Dear Readers,

You do not need a fortune teller, tarot cards, palm reading, or physics to predict your future if you are on Napoleon Hill's road to success. Personal self-analysis can be easily handled by reviewing the 17 success principles and noting the degree to which you use each one in your daily life. For each of the 17 principles, you might begin to condition your mind toward consciously using each steppingstone to success by reviewing a principle a day, and when finished with all 17 begin again. W. Clement Stone tells us that repetition is the key! Not only does it reinforce what we know, it seeps down into our subconscious minds and programs us for successful habits that are unconscious. The meaning here is that we do not have to consciously think about these habits because we know them so thoroughly that they are programmed into our brain's hardware and we no longer have to think about engaging them - they just occur. This is powerful programming.

Here are the simple questions in which you will supply the name of the daily principle that you are studying. For review, the 17 principles are: Definiteness of Purpose, Mastermind Alliance, Applied Faith, Going the Extra Mile, Pleasing Personality, Personal Initiative, Positive Mental Attitude, Enthusiasm, Self-Discipline, Accurate Thinking, Controlled Attention, Teamwork, Learning from Adversity and Defeat, Creative Vision, Maintenance of Sound Health, Budgeting Time and Money, and Cosmic Habitforce.

"You are where you are and what you are because of your established habits of thought and deed." Napoleon Hill

1. What does this principle of idea mean to you in your daily life?

2. How will you apply this key principle or idea?

3. When (note exact time and date) will you start applying this key principle or idea?

4. What will you consciously do now that you wouldn't have done had you not studied this principle? Keep a notebook on your written responses to the above questions. Note exact actions that you take daily to bring these principles into action in your daily life. The more you DO, the more you will HAVE.

Remember the formula for Success. Success = Thought + Emotionalized Action.

Be Your Very Best Always,

Judy Williamson

"Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus."

Alexander Graham Bell

Eliminate Fuzzy Thinking Forever
By Rich Schefren

Lacking confidence...

Feeling unsure about what you should do next...

Jumping from one marketing strategy to another...

Being unclear about when you'll reach your business goals...

All of these issues (and many more) can be traced back to one of the biggest challenges struggling entrepreneurs face: a lack of focus.

I call it fuzzy thinking.

Fuzzy Thinking Stems From Neglecting to Acquire Critical Information

Too many entrepreneurs are missing critical information. Not having this information inflicts incredible damage on their chances of success. Because it keeps the path to achieving their dreams out of focus, fuzzy.

And you can't follow a fuzzy path. So they bounce around, get confused, become overwhelmed and attempt to copy what other people are doing... But the path that'll lead them to success still remains out of focus.

What's worse is that most entrepreneurs are not only unaware that this information is absolutely essential... they don't realize it's missing. So they never track it down.

In order to go from fuzzy thinking to focused thinking, you need to know the answers to three questions...

1. What, exactly, do you want?
2. What's the absolute minimum necessary to have it?
3. What's the fastest and easiest way to get it?

Think about it for a moment...

If you knew exactly what you wanted, the minimum necessary to have it, and the exact steps that would get it for you in the fastest and easiest way possible... wouldn't you ALREADY HAVE IT?

Now don't be fooled by the simplicity of this solution. Answering these questions - especially question three - requires some heavy-duty thinking. Nobody can give you the answers. Which is why most entrepreneurs never follow the fastest and easiest path to success: They don't realize they have to develop it themselves.

When you shift your thinking from fuzzy to focused, you'll know the specific steps you must take to dramatically reduce your efforts, reach your goals faster, and make a lot more money than you do now.

So let's take a closer look at those three questions right now...

1. What, Exactly, Do You Want?

How do you define the business success you're seeking?

I rarely meet an entrepreneur who's got a well-thought-out answer to this question. Sure, you want money and freedom. Who doesn't? But what, exactly, do you want your business to do for you, your team, and your customers? And what does that look like? How can it be objectively measured?

If you're unclear about what you're striving for, you pay the price for your fuzziness daily. Why? Because unclear objectives make it impossible for you to know which actions will produce the best results. You can't distinguish between the essential and the non-essential. You can't distinguish between worthless and worthwhile tasks. Without clarity, your day becomes a series of haphazard attempts to deal with symptoms often mistaken for real problems. Symptoms like anemic website traffic, unfinished projects, low conversion rates, etc.

As a result, you're wasting a massive amount of time.

Worse, your chances of success are slim to none.

2. What's the Minimum Necessary to Have It?

Once you're absolutely clear about what success in business means to you, you have to be just as clear about what you must do to achieve it.

Because guess what? If you're not sure of what is necessary... you're also not sure of what's NOT necessary.

For example, how many ways do you need to have in order to get new customers? There are so many options that you can't possibly employ them all. So you have to concentrate only on those that are absolutely necessary for you to achieve the business success you desire.

How about converting prospects into customers? Of all the strategies and tactics possible, which ones are vital for you to be victorious in your business-building quest?

How many products do you need? One? Ten? A hundred? How much do you have to sell them for?

If you don't know what is absolutely essential to your success, you're going to wind up going in a million different directions at every turn. And that's one of the main causes of business failure.

To have the business of your dreams, you need to make many decisions. Decisions that require you to: (1) have a general knowledge of what's required, and (2) be familiar enough with your options to choose a few amongst the many alternatives.

3. What's the Fastest and Easiest Way to Get It?

Maybe you've already got a clear business goal and you know the minimum necessary to get it. If that's the case, you're almost certainly making progress. But you'd like it if success came faster. Who wouldn't?

There is almost always a shortcut to get from where you are to where you want to be.

What it requires is thinking. Not daydreaming. But real mental effort. The type that leaves you exhausted after doing it for an hour or so. And you can't even engage in this level of thinking until you first have your answers to exactly what you want and the minimum necessary to have it.

Think about how different your life would be if you were 100% confident that your answers to the above three questions were spot-on.

Most of the issues you're struggling with right now would disappear.

You'd know exactly what your #1 objective was at all times... You'd know the exact steps you needed to take to immediately move closer to achieving your business goals... And you'd never again struggle with a lack of motivation. Instead, you'd be stoked to get the very next task done... because you'd know exactly what it would do for you.

And all because of knowing: (1) what you want, (2) the minimum necessary to have it, and (3) the fastest and easiest way to get it.

That's how you replace fuzzy thinking with focused thinking.

The imagination is the workshop of the soul, where are shaped all the plans for individual achievement.

Before you can build anything worthwhile, you must first create it in your mind. Your mind is not constrained by physical limitations or boundaries. In the workshop of your mind, you can visualize things that have never been. It is said that Albert Einstein visualized how the universe might look if he were riding astride a beam of light through infinity. Then he worked out the mathematics to support his theory of relativity. You can use the power of your imagination to visualize solutions to difficult problems, to develop new ideas, and to see yourself achieving the goals you have set for yourself.

"We're never so vulnerable than when we trust someone - but
paradoxically, if we cannot trust, neither
can we find love or joy"
~ Walter Anderson

The Secrets to Building Trust Through Communication
By Gigi Sage

In the beginning of my coaching career I had a life-changing experience. I learned a simple skill that changed the way I related to men both personally and professionally. I call this skill yielding and I've spent the past 25 years teaching this to women around the world. Try it a couple of times, relax and watch your connection deepen with the men in your life. At first it feels unfamiliar and like you won't get what you want. I promise if you stick with it, your relationships with men will become more harmonious. They not only will trust you, they will listen deeply to your observations and wisdom when you share it with them.

