Principle #2: Be Clear Why You're Here...

This chapter of The Success Principles is all about finding your purpose, the reason why you were put on this planet. From my experience, there are three types of people concerning this matter:

1. The first group of people are those that don’t care… they never even think about it. They feel they aren’t even worthy of a “purpose”. As if a purpose in life is reserved for those that are successful, rich, celebrities, etc… Well, at least they have part of that right… the successful people do know their purpose, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have a purpose. Jack says he believes everyone is here for a purpose, and I tend to agree with him… completely.

2. The second group are those that struggle day in and day out to figure out their life’s purpose. They know its out there, they want to utilize it, but they just cannot figure it out. This chapter does a good job in trying to help you find your purpose. There are a couple of exercises meant to help you find your purpose, and I believe they are pretty good at doing so. However, I will say right now that I think this is one of the most difficult things in life to do. It feels so permanent, so restrictive sometimes to name your purpose… I guess this is because you know it is such an important aspect of your life, or it is supposed to be anyway… and that if you know your purpose, you should, you must pursue it with all you do. Boy its tough… but more about that later.

3. The third group is comprised of those that know their purpose. Like Jack Canfield, Tony Robbins, Robert Kiyosaki, Donald Trump, Bill Gates, etc, etc… These people are truly successful. They know their purpose, and they have organized their entire life around that purpose. That is true success. But you know, those are just the names we know… There are people everywhere that know their purpose, they live full lives, they touch people every day. But that doesn’t mean they have banks full of money. That really isn’t really the point; to have money… but you know what, it doesn’t hurt does it!

For those interested, the first draft of my Purpose Statement, sure to be revised later to some extent, is:
“My purpose is to motivate & Inspire others to build and grow their own business so that they may obtain true financial freedom.”

Until next time…

Make it a great day!

Principle #1: Take 100% Responsibility For Your L...

Obviously, the first principle is all about taking responsibility for your own life. How many people really do that? Not many, thats for sure. Everyone has excuses for everything. Its always someone, or something, else’s fault… yeah right. People blame the economy, their boss, their spouse, the weather, discrimination, lack of money, their equipment, their car….. etc, etc, etc.

And as Jack puts it: “No doubt all of these factors do exist, but if they were the deciding factor, nobody would ever succeed.”

We need to change oure responses to things that happen to, or around, us. You choose to be upset when you get stuck in traffic. You choose to say you are having a bad day just because you get out of bed and bump your head right away. Think about that for a minute. You might have bumped your head, and it probably hurt… and it most likely annoyed you as well… but next time something like this happens, I dare you to laugh it off… smile about it. Consciously think about how significant it really is in the scheme of your life… and ou know what? Suddenly, its not that big of deal… and you avoid the domino effect of letting each of the following “little things” get to you.

As Jack says: “Everything you think, say, and do needs to become intentional and aligned with your purpose, your values, and your goals.”

If you don’t like the results you are getting in your life, change your actions. If you don’t like the situation you are in, get out of it. You don’t have control over others, or the weather, or many other things around us, but you do conrol your responses to these things around you.

Take ownership of your life and you will be that much closer to the life you desire. I know its hard, but even if you really and truly were a victim of discrimination, or some circumstance of bad luck, or whatever… take ownership! Realize that you have the power to do something about it… change your actions, change your mind, change your words, change your friends, change your job, change your car… whatever it takes… Take ownership of your future, and steer your own ship in the direction want to go instead of aimlessly floating about letting everyone else, or random chance, take you where you dont want to go.

Make it a great day!

Everything in the past has actually been perfect...

I just liked this quote, from The Success Principles, by Jack Canfield… alot.

Everything in the past has actually been perfect. Everything in your past has led you to this transformative moment in time. Everyone – including you – has always done the best they could with what they knew at the time. Now you are about to know more. Celebrate your new awareness! It is about to set you free.

It is from the Introduction in the book.

Introduction: Success Principles...

