You have decided to make some positive changes in your life to master your mind power with the intention of producing more outcomes that are in alignment with what you desire. You have identified things, conditions, circumstances, and people you no longer want in your life.
You have also identified what things, conditions, circumstances, and people you desire to have in your life, as they are the exact opposite of what you DO NOT WANT. In addition, you have agreed that affirmations are a very powerful (FREE) tool available to you to instill new thoughts, images and beliefs in your mind so you have decided to begin a regimen using them.
Your DO WANT list is probably fairly long. I would strongly urge you to prioritize it and choose the top three items from your newly prioritized list with which to begin. Most credible teachers and authors recommend repeating your affirmations at least three times a day, upon arising, at midday and just before retiring. I concur and I would strongly suggest your repeating them more often if possible.
The question of how many repetitions should be in each set and how does one keep count of them often arises. I have yet to find anyone who offers a definitive, magical number of repetitions. You must choose that number for yourself. You are working with your own mind and it might take a little while to come up with a comfortable number. I personally chose to do 25 repetitions per set.
To keep count, I constructed a rosary-like, bead bracelet. I went to the notion section of a discount store, picked up some inexpensive beads, and a roll of stretch string. I put 25 beads on a section of string, tied a stop-knot at the end of it so as to leave about an inch of slide-space.
I would begin on either side of the slide-space and slide one bead forward as I completed an affirmation. The knot in the string indicated when I reached the 25th bead so I did not have focus on keeping count. The bracelet turned out to be a perfect fit for my wrist so I wore it 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
I can promise you that early on in you affirmation regimen, tail enders will make their appearance. A tail ender, is a term for the negative counter (or a reversal) to your affirmation, and it is one of the most effective tools used by your self image in its attempt to keep you in your DO NOT WANT world and to keep itself in control of your life.
If a tail ender is not addressed immediately, it gradually re-establishes itself as your TRUE affirmation. Thus you are stopped dead in your tracks on your new, life-changing journey. Like a powerful magnet, it will pull you back into the waiting arms of the old self image and your old consistent thoughts.
It is my belief, evidenced by my past experiences, that the lack of knowledge about tail enders and the absence of effective strategies and tools to counter them push most people off their positive, life-changing course and back into their DO NOT WANT world comfort zone soon after even the most promising beginnings.
Overcoming Fear
Most of the fears we experience are irrational. In other words, there is no valid reason that we should be influenced by them because they are not based on any real, physical event, person, or thing. The effect on the vast majority of people in our society, however, is poverty-mindedness and inability to enjoy the wealth that is all around. Fear is the single greatest reason that you and millions of other people have not and are not now living more of the lives you desire.
Irrational fear has become the filters through which your self image directs nearly every decision you make, especially if the decision involves finances. Irrational fear is a major factor that keeps 95% of the population either in poverty or struggling to live on paycheck to paycheck jobs. Since, in a the state of fear, calm, rational thinking is literally pushed aside, any decision you make in this state is generally not going to be in your best interest.
Obviously, in order for you to succeed at mastering your mind power and having more of the life you desire, some of your fears must be faced and overcome. Please do not despair. The overcoming of fear is not as difficult as it might sound, and I am not suggesting that you overcome all of your fears. Remember, some of them may be so deep seated that the services of a qualified, professional therapist might be required.
It is critical that you identify the fear or fears standing between you and your desires. Here is a process that worked for me. I began to consciously observe my reactions and feelings whenever (for example) money issues came up in conversations with my wife or other members of my family.
If something as simple as an extended vacation came up, I would begin to sense those fear feelings in the pit of my stomach that we would need the money that we would spend on the vacation for something more pressing, and I would produce various reasons why an extended vacation was not a good idea. If something as serious as starting a business or investing in capital properties entered our conversation, the fear of the possible loss of our hard-earned money would sometimes become so acute that I would have trouble sleeping at night.
One day it dawned upon me that I had learned from my studies that I needed to focus on my desires more than I focused on fear. Once I began to consistently imagine the joy of seeing and visiting with my family, old friends, and new places, the fear of needing the money for something more pressing faded more and more. There really was nothing more pressing.
As for starting a business, I reasoned that by choosing Every Month A Million I would be able to have all my desires, and dreams. In other words, the imagined gain and joy of achieving my desires became greater than the imagined fear.
You too must go through a process of your choosing to overcome the fear within you. Life on this planet is too short to give it over to fears, most of which do not exist in reality and never will. One of the saddest commentaries on human history is the abundant availability of great wealth but fear all too often succeeds in blinding us to the possibility of having that wealth.
However, this I know for sure. You can claim or re-claim control of your own mind power. You are the most miraculous of all living beings on earth. You are the owner of a mind that is so stupendous, that as you truly begin mastering your mind power and consciously using it, there is no dream that you can dream that you cannot achieve.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
The Importance of Leadership With a Vision
In today's lesson you will learn the importance of Leadership with a Vision.
This was taught to me by one of my mentors Lori Duff here at
Every Month A Million with our Daily Dose Of Good
I dug a bit deeper and added more that I have been learning here.....
In the Book of Proverbs it is said, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." This is as true in business as it is in life. Organizations whose leaders have no vision are doomed to work under the burden of mere tradition. They cannot prosper and grow because they are reduced to keeping things the way they have always been; they are guided by the saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
True leaders see things differently. They are guided by another belief more in keeping with the competitive world in which we live. They believe, "If it ain't broke, you're not looking hard enough." Realizing that there is always room for improvement, they believe that no one has ever done anything so well that it cannot be done better.
For leaders, a vision is not a dream; it is a reality that has yet to come into existence. Vision is palpable to leaders; their confidence in and dedication to vision are so strong they can devote long hours over many years to bring it into being. In this way, a vision acts as a force within, compelling a leader to action. It gives a leader purpose, and the power of the vision and the leader's devotion to it work to inspire others-- who, sensing purpose and commitment, respond.
While leaders come in every size, shape, and disposition--short, tall, neat, sloppy, young, old, male, and female---every leader I talked with shared at least one characteristic: a concern with a guiding purpose, an overarching vision. They were more than goal-directed.
To be a leader you have to lead people to a goal worth having--something that's really good and really there". That essential "something" is the vision.
A Definition
What is vision? Because it operates on many levels, vision is difficult to define simply. When we say that a leader has vision, we refer to the ability to see the present as it is and formulate a future that grows out of and improves upon the present. A leader with vision is able to see into the future without being far-sighted and remain rooted in the present without being near-sighted. We also speak of having a vision for an organization, which looks at it from a slightly different perspective. A vision is an idea of the future; it is an image, a strongly felt wish.
Vision is a tremendously powerful force in any walk of life, but in business it is essential. A vision is a target toward which a leader aims her energy and resources. The constant presence of the vision keeps a leader moving despite various forces of resistance: fear of failure; emotional hardships, such as negative responses from superiors, peers, or employees; or 'real' hardships, such as practical difficulties or problems in the industry.
Equally important, a vision, when shared by employees, can keep an entire company moving forward in the face of difficulties, enabling and inspiring leaders and employees alike. Moving toward the same goal, individuals work together rather than as disconnected people brought together because of having been hired coincidentally by the same organization. It can turn the stereotypical corporate hierarchy into a well-organized and harmonious matrix working together toward a common goal.
Vision refers to the force within a leader that spreads like wildfire when properly communicated to others. Vision refers to an image of the future that can be discussed and perfected by those who have invested in it. Vision is also the glue that binds individuals into a group with a common goal. This multiplicity of meanings does not weaken or obscure the concept; rather, it demonstrates how essential vision is to the success of a leader and to an organization.
Vision Adds Meaning to Corporate Life
When employees understand a leader's vision, they understand what the organization is trying to accomplish and what it stands for. Each employee can see what the future holds as a rational extension of the present. In addition, meaning is conveyed to each department, reaffirming that what individual departments contribute is crucial to organizational success. The vision must be logical, deductive, and plausible; at the same time it must be mind-stretching, creative, and able to capture the imaginations of individual contributors.
The role of a leader is not just to explain and clarify. Leaders "create meaning for people" by amassing large amounts of information, making sense of it, integrating it into a meaningful vision of the future, and communicating that vision so people want to participate in its realization. In this sense, visions have the power to lift employees out of the monotony of the daily work world and put them into a new world full of opportunity and challenge.
Visions excite people by appealing to their emotions. A vision is "something to rally around, a glue pulling the organization together". Because to some employees visions might seem almost impossible to meet, it is the leader's responsibility to bolster their courage with understanding. Experienced leaders do this so naturally that people do not even realize how courageous they are; their only concern is to do whatever is needed in pursuit of the vision. This is why leaders are so critical to the success of an organization. They have the ability to see through all the confusion in the workplace and focus on what matters. A vision helps leaders keep the frustrations of the workplace in perspective, enabling them to live with uncertainty in the short term because they can visualize accomplishment in the long term. They can then extend this ability throughout the organization.
Although vision guides a company in a particular direction, leaders do not typically produce specific "plans" for making a vision reality. They usually leave the more detailed planning to managers. However, "unless the leader has a sense of where the whole enterprise is going and must go, it is not possible to delegate... the other functions". It is as dangerous to leave others adrift by being too general as it is to cage them in by being too precise.
"Typically, a vision is specific enough to provide real guidance to people, yet vague enough to encourage initiative and to remain relevant under a variety of conditions".
