The Power of Focus
By Susan Fujii, Kung Fu Finance Girl

I graduated from college in 1996. For four years afterwards (four really fun years...) I did not focus on investing or on "personal finance" at all. These were the boom years, the party days, the "sure I'd love to buy all fifty of you another round of drinks, who's counting?" nights. Good times, indeed.

My attention was directed on other things at the time, and sure enough, while those things flourished (I did meet and eventually marry Kung Fu Guy, so it wasn't all for naught!), my personal finances withered in neglect, and that's putting it kindly.

In fact, they withered so much that when Kung Fu Guy and I decided to start our own business in 2000, I had no idea what money I had (or rather, as it turned out, what I didn't have!). My attention had been elsewhere, and when I finally turned my focus onto my personal finances, it was not a pretty picture.

Luckily, this was just the wake up call I needed (nothing like an extremely embarrassing conversation with your future spouse to motivate you into action!). It went something like this:

Kung Fu Guy: "So, how much do you have in your checking account?"
Me: "Um, er, uh, well, I'm not exactly sure..."
Kung Fu Guy: "OK, well, do you have any credit card debt?"
Me: "Um, I don't think so....? Not anymore...?"
Kung Fu Guy: "That's good, are you sure???"
Me: "Um, well, I think so...."

And on and on...I remember never feeling so embarrassed in my life. (At the time, his vision of me was of this smart, savvy businesswoman who managed a 70+ person team of engineers and earned a six-figure income). Boy, did I ever throw a wrench into that pretty little picture!

Now, I'm not a dumb person (although after reading this I won't blame you for disagreeing...) but what I fell prey to for those four years is a stealthy killer that plagues us all:

Lack Of Focus

Lack of focus is one of the most difficult things we must fight against every single day.

In today's hectic world we are constantly bombarded by information of all kinds from multiple sources. By the time the average person has arrived at work they have already received a deluge of distracting information, from the morning news on TV to the multiple tweets and emails received on your mobile phone to the radio and billboard ads on your drive to work...it's incessant.

Everyone and everything in your life is competing for your most prized possession...your attention, or rather, your focused attention.

Your attention is a supremely powerful force, and like the sun it can be either diffuse and divided amongst many different objects, or funneled into a focused laser-beam of light that has the power to burn whatever it touches (think Cyclops in the X-Men--when he removed those glasses, watch out...now that is some focused attention!).

You have that power, too. Your focus is one of the most powerful weapons you have in your investing (and life!) arsenal.

You've probably noticed the power of focused attention in other areas of your life. If you have children you know that the single greatest gift you can ever give them is your undivided, focused attention. My girls love it when I focus my attention on them with no distractions--with just a few minutes of focused attention I can transform them from whining and crying into the two happiest little girls you have ever seen in your life.

Likewise, if you have ever done any goal-setting you know how important it is to state your goals positively and specifically ("I will eat 5 servings of fruit and vegetables each day") versus negatively and vaguely ("I will NOT eat any junk food"). This is because you will focus your attention on whatever you write, and of course you want to focus on the positive (healthy fruit and vegetables), not the negative (junk food).

In kung fu there is a well-known example of the power of focus. Called "Iron Hand" or "Iron Palm", practitioners learn to focus their attention and their energy, or chi, into the palms of their hands with enough force to break bricks or blocks of ice without hurting their hands.

Focus is a powerful force in all areas of life, but I have found it to be exceptionally important in investing, particularly while learning. It is easy to become overwhelmed by the plethora of options available when you are just starting out as an investor. Where do you begin? Should you buy gold and silver? Learn how to properly value stocks? Focus on "cash-flowing" investments like real estate or dividend-paying stocks or bonds?

And even when you do choose a "starting point", say, the stock market, for example, that opens up another round of choices. Should you focus on individual stock-picking and how to read financial statements? On ETF's? Mutual funds? Closed-end funds? Options? What kind of options? Puts or calls or LEAPS or spreads? Should you buy options or sell options? Should you learn fundamental analysis or technical analysis? Focus on emerging markets, or global world dominators? And on and on and on....the choices never end.

However, luckily you have something absolutely magical that will help you focus your attention on what will immediately provide you with the quickest return on your investment of time.

And that magical tool is your vision.

Writing your vision down on paper will instantly help you focus your attention on what you want from your financial life. It's a critical first step in narrowing your all-important investing focus down to something that is manageable and achievable for you. From there, you can continue to narrow your focus down to short and long-term goals that will enable you to make your vision a reality, and can narrow it even further down to the best strategies you will pursue to achieve those goals.

And then watch out....the power of your focus will astonish you!

When I did this back in 2000 it had an immediate positive effect on my money. Just by focusing on where my money was going and what had happened to it I was instantly able to plug the gaps and start saving much more money. And once I had plugged the obvious gaps in my money, I began focusing on what to do with the extra money I had each month.

Fast forward ten years and now not only do I know how to read a company's financial statements, I also create and review personal financial statements for our family each month. At any given moment I can tell you precisely what the value of each of our accounts is, the rate of return we are expecting to get, the rate of return we are actually getting, articulate the reasons we are invested in that particular investment and our exit strategy, and much, much more. (I've come a long way, thankfully!)

