Step Up and Take Action

Do not be a sideline observer in your life. Membership in Procrastinators

Anonymous buys you a ticket to NoWheresville.

Normally there are 4 seasons in the year: Spring, summer, fall and winter. Consider the fact that some people have created an entirely different season which lasts all year long. This new season is called “Freebie” or “Do it for me” or “wait for someone to do it for me.” Now if you are fortunate enough to be part of the lucky gene pool and relatives will give you a handout, then you are part of the privileged minority. 99% of the population does not qualify for a free ride in life.

Sitting back and waiting for someone else to do it for you becomes an exercise in frustration and blame. First of all, they will do whatever they choose on their time frame. They are fee to not only stop at any time but they are actually free never to start in the first place. Who do you believe will do a better job of designing the life you want, you or someone else?

Now if you have a bit of a control issue that is a problem. Refuse to give someone else total control of your life. Sugar daddies may be fine for some people, but life with a sugar daddy comes with steel cable attached. Sugar daddy holds the cable and calls the tune. The only way to call your own tune, make your own decisions and reap the rewards of success is to do your own work.

Ouch! That word, work, throws chills up and down the spine of the members of the Freebie group. Before you start shivering uncontrollably, lets ponder a few points.

When did you stop standing up on your own two feet? It had to be sometime after you were a baby. You are walking, right? Did you stop when you started to school and found out that the teacher assigned homework? You did graduate from elementary school, right? At what point in life did you decide to stop exerting effort?

In network marketing there are so many who sign up and even purchase a product, but then they sit back and expect someone else to do the marketing for them. They expect their sponsor to hold their business hand by setting up the back office for them, writing all of the advertising for them, making the telephone calls for them and closing the sales for them. Wait a minute. What is wrong with this picture? If the sponsor is going to do all of the work, then the sponsor has a right to all of the income. Enthusiasm for a new business becomes a blame game and whine session when the money does not flow into the bank account.

Network marketing presents a fabulous opportunity to earn an excellent income with a low start up cost and low overhead, but it does require work. Any worthwhile business requires work. Every business requires some learning curve. How long or how difficult the learning curve depends on each individual. The drive, determination to succeed, the prior background and the current skill sets all influence the length of the learning curve.

The absolutely most important ingredient of success relates to determination to succeed. How hard are you willing to work? How badly do you desire success? How coachable and trainable are you? What work are you willing to do?

Network marketing, or any worthwhile goal, requires effort. Success never falls in your lap without work. Procrastinators anonymous members, freebie club members and the idle sideline observers are destined to failure. The members of the “blame someone else” club are equally doomed. Failure is not you sponsor’s fault, your parents fault, the economy, the politicians, or your circumstances in life. Look in the mirror.

Success belongs to the person who digs in, learns, works and persists until the goal is achieved. History abounds with examples of people who lacked education, who were born into poverty, who suffered numerous defeats on their journey and who overcame tremendous odds. The main ingredient in the success cake of life is taking action on a consistent and persistent basis. The people who achieve tremendous success in life never sat back and waited for someone else to do it for them. They took action.

No matter what your current circumstances, bar none, if you want success badly enough and are willing to work hard enough and long enough, you will be successful. Make 2010 the beginning of your new successful life.

For a personalized success action plan, join me at www.Elaine4Success.com.

Brick Walls

Brick walls exist! Erroneously people believe those walls are to keep you out. Not so. Brick walls exist to help you determine exactly how badly you desire to achieve something.

Throughout my decades of life, I’ve encountered many brick walls. Some were worth scaling, tunneling under, or parting the brush to go around the wall. Other walls could have been a thin veneer and they just were not that important. Goals and obstacles reveal not only our character but our determination. Even more than the brick wall itself is the way we choose to scale the obstacle. Napoleon Hill once said,” Taking the path of least resistance makes all rivers and some men crooked.”