Employee Buy-in and Commitment
To be effective, leaders cannot force their vision upon the organization. Imposing it will, in all likelihood, elicit rejection temporarily and, as a result, waste time and money. Additionally, this approach leads to frustration and anger, which can easily result in unnecessary failure. Under an autocratic leader, imposing a vision on the organization results in compliance rather than commitment, which is required for the long-term success of a vision. Ideally, a leader shares that vision with people in the organization. As employees come to comprehend the vision, they offer their commitment.
Having committed to a vision, organizational members begin to participate in shaping it, fashioning it to reflect their own personal visions-- pictures or images they have in their hearts and minds about their futures and their contributions to the organization. At this point, the leader's vision becomes a shared one, after which people in the organization become even more committed. Shared vision creates a commonality of interests that enables people to see meaning and coherence in the diverse activities of the typical workday. Furthermore, a shared vision causes people to focus on the future and what it holds-- not simply because they must, but because they want to.
The realization of a shared vision results in the "alignment of the individual energies" of all who take part. Realizing what an organization can achieve can generate a "unique rash of power," a level of energy high above what is considered normal that can be sustained for a relatively long period.
Possibly the most important variables contributing to a leader's success in implementing a vision is his level of commitment to it and the level of commitment it can inspire in employees. A leader who is wholly committed to a vision will find it much easier to motivate people and direct their energy toward making that vision reality.
Fear of Failure
Fear of failure prevents many otherwise capable people from pursuing their visions. Leaders must overcome their reluctance to risk falling on their face if they hope to succeed. Fear of failure is natural. True leaders, however, do not allow it to paralyze them and prevent them from pursuing their vision.
It does not matter not how many times you try and fail. Everybody fails. What matters is your ability to try again. A leader simply must expect and deal with failure because it is such a fundamental part of the learning process. Everybody fails while learning to master something. It is an unavoidable and essential part of a process that leads to success.
Consider this example: major league baseball. In the major leagues, if a player hits .300 he is a very good hitter. If he hits around .320 or .330, he is among the best in the league. A player who has a. 350 batting average is considered excellent. What this average actually means is that 65 percent of the time he either did not reach base, or he reached base as a result of an error. In major league baseball, a player who fails to get a hit 65 percent of the time is heading for the Hall of Fame. Interestingly, Babe Ruth is known as a great home run hitter. He was also a leader in strikeouts. Leaders must learn to deal with failure; they must master this experience. If they cannot cope with failure, they cannot lead.
Albert Einstein, who had great vision, was a leader in the scientific community. His theories changed the way we see the universe. But when once asked how many ideas he had in his lifetime, his answer was two. (Einstein considered ideas to be only those thoughts nobody had ever thought of before.)
A person can have an abundance of ideas, but success depends on what she does with these ideas, not on merely having them. Chances are that an idea believed to be original has already been conceived by somebody who has failed to do anything with it. It only takes one good idea to be a stunning success. Einstein is proof of this. The secret is to build on that idea. The fear of failure prevents many talented people from mentioning their ideas to others or from following through completely on them. What a shame! Because of the fear of failure, we deprive ourselves and others of so many benefits.
Nevertheless, many people believe that the key to success is to avoid failure. They stay with things they know, seldom trying anything new. These people fail because the surest way to fail in the long term is to continue doing what you did yesterday, to mindlessly follow proven tradition. Things are changing, and times are changing. If we do not change along with them, we will not succeed.
The willingness to confront and deal with failure is an important attribute of a leader. How many times should a leader try and fail before deciding it is time to quit. One? Two? Three? When Thomas Edison was working on the electric light bulb, he had to deal with much failure. He tried thousands of filaments before he found the one that worked. He did not quit after the first, 500th, or 1,000th try. He believed in his vision, and he wanted to succeed more than anything else. He dealt with his own daily failures and kept his eye on the long-term success. Today we all benefit because Thomas Edison did not choose to give up.
Challenging the Status Quo
Leaders must make certain their people do not give up, that they continue to strive for success. It is natural for people to quit; organizational pressures keep many people from trying out new ideas. John D. Rockefeller III wrote in The Second American Revolution, "An organization is a system, with a logic of its own, and all the weight of tradition and inertia. The deck is stacked in favor of the tried and proven way of doing things and against taking risks and striking out in new directions." How true!
The natural state of an organization is conservative, to maintain the status quo. Many people in firms that have been around a long time believe their primary responsibility is to protect the status quo. Leaders must learn to deal with these obstacles in the path of success and to protect those who question the way things are done. I believe that "divine discontent with the status quo" is an essential quality of a leader. People who have leadership talent have "a real fire in their belly... a fire that has to do with having an effect on the world." You can tell when leaders have been in a firm because they leave their mark and, as a result, affect the destinies of many others.
Ridicule: A Technique Used to Make Leaders Quit
When employees in most organizations encounter a person with a vision that is significantly different from the status quo, it is common for them to resist the suggested changes and to put obstacles in the way of success. Their rationale is easily understood. Change means work and exertion for them. By preventing change, they save time and energy in the short term. But in the long run, their strategy is dangerous.
If the leader refuses to quit, employees turn to ridicule in hopes that the pressure will be sufficient to prevent the leader from moving forward. Leaders must learn to deal with this. They must understand that great leaders before them faced ridicule and prevailed over it. Marconi probably encountered a tremendous amount of ridicule as he sought support for the wireless radio. Imagine him trying to sell his idea to a group of would-be investors. Marconi had to convince a room full of bankers that his invention was capable of capturing "little waves" out of the air that could not be seen and converting them to sound that would come from a little box. A fair number of them must have thought he was crazy.
It is natural for some people to exhibit disbelief when unusual ideas are presented to them. It is also natural for them to ridicule the people who present those ideas.
When You Succeed, They Say You Are Lucky
Suppose a leader develops a vision to which she is committed, shares it with people, accepts failure, deals with ridicule, and after working tirelessly for many years actually turns that vision into a reality. It is now time to reap the rewards and hear praise for an amazing accomplishment, right? Wrong. In all likelihood, what she will hear is, "Oh, you were just lucky"--meaning, of course, "If it wasn't just plain dumb luck, I would have done it myself." In this situation, a leader should find comfort in the words of Emerson: "Shallow men believe in luck, wise and strong men in cause and effect."
Luck cannot explain accomplishment. Winning the state lottery may seem like a matter of luck, but you have to buy a lottery ticket to win. Ara Parseghian, football coach at Notre Dame several years ago, led his team to beat the University of Alabama for the national championship two years in a row. Alabama was favored to win both times. Both years, Alabama took an early lead and held it until the end of the game. Both years, Notre Dame came back in the closing seconds of the game and won. When a reporter asked Parseghian after the second victory about "the luck of the Irish," he is reported to have said, "If by luck you mean the place where preparation meets opportunity, then we were lucky."
In this world, there is an abundance of opportunity for everyone. Parseghian knew that the Alabama football team was not infallible and that it would give his team opportunities to win. If his team prepared well and was ready for the game, it could take advantage of those opportunities. It took hard work and practice to be able to see and take advantage of the openings provided.
Preparation met opportunity.
Communicating Vision
A leader must communicate his vision to others for it to become a shared vision. To accomplish this, leaders should act in a manner consistent with the vision in everything they do. They must set a personal example; they cannot afford to send mixed signals by saying one thing and doing another.
The first step in communicating a vision to a group is to stress its importance so that people will take an interest in it. If they believe the vision is important and worthwhile, many of them will want be involved with it, even if they do not understand all the details. Most people will cooperate and follow the leader with only a vague idea of what their participation, contribution, and reward might be, if the leader's vision excites them.
Communication that motivates people to act tends to focus on the core values and beliefs that support the vision. Accurately communicating these values and beliefs simplifies implementation because it conveys simple images or words that make the vision easier to remember. In addition, repeating simple words and symbols communicates the message without clogging already overused communication channels. Written communication can be used in a similar manner to reinforce the vision by reporting progress for everyone to see, and progress toward achieving goals keeps peoples' spirits up and helps convince them they can do it.
Going From Communication to Commitment
After a vision has been explained simply and directly, people must decide whether they want to be a part of it. If they don't, they cannot be forced to produce quality results at competitive prices over the long term. They can be forced to do things in the short term, but they will abandon them as quickly as they figure out how to come out from under the strong arm of a leader who has not earned their commitment.
The day has almost passed when autocratic leaders can succeed over the long term. Strong-armed leaders typically do not last long; the cost of using this approach is too high in terms of the inferior quality output resulting from poor quality effort, lost employee loyalty and support, and money. Moreover, forcing people to do things they do not want to do requires a great deal of energy over the long term--more energy than most people can expend on a sustained basis.
Over the long term, most people are not motivated by being pushed. They are motivated by the desire to satisfy their own very basic human needs: those for achievement, belonging, recognition, self-esteem, control over their lives, and the sense of having lived up to their ideals. To be successful, leaders must connect with these human needs and let their people become excited about a vision. Further, they must involve people in deciding how to achieve the vision, or at least to achieve the part of it that is most relevant to them. Their involvement must be real, and the rewards and recognition they receive must be real as well.