The same is true for my investing education...I did not learn "how to invest" all at once; rather, using my vision as my guide I patiently (and sometimes not-so-patiently...) worked to master one small portion of each massive area at a time. I could never have become an accredited investor had I tried to master penny stocks, tax liens, real estate, corporate bonds, growth stocks, stock shorting, FOREX, stock options, commodities, precious metals, etc., all at once. My head hurts just thinking about all of that!

But what you focus on, you will master, I promise you.

So toughen up those Iron Hands and unleash your inner Cyclops and let me know how it goes! I guarantee you will amaze yourself.

"The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus." -- Bruce Lee

How to Use Social Media to Generate Leads

Posted: 16 Jul 2012 05:00 AM PDT

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So you want to use social media to generate leads for your business?  If that’s true, then you must also be willing to take the steps necessary to put your business and brand in a position to attract leads online. And those steps may take some time.

Social media is a powerful tool, but cannot stand alone as an online marketing solution.  Social media marketing comes after you have discovered your voice through blogging and have a key word strategy in place.

Does Blogging = Leads?

You can’t expect to put your business online and expect the online buzz to suddenly rocket you to online social media stardom. Leads won’t fall from the sky either.

Generating a lead is the end result. And while Stephen Covey has taught us to “Begin with the end in mind,” you must first focus on answering the question, “How can we be valuable to others, consistently over time, so we organically attract people to our business online.”

Then you must have a plan to create the valuable content people want to read, share and comment on. Content people will share and will lead others to you (traffic), who will then want to learn more about how you might be able to help them (conversion) so you can then have a qualified prospect (lead).

You do this from blogging. And how often you blog matters also. 

The Impact On Lead Generation

The Impact On Customer Acquisition

It Doesn’t Matter if You Are a B2B or a B2C business, You Need to Be Blogging

Every week I speak to a business owner who thinks his/her business doesn’t need to blog at all, let alone a lot. Thinking that way is similar to thinking back in 1995 that your business wouldn’t need a website. Blogging is the new SEO, and it’s an important part of consumer culture so you better start capitalizing on it.

B2C Blogging Works!

B2B Blogging Works Also!

If Google Can’t Find You, Neither Will Anyone Else

Ranking high on the search engines (particularly Google) is no longer optional, it’s critical. The more keyword rich content you create (and blog), the more search engines will find you.  In order for Google to find you often, you need a lot of pages that link to your site. You can control this by blogging often and making sure to use the keywords that will lead people to you.

Are You Showing Up?

More Blog Posts = More Indexed Web Pages

What does this teach us?

That you need to generate as much (keyword rich) content as possible, before your competitors pass you by. Social Media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and YouTube all give you the platform to share your content in different ways, but you have to generate the content first.  And oh yeah, that content needs to be interesting. The leads will follow.

The great business management guru Peter Drucker’s most well known quote is “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.” Social media can certainly help you create and keep a customer. But you have to be willing to do the work [online] that it takes to get there.

How To Dominate Your Fear and Take Massive Action

By Adam Steer

Miyamoto Musashi was one of the biggest badass swordsmen of 16th century Japan. He also wrote of one of the greatest books on tactics, strategy and philosophy ever written--A Book of Five Rings.

Musashi knew what most modern success gurus can't seem to figure out: success takes a lot of hard work. And the key to making your goals a reality is massive action.

That's the greatest difference between those who live their dreams and those who WISH for stuff. Hard work. We all know this. So here's the question for you...

If you know what you want and you know you have to take action to get it, why aren't you doing it?

I'll bet it has something to do with fear.

Oh, sure, you'll tell yourself it has nothing to do with being afraid. There are a thousand ways to rationalize your lack of action. You want to get in shape but you don't have all the right foods in the fridge yet. You want to buy those new running shoes before you start exercising. You just need to wait until things are quiet at work before you start learning that new language.

I bet at least a couple of those sound familiar.

It's EASY to find an excuse NOT to take action...

But the real reason you don't make progress is something else entirely. You're scared of the hunger and deprivation that might result from changing your eating habits. You're afraid of missing out on your favourite TV show if you start using those Spanish language CDs. Or maybe you're just worried you'll disappoint yourself again by quitting your new workout right after you start.

No matter what it is, I guarantee there's some sort of fear lurking beneath whatever justification you're giving yourself for not taking massive action on your goals today.

And I want you to know that it's completely okay.

Fear goes hand in hand with success. You'll never unlock your potential if you hide within the shell of your comfort zone.

Here are my 5 keys to dominating fear and taking massive action to achieve your dreams:

1. Get some perspective on your fearTake your first step--don't wait for the perfect time
2. Put one foot in front of the other--do the WORK
3. Don't compare to the "ideal"--compare to where you've been and seek PROGRESS
4. Divide your goal into small chunks so you can create SUCCESSES that motivate you
5. The first secret to overcoming your fear is to put it into perspective.
   

Think back to a time when you were scared out of your wits to do something. I bet once that mission was accomplished, you felt great about the outcome--and maybe even a little silly about being so scared in the first place. Take some time with pen and paper to make a list of all those experiences. And the next time you're having trouble getting out of your comfort zone, look back at that list for inspiration.

Okay, so you've managed to put your fear into perspective. The next thing is to just take that first step. As Lao Tzu so eloquently put it, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

I'll give you a personal example. I've wanted to learn Spanish for years. I'm a native English speaker, and during my years in Quebec I've become fluent in French. But my travels have taken me to a number of Spanish speaking countries recently, and I've always regretted not being able to converse in the local language.