The stronger my desire and determination, the easier it became to surmount the obstacle. Love and money top the list of motivators. When the object of your affection consumes your thoughts, causes your heart to beat faster and becomes almost an obsession, there is a strong likelihood you are in love. Love causes people to perform feats inconceivable under different circumstances. Strong independent men have been known to get down on their knees. Some have even gone so far as to utter words which defy the “bachelor’s creed” I remember observing my college senior son actually quake at the very thought of allowing the “c” word, “commitment.” E for engagement was about as likely as seeing the Amish drive up in a Hummer. Fast forward ten years and he is married and the proud father of two adorable little rascals, sons of his own. His brick wall of commitment crumbled in the face of the petite, athletic, intelligent Morgan.

Money forms its own brick walls of various thicknesses. One aspiring young rock star was so determined to start his own home based business that he actually listed his couch on e-bay. His passion for his music created such desire that he was compelled to do whatever it took to earn an excellent living and still have the time flexibility for his bass guitar. Happily I report that he now has both a thriving internet business but also performs concerts on stage with his brother and “the boys” on a regular basis. Determination, persistence, and consistency create results.

People constantly ask, “How fast will I make money?” Absolutely no one including a guru with a crystal ball can honestly answer that query. The star gypsy gazes deep into the crystal ball and says whatever thought pops into her head. Intuition, history, statistics and guess work still fail to make a reliable prediction. Be realistic, if some ‘far seeing genie” could really predict then we would not have 97 per cent of all new businesses fail. Notice that statistic flows across the board with home based business, franchise, retail business, service business, and any other conceivable money-making opportunity.

Everything comes back to brick walls. How inspired are you to find a solution to penetrating the brick wall? When your back presses against the wall and you must find a way to succeed in your business, you will. Regardless of whether your wall consists of debt, desire to provide for your family or simply an unquenchable fire within yourself to achieve, you will persist until your objective is obtained.

Brick walls may be erected in our minds or in reality. Either way, the wall is just as formidable. When the motivation is so strong, the why and how become easier. I can remember times when Doug and Dan were one and three; we were so broke we had to look up to see the financial basement floor. Nothing would have stopped me from penetrating that brick wall. All I had to do was peer into Dan's trusting blue eyes or Doug’s loving greenish eyes. Success was the only choice.

In this instance, both love and money played a significant role. No brick wall in history can withstand a mother’s love for her sons and her determination to provide for them.

For more articles and mindset personal training, join me at www.Elaine4Success.com

Be Consistent To Succeed

The winner is not always the fastest, the strongest or even the most intelligent, but always the most persistent. Being persistent and consistent proves to be the winning combination time after time.

Study the history of successful people and you will find every one of them has endured challenges. Never ever throughout history will you find a highly successful person who quit at the first sign of challenge.

Michael Jordan, one of the greatest professional basketball players in the history of the game, was cut from his high school basketball team. Michael practiced hour after hour until he reached a massive skill level.