To win continued support from a group, leaders must be willing to share their personal views, and to listen carefully to the group's ideas. Ultimately, leaders must be willing to assume a vulnerable position and ask a difficult question:
"Will you follow me?" In reality, they are asking another question: "Is this vision worthy of your commitment?" Being vulnerable in this manner is difficult for many people who have grown up during a time when employees were expected to comply with the leader's orders and not ask too many questions.
Although a leader is responsible for introducing the vision to the group, people want and need to become personally involved with the vision. As we have said before, they cannot do this unless it reflects, to some extent, their own personal visions. It is critical for leaders to keep their minds open to suggestions and ideas that can improve the vision. Too often leaders present their visions to employees as cast in concrete, sending the subtle (or not so subtle) message that there is no room for compromise. As a result, the employees either reject the vision or simply go through the motions of supporting it. In either case, it is doubtful the vision will ever become reality.
Introducing the word "compromise" may surprise many people because they have been led to believe that once the leader is committed to the vision, she cannot afford to be flexible. Although it is true that the leader's commitment to the vision must be strong and unwavering, it is also true that she is incapable of predicting in advance precisely what the future holds. As the leader and the group move together toward making the vision a reality, they both learn more about their vision, and they have opportunities to improve upon it. Compromise as the vision unfolds should not be interpreted negatively. The leader's willingness to accept suggestions that result in some change in the vision will benefit the leader and improve both the quality of the vision and the intensity of the employees' commitment to it.
Stated another way, the development of a vision is an evolutionary process. At any one point there will be a particular image of the future that is predominant, but that image will evolve. A vision should be constantly examined and modified to reflect important changes in the environment and ensure continued support and enthusiasm from everyone involved.
As people's commitment to the vision grows, it becomes more real to them; they will find it easier to dedicate the time and energy necessary to make the vision a reality. Those who have expertise in a particular field should be encouraged to use their knowledge to improve parts of the vision that are related to their specialty. The details, missing steps, and concerns that confront the leader's visionary goals. When leaders solicit input, they discover the knowledge, interest, and evident parameters of support they can expect from others." A leader should expect that although parts of the vision may undergo alteration, its essence will remain intact.
If a leader cannot see the value in compromises and is too inflexible to accept them, the vision will never achieve its full potential. When more people come to share a vision, the vision becomes more real in the sense of a mental reality that people can truly imagine achieving. They [the leaders] now have partners, co-creators; the vision no longer rests on their shoulders alone."
Empowering People to Do Their Jobs
Communicating the vision accurately and fully has the added advantage of creating the conditions under which employees can be empowered to do their jobs. The term "empowered" is used frequently today; unfortunately, many people using the term do not really understand what it means. Some who are familiar with management literature interpret empowerment to mean delegation of authority. The strict literalists will be quick to point out that a manager can delegate authority, but not responsibility. To them, empowerment is a formal (almost legalistic) passing down of a task from one level in the organization to another. Delegation is not empowerment, but empowerment does require good delegation.
Empowerment means giving employees jobs to do and the freedom they need to be creative while doing them. It means allowing employees to try new ideas, even ones that have never been considered or that have been previously rejected. It means allowing them to experiment and fail on occasion without fear of punishment.
Having said this, we must point out that leaders should avoid taking big risks without carefully considering the consequences. They must exercise judgment; as a general rule, they should establish an understanding with employees about the risks they are willing to take in the experimentation process. As we said earlier, experimentation is essential, so leaders must not be so restrictive that their employees fail to try new ideas. Empowerment means giving employees more than just the authority to do the job.
Leaders are not magicians, and they do not simply predict future events. They are strategic thinkers who are willing to take risks. Their actions, together with the actions of those who follow them, determine what the future will be. The point is, leaders do not create something out of nothing. They look at what they know to exist and search for relationships, the way things are meant to fit together. Once they find the connections, they share them with other people and work with them to bring about desired changes.
Leaders must maintain a balance between a clear understanding of the present and a clear focus on the future. Senge calls this balance "creative tension" and maintains that "an accurate picture of current reality is just as important as a compelling picture of a desired future."
This was taught to me by one of my mentors Lori Duff here at
Every Month A Million with our Daily Dose Of Good
I dug a bit deeper and added more that I have been learning here.....
In the Book of Proverbs it is said, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." This is as true in business as it is in life. Organizations whose leaders have no vision are doomed to work under the burden of mere tradition. They cannot prosper and grow because they are reduced to keeping things the way they have always been; they are guided by the saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
True leaders see things differently. They are guided by another belief more in keeping with the competitive world in which we live. They believe, "If it ain't broke, you're not looking hard enough." Realizing that there is always room for improvement, they believe that no one has ever done anything so well that it cannot be done better.
For leaders, a vision is not a dream; it is a reality that has yet to come into existence. Vision is palpable to leaders; their confidence in and dedication to vision are so strong they can devote long hours over many years to bring it into being. In this way, a vision acts as a force within, compelling a leader to action. It gives a leader purpose, and the power of the vision and the leader's devotion to it work to inspire others-- who, sensing purpose and commitment, respond.
While leaders come in every size, shape, and disposition--short, tall, neat, sloppy, young, old, male, and female---every leader I talked with shared at least one characteristic: a concern with a guiding purpose, an overarching vision. They were more than goal-directed.
To be a leader you have to lead people to a goal worth having--something that's really good and really there". That essential "something" is the vision.
A Definition
What is vision? Because it operates on many levels, vision is difficult to define simply. When we say that a leader has vision, we refer to the ability to see the present as it is and formulate a future that grows out of and improves upon the present. A leader with vision is able to see into the future without being far-sighted and remain rooted in the present without being near-sighted. We also speak of having a vision for an organization, which looks at it from a slightly different perspective. A vision is an idea of the future; it is an image, a strongly felt wish.
Vision is a tremendously powerful force in any walk of life, but in business it is essential. A vision is a target toward which a leader aims her energy and resources. The constant presence of the vision keeps a leader moving despite various forces of resistance: fear of failure; emotional hardships, such as negative responses from superiors, peers, or employees; or 'real' hardships, such as practical difficulties or problems in the industry.
Equally important, a vision, when shared by employees, can keep an entire company moving forward in the face of difficulties, enabling and inspiring leaders and employees alike. Moving toward the same goal, individuals work together rather than as disconnected people brought together because of having been hired coincidentally by the same organization. It can turn the stereotypical corporate hierarchy into a well-organized and harmonious matrix working together toward a common goal.
Vision refers to the force within a leader that spreads like wildfire when properly communicated to others. Vision refers to an image of the future that can be discussed and perfected by those who have invested in it. Vision is also the glue that binds individuals into a group with a common goal. This multiplicity of meanings does not weaken or obscure the concept; rather, it demonstrates how essential vision is to the success of a leader and to an organization.
Vision Adds Meaning to Corporate Life
When employees understand a leader's vision, they understand what the organization is trying to accomplish and what it stands for. Each employee can see what the future holds as a rational extension of the present. In addition, meaning is conveyed to each department, reaffirming that what individual departments contribute is crucial to organizational success. The vision must be logical, deductive, and plausible; at the same time it must be mind-stretching, creative, and able to capture the imaginations of individual contributors.
The role of a leader is not just to explain and clarify. Leaders "create meaning for people" by amassing large amounts of information, making sense of it, integrating it into a meaningful vision of the future, and communicating that vision so people want to participate in its realization. In this sense, visions have the power to lift employees out of the monotony of the daily work world and put them into a new world full of opportunity and challenge.
Visions excite people by appealing to their emotions. A vision is "something to rally around, a glue pulling the organization together". Because to some employees visions might seem almost impossible to meet, it is the leader's responsibility to bolster their courage with understanding. Experienced leaders do this so naturally that people do not even realize how courageous they are; their only concern is to do whatever is needed in pursuit of the vision. This is why leaders are so critical to the success of an organization. They have the ability to see through all the confusion in the workplace and focus on what matters. A vision helps leaders keep the frustrations of the workplace in perspective, enabling them to live with uncertainty in the short term because they can visualize accomplishment in the long term. They can then extend this ability throughout the organization.
Although vision guides a company in a particular direction, leaders do not typically produce specific "plans" for making a vision reality. They usually leave the more detailed planning to managers. However, "unless the leader has a sense of where the whole enterprise is going and must go, it is not possible to delegate... the other functions". It is as dangerous to leave others adrift by being too general as it is to cage them in by being too precise.
"Typically, a vision is specific enough to provide real guidance to people, yet vague enough to encourage initiative and to remain relevant under a variety of conditions".
Employee Buy-in and Commitment
To be effective, leaders cannot force their vision upon the organization. Imposing it will, in all likelihood, elicit rejection temporarily and, as a result, waste time and money. Additionally, this approach leads to frustration and anger, which can easily result in unnecessary failure. Under an autocratic leader, imposing a vision on the organization results in compliance rather than commitment, which is required for the long-term success of a vision. Ideally, a leader shares that vision with people in the organization. As employees come to comprehend the vision, they offer their commitment.
Having committed to a vision, organizational members begin to participate in shaping it, fashioning it to reflect their own personal visions-- pictures or images they have in their hearts and minds about their futures and their contributions to the organization. At this point, the leader's vision becomes a shared one, after which people in the organization become even more committed. Shared vision creates a commonality of interests that enables people to see meaning and coherence in the diverse activities of the typical workday. Furthermore, a shared vision causes people to focus on the future and what it holds-- not simply because they must, but because they want to.