After a recent trip to the Dominican Republic, I decided enough was enough. It was time to take action! I did a little research, and I ordered the very best Spanish language home-study course I could find: the Pimsleur Approach.

That was my first step. Sure, it took a lot of effort to overcome years of procrastination, justification, laziness and FEAR. What was I afraid of? Lots of things... Giving up my spare time, not being "smart enough" to learn the language, making a fool of myself the first time I actually tried to speak, and wasting time on a course that wouldn't work. But none of that stuff is real.

So yeah, I received the course just this week. Now what?

Yep, you guessed it. On to step 3: Put one foot in front of the other--do the WORK. But we'll talk about that in a future article.

Before you go there, I want you to do some homework. What's one small step that you can take towards your big dream goal? Figure out what that is and just TAKE IT.

Put one foot in the door and the rest will eventually follow. Sure, you might falter a bit in the beginning. But if you never take that first step, you won't get anywhere--ever.

Do All That You Say You Will Do... And More

By Craig Ballantyne

My mother is not the type to get upset (that was my father's forte). But I could sense the irritation in her voice when I asked, "How's your new house coming along?"

It had been over three weeks since I last visited the farm, and, unfortunately, there had been practically no progress made on her new house. She listed the excuses she had been given from the contractors, her voice full of exasperation.

Later that afternoon, Bally the Dog and I went for a walk from the current farmhouse over to where the driveway had been laid for her new home. It was less than a mile walk over the stream, through a cornfield, and up a hill. There we found the grounds to be almost exactly the same as they were last month. The foundation had not even been poured.

I could see why she was so disappointed. When the project was initiated, she was assured of a move-in date of July. Now it's looking like September at best.

This was a classic case of a business over-promising and under-delivering and thus failing to meet the expectations previously set in my mother's mind. This is one of the biggest, most common communication mistakes that people make on a daily basis.

How many times has someone promised you the following and then left you waiting?

"I'll be home by seven o'clock."

"I'll have that report on your desk by the end of the day."

"I'll call you back in an hour."

Or worse, how many times have you been the one making false promises? How many times this week? How many times today?

It's a mistake you can't afford to make, not when you want to build long-term relationships with clients or colleagues.

Instead, you must use the "make a promise-keep a promise" system. That's the formula for success. That's the equation for deep relationships.

Make a promise. Keep a promise. It's so simple, yet day-after-day we see businesses, politicians, and spouses all over the world drop the ball on this.

In your family life, you simply need to do all that you say you're going to do. If you promise to be somewhere at a certain time to do something, you must fulfill your obligation. And, just as important, as self-improvement legend Jim Rohn advises, "Wherever you are, be there." That means not being engrossed in your smartphone while at the park with your children or, the ultimate disrespect of all, texting while having dinner with someone. Either don't promise to have that dinner or have the patience and courtesy to wait until later to send your phone messages. Make a promise to be there, and keep it.

In your business, do all that you say you're going to do. Honor your contracts. Deliver on the promises made to your customers, suppliers, and partners. Avoid the temptation to over-promise and under-deliver. Be clear in your offer and make sure to avoid overextending yourself in the process. If you know you can't deliver on a promise, don't sell it. That mistake will only cause you a nagging headache and dent in your reputation.

Finally, use the same "make-a-promise, keep-a-promise" system on your website. The truth is, it was from an online business expert that I first heard this method so eloquently phrased.

Several years ago, my friend Paul R. came and spoke to my Mastermind group. He shared his system for converting leads into sales, and it all came down to the keeping the promises that he made, one webpage at a time.

When his prospects landed on the first page on his site, Paul showed them a short video which made a simple promise. After visitors entered their email address, they were directed to a page where Paul over-delivered on that initial promise. And so on and so forth. Every communication between Paul and his prospects - and the customers that they soon came to be - started with a promise and ended with Paul delivering on that promise.

He never failed to keep his word and meet their expectations, and that's why he's grown a seven-figure business in a unique niche (one that most people think wouldn't be profitable). It's all been built on the power of doing what he says he will do, and more.

That's how you build relationships the right way, from day one, so that you never lose your prospect's faith. And so you can avoid disappointed customers, like my mother.

Fortunately, and better late than never, the contractor called my mother and said that everything was now back on track. They would be getting to work on the foundation of the house early next week. (So I hope to have a much better update for you next month.)

But that relationship is permanently damaged. She'll never have the same level of trust in the contractor as she did when he first made his promises.

Don't let this happen in your life or business.

And don't let this happen in our relationship, either. Should I ever make this mistake and not deliver what you feel has been promised to you, let me know immediately so that I can fix the situation and minimize the damage.

Hold me accountable. If we are not delivering on what you feel we promised you, then I need to hear from you. Our goal is to help you and deliver the exact steps to succeed with your online business, to improve productivity in your day, to help you take action and overcome the obstacles in your way, and to simply help you lead a life well lived. Those are our promises to you, and we are doing everything we can to keep them.

So put yourself on the line. Make your promises, keep your promises. Over-deliver value and exceed the expectations of everyone you deal with in life.

As my friend Bedros Keuilian teaches, "You need to over-deliver, give faster results than promised, and become the go-to leader for your market."