In 1987, my former partner and I had started an international business teaching seminars in communication and leadership skills. We worked hand in hand, had exciting ideas and were extremely productive together. But time and again, out of the blue, we would start fighting about some petty issue and get knocked off track.

I don't like conflict and so I couldn't stay mad for a very long but often, in those moments I would react and think it's not fair! Why do I always have to take the first step and make things work in our relationship? He (my partner) should see things aren't working. He should try harder and realize when he is wrong and then apologize. Even though I had these strong feelings, I was also frustrated and tired of having things not work between us. One day, while we were in the middle of an intense argument, I remembered a question my partner had once asked a client in a seminar:

Would you rather be right or get what you want?

That was it! Here were two people who believed they were right, and were getting in each other's way. I stepped back from being caught up in the argument and began to observe our heated conversations. I was shocked when I realized the price we were paying for our fights.

First, we lost trust and then intimacy. After a few days we barely enjoyed our work, our vitality diminished, our family unit was broken. Also, our normal productivity level decreased, which cost us time and money.

Arguments decrease our happiness, trust, intimacy, time and money.

It couldn't go on like this! When discussing our different viewpoints didn't work, what could? I decided to observe our interaction objectively the next time a conflict arose. I didn't have to wait long. The next morning, he told me--as he had done so many times before--about a new business idea. In my eyes, he is--one of the most brilliant thinkers of our time. Even so, in such moments, I could only see the ways in which something could go wrong with his ideas, so I interfered and pointed them out to him. I had barely finished my sentence when he interrupted me and argued the opposite point. I was fairly angry, at this point. Why didn't he see I meant well? I only wanted to suggest a few things that would help each of us make fewer mistakes!

Doubts don't support. Doubts separate.

What did I achieve by this? Moments ago, he had been full of enthusiasm. Now, his enthusiasm was crushed, and his face looked tense. I put myself in his situation for a moment. I saw he wasn't fighting against me; he was simply defending his idea. I now understood I was being everything but supportive. Initially, he was creative, cooperative and in a good mood. But then my doubts pulled him down. He was now confrontational and did not trust me. Once I had done the damage, how could I turn this around? To really support him, I had to stop being overly critical and start acting as a coach would: inspired and professional. My profession was coaching, so I asked myself a question I usually reserved for my clients:

What result do you want?

The answer was clear: "I want trust, pleasure, integrity, family, fun, and prosperity." How could I ease the tension that had grown between us? I decided to take the first step because I was ready to have things work. I was tired of being right and not getting what I wanted in my relationship.

You can imagine how difficult it was to swallow my pride and make this move. But after I took the first step, everything seemed to work out on its own. I leaned back, relaxed and asked my partner to describe his idea to me once more. This time, I was really curious. (I had set my objections aside for a while.) I was curious and interested--and when I did sense any resistance within myself, I stopped myself from interrupting him. Lo and behold, he became energized again! His enthusiasm returned. We had reconnected. By the way, he decided not to follow through on this particular idea. It was such a relief that we had not wasted our time fighting about something that never happened. I finally understood how it worked: His creativity worked better when he could think out loud about his ideas. From that point on, I was careful to not interfere with his thinking process.

I stayed professional and didn't react emotionally, no matter what happened. Of course, this took practice, but I started to catch myself and self-correct when I wanted to fight. Sometimes, when he was irritated and needed to let off steam, he simply wanted to talk. When I noticed he was under pressure, I would let him talk. I would then ask him a question about something I know he enjoyed doing. Or, I would peacefully withdraw from the moment: "I have to prepare for training. Can we talk about this tonight?" Most of the time, the issue was resolved by then, and he was feeling calm by the time we next spoke. I began trying different things to see what worked in all kinds of situations.

If I had something to discuss I would try to wait and bring it up when he was relaxed and curious. I started to notice how choosing the right time was very important in having successful conversations. In the past, I would have wanted to speak with him when he got home from work or late at night, when we were both tired. Now, I started to notice the times when we were strong and open with each other. We were often very connected during our lunch break, when we were training together. These were the times when I started to share my thoughts about his ideas: "I was thinking about our discussion earlier and had some ideas to share with you. Is now a good time?"

Even though it was difficult, I practiced not being invested in the outcome and what he did or did not do with this information. Sometimes, he listened to me; sometimes he didn't. The difference was, I didn't take it personally anymore.

Gradually, a new trust developed between us. He started asking for my thoughts and ideas about all of his decisions. In return, I simply explained what I observed without feeling invested in the results of his decisions. I was no longer attached to wanting to be right. In the long run, it had cost me so much more to be unhappy with him. As long as I interfered, I was the problem-- which only caused me to be angry and stressed.

Now, he made his own decisions, and he alone was responsible for his actions. We all learn best from making our own mistakes. In the past, I had often felt he didn't listen to me or respect my advice. My new attitude was: "OK, you want to do that? These are the things I see. Whatever you do, I support you."

When a person realizes he or she needn't fear criticism from you, they will slowly give up their defensiveness and open up.

After two months, my partner began clearly asking me for my vision and feedback, and he took what I told him seriously. Our connection became unbelievably productive because he had experienced my acceptance of his ideas and creativity, and I had listened without criticizing him. As a result, he began to listen to me, too. Our trust in each other grew. I coached him, and he coached me.

He learned from me how to recognize when it was better to hold back instead of dashing forward. I learned from him how to put aside my tendency to try to take care of everything (and meddle with everything!), and to concentrate instead on what's important. He learned to be welcoming; I learned to act goal-oriented and to stay relaxed while doing so. Within a year, our sales tripled, we started a band with our children, our network grew, and our lifestyle became more fun and focused.

"We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised
as impossible situations."

Charles R. Swindoll

Time to Turn Lemons Into Lemonade!
By Clayton Makepeace

So let me tell you a true story...

The year was 1976, and life was NOT good in America. And it wasn't just because disco was king and we suddenly found ourselves sporting silly-looking leisure suits.

America's name was being dragged through the dirt worldwide. In the preceding 24 months, Richard Nixon had resigned in disgrace and Saigon had fallen to the Vietcong.

Our new president, Gerald Ford - the only man in history to serve both as vice president and president of the United States without winning a single election - was proving himself to be an affable dunce.

Our nation was still reeling from the effects of a vicious two-year recession. Unemployment was actually worse than it is today: Nearly 8% of our workforce was out of work.

As if to add insult to injury, inflation rates - our cost of living - had soared more than 17% in the preceding 24 months. Our money had lost nearly one-fifth of its buying power in just two years - and our president's only solution was the idiotic proposal that we all wear lapel pins proclaiming "WIN" ("Whip Inflation Now").

Then, just when most investors thought things couldn't get worse... you guessed it: Things got worse.

Unsurprisingly, given the laundry list of woes just cited, millions of Americans were eager for "change." So in November of 1976, they elected Jimmy Carter as the 39th president of the United States. And just to make sure the new president would have no problem getting his economic programs passed into law, they also preserved his party's majority in both houses of Congress.

Now you'd expect any fiscally conservative entrepreneur to be deeply worried... even depressed... about the future at a time like that. But four men - Howard Ruff, Tom Phillips, Bob Kephart, and Jim Blanchard - were not depressed.

Instead, they rolled up their sleeves and laid the groundwork for what would soon be massive personal fortunes.

Because instead of obsessing over our country's massive economic problems or fixating on how the new administration's policies would only make matters worse, these four pioneers saw a huge opportunity.

First, they recognized that, between Nixon's corruption and Ford's economic incompetence, millions of people had lost faith in Washington's ability to do anything right.

They saw that millions of investors were even more alarmed over the new administration's economic plans.