The realization of a shared vision results in the "alignment of the individual energies" of all who take part. Realizing what an organization can achieve can generate a "unique rash of power," a level of energy high above what is considered normal that can be sustained for a relatively long period.
Possibly the most important variables contributing to a leader's success in implementing a vision is his level of commitment to it and the level of commitment it can inspire in employees. A leader who is wholly committed to a vision will find it much easier to motivate people and direct their energy toward making that vision reality.
Fear of Failure
Fear of failure prevents many otherwise capable people from pursuing their visions. Leaders must overcome their reluctance to risk falling on their face if they hope to succeed. Fear of failure is natural. True leaders, however, do not allow it to paralyze them and prevent them from pursuing their vision.
It does not matter not how many times you try and fail. Everybody fails. What matters is your ability to try again. A leader simply must expect and deal with failure because it is such a fundamental part of the learning process. Everybody fails while learning to master something. It is an unavoidable and essential part of a process that leads to success.
Consider this example: major league baseball. In the major leagues, if a player hits .300 he is a very good hitter. If he hits around .320 or .330, he is among the best in the league. A player who has a. 350 batting average is considered excellent. What this average actually means is that 65 percent of the time he either did not reach base, or he reached base as a result of an error. In major league baseball, a player who fails to get a hit 65 percent of the time is heading for the Hall of Fame. Interestingly, Babe Ruth is known as a great home run hitter. He was also a leader in strikeouts. Leaders must learn to deal with failure; they must master this experience. If they cannot cope with failure, they cannot lead.
Albert Einstein, who had great vision, was a leader in the scientific community. His theories changed the way we see the universe. But when once asked how many ideas he had in his lifetime, his answer was two. (Einstein considered ideas to be only those thoughts nobody had ever thought of before.)
A person can have an abundance of ideas, but success depends on what she does with these ideas, not on merely having them. Chances are that an idea believed to be original has already been conceived by somebody who has failed to do anything with it. It only takes one good idea to be a stunning success. Einstein is proof of this. The secret is to build on that idea. The fear of failure prevents many talented people from mentioning their ideas to others or from following through completely on them. What a shame! Because of the fear of failure, we deprive ourselves and others of so many benefits.
Nevertheless, many people believe that the key to success is to avoid failure. They stay with things they know, seldom trying anything new. These people fail because the surest way to fail in the long term is to continue doing what you did yesterday, to mindlessly follow proven tradition. Things are changing, and times are changing. If we do not change along with them, we will not succeed.
The willingness to confront and deal with failure is an important attribute of a leader. How many times should a leader try and fail before deciding it is time to quit. One? Two? Three? When Thomas Edison was working on the electric light bulb, he had to deal with much failure. He tried thousands of filaments before he found the one that worked. He did not quit after the first, 500th, or 1,000th try. He believed in his vision, and he wanted to succeed more than anything else. He dealt with his own daily failures and kept his eye on the long-term success. Today we all benefit because Thomas Edison did not choose to give up.
Challenging the Status Quo
Leaders must make certain their people do not give up, that they continue to strive for success. It is natural for people to quit; organizational pressures keep many people from trying out new ideas. John D. Rockefeller III wrote in The Second American Revolution, "An organization is a system, with a logic of its own, and all the weight of tradition and inertia. The deck is stacked in favor of the tried and proven way of doing things and against taking risks and striking out in new directions." How true!
The natural state of an organization is conservative, to maintain the status quo. Many people in firms that have been around a long time believe their primary responsibility is to protect the status quo. Leaders must learn to deal with these obstacles in the path of success and to protect those who question the way things are done. I believe that "divine discontent with the status quo" is an essential quality of a leader. People who have leadership talent have "a real fire in their belly... a fire that has to do with having an effect on the world." You can tell when leaders have been in a firm because they leave their mark and, as a result, affect the destinies of many others.
Ridicule: A Technique Used to Make Leaders Quit
When employees in most organizations encounter a person with a vision that is significantly different from the status quo, it is common for them to resist the suggested changes and to put obstacles in the way of success. Their rationale is easily understood. Change means work and exertion for them. By preventing change, they save time and energy in the short term. But in the long run, their strategy is dangerous.
If the leader refuses to quit, employees turn to ridicule in hopes that the pressure will be sufficient to prevent the leader from moving forward. Leaders must learn to deal with this. They must understand that great leaders before them faced ridicule and prevailed over it. Marconi probably encountered a tremendous amount of ridicule as he sought support for the wireless radio. Imagine him trying to sell his idea to a group of would-be investors. Marconi had to convince a room full of bankers that his invention was capable of capturing "little waves" out of the air that could not be seen and converting them to sound that would come from a little box. A fair number of them must have thought he was crazy.
It is natural for some people to exhibit disbelief when unusual ideas are presented to them. It is also natural for them to ridicule the people who present those ideas.
When You Succeed, They Say You Are Lucky
Suppose a leader develops a vision to which she is committed, shares it with people, accepts failure, deals with ridicule, and after working tirelessly for many years actually turns that vision into a reality. It is now time to reap the rewards and hear praise for an amazing accomplishment, right? Wrong. In all likelihood, what she will hear is, "Oh, you were just lucky"--meaning, of course, "If it wasn't just plain dumb luck, I would have done it myself." In this situation, a leader should find comfort in the words of Emerson: "Shallow men believe in luck, wise and strong men in cause and effect."
Luck cannot explain accomplishment. Winning the state lottery may seem like a matter of luck, but you have to buy a lottery ticket to win. Ara Parseghian, football coach at Notre Dame several years ago, led his team to beat the University of Alabama for the national championship two years in a row. Alabama was favored to win both times. Both years, Alabama took an early lead and held it until the end of the game. Both years, Notre Dame came back in the closing seconds of the game and won. When a reporter asked Parseghian after the second victory about "the luck of the Irish," he is reported to have said, "If by luck you mean the place where preparation meets opportunity, then we were lucky."
In this world, there is an abundance of opportunity for everyone. Parseghian knew that the Alabama football team was not infallible and that it would give his team opportunities to win. If his team prepared well and was ready for the game, it could take advantage of those opportunities. It took hard work and practice to be able to see and take advantage of the openings provided.
Preparation met opportunity.
Communicating Vision
A leader must communicate his vision to others for it to become a shared vision. To accomplish this, leaders should act in a manner consistent with the vision in everything they do. They must set a personal example; they cannot afford to send mixed signals by saying one thing and doing another.
The first step in communicating a vision to a group is to stress its importance so that people will take an interest in it. If they believe the vision is important and worthwhile, many of them will want be involved with it, even if they do not understand all the details. Most people will cooperate and follow the leader with only a vague idea of what their participation, contribution, and reward might be, if the leader's vision excites them.
Communication that motivates people to act tends to focus on the core values and beliefs that support the vision. Accurately communicating these values and beliefs simplifies implementation because it conveys simple images or words that make the vision easier to remember. In addition, repeating simple words and symbols communicates the message without clogging already overused communication channels. Written communication can be used in a similar manner to reinforce the vision by reporting progress for everyone to see, and progress toward achieving goals keeps peoples' spirits up and helps convince them they can do it.
Going From Communication to Commitment
After a vision has been explained simply and directly, people must decide whether they want to be a part of it. If they don't, they cannot be forced to produce quality results at competitive prices over the long term. They can be forced to do things in the short term, but they will abandon them as quickly as they figure out how to come out from under the strong arm of a leader who has not earned their commitment.
The day has almost passed when autocratic leaders can succeed over the long term. Strong-armed leaders typically do not last long; the cost of using this approach is too high in terms of the inferior quality output resulting from poor quality effort, lost employee loyalty and support, and money. Moreover, forcing people to do things they do not want to do requires a great deal of energy over the long term--more energy than most people can expend on a sustained basis.
Over the long term, most people are not motivated by being pushed. They are motivated by the desire to satisfy their own very basic human needs: those for achievement, belonging, recognition, self-esteem, control over their lives, and the sense of having lived up to their ideals. To be successful, leaders must connect with these human needs and let their people become excited about a vision. Further, they must involve people in deciding how to achieve the vision, or at least to achieve the part of it that is most relevant to them. Their involvement must be real, and the rewards and recognition they receive must be real as well.
To win continued support from a group, leaders must be willing to share their personal views, and to listen carefully to the group's ideas. Ultimately, leaders must be willing to assume a vulnerable position and ask a difficult question:
"Will you follow me?" In reality, they are asking another question: "Is this vision worthy of your commitment?" Being vulnerable in this manner is difficult for many people who have grown up during a time when employees were expected to comply with the leader's orders and not ask too many questions.
Although a leader is responsible for introducing the vision to the group, people want and need to become personally involved with the vision. As we have said before, they cannot do this unless it reflects, to some extent, their own personal visions. It is critical for leaders to keep their minds open to suggestions and ideas that can improve the vision. Too often leaders present their visions to employees as cast in concrete, sending the subtle (or not so subtle) message that there is no room for compromise. As a result, the employees either reject the vision or simply go through the motions of supporting it. In either case, it is doubtful the vision will ever become reality.
Introducing the word "compromise" may surprise many people because they have been led to believe that once the leader is committed to the vision, she cannot afford to be flexible. Although it is true that the leader's commitment to the vision must be strong and unwavering, it is also true that she is incapable of predicting in advance precisely what the future holds. As the leader and the group move together toward making the vision a reality, they both learn more about their vision, and they have opportunities to improve upon it. Compromise as the vision unfolds should not be interpreted negatively. The leader's willingness to accept suggestions that result in some change in the vision will benefit the leader and improve both the quality of the vision and the intensity of the employees' commitment to it.