It all starts with doing what you say- and more.

We can all do better. Let's start today.

There are fireworks everywhere, except in sales.

There's a holiday coming. This particular holiday is the 4th of July.

But it doesn't matter which one it is, all holidays carry with them the same sales stigmas:

• No one is in the office.
• Everyone is on vacation.
• Everyone left early.
• People aren't willing to meet with me until after the holiday.
• I can't get anyone on the phone.
• It's a slow time of the year, I'd rather wait until ____. (You can fill in the blank.)
• It's taking longer to get a decision made because of the holiday.
• Customers aren't in the mood to buy.
• Blah, blah, blah. Puke.

All of these excuses create a frame of mind for salespeople somewhere between, "I'm not going to make any sales," and "I'll just wait until the holiday is over." Both of these thoughts are recipes for sales disaster.

NOTE WELL: Many decision makers stay in their office until the day before the holiday. When there is no activity, executives can get personal work done.

Many business owners (like me) stay in the office through the holiday because all of their employees want to take a well-deserved extra day off. And someone has to be there to guard the business.

Oftentimes, companies are in the middle of important deals or circumstances that preclude them from taking extra time off around a holiday.

REALITY:

• Every day is a sales day if you believe it to be a sales day - and vice versa.
• Everyone will return your call if you believe they will return your call.
• Everyone will return a favorable decision if you believe they will return a favorable decision.

When you're lamenting your fate, what you are really saying is, "Based on the actions I've taken, and the results I'm getting, I really don't believe strong enough in my company, my product, or myself."

If you would spend as much time strengthening your belief, taking better actions, and improving your value offerings as you did complaining that someone won't return your call, or isn't in their office, you could make a fortune.

But most salespeople would rather gripe.

Rather than griping that no one is available, why don't you take a few days off yourself and renew your attitude? Why don't you take a few days off and revive your attitude, so when you come back to work you're in high gear and high frame of mind?

And please don't think this message is specifically about the 4th of July. It's the same for Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving, Labor Day, Super Bowl, President's Day and any other day deemed by the government or you as a "holiday."

You, as a salesperson, already know the holidays are coming. Your job is to prepare your pipeline in advance of the holiday, so one day after the holiday, you are full of meetings and full of activity that is directly related to your sales and your success. This way, when you do go away, you'll feel great about leaving and great about coming home!

It never ceases to amaze me how many salespeople grumble about "what isn't" - The guy isn't in. The guy isn't calling me back. Yadda, yadda - rather than embrace and take advantage of "what is."

The fact is holidays are NOT a surprise. They're are on the calendar years in advance. Everyone knows when the 4th of July occurs - it's on the 4th of July!

If your mindset is still "No one's in their office. Everyone's on vacation" take off the 3rd, take off the 5th, go somewhere to relax, and come back to a full calendar.

Oh, and while you are on vacation, read a book.

 

"If you serve an ungrateful master, serve him the more. Put God in your debt. Every stroke shall be repaid. The longer the pament is withholden, the better for you; for compound interest on compound interest is the rate and usage of this exchequer."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

The Advantages of the Habit of Going the Extra Mile
by Napoleon Hill

The habit brings the individual to the favorable attention of those who can and will provide opportunities for self-advancement.

It tends to make one indispensable, in many different human relationships, and it therefore enables him to command more than average compensation for personal services.

It leads to mental growth and to physical skill and perfection in many forms of endeavor, thereby adding to one's earning capacity.

It protects one against the loss of employment when employment is scarce, and places him in a position to command the choicest of jobs.

It enables one to profit by the law of contrast, since the majority of people do not practice the habit.

It leads to the development of a positive, pleasing mental attitude,which is essential for enduring success.

It tends to develop a keen, alert imagination because it is a habit which inspires one continuously to seek new and better ways of rendering service.

It develops the important quality of personal initiative.

It develops self-reliance and courage.

It serves to build the confidence of others in one's integrity.

It aids in the mastery of the destructive habit of procrastination.

It develops definiteness of purpose, insuring one against the common habit of aimlessness.

Identifying Opportunity in Adversity

By Robert Ringer

People often misread an event or circumstance as an adversity or setback. The problem is that we tend to judge events on the basis of their immediate impact, but, as life repeatedly teaches us, the long-term consequences of an action can be quite different from what we initially observe.

The bad is superficial and obvious; the good often takes investigation and long-term observation. It's important to recognize that the true result of an event may take a long period of time to come to fruition. Thus, misfortune and setbacks are frequently nothing more than illusions, which is why we so often fail to connect the long-term benefits to the seemingly negative situation that confronts us.

The truth is that adversity can serve as both a learning experience and a masked opportunity. In fact, I would take it one step further and say that there is an offsetting opportunity in every adversity and every obstacle. The trick is to develop the habit of automatically looking for the positive in every negative situation.

It took me years to develop this habit, but now, even when something seemingly terrible occurs, I immediately take a deep mental breath and start thinking about where the Cosmic Catalyst is trying to lead me. Some of the unexpected roads this has taken me down are nothing short of miraculous.

A classic example of this phenomenon that is especially dear to my heart is the story of how my first book was rejected by twenty-three publishers. It was obvious that some of the publishers didn't even take the trouble to look at my manuscript and simply returned it with form letters of rejection. Others sent customized letters, many of which were brutally candid in telling me why my book was unsaleable.