They believed that many investors had come to the conclusion that Washington couldn't be trusted with the economy - and that the ONLY way to save their wealth would be to take matters into their own hands.

And they knew that those investors would gladly pay for leadership to help them protect and grow their wealth - to survive and prosper despite all the harm the government would surely inflict on the economy in the years ahead.

They were right on all counts. Within four years, inflation rates had tripled. The Prime Rate - the "preferred" interest rate that only the highest quality borrowers get - had hit 21%. The Dow had declined 20%. And the U.S. had sunk into yet another recession.

And in those years, Howard Ruff's Ruff Times... Jim Blanchard's Gold Newsletter... Bob Kephart's Inflation Survival Letter... and Tom Phillips's Pink Sheet on The Left... grew to become Blanchard Coin & Bullion... KCI Communications... Phillips Publishing International... and well, The Ruff Times, which, at its height, boasted 180,000 paid subscribers.

More to the point: Each of our four heroes amassed a personal fortune that ran into the tens of millions of dollars - in some cases, into the hundreds of millions.

The Moral of the Story:

In every crisis, there is opportunity.

The greater the crisis, the greater the opportunity.

It's true that this is the greatest economic crisis this country has suffered in nearly 80 years. It's also true that it will get worse no matter what President Obama does. And it's true that some of the greatest opportunities that entrepreneurs, marketing execs, and copywriters have seen in decades are hidden within this crisis.

Mark my words: Over the next few years, you will see companies that find and mine those opportunities positively explode in size and profitability. You will see vast new fortunes made by those who discover ways to help people survive and thrive.

But you can be sure that those new multimillionaires are NOT wasting a moment obsessing over whether or not it was Bush's recession or Obama's depression.

Instead, they're thinking about products and services they can offer people who need leadership to get their companies, families, and themselves through the challenging days ahead.

Not a bad way to spend a few hours this week... no?

The Twitter Ecosystem: Are You Using Any of These Tools To Get The Most Out of Twitter?

The Twitter Ecosystem: Are You Using Any of These Tools To Get The Most Out of Twitter?

The Downside of Upselling

By: Laurie Brown

Like all of you, I hate the idea of leaving money on the table. I like the idea of upselling. Simply put, upselling is offering your customer the opportunity to add additional NEEDED items to his or her order. My guess is that you have experienced upselling in your daily life. Fast food joints are notorious upsellers - constantly asking, "Would you like fries with that?"

So what is the downside of upselling?

It's Boring. When your upsell is routine (as in "would you like fries with that"), your customer not only expects it, but is most likely not even listening. Even if you have a process or script that you have to follow at your business, that doesn't mean that you can't have some fun and be creative. Even in the case of fast food franchises, where the cashier is required to ask the customer to add to their orders, the cashier could say something different like, " Hey, you look hungry today, would you like add our crispy fries to your order?". Surprise your customer with the unexpected.

It's Impersonal. My friend Peggy says, "I am offended when I am 'cookie-cuttered'. At least use my name, that way I know that you know who you are talking to." When you offer the same upsell to each and every customer, you lose the opportunity to make your offer personally meaningful. Every time you offer your customer an additional item, you should be sure you understand your customer well enough to give them something that has value to them.

It's Annoying. When my husband goes to get his morning coffee from his favorite coffee shop, he just wants his coffee. Even though he has been going in every work day for the last two years, they still ask him if he would like a scone. Every day for the last two years, he has turned them down. If you know your customer doesn't want what you have to offer -- stop asking. Offer something else. Or better yet, uncover their buying motives by asking questions.

It's Not Done Correctly. Most of the problems with upselling come down to this issue: Good upselling is a combination of process and attitude. It is essential that you know your customer well enough, so that your offer has value in their lives. That kind of deep understanding [of them] comes from having a process of engaging them, asking questions, and digging a tad deeper.

And it needs to be done with "true caring." Don't offer them something they don't need or want just to make more money. "True caring" means you genuinely want to help your customer, and you only offer that which has real value to them. That's integrity - and that leads to referrals and lifelong customers.

Who benefits from upselling? Both you and your customer should benefit. Sure, it allows you to make more money, but if done correctly, the true benefit is to your customer. You can help your customer become aware of additional products and services that will meet their needs and solve their problems.

If you are in the customer service business, you should consider upselling as one more way of helping your customers. Your job is being a problem solver. What are your customer's problems? And how can your products and/or services solve those problems?

Stephanie Melish, Double-Tall, Non-Fat, No-Whip Sales Barista

We Train Sales Teams!

How much effort are you making so your customers feel special? Do you think about your meeting with them like a dinner party you're hosting or your child's birthday party? Maybe you should. If you put in the effort to make your meetings with each customer so unique and special - they'll take notice and start to forget about the competition. Where are your balloons and party favors? What little extra's are you adding? Or are you just bringing the same boring questions and literature every time? Think about it - increase your effort to increase your results.

Selling the seller on buying. Negotiation at its fundamental best.

Several months ago I got an email from Michael Andrew Wilson. He read my Little Red Book of Selling and Little Black Book of Connections, loved them, and wrote to tell me about it. Very nice compliment, with one notable addition. Michael lives in Paris, France. He moved from Newport, Rhode Island, to Paris in 1989.

He ended the email by saying, "If you’re ever in Paris, look me up.” When I checked out his website, all I could say was WOW! He is one of the world’s leading authorities on antique furniture. He worked for Ralph Lauren designing and furnishing his retail stores, and has purchased millions of dollars worth of antiques and furniture at the world-famous (actually the world’s largest) antique market (Les Marche aux Puces) in Paris (near the Porte de Clignancourt Metro stop), and all over Europe.

Last week, as chance would have it, we (my partner Jessica and our daughter Gabrielle) were in Paris. Between seminars in London and Vincenza (Italy), we had a few days to spend in the City of Light to celebrate Gabrielle’s first birthday.

I emailed Michael. He invited me to his home. In his office we had a glass of (incredible) French wine, and he told me of his history. After he left Ralph Lauren, he became a private shopper for Americans and others seeking to furnish their homes with art, antiques, and 20^th Century design furniture from France and all over Europe.

It would be inappropriate for me to mention his customer’s names, but suffice it to say they are household celebrity names from the movies, sports, music, and business. Great story – but not half as great as his home. Among 100 incredible pieces, there was one of the original model castings of the Statue of Liberty. WOW. It’s the terra cotta piece from 1889 that is so powerful in its presence, it commands you stare at it for minutes at a time.

Having had the good fortune of seeing art and sculpture all over the world, this was by far the most compelling piece I have ever seen.

I told Michael of our love of antiques. He smiled and said, "Lets go shopping tomorrow. I’ll take you places most Americans will never see.” Cool.

As we started our day, I saw way more than incredible artifacts. I saw Michael Andrew Wilson in his element. In sales you know that product knowledge plays a major role in communicating value. Michael was off the chart – he knew everything about every item we saw, he also knew every seller.

He greeted every one of the vendors like an old friend with - more than hello - a firm handshake, a huge smile, and an exchange of words. Michael doesn’t just know the product; he also knows the culture, the customs, and the business process.

I asked him about negotiating prices. He smiled and said, "In Paris you have to be very careful when you shop for antique ephemera and furniture. Many dealers have several prices for the same item. They size you up, and get as much as they think you’re willing to pay. They all know me, and I know them and the value of their things. I pay less than anyone else. First I ask the price, and then I ask for their best price. And sometimes you would be amazed at the difference.”