Stated another way, the development of a vision is an evolutionary process. At any one point there will be a particular image of the future that is predominant, but that image will evolve. A vision should be constantly examined and modified to reflect important changes in the environment and ensure continued support and enthusiasm from everyone involved.
As people's commitment to the vision grows, it becomes more real to them; they will find it easier to dedicate the time and energy necessary to make the vision a reality. Those who have expertise in a particular field should be encouraged to use their knowledge to improve parts of the vision that are related to their specialty. The details, missing steps, and concerns that confront the leader's visionary goals. When leaders solicit input, they discover the knowledge, interest, and evident parameters of support they can expect from others." A leader should expect that although parts of the vision may undergo alteration, its essence will remain intact.
If a leader cannot see the value in compromises and is too inflexible to accept them, the vision will never achieve its full potential. When more people come to share a vision, the vision becomes more real in the sense of a mental reality that people can truly imagine achieving. They [the leaders] now have partners, co-creators; the vision no longer rests on their shoulders alone."
Empowering People to Do Their Jobs
Communicating the vision accurately and fully has the added advantage of creating the conditions under which employees can be empowered to do their jobs. The term "empowered" is used frequently today; unfortunately, many people using the term do not really understand what it means. Some who are familiar with management literature interpret empowerment to mean delegation of authority. The strict literalists will be quick to point out that a manager can delegate authority, but not responsibility. To them, empowerment is a formal (almost legalistic) passing down of a task from one level in the organization to another. Delegation is not empowerment, but empowerment does require good delegation.
Empowerment means giving employees jobs to do and the freedom they need to be creative while doing them. It means allowing employees to try new ideas, even ones that have never been considered or that have been previously rejected. It means allowing them to experiment and fail on occasion without fear of punishment.
Having said this, we must point out that leaders should avoid taking big risks without carefully considering the consequences. They must exercise judgment; as a general rule, they should establish an understanding with employees about the risks they are willing to take in the experimentation process. As we said earlier, experimentation is essential, so leaders must not be so restrictive that their employees fail to try new ideas. Empowerment means giving employees more than just the authority to do the job.
Leaders are not magicians, and they do not simply predict future events. They are strategic thinkers who are willing to take risks. Their actions, together with the actions of those who follow them, determine what the future will be. The point is, leaders do not create something out of nothing. They look at what they know to exist and search for relationships, the way things are meant to fit together. Once they find the connections, they share them with other people and work with them to bring about desired changes.
Leaders must maintain a balance between a clear understanding of the present and a clear focus on the future. Senge calls this balance "creative tension" and maintains that "an accurate picture of current reality is just as important as a compelling picture of a desired future."
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
How to Guarantee Your Success In Network Marketing
I'm going to start today with a quote......
"Desire is the key to motivation, but it's the determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek."
All our lives, we have been taught by our parents, friends, and the media the same thing. Go to school. Get good grades so that you can get into the best colleges or universities around. If you follow that then you can get a ‘good’ job.
You will be set for life.
Not really true….
With Job cuts, corporate restructuring, and layoffs still being reported in the news almost every single day, it is not surprising that this concept of life isn't really true any more.
A lot of people are now looking to start their own business so that they can have more financial security, more freedom, more choices, and more time to be with their family. Every Month A Million gives you all that and a whole lot more.
As the economy continues to plummet and layoffs and bankruptcies fill the news, isn't it your time to take the bull by the horns and secure your and your family's financial future? Every Month A Million is your answer.
Here are 6 steps that you need to follow in order for you to be a successful network marketer:
1. You got to have patience. They don’t say 2-5 years for nothing. Many new people who do get involved in network marketing think that they will make a nice comfortable full time income in just a few months. Very few do that, but it will take you some time. So make sure that you give your business at least 2 years to succeed. If you don't, you are on the right track to FAILURE.
2. They have the persistence of a bulldog. The lack of persistence and consistency is one of the major causes of failure. Many people are good "starters" but very poor "finishers" of everything they start. They tend to give up at the first sign of defeat. Successful network marketers know that it is important to be persistent and consistent even though they work hard and don’t see any results for a while.
3. They set goals. Athletes, successful business-people, lawyers, doctors, and great achievers in all fields use goal setting. Statistics show people who write down their goals have over an 80% higher success rate of achieving them.
4. They set short-term goals. Short-term goals are usually simpler and easier than long-term goals. Why? Well, writing them can help you have more frequent victories, and building momentum with each one you complete. If you do that, you can have more excitement and more motivation as you reach those goals on time. When you do reach you short-term goals, don't forget to reward yourself and celebrate.
5. They write down their WHY. Why did they really get into network marketing for? What made them start their own business? Is it because they wanted to be their own boss? Is it because they wanted more freedom and time to spend with their family? More money? What ever their WHY is, they always know it so that it keeps them going when things are not going well for them.
6. They replace their negative self-talk. They know that they are the creator of their thoughts and beliefs. Successful network marketers know how to replace negative self-talk and change it to positive self-talk. People, especially friends and family, try to brain wash them along the way. They tell them that they will not succeed. They laugh at them. They tease them that it won't work. But they don’t listen. They work their business and make it work. At the end they become so successful that family and friend eventually join them too.
Here are some more insider secrets to how the average person like you and me make it big in network marketing:
*They market daily. In other words, they contact more people and they advertise more on a daily basis. They don't do this once a week or once a month. They work their business everyday.
*They believe that they will succeed, without a shadow of a doubt.
*They read motivational books on a daily basis.
*They train their first level downline members to duplicate their efforts. They show them how to use the products. They show them how to advertise. They show them what books to read and what tapes to listen to.
*They listen and learn from others, especially from their upline.
* They follow up on their leads at least six times. Don’t forget, the fortune is in the follow up.
*They are willing to step out of their comfort zone. Many people don’t like to step out of their comfort zone and that is why they never succeed in network marketing.
*A successful network marketer is no MLM junkie. An MLM junkie is someone who jumps from one network marketing company to another. These people never make it in network marketing.
The clock is ticking. Get into network marketing now and stick with it no matter what so that your future and the future of those you love is more secured.
Network marketing and the Internet were made for each other. Record-breaking growth has driven us to the top of Internet marketing businesses. You can build a profitable home-based business working part-time from your home computer! Training, support, Websites, and products all provided! Right here at Every Month A Million.
"Desire is the key to motivation, but it's the determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek."
All our lives, we have been taught by our parents, friends, and the media the same thing. Go to school. Get good grades so that you can get into the best colleges or universities around. If you follow that then you can get a ‘good’ job.
You will be set for life.
Not really true….
With Job cuts, corporate restructuring, and layoffs still being reported in the news almost every single day, it is not surprising that this concept of life isn't really true any more.
A lot of people are now looking to start their own business so that they can have more financial security, more freedom, more choices, and more time to be with their family. Every Month A Million gives you all that and a whole lot more.
As the economy continues to plummet and layoffs and bankruptcies fill the news, isn't it your time to take the bull by the horns and secure your and your family's financial future? Every Month A Million is your answer.
Here are 6 steps that you need to follow in order for you to be a successful network marketer:
1. You got to have patience. They don’t say 2-5 years for nothing. Many new people who do get involved in network marketing think that they will make a nice comfortable full time income in just a few months. Very few do that, but it will take you some time. So make sure that you give your business at least 2 years to succeed. If you don't, you are on the right track to FAILURE.
2. They have the persistence of a bulldog. The lack of persistence and consistency is one of the major causes of failure. Many people are good "starters" but very poor "finishers" of everything they start. They tend to give up at the first sign of defeat. Successful network marketers know that it is important to be persistent and consistent even though they work hard and don’t see any results for a while.
3. They set goals. Athletes, successful business-people, lawyers, doctors, and great achievers in all fields use goal setting. Statistics show people who write down their goals have over an 80% higher success rate of achieving them.
4. They set short-term goals. Short-term goals are usually simpler and easier than long-term goals. Why? Well, writing them can help you have more frequent victories, and building momentum with each one you complete. If you do that, you can have more excitement and more motivation as you reach those goals on time. When you do reach you short-term goals, don't forget to reward yourself and celebrate.
5. They write down their WHY. Why did they really get into network marketing for? What made them start their own business? Is it because they wanted to be their own boss? Is it because they wanted more freedom and time to spend with their family? More money? What ever their WHY is, they always know it so that it keeps them going when things are not going well for them.
6. They replace their negative self-talk. They know that they are the creator of their thoughts and beliefs. Successful network marketers know how to replace negative self-talk and change it to positive self-talk. People, especially friends and family, try to brain wash them along the way. They tell them that they will not succeed. They laugh at them. They tease them that it won't work. But they don’t listen. They work their business and make it work. At the end they become so successful that family and friend eventually join them too.
Here are some more insider secrets to how the average person like you and me make it big in network marketing:
*They market daily. In other words, they contact more people and they advertise more on a daily basis. They don't do this once a week or once a month. They work their business everyday.
*They believe that they will succeed, without a shadow of a doubt.
*They read motivational books on a daily basis.
*They train their first level downline members to duplicate their efforts. They show them how to use the products. They show them how to advertise. They show them what books to read and what tapes to listen to.