While some of the harshest comments put a bit of a dent in my self-confidence, I was passionate about what I had written and I had a burning desire to get the book into the hands of the public. So, in desperation, I decided to publish it myself, even though I had zero knowledge of the book-publishing business.

In fact, it would have been impossible to have been less prepared than I was to publish a book, but I didn't let that stop me. I certainly was not about to spend a couple of years learning the intricacies of the book-publishing business, which, as it turned out, can only be learned through experience anyway.

So, ignorance aside, something compelled me to take action. Then, after I had five-thousand copies of my book printed up, a remarkable thing happened: My bold (some referred to it as audacious) action resulted in an explosive expansion of my mental paradigm, though at the time I didn't even know what a paradigm was. I became resourceful beyond what I previously would have thought possible, and went way beyond the boundaries of so-called conventional wisdom in an effort to create my own opportunity.

Though I had no advertising experience, I decided to run ads in local newspapers and The Wall Street Journal. The first ad I ran, in the San Antonio Express-News, produced such poor results that I lost 90 percent of my advertising investment.

I was shaken, but not deterred, so I sprung back into action and worked hard at analyzing what was wrong with my first ad. Then, based on my analysis, I rewrote the ad and ran it in the Wall Street Journal. The result was an early lesson in the importance of both choosing the right medium and coming up with the right advertising copy, because my second attempt resulted in a huge success, with sales nearly double the cost of the ad.

I soon worked my way up to full-page ads, and continued to run these ads in The Wall Street Journal for about nine months. This resulted in sales of about sixty-thousand books and, more important, brought me a lot of attention.

The attention brought calls from Brentano's (the most prestigious bookstore in New York City at the time), which offered to buy large quantities of my book if I would agree to put its name at the bottom of one of my ads; from Thomas Y. Crowell (later acquired by Harper & Row), which made a proposal to distribute my book to bookstores nationwide; and from Fawcett Publications (later acquired by Ballantine Books), which offered me what, at the time, seemed like an obscene sum of money to publish the book in paperback.

The book, Winning through Intimidation, ultimately climbed to #1 on the New York Times Best Seller List, which launched me into a string of three straight #1 best sellers. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that none of this would have happened had my book not been rejected by every publisher I submitted it to, because, as I subsequently learned through experience, 99 percent of books published by mainstream publishers - particularly major publishers - get zero advertising and little, if any, publicity.

So, what initially appeared to be an enormous adversity was, in fact, a hidden opportunity. All that was required of me was to apply action and resourcefulness to an apparent obstacle, and the result shocked the publishing industry.

I've repeated this same lemons-to-lemonade trick so often over the years that I've lost count of the number of times that seemingly major obstacles have turned out to be great opportunities waiting to be exploited. And the more I've done it, the more I've learned.

Best of all, each new learning experience makes it that much easier the next time around. In the words of Richard Bach, "That's what learning is, after all: not whether we lose the game, but how we lose and how we've changed because of it, and what we take away from it that we never had before, to apply to other games. Losing, in a curious way, is winning."

Number One Predictor of Your Future Wealth

By Susan Fujii

(No, it's not a robot, although that would be really cool!)

This past weekend the Kung Fu Family went to an awesome event here in the Bay Area called The Maker Faire (these events are held nationwide, and you might be able to find one in your local area).

The Maker Faire is "a two-day, family-friendly festival of invention, creativity and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the Maker movement", and let me tell you, it is a veritable feast of creativity-sort of Burning Man meets Computer Geeks meets Artists meets Musicians meets Imagination meets Productivity. Wow.

The "Maker Movement" is all about creating value for other people and being a producer instead of just a "consumer", something we are big about here at Kung Fu Finance! The movement "offers the opportunity for us to see ourselves as more than consumers; we are productive; we are creative. Everyone is a maker and our world is what we make it."

And boy, can these people make stuff!

We saw real, working 3-D printers, 3-D photographs, every type of self-powered vehicle you can dream up, a "live" R2D2, gorgeous art and fashion, amazing musical instruments, and so much more...it was a celebration of creation, and it reminded me of something I've wanted to write about for weeks-the #1 Predictor of Your Future Wealth.

Just what IS the #1 Predictor of Your Future Wealth?
I'll give you some hints:

It's not education.

It's not income.

It's not a great job.

It's not whether or not you have kids.

It's not whether or not you own your own business.

It's not intelligence. (A 2007 study published in the journal, Intelligence, showed that people with above-average IQ's are only 1.2 times as likely as those with below-average IQ's to have a high net worth.)

No, it's not any of those things (although you can make great arguments for all of them, and many of them do contribute in some way.)

So what is it?
The magical #1 predictor of your future wealth is...

Your "savings"!

It's true...that magical number between how much you produce on this planet and how much you consume on this planet (or how much you earn vs. how much you spend) is the single-most important predictor of your future wealth.

What You Produce - What You Consume = "Savings"

(And hopefully that "Savings" is a positive number!)

But wait a minute...what does "savings" have to do with the Maker Faire and with creativity and creation?

Let me show you...but first I need to go all kung fu on that horrid word, "savings".

Why I hate the word "Savings"
I have to be honest with you-I hate that word! (Gee, how do I really feel?)