Abraham Lincoln persisted through 29 years of constant failure to become America’s greatest President.
• 1831 - Lost his job
• 1832 - Defeated in run for Illinois State Legislature
• 1833 - Failed in business
• 1834 - Elected to Illinois State Legislature (success)
• 1835 - Sweetheart died
• 1836 - Had nervous breakdown
• 1838 - Defeated in run for Illinois House Speaker
• 1843 - Defeated in run for nomination for U.S. Congress
• 1846 - Elected to Congress (success)
• 1848 - Lost re-nomination
• 1849 - Rejected for land officer position
• 1854 - Defeated in run for U.S. Senate
• 1856 - Defeated in run for nomination for Vice President
• 1858 - Again defeated in run for U.S. Senate
• 1860 - Elected President (success)
Napoleon Hill suffered death threats to his partners and setback after setback on his way to writing one of the greatest books ever on the mindset for success and wealth.
Dan Kennedy, a renowned copywriter, proudly acclaims that one out of 8 of his infomercials fails to hit its target mark. If you are one of the seven, you are discouraged and disappointed, but if you are number eight, you are ecstatic.
“Thomas Edison understood the profound secret that to succeed you have to be willing to fail and fail fast. To Edison all failure provided valuable information that he could use to correct his course, and lead him to eventual success.”
The lesson here is simple; be consistent and persistent. The only way to succeed comes through the experience of being willing to persist through the failures. It has been said that we “fail our way to success.” As long as you learn a lesson with each failure and persist toward your goal, you will reach it.
Consistently keep your eyes focused on the goal.
Learn from every situation along the way.
Adjust and improve constantly.
Be consistent – work your plan every day
Persist until you reach your goal.
These 5 steps appear to be very simple and they are simple. The problem is that most people quit at the first little bump in the road. Being consistent and persistent sounds like a great idea until there is a problem or someone offers you something fun to do instead of working your business.
Being consistent and persistent means setting a firm goal you passionately desire. Set a goal which instills such passion and desire in you that you will persist through all of the learning curves. Yes, everything worth while does have a learning curve. How long that learning curve persists depends on how diligently you work and how focused you are during that time. The length of the learning curve also depends on your level of competency at the starting point and the level you choose to achieve.
The more passionate you are about your goal, the easier it will be to persist until victory. Absolutely every successful person has endured and mastered a learning curve. Every successful person encountered challenges. The more persistent and more consistent you are about meeting and conquering those challenges, the more successful you will become.
Victory always belongs to the consistent and persistent.
Let me help you

Positive Mindset

Success leaves clues and those clues are frequently related to the mindset of the achiever.

“But I want it!” declares the persistent child. The best salesman in the world can not persist longer than an adamant child. Every persuasion tactic in the books and several new ones developed out of necessity on the spur of the moment will be deployed by a determined child. Small children will develop more creativity and more adaptability to any situation. When one approach seems blocked, they employ the ant theory and go around, over, under or through the obstacle.

When Fido wants to play “throw the ball or throw the stick” he will drop the wet gooey object at your feet and stand there eagerly wagging his tail and jumping around until you give in and throw the object. Fido, or at least my son’s Labrador puppy, will persist until his tongue is hanging out and he just can’t run another step without falling over in a heap of exhaustion.

Why can’t people be more like small children, puppies and ants? You say it is their youth and high energy? Perhaps that is a factor but my belief rests more with the persistence and determination. Before society conditions the innocent child to expect rejection and failure, a child believes they are indestructible and that everything is possible. Maybe the time has arrived to rediscover your inner child.

Everything remains possible for the person who is laser focused on exactly what they want. Truly believe you not only can achieve that goal but you absolutely WILL achieve the goal. Employ the determined child attitude of “I will not be denied.” Employ the persistent puppy philosophy of “This is Fun. I want to Play.” Apply the ant demeanor of hurrying forward and going over, under or around every obstacle. Put yourself in the mindset of being excited about your goal and absolutely knowing with every fiber of you being that the goal is already yours. It is already accomplished. See it happily finished in your mind. Smile and enjoy the feeling. Celebrate. Hold that joyous feeling.

Apply that laser focus on learning everything possible about your target goal. Read books, go to live seminars, ask others who have succeeded and network with positive minded and goal oriented people. Study personal development as well as every aspect of your potential business. Jim Rohn, noted business philosopher, says to “work harder on yourself than you do on your business.” Focus your mind on believing you have achieved and will continue to achieve. Persist in developing a plan to go from exactly where you are to exactly where you choose to go. Set time frames for every milestone in the success path. Record everything in your journal. Do not use your head for a filing cabinet. Read, study and persist on that plan.

Once you learn everything you possibly can learn, TAKE ACTION. Nothing changes until you take action. All of the thoughts in the world are non-productive until you put them into action.

Everything starts with your thoughts, your beliefs and your feelings. Passion is the key. The small child passionately demands. The puppy persists unendingly. The ant either finds a way or dies trying. Revive the passion and persistence. Bring back your inner child. Everything is possible for the laser focused and determined individual. It all starts in your head. Unless your head and heart are in the game, YOU are not in the game.