*They listen and learn from others, especially from their upline.
* They follow up on their leads at least six times. Don’t forget, the fortune is in the follow up.
*They are willing to step out of their comfort zone. Many people don’t like to step out of their comfort zone and that is why they never succeed in network marketing.
*A successful network marketer is no MLM junkie. An MLM junkie is someone who jumps from one network marketing company to another. These people never make it in network marketing.
The clock is ticking. Get into network marketing now and stick with it no matter what so that your future and the future of those you love is more secured.
Network marketing and the Internet were made for each other. Record-breaking growth has driven us to the top of Internet marketing businesses. You can build a profitable home-based business working part-time from your home computer! Training, support, Websites, and products all provided! Right here at Every Month A Million.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Relationship Building Is the Key to Your Network Marketing Success
Many of us get into the network marketing business because of a dream. The dream is defined a little differently from person to person. But each of us has a dream.
The dream not only draws us in but it is the incentive that helps us through the difficult times. In fact if we get discouraged we are often told that our dream just isn't big enough and we need to spend a night dream building.
My guess is your dream is big enough. The size of your dream is not the problem.
The problem is your dream is...
All about you.
Of course it is. That's how most dreams are. But instead of gritting your teach and holding on to a dream, try taking an about face. Take yourself out of the equation.
Think for a moment about the type of people that attract you. They are usually pleasant - of course. But they are more. They are generous people who are always giving. When you have a problem they are the type of people who help you solve your problems.
Now think of how you normally look for prospects. You think something like...
How can I get my friend to sign up?
Or...
What can I say to that person about my opportunity?
I'll bet you can come up with more. But each of these thoughts has the same annoying factor. It is all about you. But the problem is nobody out there cares.
What do you think your prospect is thinking? She is thinking...
What is in this for me?
It is time to do a 180. Instead of asking your prospects to conform to what you want them to do, think of how you can...
Give Your Prospects Everything They Need. That is exactly what we do at
Every Month a Million.
Contrary to what you may have been told, not everyone is your prospect. But there are many thousands of people who could be your prospects if you would completely change the way you approach business.
How do you do this?
By giving people what they need whether they are your prospects or not.
All of us have needs. We have problems. What we want more than anything is solutions to these problems. Therefore to be successful in network marketing become the leader that helps people solve their problems.
People are looking for leaders who will help them navigate this digital age. They want to have practical solutions to their business problems.
They need YOU.
They need someone who understands marketing and has the leadership they can lean on.
Teach people how they can be successful whether or not they are ever part of your business. Give them your expertise... your solutions to their problems. Be a faithful consultant to them and you will have prospects beating down your door to be a part of what you are doing.
Relationship Building Is the Key to Your Network Marketing Success
Every Month a Million is different
"You Don't have to change. You Don't have to get out there and sell. You Don't have to become this other person that you aren't right now.
"The truth is, YOU are perfect just like you are. Everybody on your team is perfect just like they are. They don't need to change. They don't need to become a pushy, aggressive salesperson.
Ninety-two per-cent of the world's population is sales resistant.
That Is NOT How To Build Your Business!
My belief is, just target the market and find people who already are looking for the business, people who already believe in network marketing. Don't go out and try to build them a dream to get them in the business.
Just go talk to the ones who already believe! Talk to the people who already believe, and are looking. Those people are warriors. Those people are ready to take action. Those people will build an empire. They will build a legacy income for you.
Those are the people you want. Build relationships with those people. Get them into your business, and never, never, never quit building the relationship with them!
The dream not only draws us in but it is the incentive that helps us through the difficult times. In fact if we get discouraged we are often told that our dream just isn't big enough and we need to spend a night dream building.
My guess is your dream is big enough. The size of your dream is not the problem.
The problem is your dream is...
All about you.
Of course it is. That's how most dreams are. But instead of gritting your teach and holding on to a dream, try taking an about face. Take yourself out of the equation.
Think for a moment about the type of people that attract you. They are usually pleasant - of course. But they are more. They are generous people who are always giving. When you have a problem they are the type of people who help you solve your problems.
Now think of how you normally look for prospects. You think something like...
How can I get my friend to sign up?
Or...
What can I say to that person about my opportunity?
I'll bet you can come up with more. But each of these thoughts has the same annoying factor. It is all about you. But the problem is nobody out there cares.
What do you think your prospect is thinking? She is thinking...
What is in this for me?
It is time to do a 180. Instead of asking your prospects to conform to what you want them to do, think of how you can...
Give Your Prospects Everything They Need. That is exactly what we do at
Every Month a Million.
Contrary to what you may have been told, not everyone is your prospect. But there are many thousands of people who could be your prospects if you would completely change the way you approach business.
How do you do this?
By giving people what they need whether they are your prospects or not.
All of us have needs. We have problems. What we want more than anything is solutions to these problems. Therefore to be successful in network marketing become the leader that helps people solve their problems.
People are looking for leaders who will help them navigate this digital age. They want to have practical solutions to their business problems.
They need YOU.
They need someone who understands marketing and has the leadership they can lean on.
Teach people how they can be successful whether or not they are ever part of your business. Give them your expertise... your solutions to their problems. Be a faithful consultant to them and you will have prospects beating down your door to be a part of what you are doing.
Relationship Building Is the Key to Your Network Marketing Success
Every Month a Million is different
"You Don't have to change. You Don't have to get out there and sell. You Don't have to become this other person that you aren't right now.
"The truth is, YOU are perfect just like you are. Everybody on your team is perfect just like they are. They don't need to change. They don't need to become a pushy, aggressive salesperson.
Ninety-two per-cent of the world's population is sales resistant.
That Is NOT How To Build Your Business!
My belief is, just target the market and find people who already are looking for the business, people who already believe in network marketing. Don't go out and try to build them a dream to get them in the business.
Just go talk to the ones who already believe! Talk to the people who already believe, and are looking. Those people are warriors. Those people are ready to take action. Those people will build an empire. They will build a legacy income for you.
Those are the people you want. Build relationships with those people. Get them into your business, and never, never, never quit building the relationship with them!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Life on Purpose: 15 Questions to Discover Your Personal Mission
I believe that we were all sent here for a reason and that we all have significance in the world. I genuinely feel that we are all blessed with unique gifts. The expression of our gifts contributes to a cause greater than ourselves.
First, a personal story
Last year, I was running at full speed; chasing after my dream of money and ‘success’. However, I had forgotten why I was running. Luckily, I met Jim (not his real name). Jim had achieved all the financial goals I was reaching for. He had financial independence, several successful businesses, homes in multiple countries, and the luxury to afford the finest things money could buy. Through hard work, persistence and sheer action; he had made it! But, Jim was not happy. He did not have the free time to enjoy his wealth. He wanted a family. He wanted peace. He wanted to live his life… but he was not able to. He had too many responsibilities, too much to lose, and too many things to protect. He had spent years building his castle, and now that it is complete, he is spending his time keeping it from eroding.
Getting to know Jim was a life altering and eye opening experience. His words snapped me out of my state of ‘unconsciousness’. It became clear to me that, “I did not want to spend the next 10 years chasing after money, only to find that I’ll be back at the same place I am at today; emotionally, mentally, and spiritually”. My ‘chase’ came to a screeching halt, everything was put on hold, and I spent the next two months re-evaluating my life and purpose.
These questions were running through my mind:
What am I chasing after? Why am I chasing it? What is my purpose? Why was I put here?
I took out a pen and paper started writing. It began by listing all the things that are most important to me. I wrote down all the things I wanted to do. I re-visited my personal mission statement. I decided that whatever venture I commit to must align with my personal mission, my values and my goals. For every new opportunity that comes along, I would ask myself how it aligns with my goals. Regardless of how much money I could acquire, if the venture did not align with where I wanted to be, then I would not pursue it.
Here is my personal mission statement:
“To Empower, motivate and inspire people to living happier and more fulfilled lives“.
Here are some of my values and goals:
What matters most is my connection with myself, being present and feeling blissful.
What I value most is having meaningful relationships with people. Being able to connect with people on deep levels.
I plan to be financially independent, and have control of my time and location. I plan to work only on projects and causes that I connect with. I plan to acquire my finances without violating my values, goals and personal mission.
I plan to travel and live in different parts of the world. Experiencing different cultures, documenting them in photographs and sharing them with others.
Having a family is important to me. I desire a deep, loving relationship with my spouse.
To live everyday fully as if it was my last.
15 Questions to Discover Your Life Purpose
I learned this from one of my mentors Rob Drobel
on one of our mlm training webinars here at
Every Month a Million.
The following are a list of questions that can assist you in discovering your purpose. They are meant as a guide to help you get into a frame of mind that will be conducive to defining your personal mission.
Simple Instructions:
Take out a few sheets of loose paper and a pen.
Find a place where you will not be interrupted. Turn off your cell phone.
Write the answers to each question down. Write the first thing that pops into your head. Write without editing. Use point form. It’s important to write out your answers rather than just thinking about them.
Write quickly. Give yourself less than 60 seconds a question. Preferably less than 30 seconds.
Be honest. Nobody will read it. It’s important to write without editing.
Enjoy the moment and smile as you write.