But really, who actually likes that word? Let's face it-saving money is not typically thought of as "fun", and the word "saving" itself is a scarcity-based word, associated with sacrifice and with phrases like "scrimping and saving" (not fun) and "saving for a rainy day" (more scarcity...implying that you won't have "enough" when that day arrives).

Even the dictionary says that savings is "a reduction"-I'm not lying; see for yourself!

From Google Dictionary:
savings (plural of sav·ing)

Noun:

An economy of or reduction in money, time, or another resource. The money one has saved, esp. through a bank or official scheme.

Can you believe it?

YES, that's right...this definition says that savings is a "reduction in money"!

I don't know about you, but I don't want to "reduce" my money at all...I want to grow it, expand it, and blow it up until there is so much of it I can't possibly count it all! I want my money to be abundant!

But that's not what "saving" is. Saving is conserving, economizing, reducing, "scrimping", being frugal...no wonder most of us don't like to save!

When most people think of "savings" they think of only the right half of the equation-"What You Consume" (or how to save on your expenses). They struggle over their budget, clip coupons to save on grocery expenses, pack their lunch instead of eating out, and otherwise try to be frugal.

This is not a bad thing, necessarily, but it is only half of the equation!

What You Produce - What You Consume = ?

It is time to redefine "savings", much like Robert Kiyosaki redefined "assets" and "liabilities".

(Kiyosaki said assets are things that put money into your pockets, and liabilities are things that take money out of your pockets, hence why your home is not an asset. Any homeowner will tell you just how expensive a house really is and how much money gets sucked out of your pocket each month to pay your mortgage, property taxes, insurance, maintenance, remodeling expenses, and on and on!)

On the same note, "savings" doesn't fully explain the magic number equation, either-when you are "saving" money you are simply "not spending" it-it completely ignores the entire producing and earning and income side of the equation!

So, we need a new word to describe that magic number that is such an important predictor of your future wealth, one that accurately represents both sides of the equation, not just "expenses".

Something like...

What You Produce - What You Consume = Your Stored Value

Otherwise, I am going to take on mainstream finance (I know, good luck with that, Kung Fu Girl...) and change "savings" to "stored value" (or "wealth chest"...), which I believe is a much better representation of the equation (and predictor of your future wealth!) than "savings".

You should constantly be trying to maximize your stored value, both by creating more value and helping more people (which will earn you more income) and by saving on your expenses. (Both Yin and Yang are equally important!)

Hopefully, you are creating immense value for others by solving their problems, whether you own your own business and solve your customers' problems or whether you have a job and solve problems for your employer, and hopefully you aren't consuming more value than you're producing. (But if you are, fear not...heck, even the government is trillions of dollars in debt!)

So what is then left over from all of this awesome value you've created and not spent?

Why the value you're storing for the future, of course- your stored value, your wealth chest, the money that will become your investing capital and build your future wealthy empire!

I have to be honest with you-I almost titled this article "What to Do if You Suck at Saving Money", and I hope by now the answer is clear-don't focus just on "saving" (which is really "how not to spend money" or "how to save money on your expenses by paying for them more cheaply"). Instead, focus on your income, too-on creating value for other people, just like the Makers do!

And then, store up all of that extra value you've created by helping other people (congratulations!) and build your awesome wealthy empire!

(And then PLEASE take over the world...we could really use someone with some sense to run this place!)

The Best Advice a Father Can Give

By Matt Furey

It hit me like a ton of bricks.

I couldn't believe I'd missed it before. I'd read the book many, many times - but this time was different. A secret was revealed to me - and today I'm going to give it to you.

If you are open and receptive to what you are about to read, you can expect a major breakthrough.

Here it is:
"Psychologist David Seabury says that the best piece of advice his father ever gave him was to practice positive mental imagery - immediately and 'on cue,' so to speak, whenever he became aware of negative feelings. Negative feelings literally defeated themselves by becoming a sort of 'bell' which set off a conditioned reflex to arouse positive states of mind."

Now read that passage again. It comes from the 35-million-copy bestseller, Psycho-Cybernetics. Pay particular attention to the words "the best piece of advice his father ever gave him." Why? Because whenever something is "the best piece of advice" someone can give you - especially your father - you know it's got to be good.

In reading this passage, I not only see it as the best advice I can give my son - but myself, and everyone I teach at my seminars and in my coaching programs.

Many people wonder why I am always so calm, cool, and collected. Many wonder how I am able to speak before a crowd in such a nonchalant, totally relaxed way and still have everyone totally riveted.

It's mostly because I have no thoughts of resistance when I speak. I'm not concerned about offending anyone. I'm not even trying to get people to like me. I am simply ME, take it or leave it.

Very few people are like this. They're always trying to figure out how to get others to approve of them or like them. Not good. Because the more you NEED others to like you the less they will like you.

Same goes with money. The more you NEED it, the more it will stay away from you. Money and friends go where they are wanted - not where they are needed. There is a world of difference between want and need. One attracts. The other repels.

Want comes from a vibration of "I'm happy already and I'd like to have this, too." Need comes from a vibration of "I'm miserable and frustrated and I need this thing to make me happy."

Become aware of negative NEED feelings when they arise. And when they do, learn, through practice, to have those feelings immediately trigger the thought to change your vibration into a "feel good" one.