The 5 Factor Difference

Enthusiasm is wonderful. There was a screen saver put out by the Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles which said “Catch on fire with enthusiasm and the world will come for miles to watch you burn.” Yes, enthusiasm is an important factor but enthusiasm alone will not move your life and your business forward.

Passion for your product and your company are also very important. You can not effectively present something you do not believe in and respect. The most effective people throughout every industry have a deep seated passion for what they are doing. Their passion burns so white hot that nothing will stop them. Yes, they encounter setbacks and challenges. Those little hurdles or inconveniences do not stop them from moving forward to achieve their goals. Without a burning desire, those roadblocks can and will stop most people. Look seriously at what you are doing. On the passion scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being luke warm and 10 being a roaring inferno, where are you?

Look at your enthusiasm and your passion carefully and objectively. Do you jump out of bed every morning like a child on Christmas morning? Are you excited to start your day? What is your attitude toward your career? If your enthusiasm this morning resembles the temperature of left over bath water, this is a wake up call. You have 2 choices: rededicate yourself to your chosen profession or change professions. It’s that simple.

If your choice is to reinvigorate yourself in your present occupation, then apply the 5 factor difference. Select 5 things each day to do to move your business forward. Commit to selecting 5 things every day. Now comes the labor intensive part, you actually have to DO those 5 things every day. The action steps can be the same every day or different or a combination. You must select 5 specific action steps to move your business and your life forward. You ABSOLUTELY MUST COMMIT TO DOING ALL 5 EVERY DAY AND ACTUALLY DO THEM.

I learned this rule of 5 from Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield, authors of “Chicken Soup for the Soul.” Every day they did 5 things to move their business forward. They were turned down by approximately 140 publishers before one finally said yes. Now look at their results. They have a “Chicken soup of the Soul for everything.” They used the rule of 5 and remained enthusiastic, passionate and persistent. That is the secret of success.

What will the rule of 5 do to improve your life?

Always Be Growing - Learning Curve

Life is a learning curve. From the beginning we have a series of firsts: first crawling, first steps, first time to ride a bicycle, and first day of school. Life is a series of firsts. The problem is that once we become adults, we seem to stop experiencing those new accomplishments. As adults, too many of us resist learning new things. We balk at having a learning curve.

I started skiing, tennis, running and even weight training as an adult. Ok, so it took me longer to learn to ski than it does a small child. I knew how hard and cold that landing would be when I fell down. A child does not have as far to fall and they have an inborn feeling of being indestructible. I know the feeling of sore muscles. The biggest issue is not the sore muscles, but the mental block of getting in our own way. Consciously or unconsciously, we get in our own way. We resist learning new things and stepping so far out of our comfort zone.

Why? Are we afraid that we can’t do it? Are we afraid of failing? Are we afraid of succeeding? Maybe sometimes we don’t even know what is holding us back. We see other people succeeding and know that if they can do it, we can do it. Yet we are not seeing the results ourselves. What is the road block?

Jim Rohn says, “If you neighbor’s pasture is greener than yours, perhaps it is getting better care.”

It is both an issue of mindset and of action. Mindset. Do you truly know what you want? Do you want it badly enough that you will do whatever it takes to succeed? Does it tap in to your passion? Unless you have a passionate desire to succeed, you will always be spinning your wheels. It takes that clear vision and clear laser focused desire to achieve your goals. Every time you let doubt creep in to your thoughts, beliefs and feelings, you have erected a roadblock between yourself and your goals.

You must have a “why” so powerful that you will push through any and all barriers to reach your goal. Something that will keep you positive and motivated no matter what happens. Life happens. Life has disappointments, it just does. The question is how do you handle those tough spots in the learning curve and keep moving forward.

Once your mindset is laser focused, you will keep taking the actions which move you closer to your goals. No learning curve is too difficult if your mindset is crystal clear and your actions are in perfect harmony with your stated goals.