15 Questions:
1. What makes you smile? (Activities, people, events, hobbies, projects, etc.)
2. What are your favorite things to do in the past? What about now?
3. What activities make you lose track of time?
4. What makes you feel great about yourself?
5. Who inspires you most? (Anyone you know or do not know. Family, friends, authors, artists, leaders, etc.) Which qualities inspire you, in each person?
6. What are you naturally good at? (Skills, abilities, gifts etc.)
7. What do people typically ask you for help in?
8. If you had to teach something, what would you teach?
9. What would you regret not fully doing, being or having in your life?
10. You are now 90 years old, sitting on a rocking chair outside your porch; you can feel the spring breeze gently brushing against your face. You are blissful and happy, and are pleased with the wonderful life you’ve been blessed with. Looking back at your life and all that you’ve achieved and acquired, all the relationships you’ve developed; what matters to you most? List them out.
11. What are your deepest values? Select 3 to 6 list and prioritize the words in order of importance to you.
12. What were some challenges, difficulties and hardships you’ve overcome or are in the process of overcoming? How did you do it?
13. What causes do you strongly believe in? Connect with?
14. If you could get a message across to a large group of people. Who would those people be? What would your message be?
15. Given your talents, passions and values. How could you use these resources to serve, to help, to contribute? ( to people, beings, causes, organization, environment, planet, etc.)
Putting it all together: Creating Your Personal Mission Statement
Writing or reviewing a mission statement changes you because it forces you to think through your priorities deeply, carefully, and to align your behaviour with your beliefs.
A personal mission consists of 3 parts:
What do I want to do?
Who do I want to help?
What is the result? What value will I create?
Steps to Creating Your Personal Mission Statement:
1. Do the exercise with the 15 questions above as quickly as you can.
2. List out actions words you connect with.
a. Example: educate, accomplish, empower, encourage, improve, help, give, guide, inspire, integrate, master, motivate, nurture, organize, produce, promote, travel, spread, share, satisfy, understand, teach, write, etc.
3. Based on your answers to the 15 questions. List everything and everyone that you believe you can help.
a. Example: People, creatures, organizations, causes, groups, environment, etc.
4. Identify your end goal. How will the ‘who’ from your above answer benefit from what you ‘do’?
5. Combine steps 2-4 into a sentence, or 2-3 sentences.
What is your purpose? What is your mission? I would love to hear about your goals and aspirations. Please share with a comment!
First, a personal story
Last year, I was running at full speed; chasing after my dream of money and ‘success’. However, I had forgotten why I was running. Luckily, I met Jim (not his real name). Jim had achieved all the financial goals I was reaching for. He had financial independence, several successful businesses, homes in multiple countries, and the luxury to afford the finest things money could buy. Through hard work, persistence and sheer action; he had made it! But, Jim was not happy. He did not have the free time to enjoy his wealth. He wanted a family. He wanted peace. He wanted to live his life… but he was not able to. He had too many responsibilities, too much to lose, and too many things to protect. He had spent years building his castle, and now that it is complete, he is spending his time keeping it from eroding.
Getting to know Jim was a life altering and eye opening experience. His words snapped me out of my state of ‘unconsciousness’. It became clear to me that, “I did not want to spend the next 10 years chasing after money, only to find that I’ll be back at the same place I am at today; emotionally, mentally, and spiritually”. My ‘chase’ came to a screeching halt, everything was put on hold, and I spent the next two months re-evaluating my life and purpose.
These questions were running through my mind:
What am I chasing after? Why am I chasing it? What is my purpose? Why was I put here?
I took out a pen and paper started writing. It began by listing all the things that are most important to me. I wrote down all the things I wanted to do. I re-visited my personal mission statement. I decided that whatever venture I commit to must align with my personal mission, my values and my goals. For every new opportunity that comes along, I would ask myself how it aligns with my goals. Regardless of how much money I could acquire, if the venture did not align with where I wanted to be, then I would not pursue it.
Here is my personal mission statement:
“To Empower, motivate and inspire people to living happier and more fulfilled lives“.
Here are some of my values and goals:
What matters most is my connection with myself, being present and feeling blissful.
What I value most is having meaningful relationships with people. Being able to connect with people on deep levels.
I plan to be financially independent, and have control of my time and location. I plan to work only on projects and causes that I connect with. I plan to acquire my finances without violating my values, goals and personal mission.
I plan to travel and live in different parts of the world. Experiencing different cultures, documenting them in photographs and sharing them with others.
Having a family is important to me. I desire a deep, loving relationship with my spouse.
To live everyday fully as if it was my last.
15 Questions to Discover Your Life Purpose
I learned this from one of my mentors Rob Drobel
on one of our mlm training webinars here at
Every Month a Million.
The following are a list of questions that can assist you in discovering your purpose. They are meant as a guide to help you get into a frame of mind that will be conducive to defining your personal mission.
Simple Instructions:
Take out a few sheets of loose paper and a pen.
Find a place where you will not be interrupted. Turn off your cell phone.
Write the answers to each question down. Write the first thing that pops into your head. Write without editing. Use point form. It’s important to write out your answers rather than just thinking about them.
Write quickly. Give yourself less than 60 seconds a question. Preferably less than 30 seconds.
Be honest. Nobody will read it. It’s important to write without editing.
Enjoy the moment and smile as you write.
15 Questions:
1. What makes you smile? (Activities, people, events, hobbies, projects, etc.)
2. What are your favorite things to do in the past? What about now?
3. What activities make you lose track of time?
4. What makes you feel great about yourself?
5. Who inspires you most? (Anyone you know or do not know. Family, friends, authors, artists, leaders, etc.) Which qualities inspire you, in each person?
6. What are you naturally good at? (Skills, abilities, gifts etc.)
7. What do people typically ask you for help in?
8. If you had to teach something, what would you teach?
9. What would you regret not fully doing, being or having in your life?
10. You are now 90 years old, sitting on a rocking chair outside your porch; you can feel the spring breeze gently brushing against your face. You are blissful and happy, and are pleased with the wonderful life you’ve been blessed with. Looking back at your life and all that you’ve achieved and acquired, all the relationships you’ve developed; what matters to you most? List them out.
11. What are your deepest values? Select 3 to 6 list and prioritize the words in order of importance to you.
12. What were some challenges, difficulties and hardships you’ve overcome or are in the process of overcoming? How did you do it?
13. What causes do you strongly believe in? Connect with?
14. If you could get a message across to a large group of people. Who would those people be? What would your message be?
15. Given your talents, passions and values. How could you use these resources to serve, to help, to contribute? ( to people, beings, causes, organization, environment, planet, etc.)
Putting it all together: Creating Your Personal Mission Statement
Writing or reviewing a mission statement changes you because it forces you to think through your priorities deeply, carefully, and to align your behaviour with your beliefs.
A personal mission consists of 3 parts:
What do I want to do?
Who do I want to help?
What is the result? What value will I create?
Steps to Creating Your Personal Mission Statement:
1. Do the exercise with the 15 questions above as quickly as you can.
2. List out actions words you connect with.
a. Example: educate, accomplish, empower, encourage, improve, help, give, guide, inspire, integrate, master, motivate, nurture, organize, produce, promote, travel, spread, share, satisfy, understand, teach, write, etc.
3. Based on your answers to the 15 questions. List everything and everyone that you believe you can help.
a. Example: People, creatures, organizations, causes, groups, environment, etc.
4. Identify your end goal. How will the ‘who’ from your above answer benefit from what you ‘do’?
5. Combine steps 2-4 into a sentence, or 2-3 sentences.
What is your purpose? What is your mission? I would love to hear about your goals and aspirations. Please share with a comment!
Friday, October 2, 2009
Believe in Yourself
Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there. To serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson or help figure out who you are or who you want to become.
You never know who these people may be but when you lock eyes with them, you know that very moment that they will affect your life in some profound way. And sometimes things happen to you at the time that may seem horrible, painful and unfair, but in reflection you realize that without overcoming those obstacles you would have never realized your potential, strength, willpower or heart.
Everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens by chance or by means of good luck. Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul. Without these small tests, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere. Safe and comfortable but dull and utterly pointless.
The people you meet affect your life. The successes and downfalls that you experience can create who you are, and the bad experiences can be learned from. In fact, they are probably the most poignant and important ones. If someone hurts you, betrays you or breaks your heart, forgive them because they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious to whom you open your heart.
If someone loves you, love them back unconditionally, not only because they love you, but because they are teaching you to love and to open your heart and eyes to little things. Make every day count.
Appreciate every moment and take from it everything that you possibly can, for you may never be able to experience it again.
Talk to people you have never talked to before, and actually listen. Let yourself fall in love, break free and set your sights high.
Hold your head up because you have every right to. Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don't believe in yourself, no one else will believe in you. Create your own life and then go out and live it.
"If you take your eyes off your goals, all you see are obstacles."
How to Believe in Yourself
"It is the decisions you make, when you have no time to make them, that define who you are"
Believing in yourself is one of the first steps to success. If you don't have confidence in yourself, it will be difficult to succeed in anything.
Steps
Learn how to make decisions based on your experiences that you believe. If you don't have your own thinking, you can never be successful.
Set goals. When you set goals, you have control.
Recognize when you achieve your goals, so that you will build your confidence.
Consider reasons you fail. Everyone fails to achieve some goal, but if you learn from the failure, you will be more likely to succeed.
Use realistic expectations to judge your success. Do not expect to run a four minute mile, until you have trained and conditioned for running.