Most people have never been taught to do this by their fathers - or by anyone else. They've been taught to set goals, to have a burning desire, to be optimistic and have a positive attitude.

But what do you do when you look at the state of your finances and you feel bad? What do you do when the reality of your situation begins to ruin your day? What do you do when you're feeling frustrated, fearful, and worried? You do what Dr. Seabury's father told him to do... and what I'm telling you to do.

First, you "recognize" that you are feeling bad.

Second, you understand that this "feel bad" vibration REPELS what you say you want. Your want is not a want. It's a need that comes with the expectation that something outside of yourself will make you happy.

Third, you recognize that this "feel bad" imagery sends a signal to the Universe that you cannot be happy "for no particular reason." And that's not good.

There is a balancing act between having a burning desire and having a desire that burns you.

Having a burning desire creates the necessary mindset that will attract the thing you want. On the other hand, if the desire is connected to "I'm miserable unless I have this thing" - then you are chasing success and that success will always run faster than you do.

Your objective is to attract success, not chase it. Chasing success is repelling success. You never get what you are chasing.

Several years ago, a man sent me an e-mail in which he accused me of "chasing the almighty dollar." He was wrong. At that point in my life, I couldn't even form a mental image of myself doing what he said I was doing.

When I did chase the almighty dollar - and I did it for years - I had no money. When I stopped chasing and learned to attract it, it flowed into my life so fast I was nearly knocked over.

The forces of attraction and repulsion are always at play. Whether you attract more than you repel or repel more than you attract is simply a matter of how strong those forces are. If your repelling energy is stronger, you go deeper into debt. If your attraction energy is stronger, you get wealthier. If both are equally strong, you feel "stuck."

Now the question is... what do you do if you are repelling more than you're attracting?

The answer:

1. You change the way you feel by changing the mental picture you have of your situation.

Every time you feel a negative emotion, you sound the alarm in your head. "Uh, oh. Not good. Change the mental picture to a positive one." You do this over and over, and before long the feel-bad vibe lasts less than a second and you're back to feeling good.

2. You begin each day with exercises that help you go through the whole day without resistance.

You don't just read inspirational messages and books. You stand in front of the mirror and tell yourself what you want. You picture what you want when you speak. You recall previous successes and link them to your future.

3. You have a burning desire in mind, a goal.

You don't expect the goal to give you happiness. You don't let the desire for it burn you by feeling bad that you don't yet have it. In fact, even though you WANT the goal, you are able to "walk away" from it emotionally. If, for example, you want more money - you don't expect more money to give you happiness. You simply want more money - and you put yourself into happiness mode NOW.

If you're happy even though you don't yet have in your possession the thing you want - then you are attracting it to you.

If you're unhappy because you don't yet have in your possession the thing you NEED - then you are repelling it.

So get happy NOW.

Recognize that fear, frustration, and angst are only there to help you change course. They're there to help you see that your mental picture is off-target. Put the right mental image back onto the screen of your mind and watch how the Universe lines things up in your favor.

How is your ability to make the sale?

 KEY POINT OF UNDERSTANDING: Selling is NOT manipulating. Selling is harmonizing.

Oh, you can occasionally make a manipulative sale. But if you're still in the 1970's trying to "find the pain," or "sell an up-front contract," or "make a cold call," or "close the sale," you're toast. Sales toast.

Here are the BEST ways to make a sale:

• The best way to make a sale is to have your reputation precede you by word of mouth from your Google ranking, and from your business social media presence.
• The best way to make a sale is to be known as a valued resource before you start.
• The best way to make a sale is to be friendly before you start.
• The best way to make a sale is to meet with the CEO or actual decision maker.
• The best way to make a sale is not to be salesey, or cocky, or condescending.
• The best way to make a sale is to find some common ground before you start the selling process.
• The best way to make a sale is to ask intelligent, emotionally engaging questions that draw out both needs and buying motives.
• The best way to make a sale is to walk into the meeting with two ideas that favor the customer.
• The best way to make a sale is to have done pre-call preparation in terms of the customer.
• The best way to make a sale is to convey value rather than features and benefits.
• The best way to make a sale is to focus on how they profit and produce.
• The best way to make a sale is to focus on outcomes and ownership.
• The best way to make a sale is to relax throughout the entire sales conversation.
• The best way to make a sale is to respond in a heartbeat.
• The best way to make a sale is to make yourself available when a customer needs you.
• The best way to make a sale is to support and prove all your claims with video testimonials from existing customers who love you and are loyal to you.
• The best way to make a sale is to ask for a date of beginning, or some type of commitment to move forward, AFTER you are certain you have removed all risks and removed all barriers from your prospect's buying process.
• The best way to make a sale is to have multiple relationships at different levels and departments within the same company.
• The best way to make a sale is to earn the status of trusted advisor.
• The best way to make a sale is to create an atmosphere where the customer wants to buy.
• The best way to make a sale is to make the passion of your belief transferrable.

And there are questions you must ask yourself that enable the list of the BEST ways to make a sale:

• Am I always achieving my PERSONAL best?
• Am I always PREPARING to be my best for every sales call?
• Is my ATTITUDE set on positive, and geared for positive outcomes?
• Is my BELIEF in my product, my company, and myself always at the highest level?
• Do I believe in my HEART that the customer is better off having purchased from me?
• Am I always doing my BEST for every customer, every time?