I would love to explain what I saw, but words fall short of the history, the art, and the artifacts on display. There were more than 2,500 dealers and all of them had their own museum. Instead, I’ll give you Michael’s business qualities and strategies, and maybe you can compare them (or change them) to yours:

• Rapport is his leading conversation. He has friendly engagement with everyone, even if it’s only "Bonjour!”
• He knows the territory. Every dealer, and all their offerings.
• He has wisdom, not just knowledge. Not just what it is, but it’s history, it’s creator, and it’s importance.
• He is respected by customer and vendor alike. Very rare in any business or industry.
• He is a fascinating storyteller. He held my complete attention for two straight days. Even his websites, www.mawparis.com and www.thewilsonreport.tv, tell amazing stories of his adventures in Paris.
• He has ethics that would make his mother proud. He has standards that he lives, not just follows.
• He knows his product – his customer – and his sources better than anyone else in his business.
• He has the characteristics of a long-term winner. Friendly. Humble. Wise. Relaxed. Self-assured. Approachable.
• He loves his work. He’s passionate about it.
• He loves to serve. Beyond manners, he’s genuinely a servant.
• He attracts customers through word of mouth. For 20 years every one of his customers have called him first.

Okay, I love the guy. Not just as a new friend, but as an authority, and a businessman. Michael Andrew Wilson is the essence of European class and American shrewdness.

The next time you’re in Paris, look him up. He would love to take you shopping.

Mind-Body-Mood Advisor:

10 Tips for Becoming a Peak Performer

Whether you're trying to lose weight, train for a race, or reach some other milestone, knowing how to motivate yourself is one of your best assets.

By Jeffrey Rossman, PhD

---

Connect with past successes to keep yourself motivated and on track.

You can reach your goal, if you know how to keep moving forward.

RODALE NEWS, LENOX, MA—Are you looking for ways to power up your motivation to make positive changes in your life? Knowing how to motivate yourself is critical for success, but it's not always easy.

Many of the people I see come for help in achieving a challenging personal goal:

“I want to lose 25 pounds.”

“I’m struggling to finish the book I’m writing.”

“I’ve got to quit smoking.”

“My kids are all out of the house and I’ve decided to run a marathon.”

“I want to finish my bachelor’s degree.”

My clients who are successful come up with a realistic and practical plan of action. More intangible, but no less essential to their success, is their motivation. Peak performers are strongly committed—and they find ways to stay motivated in the face of anticipated and unforeseen obstacles.

Recently, I spoke with one of my Canyon Ranch colleagues, Peggy Holt, who is a master at helping people fortify their motivation for positive change. Peggy is a life-management therapist at Canyon Ranch in Tucson. She and Steve Brewer, the medical director at Canyon Ranch in Tucson, have written a beautiful book, The Everest Principle: How to Achieve the Summit of Your Life, that offers medical and motivational information to help you reach your health and fitness goals. Here are several of their strategies, which you can use to keep your motivation strong and be a peak performer—whatever your personal goals and challenges may be.

Feel like your motivation is flagging? Use these 10 motivational enhancers to reconnect with your commitment and keep moving toward your goals:

1. Make sure your goal is high enough to be really compelling. Peggy points out the joy of pursuing a really exciting goal this way: “It’s the challenge and the mastering of it—whatever “it” might be—that provides one of life’s greatest satisfactions.”

2. Develop a plan that is realistic and workable for you. Even if your ultimate goal is ambitious—in fact, especially if your ultimate goal is ambitious—your plan for reaching it needs to be grounded in reality. If you need to, consult with a knowledgeable friend or an expert to help you develop a practical plan. A goal without a plan is just a wish.

3. Connect with a memory of prior success. When you start feeling like you'll never reach the objective you've set for yourself, push back against that negativity by vividly remembering a time when you did succeed. It doesn't have to be a memory relating to your current goal—if you're trying to lose weight, for example, it could help to recall a successful presentation you gave at work or a difficult D-I-Y project at home that you finally completed. Remember how you felt physically, the energy in your body, and how you felt about yourself when you met that goal at last. Tapping into the energy of a past success can really help to amp up your present motivation.

4. Surround yourself with reinforcers. Find a picture of yourself that inspires you toward achieving your goal, and place it where you can see it often. For instance, it you want to lose weight, find a picture of yourself when you were thin and fit. Or a picture of yourself doing something that energizes you, like hiking, biking or running. Choose other reminders and reinforcers that connect you with your passion to achieve your goal: A positive phrase you say to yourself, a symbolic object, or an inspiring piece of music can all do the trick.

5. Acknowledge your accomplishments. A good workout…a healthy meal...writing one more page of your thesis. You can build on that feeling of accomplishment. Congratulate yourself often. Take pride in your accomplishment. Self-acknowledgement is a powerful key to success. Acknowledging and celebrating your accomplishments will boost your self-confidence reserve, and you'll become more willing to face challenges and take risks.

6. Keep a journal and write about your successes. Chronicling your journey helps you build confidence and insight, and find meaning and inspiration in pursuing your goal. It’s about so much more than pounds lost, miles run, or pages written. It’s about who you are becoming.

7. Identify and recruit people in your life who will be your cheerleaders. These could be friends, family members, a personal trainer, a personal coach, a nutritionist, or a mentor. Arrange specific times to talk with your cheerleaders. Successful people know what help they need and figure out how to get it.

8. Don’t beat up on yourself. It's rare for anyone to accomplish something great without hitting some setbacks along the way. Coming down hard on yourself for past failures or procrastination is not only a waste of energy, it also can reinforce a negative self-image, leading to a feeling of defeat and a spiral of inaction. In effect, you prolong the impact of a temporary setback by believing it’s permanent. If you make a mistake, take a moment to reflect on it and learn from it, then let it go.

9. Identify and transform the beliefs that are limiting you. You can get stifled all too easily by beliefs like:
“I don’t deserve it.”
“I’ll never get what I want.”
“It’s not worth it.”

Peggy points out that underneath these current beliefs, there may be old messages from childhood that you may not even be entirely conscious of. For instance, when she was training for the first of her marathons, Peggy had to confront old negative messages about being an athlete: “You can’t be an athlete,” “Girls don’t beat girls,” “You’ll never get a man.” Once you identify your old messages, you can debunk them and not let them stop you.

10. Stay focused on achieving your goal rather than worrying about failure. Peggy tells a wonderful story about running in a high-school race against girls who wore little bells on their running shoes. What at first seemed cute became totally intimidating when she heard the jingle of those bells approaching from behind her on the race trail. As the jingling got closer, her fear of being passed by the jingling runners consumed her. She lost her composure and the race. But she learned an important lesson about staying focused on achieving the goal rather than fearing failure.

7 Steps To Spice Up Your Marketing Plan

7 Steps To Spice Up Your Marketing Plan

Do your job precisely as if you were your own boss, and sooner or later you will be. The American system of free enterprise is based upon the premise that every individual may profit in proportion to his or her labors. In today's hectic, highly competitive, global environment, however, you may feel that you are not adequately recognized and compensated for the contribution you make. The next time you feel overworked, underpaid, and unappreciated, remind yourself that you really are in business for yourself. Your product is you. Are you the kind of employee you would like to have if you were the boss? When you are considering a difficult decision or when you are thinking about how to avoid an unpleasant assignment, ask yourself, "If this were my company, how would I handle this situation?" When your answer is that you would take precisely the same action you are considering as an employee, you are headed for bigger and better things. You will soon be the boss.