Listen to critics, but never let them convince you that you are less than you are. Some critics will tear you down to make themselves look bigger and better, while others will offer critical advice to help you make changes to improve yourself.
Give your time and energy to others. When you do this, you will get positive feed back and get respect from others. These are building blocks for self respect, which is essential to believing in yourself.
Believe in yourself, you will do your best.
You never know who these people may be but when you lock eyes with them, you know that very moment that they will affect your life in some profound way. And sometimes things happen to you at the time that may seem horrible, painful and unfair, but in reflection you realize that without overcoming those obstacles you would have never realized your potential, strength, willpower or heart.
Everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens by chance or by means of good luck. Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul. Without these small tests, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere. Safe and comfortable but dull and utterly pointless.
The people you meet affect your life. The successes and downfalls that you experience can create who you are, and the bad experiences can be learned from. In fact, they are probably the most poignant and important ones. If someone hurts you, betrays you or breaks your heart, forgive them because they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious to whom you open your heart.
If someone loves you, love them back unconditionally, not only because they love you, but because they are teaching you to love and to open your heart and eyes to little things. Make every day count.
Appreciate every moment and take from it everything that you possibly can, for you may never be able to experience it again.
Talk to people you have never talked to before, and actually listen. Let yourself fall in love, break free and set your sights high.
Hold your head up because you have every right to. Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don't believe in yourself, no one else will believe in you. Create your own life and then go out and live it.
"If you take your eyes off your goals, all you see are obstacles."
How to Believe in Yourself
"It is the decisions you make, when you have no time to make them, that define who you are"
Believing in yourself is one of the first steps to success. If you don't have confidence in yourself, it will be difficult to succeed in anything.
Steps
Learn how to make decisions based on your experiences that you believe. If you don't have your own thinking, you can never be successful.
Set goals. When you set goals, you have control.
Recognize when you achieve your goals, so that you will build your confidence.
Consider reasons you fail. Everyone fails to achieve some goal, but if you learn from the failure, you will be more likely to succeed.
Use realistic expectations to judge your success. Do not expect to run a four minute mile, until you have trained and conditioned for running.
Listen to critics, but never let them convince you that you are less than you are. Some critics will tear you down to make themselves look bigger and better, while others will offer critical advice to help you make changes to improve yourself.
Give your time and energy to others. When you do this, you will get positive feed back and get respect from others. These are building blocks for self respect, which is essential to believing in yourself.
Believe in yourself, you will do your best.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Conquer Limiting Beliefs
Here is another clearing method you can use
to clean out your limiting beliefs.
This is just one technique - I have several
more that you will be learning in other postings
here at the Daily Dose of Good.
Did you ever notice that there are some people
that seem to live in the "flow?" They seem to
attract money, great opportunities and display
unwavering confidence in themselves at all times.
This is not an accident or sheer luck.
These people have learned how to conquer limiting
beliefs that hold back most others.
One small limiting belief will keep you paralyzed
in fear. And this fear will keep you from taking
action and moving forward in your life.
OR, you can take inspired action and learn how to
conquer limiting beliefs, once and for all, and
attract miracles in your life. (Which I'll show
you how to do in a minute.)
First, let's see if you have any limiting beliefs
and then I'll show you an effective technique to
help conquer them.
If you say any of the following things to
yourself, you have at least one limiting belief...
- "I'll never lose this weight."
- "I cannot be cured of this disease."
- "I'll never be wealthy or financially free."
- "I'm not smart enough."
- "My relationship is over, so why bother trying to fix it."
- "Who am I to think I can be successful
nobody in my family is."
- "I'm afraid to switch jobs. What if it doesn't work out?"
- "Why should I try?"
- "I'm a big loser."
- "Nobody will ever love me."
- "I'm not attractive."
- "My (wife/husband) does not love me anymore."
- "I can't afford it."
- "Investments are for rich people."
- "I'm too old to go back to school."
- "I have no business experience, so I'm sure to fail."
- "I cannot afford to invest in anything. I'll
probably lose it all."
- "I'm too young, nobody will take me seriously."
Do any of these seem familiar?
Heck, you may have many more limiting beliefs.
It's very important to be honest with yourself
about this. (And believe me - you're not alone.)
Now...I want to teach you a clearing method that
conquers limiting beliefs.
Here's what you do...
1. Write down any ailments, feelings, or other
discomforts you are experiencing.
2. If you have a pain, ailment, or feeling, you
do not like...welcome it. Then write down a
description of it. How deep is it? What color
is it? How intense is it? Really feel it and get
in touch with it.
3. Ask the feeling what it is trying to tell you.
Just pretend you can hear an answer. Go with it.
You'll be surprised what it will tell you. Then
write it down. This alone is liberating.
4. Take any action steps that the feeling may
request of you, and write down your experience and
insights. In time, this will clear your limiting
belief.
Repeat this for each limiting belief. Keep in
mind that this takes practice. If you take
inspired action and persist, it will work for you.
Many people, using this clearing method, have
gone on to conquer limiting beliefs enabling them
to attract their own miracles.
Some are attracting new cars, homes, new found
happiness, and better health - while others are
experiencing weight loss, quitting smoking,
starting a new business, getting over traumatic
memories, and even finding their soul mate.
All these people followed a proven system, that
works consistently, day after day, year after
year. This process is built around conquering
limiting beliefs.
In fact, once you learn this process - it keeps
right on working for you.
Now it's your turn.
Do you want to make your life better? Do you
want to attract miracles in your life? Do you
want to find more money, the ideal relationship,
or start a new business or anything else?
How would you like to tame that little voice
within, that limiting belief screaming out at you
every time you want to take a step forward?
Now's your chance.
Life can only get better when you have
unwavering belief in yourself and the courage to
conquer all your limiting beliefs. This is how
you move forward. I also want you to ask
yourself, "If not now, when?" "If not
Every Month a Million, then what?"
A better life comes down to
a few life-changing decisions. Make yours today.
You can have virtually anything you wish for.
to clean out your limiting beliefs.
This is just one technique - I have several
more that you will be learning in other postings
here at the Daily Dose of Good.
Did you ever notice that there are some people
that seem to live in the "flow?" They seem to
attract money, great opportunities and display
unwavering confidence in themselves at all times.
This is not an accident or sheer luck.
These people have learned how to conquer limiting
beliefs that hold back most others.
One small limiting belief will keep you paralyzed
in fear. And this fear will keep you from taking
action and moving forward in your life.
OR, you can take inspired action and learn how to
conquer limiting beliefs, once and for all, and
attract miracles in your life. (Which I'll show
you how to do in a minute.)
First, let's see if you have any limiting beliefs
and then I'll show you an effective technique to
help conquer them.
If you say any of the following things to
yourself, you have at least one limiting belief...
- "I'll never lose this weight."
- "I cannot be cured of this disease."
- "I'll never be wealthy or financially free."
- "I'm not smart enough."
- "My relationship is over, so why bother trying to fix it."
- "Who am I to think I can be successful
nobody in my family is."
- "I'm afraid to switch jobs. What if it doesn't work out?"
- "Why should I try?"
- "I'm a big loser."
- "Nobody will ever love me."
- "I'm not attractive."
- "My (wife/husband) does not love me anymore."
- "I can't afford it."
- "Investments are for rich people."
- "I'm too old to go back to school."
- "I have no business experience, so I'm sure to fail."
- "I cannot afford to invest in anything. I'll
probably lose it all."
- "I'm too young, nobody will take me seriously."
Do any of these seem familiar?
Heck, you may have many more limiting beliefs.
It's very important to be honest with yourself
about this. (And believe me - you're not alone.)
Now...I want to teach you a clearing method that
conquers limiting beliefs.
Here's what you do...
1. Write down any ailments, feelings, or other
discomforts you are experiencing.
2. If you have a pain, ailment, or feeling, you
do not like...welcome it. Then write down a
description of it. How deep is it? What color
is it? How intense is it? Really feel it and get
in touch with it.
3. Ask the feeling what it is trying to tell you.
Just pretend you can hear an answer. Go with it.
You'll be surprised what it will tell you. Then
write it down. This alone is liberating.
4. Take any action steps that the feeling may
request of you, and write down your experience and
insights. In time, this will clear your limiting
belief.
Repeat this for each limiting belief. Keep in
mind that this takes practice. If you take
inspired action and persist, it will work for you.
Many people, using this clearing method, have
gone on to conquer limiting beliefs enabling them
to attract their own miracles.
Some are attracting new cars, homes, new found
happiness, and better health - while others are
experiencing weight loss, quitting smoking,
starting a new business, getting over traumatic
memories, and even finding their soul mate.
All these people followed a proven system, that
works consistently, day after day, year after
year. This process is built around conquering
limiting beliefs.
In fact, once you learn this process - it keeps
right on working for you.
Now it's your turn.
Do you want to make your life better? Do you
want to attract miracles in your life? Do you
want to find more money, the ideal relationship,
or start a new business or anything else?
How would you like to tame that little voice
within, that limiting belief screaming out at you
every time you want to take a step forward?
Now's your chance.
Life can only get better when you have
unwavering belief in yourself and the courage to
conquer all your limiting beliefs. This is how
you move forward. I also want you to ask
yourself, "If not now, when?" "If not
Every Month a Million, then what?"
A better life comes down to
a few life-changing decisions. Make yours today.
You can have virtually anything you wish for.
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