor. If you listen to people who say, “You can’t”, “That won’t work”, or a host of other negative thoughts, they will work their way into your subconscious mind. Likewise, listening to your self-talk when it comes to success and performance, your subconscious can be your friend.

You will become what your put into your mind. Remember, it takes 7-8 positive things to be absorbed into your mind to overcome that 1 bad thing you’ve been told.

But like anything else, for everything that you find on techniques to use to help you accomplish the goals you have, you will find others that are the exact opposite. So in order to put yourself in the position to be able to utilize the FREE information you find on the internet, you have a lot of research to do. You will have to study several and maybe even dozens of techniques and strategies of certain topics to firstly decide what to even consider valid. Yes you will end up having to wade through mountains of dung to decide what is even valid for your situation. Then after that you could actually come away with a valuable tidbit or nugget of information that has the possibility of transforming your understanding and income while the rest of their teachings may be garbage. How can you even be assured the advise is worthwhile let alone be able to recognize it?

So I’m going to fall back on an old adage our fathers taught us and that is that we get what we pay for. Yes, some of that information more than likely is available out on he internet for free. But it won’t be in the same place, the same context, the same ease of finding, and could be simple presented by someone who hasn’t even walked in those moccasins so to speak. There are many out there that are touting their expertise without having actually done the very thing they say they are going to teach you.

I used to skimp on my training and thought I could learn it all on my own. Now I gladly pay teachers and mentors who have a proven track record of earning literally multi-million dollars and accomplishing something of significance. I also pay strict attention to what they are teaching and try to implement their ideas. If you are serious about growing your business you will need to open up your wallet.

In the famous words of Jeffrey Combs, “If you don’t treat your business as a professional, then you are just an amateur. Amateurs don’t get paid anything, professionals do.”

*Pst… There’s a hint in that last sentence.