The Dinner Table by: Dan Jourdan Did you ever have a teacher tell you that if you copied from your neighbor and cheated during a test, you were really only cheating yourself? My daughter's third grade teacher shared this wisdom the other day in their class, and it sparked a conversation around our dinner table that night. After we all agreed that the teacher was right to give tests in order to keep the students accountable and on schedule, my daughter asked, "Why don't grown-up's take tests?". This was a real question -- one I was not prepared for. You, as a salesperson, are in school now too. You are learning every day about new technology and about old human relations. How are you being kept accountable? Everyone left unchecked will procrastinate or lose some skill. I have a tough time with this too. The last time my wife went out of town and left me alone, I found myself walking around my house all day in my underwear, watching too much TV, and eating a block of cheese the size of a car battery. And I am lactose intolerant! The point is that you need to have someone check up on you -- to test you regularly so that you can be sure you are staying on top of your game. Your test, however, can not be your sales calls. Your tests should be given in a safe environment of learning. Here is what to do: Create a study or accountability group. Find three or four like-minded salespeople and get together once or twice a month for "testing". The goal is to work with each other to keep you all on track for success. Set your own benchmarks and how to accomplish them, and the rest of the group will keep your feet to the fire. No excuses and no failing are allowed. You will find yourself throughout the day trying not to let down your classmates and going on that extra call instead of putting it off. Celebrate successes with big gifts for yourself and family. Get your whole family involved by telling them your plan and have them check on you. Join leads groups for the purpose of being responsible to give leads and referrals. This will keep you on the lookout at all times for new business. As soon as you get done with a sales call, record into your phone or tape recorder what happened on that call. Use these real-life situations for study. All of these things arguably will have you stepping out of your comfort zone. You will wind up sharing to people about your personal life and asking for their opinions and help. You will get rejected by some, and that's part of the fun of it. Remember - the pain of rejection ends with your next success. The pain of poverty lasts much longer. Of course, you can also just keep doing what you are doing now, copying what the average salesperson in your office does, and doing just enough to make quota. But then you would be only cheating yourself.

	A Message on Success by Napoleon Hill Success is the most enchanting word in the English language. Tell the average person that SUCCESS is the attainment of whatever one wants in life without interfering with the rights of one's fellowmen and that the very first step to be taken in procuring it is development of the habit of rendering more service than paid for and your words will fall on ears that hear but do not understand. But, tell a person that SUCCESS means money and unless that person is one of the proverbial few who really understand how to succeed he will immediately show interest in your words by saying "SURE! HOW CAN I GET SOME OF IT WITHOUT GIVING MUCH IN RETURN?" One of the very first jobs I ever had was that of handy-boy around a saw-mill, but it gave me a chance to see that a big puffing steam engine turned the machinery; that the steam in the big boiler kept the engine running; that the fireman kept the steam pouring into the engine by constantly pushing wood into the firebox. I noticed that when the fire began to die down the steam began to die down also; that a hot fire produced plenty of steam. Then and there I got my first lesson, in an elementary sort of way, of the principle of cause and effect. Later in life, long after I had worked myself into a higher place than that of handy-boy around a saw-mill, I saw evidence on every hand that there was a cause for everything; that nothing just happened by mere accident. I saw that achievement in any undertaking depended very largely upon the amount of intelligent effort put into it; that those who achieved most were those who served best.

"Planning is bringing the future into the present so that
you can do something about it now."

Alan Lakein

Money Now... and Savings for Retirement
By Jason Holland

Yesterday, I outlined a great way for you to bring in a second stream of income: starting an "info-net" business. We talk a lot about that at Early to Rise, because we believe it really is the fastest and easiest way to make extra money now and, at the same time, save for retirement.

Today, I want to share the story of someone who made that happen for himself.

PJ McClure, a member of our Internet Money Club and attendee at several ETR events, started his online business, centered around self-improvement coaching, a little more than a year ago. As "The Mindset Maven," this is just some of what he's accomplished so far:

• 4,000+ names on his e-mail list
• A 10-part video series for new subscribers
• A regular e-mail newsletter
• A published book, Flip the S.W.I.T.C.H.

He's also been partnering with some of the big names in the industry -- including Early to Rise, MaryEllen Tribby's Working Moms Only, and SelfGrowth.com -- and moving into international ventures.

Not only that... PJ's online business made it possible for him to quit a six-figure job. (He brought in nearly that much from "The Mindset Maven" in his first year.) And he's just getting started.

What do you need to start your own "info-net" business?

Well, you need a lot of desire. And the motivation to keep working toward profitability.

(If you're not sure that you want to create a second stream of income from your own part-time online business... I advise you not to even get started.)

But money-wise... all you (or PJ or anybody who's ever done it) need is $39. That's it.

Here's how it breaks down:

• Domain name - $10 a year
• Web hosting - $10 a month
• An e-mail system to build and maintain your subscriber list - $19 a month

That seems like a drop in the bucket when you consider the start-up costs for other businesses.

Franchises can costs tens of thousands of dollars. With a bricks-and-mortar store, you pay rent, utility bills, and salaries. And then you have to shell out thousands to stock up on inventory.

With an "info-net" business, you sidestep all those costs. You work from home. You don't have to maintain an inventory, because all your products are digital. And you can try out new marketing strategies and products at no cost to you.

So that's $39 to get started.

Once you have the system down, you can replicate your successful results over and over again... for that same initial $39 investment. Your first additional stream of income could lead to a second, third, and fourth. That's money you can enjoy now and save for your retirement.

But first, you need a game plan. And you need to learn how to make this business work.

That's where we come in.

At ETR, we've put together a plan to see you through the awkward start-up phase to profitability and beyond.

We've broken it down into 10 steps that are essential to your online success. And that's exactly what we teach in our Internet Cash Machine home study course:

1. How to overcome your aversion to sales (you probably have this whether you know it or not) and reject all the mainstream ideas about business. Find out what really drives profits.

2. Why who your friends are is hugely important

3. A way to reach your customers and get them to know, like, and trust you... without writing a single word of website or sales copy.

4. How to make your ideas "sticky" and turn prospects into buyers.

5. The key to making Google work for you.

6. How to create profitable products. (Knowing what the customer wants isn't the half of it.)

7. What you must do to capitalize on your initial success -- the metrics you need to figure out what worked (so you can keep doing more of it... and drop the strategies that had you spinning your wheels).

8. Making sure you aren't the biggest obstacle to your success by developing a "success mindset."

9. A primer on direct-marketing fundamentals and the one thing all your marketing must do.

10. A way to keep all these new strategies, techniques, and ideas organized. And how to make sure you know what to do next.

Some of these steps may seem counterintuitive. Or they may not match anything you've heard about running a business. But once you get started, it will become clear that much of what most people "know" about running a business is wrong. And you'll discover why we encourage all of our readers to start an online "info-net" business as a way to supplement (and some day exceed) their current income and build a substantial nest egg.

"A - B - C. Always Be Closing."

You may know that line from the infamous sales movie Glengarry Glen Ross where Alex Baldwin plays himself. It's a throwback sales training line from the 1960's that manifested itself all the way to the '80s. The problem with that line is that some people are still using it.

Whenever I do a seminar, everyone wants to know the fastest way to close the sale, the easiest way to close the sale, and the best way to close the sale.

REALITY: There is no fast way, there is no easy way, and there is no best way.

However, there is a better way than thinking of it as closing the sale. And once you understand what that way is, it will change your approach to the sale, for the better, forever...

It's not the "close," it's the open.

From the moment you engage the prospective customer, they're beginning to make a judgment. First they judge you, then they judge what they're buying, and finally they judge what company they're buying it from. As I've said for years, the first sale that's made is the salesperson (that would be you).

The secret of selling is four words: perceived value and perceived difference. Two of the four words are the same: perceived.

If your prospective customer perceives no difference between you and the competition, and perceives no value (better stated, a greater value) in what you're offering, then all that's left is price - and you will most likely lose the sale. Or if you win the sale, it will be at the expense of your profit.