THE PRINCIPLES ALWAYS WORK IF YOU WORK THE PRINCIPLES

That’s what Jack Canfield says in the Introduction to the book. That is a pretty powerful statement I’d have to say. For now, I am going to give it the benefit of the doubt.

Jack says that this book is not a book about good ideas, but a book detailing the principles used by successful men and women throughout history. He has gained this information through the thousands of books he has read (he reads an average of 1 book every 2 days), the seminars (hundreds) he has attended, and the hours and hours of audio he has listened to on the subject of success and happiness.

As you know, I have not read this entire book yet, but I did skim it and I can see that this statement he made, “THE PRINCIPLES ALWAYS WORK IF YOU WORK THE PRINCIPLES“, is probably true. As a coach and mentor, I have also read hundreds of books, attended seminars, worked with wonderful people, and there are always common statements and instructions by all the great teachers.

I am looking forward to seeing which one’s Jack puts together in the book. So far, it looks very promising and I am expecting success! But you know what? I think that’s the first step toward achieving your goals no matter how large or small… expect success! I dont mean, wish for succuss, dream of it, want it… but really, expect success. I think this is a little hint at the Law of Attraction, but he is not calling it that yet. I wonder if he will.

Jack then talks a bit about how the book is structured… I think I am going to like this. Apparently he is going to start off talking about the necessity of taking 100% responsibility for you life and results. From my experience, I have to agree… this is the first step in anyone’s transformation to a new and better life. Some people start with this realization, but many, if not most, do not have this sense of responsibility for all that they are and will be.

Apparently, he is then going to teach us how to clarify our life purpose, your vision…. You know you want to learn that don’t you! That is one of the questions I hear most often… “How do I know what I am supposed to be doing?” “How can I find my purpose in life?”

Then he explains each of the following sections and what to expect. I can’t wait to read more. I hope you will join in by clicking the comment button, registering and posting your experiences, questions, feedback, etc. If you don’t want to make comments, thats OK… maybe you just want to join the Newsletter by using the box in the top right of this page.

As usual, thanks for reading… and thanks for all the interest in this subject. I have recieved many emails lately on this… I think this is going to turn out to be a great experience.

Make it a great day!

An experiment on Success...

Over the next few days I intend to start a little experiment. I have not read the whole book, but have read and heard great things about The Success Principles(TM): How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Jack Canfield.

What I intend to do is follow the instructions and advice as close as possible and post my actions, thoughts, and results as I progress through the book. I will make all of these posts under the category, Success Principles.

If you want to follow along and make comments as you progress that would be more than welcomed! Please register and make comments as often as you like… we can work through this together. I expect great results!

If you dont yet have it, go get the book… as I said, I haven’t read all of it, but the parts I have skimmed seem to be very promising. You can get the book by clicking here!

Just a little motivation… don't give up...

Too many times, people give up before they ever begin. Its amazing how much we can do if we don’t let our own predetermined limitations get in the way… or the limitations that other put on us.

I thought this was good… just thought I would share since I found it to be inspirational.

Fight for it, stay determined, and make it happen...

There are all kinds of stories that you hear of persistance and determination… stories about people who have made it, no matter the struggles. Often times I am moved and inspired by these stories, but I tell a friend or family member the same story and it is not recieved the same. They just don’t seem to have the same appreciation of determination and often miss the point all together. One such example is the story of Sylvester Stallone and how he sold his dog when he was broke and couldn’t feed it anymore.

You can learn about this story at: YouTube video

Or, just google it

He stood outside a convenience store with a sign and sold his dog to someone that negotiated with him on the price. Apparently, this was very difficult for Stallone as he reports crying as he walked away from the sale.

Eventually, Stallone bought the dog back a few weeks later after selling the script to Rocky (Which is another story you should look up). He sold the dog for about $25 or something like that… then when he went to buy it back, he paid thousands for it, and gave the guy who he bought it back from a part in the movie (little Mike, the guy sweeping up the floors at one point in the movie).