There are two intangibles that, when combined, create a better chance, a better percentage, of you completing the sale. They are "comfort" and "fit." How comfortable were you with the prospective customer? How comfortable was the prospective customer with you? And was there a perceived fit? Did what you were selling fit with what the customer needed or wanted to buy?

So I'm going back to my original statement: It's not the close, it's the open.

Let me give you a pop quiz that will determine whether or not you were even ready to open.

How is your attitude? How strong is your belief system? Do you have a GREAT attitude? Do you have an impenetrable belief in your company, your products or services, and yourself? Do you also believe that the customer is better off having purchased from you?

How well have you researched both the company and the person that you're meeting with? Preparation for the sale is broken down into three parts: personal preparation, sales preparation, and preparation in terms of the prospect - with this critical caveat: PREPARATION IN TERMS OF THE PROSPECT.

Do you know what their reasons for buying are? Do you know what their motive(s) for buying might be? If you know their reasons and their motives, by definition, you will also know their urgency. NOTE WELL: Your reasons for selling pale in comparison to their reasons for buying.

When you first spoke on the phone with the prospect, was it a friendly encounter? Were you familiar with them? Were they familiar with you? Did you develop any rapport prior to arriving? Do you have anything in common?

Prior to your face-to-face appointment or your telephone appointment to complete the sale, and in addition to your preparation, you must have a goal for the customer to like you, believe you, have confidence in you, and trust you. If those goals are not achieved within the framework of the sales presentation, then the completion of the sale will never become a reality.

SELF-TEST: Rather than me teaching you a closing question, here are some tough questions that you must ask yourself before, during, and after every presentation that you make. These questions, if answered positively in the mind of the prospective customer, will preclude you from ever having to "ask a closing question."

In paraphrasing my opening statement: If it doesn't start right, it won't end right.

• How ready were you?
• How friendly were you?
• How engaging were you?
• How different were you?
• How valuable were you?
• How compelling were you?
• How believable were you?
• How credible were you?
• How self-confident were you?
• How relatable were you?
• How trustworthy were you perceived to be?

Closing the sale is not an action. It's a culmination and a sum total of the elements that make a favorable decision possible. As I've written in my Sales Bible, the close of a sale is a delicate balance between your words and deeds, and the prospect's thoughts and perceptions.

And a sale is always made. Either you sell the prospect on yes, or they sell you on no.

You give me a prepared, friendly, engaging, different, valuable, compelling, believable, self-confident, relatable, trustworthy salesperson - and I'll give you a sale!

Don't close the sale - rather, complete the sales process and begin the relationship.

It's not the responsibility of the salesperson to close the sale. It is the responsibility of the salesperson to earn the sale.

"There is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique.
And if you block it, it will never exist through any other
medium and it will be lost."
~ Martha Graham

The Right Way to Work With Freelance Copywriters
By MaryEllen Tribby

In past quarter of a century, my marketing campaigns have spanned every marketing channel - from television to direct mail... e-mail to radio... telemarketing to Internet... and beyond. The world of marketing is changing all the time, and I've learned how to adapt, testing new marketing methods while never neglecting the tried-and-true strategies that have proved to be most effective. Throughout my career, the one thing that has remained unchanged is the fact that "Copy Is King."

Don't get me wrong; the media you purchase is the most important element as far as your campaign's ultimate success. But it is your sales message that is going to make the difference between good and great results.

Here's an example of just how important your sales copy is ...

The company I was running had just created a new natural-resource investment service. We were very proud of it. We had found a top-notch editor with a five-year verifiable track record. We spent hours researching and working on the sales promotion for this service. But right before we were ready to send the sales letter out to our prospective subscribers, we all had a nagging feeling that something about the copy was off ... but we couldn't quite put our fingers on it. So we took the promotion to copywriting expert Michael Masterson, who immediately saw the problem.

The copy was breaking a critical rule. Throughout the entire sales letter, we were telling the reader why this service was so great when we should have been showing him!

For example, we were saying "Dr. Russell McDougal has a very successful track record of investing in natural-resource companies" [telling], instead of saying something like this: "Dr. McDougal's success speaks for itself. In fact, just last year five of the stocks he purchased shot up more than 200%" [showing].

Another example: We were saying "Dr. McDougal has excellent contacts in the natural-resources industry" [telling], instead of saying something like this:
"Dr. McDougal is on a first-name basis with the CEOs of dozens of mining companies, and these inside contacts have paid off time and time again. In fact, after a recent conversation with the president of a gold-exploration company, he became so certain of the company's success that he doubled his own position.
Sure enough, just months later the company struck pay dirt and the stock soared in value" [showing].

The copywriter went back to work and changed some of the copy, making sure he was showing just how the service would benefit the reader.

Because we had a strong offer and had purchased the proper media, the original sales letter most likely would have done okay had we not made those changes. But by making sure that the sales copy was as strong as possible, we were able to exceed our expected results.

Having done thousands of direct-response campaigns, I have had the pleasure of working with some of the very best copywriters in the world. But it was working with some of the very worst copywriters in the world that made me appreciate just how important good copy (and good copywriters) are... and helped me learn how to work with all levels of copywriters.

There are three basic levels of copywriters: A, B, and C. Each of these levels has sub-levels of pluses and minuses. There are only about five A+ copywriters in the world, including Clayton Makepeace, John Carlton, and Michael Masterson. But you will most likely never get these gentlemen to write for you, for several reasons. Primarily, they don't need to. Plus, they would rather spend their time teaching their protégés the art of copywriting, knowing that doing this will continue to build their own businesses.

Regardless of what level a copywriter is at, they all have one thing in common. They all believe that they are the most important and greatest asset to your bottom line. Sure, many times they are right. But just as often they are way off. However, once you have contracted with a freelance copywriter for a specific project, you need to follow some guidelines.

Here are my top nine rules for working with freelance copywriters:

1. Lack of experience isn't a deal breaker. Working with an inexperienced copywriter is fine as long as she understands direct-response marketing fundamentals and how to sell, is smart, and is willing to really understand your niche market. Sometimes, hiring new copywriters works out to your advantage, because they are the ones who meet deadlines more consistently and will want to prove their value.

2. Before you hire your copywriter, ask for samples of his work. If he doesn't have any samples in your specific niche, give him a test. (This is something I do regardless of the samples.) Testing a copywriter is easy. I pick a single product, show the copywriter past promotions, let him speak with the creator or editor of that product, and ask him for a headline and lead within 24 hours. You aren't going to get something you can immediately use when you ask for a 24-hour turnaround, but this test will give you a good indication of a copywriter's instincts. If he is not willing to take the test, go no further with him.

3. Before you hire a copywriter, ask for results of previous campaigns with past clients. If she tells you her client could not supply them "because their computer system could not track them" - go no further. Any copywriter who does not care about results is not worth working with.

4. If the copywriter asks only for an upfront fee and no royalties - go no further. If he doesn't think his copy is worth royalties, it's probably not. Now I'm not saying I would agree to pay royalties to a fairly inexperienced writer - but I certainly want to know that he thinks his copy is worthy of them. (And I can work out a royalty agreement with him later, once the campaign has met a certain benchmark.)

5. If the copywriter does not insist on working with your artist to provide graphic direction - go no further. Yes, copy is king - but readability is queen. And if you cannot read the sales letter, it doesn't really matter how good the copy is.

6. Always put on your marketing director hat when dealing with copywriters. You may be the publisher, COO, and marketing director (not to mention product developer and janitor), but it is the marketing director who needs to provide vision and guidance to the copywriter.

7. Once you have hired a freelance copywriter, treat her like part of your internal team. This sounds easy, but it can actually be very difficult to work with outside copywriters. The marketing director needs to set the example for the entire internal team by making the copywriter feel like a member of the "family." If you are developing a new product, for instance, ask the copywriter to be part of the product-development session. If you are brainstorming a new promotion, your copywriter should always be present.

8. Never let operational people talk to your copywriter. Years ago, I had a COO say that we should stop marketing altogether during a time when our sales copy just wasn't working. Any savvy marketing person will tell you that this is a time when you need to continue marketing and testing, not stop. Operations people are usually the ones who have all the excuses for why things "can't" be done. And such negative talk can destroy the copywriter's enthusiasm and energy ... which will make your advertising campaign suffer.

9. TEST, TEST, TEST. (Did I mention TEST?) Always hire copywriters who understand the value of testing. And you want someone who has ideas for tests that scream not whisper. This means you test ideas that will increase your response rates by 25 percent instead of a measly five percent. (If you want to test your price, for instance, you'd want to raise or lower it by 50 percent rather than by five percent, which would have a much smaller effect on response.) My favorite thing to test is the headline (especially with online copy). The headline is the key component to grabbing someone's attention. The remainder of the promotion can stay the same. With very little additional work, you can expand the life of a promotion and add incremental dollars to your bottom line.

Learning how to hire and work with freelance copywriters is crucial to making sure your customers sit up and take notice of the products and services your business has to offer.

"Balance, peace, and joy are the fruit of a successful life.
It starts with recognizing your talents and finding
ways to serve others by using them."
~ Thomas Kinkade

How To Avoid The Biggest Source of Business Stress
By Marie Forleo

"Holy cow, is she for real?!?"

That was all I could think about as I held the phone to my ear and listened to this woman's response to my simple question, "What are you currently doing to bring money into your business?"

Let me explain.

A few weeks ago, I got a call from well-connected woman. She's a mother, author, speaker and long-time feminine activist. She's attracted uber high profile supporters to endorse her work, and was about to launch full tilt into a book promo tour.

She called to get my insight on business strategy. Specifically, she wanted ideas to help her organization make more money. So far, so good.

But after a few minutes into our call, a wrenching knot formed in my stomach because I recognized a deadly addiction in her. One that I've seen in many entrepreneurs, including myself.

It's the addiction to too many damn projects. And more specifically, the addiction to too many damn unfinished projects that aren't making money.

This addiction, in turn, fuels one of the biggest sources of business stress in existence: overwhelm. Self-generated, self-sustaining overwhelm.

Many working women have a nasty habit of generating massive overwhelm by saying yes to too many projects without spending nearly enough time discerning exactly how those projects fit into their overall profit picture or their overall lifestyle picture.

Well-meaning, I'm-here-to-change-the-world-kind-of-women, in particular, struggle with this issue.

Here's the deal. If you want a highly profitable business and you want to enjoy the sweet fruits of your labor, you've got to handle your addiction to too many damn projects.

The great news is that a few small changes in your approach will net you both immediate and long term results. As a recovering too-many-damn-projects addict myself, here are four steps to get you started right now.

Step 1. Know exactly what you want.

Do you know exactly what you want to create in your business? How much revenue and profit you'd like to earn over the next 12 months? Do you know what products and or services you'll sell to reach those goals? Can you clearly and quickly articulate this to someone who could help you get what you want?

If so, hooray for you. Keep it front and center at all times.

If not, it's time to figure this out. Now.

I often tell my clients, "I can help you create whatever you want as long as you can clearly tell me what that is."

You've got genius in you. If you're one of those people locked in "Help . . . I don't know what I want!" land, I promise that somewhere within you, you do.

Sometimes your true desires need to be coaxed it out. Play, experiment, and explore. Talk about it out loud. Try different things on for size. Use your intuition and be honest with yourself. Sometimes just the act of writing things down on paper is enough to bring massive clarity.

Do this now.

If you don't know exactly what you want, grab a notebook and pen and use the following prompts get clarity now. Write whatever comes to mind and don't edit yourself. The only way to do this "wrong" is to not do it at all.

• I want to create ____________ in my business this year.
• Over the next 12 months, I want to generate ___________ in revenue and ___________in profit.
• I'll need to sell the following mix of products and services, at the following prices in order to reach my goal.

Of course, you can and should spend more time refining this until you feel clear you've got it right. But great job on taking the first step. (And if you didn't do it yet - DON'T KEEP READING! Do these exercises now. I'm watching ;)

Step 2. Be brutally honest about what it takes.

Get real with yourself on how much time, money and effort anything you say yes to actually takes to get done. Why?

Because most of us say yes to things before really thinking through exactly what we're in for.

We chronically underestimate what it takes to complete projects in terms of time, money and effort. All too often, we wind up overwhelmed and underfunded. Then we quit.

Or worse, we have a slew of partially complete, non-money making projects renting valuable space in our heads, our hearts and our hard drives.

Like any home renovation project, a good rule of thumb is that most business projects take much longer and cost way more than you initially thought.

Make it a habit to say yes with your eyes wide open.

Step 3. Create white space.

I don't know about you, but I find it near impossible to work when there's clutter around. Any kind of clutter: physical, mental, emotional or psychological. Inner chaos creates outer chaos and vice versa.

The fix? Cultivate what I affectionately call white space. Areas of your world that are open, clean, and simple.

Over the past month I've been methodically clearing out every square inch of my physical and energetic life including my homes, my finances, my books, my calendar, my inbox, my refrigerator, my future projects, my computer files, my project list, my daily tasks, my systems and my yearly business goals.

It's intense and amazing to realize how much stuff accumulates if you don't actively clear space.

Wanna see instant results?

Start with your physical environment. You'll get an immediate energy boost that can last for days. Chose one physical area to clear out, like a closet, and go to town. Seriously. Do this right now.

Don't stop until you can't possibly throw away or donate another item. Muy importante: don't wuss out, get sentimental and hang onto things just in case. What remains should only be what you absolutely love and must have.

Step 4. Get a first class ticket on the "No Train."

If you live in constant state of business overwhelm, it's essential to get yourself on what I affectionately call the "No Train" as soon as possible.

When you're on the "No Train," you allow no to be your initial response to new projects, new requests or new demands on your time. This is especially helpful if you have a backlog of old tasks and projects you've agreed to but have not yet completed.

And don't worry. You don't have to ride the "No Train" forever. You can certainly get off for a quick stop if a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity comes along (though these are rare). Think of your time on the "No Train" a much needed business colonic.

Important tip: Once you get on the "No Train," be prepared as you'll still experience overwhelm for the next few weeks to a month because you'll still have to complete all the projects you committed to a long time ago.

If you know it's time to get on the "No Train", declare it now. Tell your assistant, your team, your coach, your family - anyone who can support you.

The best part of this strategy is that you'll become hyper aware of your addiction to take on too much stuff and you'll begin to break that nasty pattern once and for all.

So there you have it. Four simple, yet powerful steps to help you avoid one of the biggest sources of business stress: self-generated overwhelm. Of course, this list isn't comprehensive, but it will get you on the road to recovery starting now.

"More business decisions occur over lunch and dinner than at any other time, yet no MBA courses are given on the subject."

Peter Drucker

The Business of Bringing People Together
By Jason Holland

Michael Masterson was shocked.

He was at a meeting with some heavy hitters in South America - government officials and developers who were discussing a massive housing project.

When one official, Mr. X, said the project would be in the $1 billion to $10 billion range - even Michael wasn't prepared for that. And he immediately calculated what his and his associates' cut might be. Potentially in the millions, he thought.