The point is, those hard times he had… selling his dog, refusing the first offer for his movie, and the next, and the next,… until he was allowed to star in the movie, is an amazing story of determination. I find it all so inspiring, but this same story, when told to a friend yesteday, brought upon comments like, “poor dog”… “how stupid, I would have taken the first offer”, or “I would never pay $15,000 to buy my dog back”, etc….. similar comments peppered me during my story telling and after. I just don’t get how people don’t understand the inspiration they can draw from stories like this. Stallone wanted to be an actor… “they” wouldn’t let him! He tried out for agent after agent, part after part… it didn’t work. So he turned to writing… he sold one script for something like $100. Then he wrote Rocky. They wanted it, but he wouldn’t give it to them for $50,000, the first offer. He wouldn’t give it to them for $100,000… not even $250,000…. Not unless he could star in it. So, in the end, he took $35,000 and got the staring part… bought his dog back for $15,000, and look where he is now.

If you don’t find committment and determination in that story… I don’t know where you will find it.

Make it a great day!

Business to Business Success…...

As usual, Seth has a nice piece today…. No need for me to analyze… just check it out:

Seth Godin:

How to Succeed in Business (to Business)
The secrets might surprise you. The most successful b2b organizations, in my opinion, understand the value of:

Patience
Promises
Being Centered
We worked very closely with Brian and his team at Viget for a many months building the initial architecture of Squidoo. There are plenty of shops that can do web programming, plenty that claim they can do UI work and plenty that are even hipper than you. There are very few that manage to pull off the kind of work that Viget does. They were on time, on budget and most important, they didn’t cause anyone to lose sleep.

The very things that I look for as a consumer (surprise, fashion, edginess) were in short supply here. Instead, Viget went out of their way to never overpromise. They pushed the hard decisions early in the process so that the thrashing was early, not late. In fact, the end of the process was the most delightful part. Because they know who they are and are clear about it to themselves and to their clients, the chances of making an honest connection with their clients is much higher than someone who is trying to be all things to all people.

Drew Dusebout, a broker/financial planner I know at UBS is the same way. Drew doesn’t make vague promises about financial returns, and he doesn’t get all excited at the latest gimmick. Instead, he’s honest with himself and his colleagues about the world he works in, and his clients always get exactly what they expect. Sure, this is a more difficult way to grow (at first) because you can’t seduce the people who are the most likely to jump ship. You can’t promise some shortcut that gets you the quick clients. But in the long run, I don’t know of any other way to market a service like his.

Here’s the hard part about this: if you’re very good at what you do, you won’t grow. Because lots of people are good at what you do. No one is going to be busy referring you and sending you business just because you’re very good. Sorry.

The only way to consistently grow in B2B is to be better than very good. In fact, it’s to find something that organizations need and be the very best in the world at it. Hopefully, that thing is something that organizations in your sphere are eager to talk about among themselves. If it is, you win. There’s a line at your door for years to come.

The buzz on the net, check your ideas first...

It happens to many of us entrepreneurs…. We wake up one morning and go… ah-ha… this would make a great online business. But then you realize that you have no idea how many people need your idea, or if people are looking for it on the internet, or what other ways they may be looking for the same information.

Next time you wake up with one of those ideas that you would like to find research, try this tool. Just give it a try… I think you will find it useful.

They actually have quite a few other tools that webmasters can use as well. This site is worth a spin, so definitely check it out.

Make it a great day!

Free Online Fax...

FaxZero allows you to send faxes for free. This free service is supported by, yep, you guessed it, ad revenue. But you know what… it really doesn’t bother me one bit. I think this is great.

The convenience and simplicity they have built in is fantastic. You can type in text to fax, or if you already have a document you need to fax, you can attach a PDF file, Microsoft Word Doc, or an Excel Spreadsheet.

The free version of FaxZero has a two fax per day limitation, but this is fine with me as I don’t have a need to send many more than that anyway. As you would expect, you can send faxes that do not have any ads on the cover page. To send a fax without any ads will cost $1.99 per fax.

Make it a great Day!