Michael had been brought to the meeting by his friend P.E. They'd known each other since high school, and had been doing real estate deals together for 15 years. And P.E. had been introduced to Mr. X by Luis, who he'd worked with on a development deal in Central America.

Michael and his associates stood to make millions of dollars, simply because of these connections.

And that's at the heart of the opportunity I want to talk about today: being a connector, or finder's agent.

One of the best connectors out there, Matthew Adams, makes tens of thousands of dollars... just for introducing people.

Okay, so it's a little mo

Matthew brings people or companies together to do business. He collects a fee or commission if the meeting results in a deal.

And he loves teaching other people how to do the same thing.

In his first year as a "connector," Matthew made $22,000. By the third year, he was making $50,000. And it took just a couple of hours a week of his time - e-mails and phone calls, mostly.

"The best part," says Matthew, "is that it requires almost no capital to get started in this high-demand service."

One of Matthew's most recent "connections" was made at a lobster bake in Maine. He'd been invited by a friend who runs a few marinas in the area.

At the lobster bake, he met a man who imports boat supplies. They struck up a conversation, and the man told Matthew that he was trying to expand his business. So Matthew asked if he would be willing to pay commission if he could help him find new customers. The entrepreneur said, "Sure!" - and Matthew said, "There's someone I want you to meet."

Matthew introduced the importer to his marina-owning friend. The two got to talking... and before long, his friend had agreed to sell the importer's boat supplies at all of his marinas. Matthew, of course, got a percentage of the deal... and of every deal the pair made after that.

Another "connection" Matthew made involved a deal with travel websites.

re involved than that.

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

John Lennon

Dealing With Disappointments

The $3,500 commission check you were expecting won't be coming. The customer canceled the order.

The $15,000 salary increase your boss promised when he hired you will be only $5,000. "Times are tough," you are told.

And the plumber's promise that he'd have your toilet fixed by day's end was just a pipe dream. You need a whole new septic system.

There is nothing like a bad surprise to ruin a good day. Or three or four of them to ruin a good month or a good year.

I once knew a very successful entrepreneur who had to face, in a single, six-month period, the theft of his best three clients by a top-salesman-turned-traitor, the death of his father, and the embarrassment of learning his wife was having an affair with his next-door neighbor.

His business eventually recovered and the neighbor moved to another state. But it was too late for my friend. He couldn't take all the bad news. He killed himself.

We can't control the things that happen to us, a wise man once said, but we can very much control how we respond to them.

A wonderful movie based on this premise was 1997's Life Is Beautiful (which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film). It told the story of a Jewish man, Guido Orefice (played by Roberto Benigni), who, along with his 5-year-old son, was interned in a Nazi concentration camp.

Here was a guy in the worst possible situation. Yet he was able to rise above it and protect his son from the horrors around them by using the power of his imagination -- something the Nazi guards could not control.

Guido Orefice was a fictional character. Most of us couldn't hope to have the resiliency of mind and spirit that he displayed in this movie. Most of us are disappointed when bad things happen to us. Sometimes we feel angry. Sometimes depressed.

You would think that entrepreneurs would be good at dealing with bad news. They are, after all, willing to expose themselves to failure in the pursuit of success. But though they are risk takers, they are calculated risk takers. As a result, they live in a world where most things tend to go as they expect. When they are surprised by a disappointment, they can feel crushed.

I used to be that way. Very much so. But I realized over the years that I had to learn how to cope with disappointment. I tried all sorts of techniques that I read about in books about self-improvement. But I found only one thing that actually works very well and all the time.

That one thing is the infamous Plan B.

Plan B is the answer to the question: "What will I do if this doesn't turn out the way I think it will?"

You make a sale. Your commission is $3,500. You begin to think about how you are going to spend that money -- and then the Plan B question pops up: What if the sale falls through? What if this customer backs out?

You don't want to have this thought because it seems negative. And yet you cannot deny that it is a possibility. So rather than pushing the thought from your mind, you take a moment to answer it. "If the sale falls through, I will take a deep breath and go on to make my next sale. Furthermore, I will not spend that $3,500 until it is in the bank."

Conjuring up this Plan B doesn't affect the outcome one iota. Chances are still just as good as they were that Plan A will work out and you'll get your money. But if the unthinkable (now thinkable) does happen, you are already mentally prepared to deal with it. You have a positive thought already planted in your mind. And you haven't done anything foolish (like spending the money before you have it) to compound the problem.

I use this technique for almost everything. When K and I book a flight to the Big Apple to visit our two older sons, for example, I consciously consider the possibility that the flight we are booking will be delayed or cancelled. I check on the next available flight -- which takes only a few seconds. And I tell myself, "If the first flight falls through, I will not get angry or upset. I will simply use the extra time to get some reading done and get on the next plane."

It's amazing how effective this is.

I even used this technique recently when I hurt my shoulder wrestling. When it didn't get better after a month, I made an appointment with my orthopedist. Going into the appointment, I hoped I hadn't done any major damage. But just in case... I imagined what I would do if I had to have an operation.

I decided that my Plan B would be to use the recuperative time to get my heart and lungs in great shape. I planned an exercise routine that would include squats and sprinting and all sorts of resistance exercises involving my legs.

So when my doctor told me that my rotator cuff had torn loose and I needed surgery, I wasn't terribly bummed out. In fact, I was sort of excited -- if you can believe that. This bad news was just the opportunity I needed to get my heart and lungs in the best shape of my adult life.

It's been four weeks since the operation. And though I can't do anything with my left arm (it's still in a sling), I've been exercising twice a day -- once on my own and once with a trainer), working on my heart and lung strength and stamina. I've been sprinting in the morning and pulling my trainer around in the afternoon attached to a big rubber band. I pull him up and down the block, huffing and puffing. I've gotten my heart rate up to 175 -- 20 beats faster than it was before the injury. When I get back to wrestling in six months, I'll be a cardiovascular monster!

I did a similar thing about six years ago when I tore up my knee wrestling. (Don't write to tell me I'm too old to wrestle. This happens to the young guys too.) I had to have my ACL replaced, and was going to be off the Jiu Jitsu mats for six months. For someone with my schedule (and addictive mentality), this could have been seriously unsettling. But I figured out a Plan B before I had the operation.

My fallback plan for the two weeks in bed (and on painkillers -- which meant I couldn't do any meaningful work) was to catch up on all the great movies I had never seen or seen only once. My fallback plan for the rest of the six months was to improve the strength of my upper body and to do a lot of reading and writing that I'd been putting off.

I watched 30 movies during that two-week period and read more than 50 books in the ensuing months. I also wrote a screenplay and a book that turned out to be a bestseller. I wasn't wrestling, but I was enjoying myself.

Spend five minutes today thinking about your expectations -- for your job, your personal relationships... everything.

Write them down. Then make a Plan B for every one. Ask yourself, "If this doesn't happen, what is the best next thing I can do?"

Make sure all your Plan Bs are positive -- things you can do that will improve your life somehow. Initially, it may be difficult to even imagine that some hoped-for event will turn out badly. But after you have installed a good Plan B in your head, the anxiety will subside. It might even disappear. And it will be replaced by a growing acceptance -- even anticipation -- for your Plan B.

Because some disappointments leave us with free time, you should keep a list of projects and/or tasks that you would like to do. (Have you been thinking about researching your family tree? Mastering a foreign language? Learning to dance the salsa?)

The more time you spend imagining how you can make these things happen, the more excited you'll be about it. And then, when the time comes (and it almost certainly will), you will move from disappointment to anticipation in no time flat.