REALITY: As a customer, I do NOT need a salesman. I need productivity, an idea, morale, a profit provider, and a trusted advisor.

Is that you?

Make Your Dreams Come True

By Ryan Murdoch

I've spent most of my life learning how to make my dreams come true. It's my passion and my obsession. Today I want to share my Top 5 Lifestyle Strategies so you can do the same.

This stuff doesn't require superhuman effort and it isn't restricted to a fortunate few. I came from a town of 4,500 people. My dad worked in a factory as a plumber and steamfitter. I had bad grades in high school, and got kicked out more times than I can count. I went to a mediocre university, worked for minimum wage (and less), and was down to the last $15 in my wallet on more than one occasion.

Today I've got a very successful business and a hot wife. My writing is regularly published in Canada's largest travel magazine. And I live in a 400 year old palazzo on an island in the Mediterranean. I spend every day doing the things I love, with people I respect, to create products and art I believe in.

I had no special talents or advantages. Anyone can do this stuff--including YOU.

Start by focusing on these 5 strategies.

1. Get Clear on Your Purpose

Want to make your dreams come true? Clarifying your purpose is the single most effective thing you can possibly do.

Having a clear understanding of your purpose allows you to make decisions quickly and easily. It keeps your goals on track. It helps you avoid mistakes and keeps you out of trouble. And it forms a simple quick-reference checklist for evaluating any commitment or action.

Everything in your life is oriented around the compass needle of your purpose. If you're not sure what your purpose is, don't worry. That's normal. Get a notebook and pen and write down the vision for your life. Watch Craig's video here for help.

And remember: your Purpose must be relevant to you. Why? Because its YOUR purpose. Why should you "do more to serve your community" or "build those six pack abs" or "enrich your vocabulary by reading the classics" if you don't care about those things? Don't buy the tripe that they sell ya. This short life is yours to live as you see fit. Get comfortable with yourself, and know that it's okay to like the things you like and to pursue your own path.

2. Follow a Plan

You might reach a goal or two through guesswork and intuition, but that's just luck at best. And without a map you'll probably circumnavigate the globe to walk across the street.

Maximize your effectiveness--and keep your weaknesses in check--by following a plan.

It's actually pretty simple to chart your way to any goal IF you use these two strategies: deadlines and accountability.

Deadlines force you to get serious, to meet your targets, and to own up when you're not staying true to your plan. Without firm deadlines it's too easy to make excuses, to get caught up in endless email checking loops, or to sidetrack yourself with busywork that has nothing to do with your goal.

And that's where accountability comes in. You need some way to keep yourself on track. I'm not saying you're going to lie to yourself and dream up all these great stories about things you've never really done--although I've known a few people who fall into that trap. I'm saying memory is fallible, and it's easy to imagine you're accomplishing more than you really are, just because you're "working on it." A system of accountability gives you a way to track your progress.

These are your tools. Use them and you can accomplish any task you set for yourself.

3. Houseclean Your Life

Recognize that you can't possibly do everything, and you can't be all things to all people.

Know also that in choosing to do one thing, you're also choosing not to do an awful lot of other things. Commit to people, actions or things only when they're in line with Item 1 on this list--your Purpose.

For most of us, that requires some housecleaning...

It's important to "clean house" on a regular basis, and to remove from your life those material things, practices and relationships that are no longer aligned with your goals. That includes people who drag you down, who you spend time with out of sheer obligation, who prey on your good nature, or who pull you back into bad habits when you're trying to change.

Remove the superfluous from your life, and like a sculptor carve away absolutely everything that doesn't match the ideal vision in your head. When you do, new opportunities you never imagined will rush in to fill that space. You'll find it much easier to focus on those things that truly matter to you, and those dreams you're determined to make come true. If you're clear on your Purpose, you'll also find it much easier to keep fresh clutter out of your life.

Remember to pause every 4 to 6 months to reassess. Clutter has a way of creeping back in, just like dust in a room. Houseclean any new distractions and get back on track.

4. Embrace Responsibility for Your Life

I think it needs to be said flat out, because so much of society sends us the opposite message. YOU are responsible for yourself. Responsible for what you do. Responsible for who you are. Responsible for the way you face the world and deal with it. You aren't a victim of your childhood or your past or your circumstances--unless you choose to be. There are no excuses.

That's a tremendously empowering realization, or at least it was for me. When I realized I was responsible for myself, I stopped making excuses and I stopped waiting for others to help me. Instead, I started changing my life.

No, it's not easy. Nothing worthwhile is. But it DOES get easier if you're clear about your purpose and you embrace it with passion. When you're driven by that purpose, when every action you take is aligned with it, it's easy to stay on track and nail every goal you set for yourself.

5. Focus on Direct Alternatives

The actions you take to solve a particular problem or to make a change in your life break down into two categories: direct actions and indirect actions.

Indirect actions are things that require the cooperation of other people. In other words, they aren't entirely in your control. If you think the only way for you to be happy is for your spouse to work out with you, then you've based your happiness on an indirect solution to your needs.

Direct actions, on the other hand, are actions that you can take right now. They don't require asking permission. They don't require changing the world. They don't require attempting to force someone else to do something.

When it comes to setting goals, all or almost all the steps you take toward your goal should be based on direct actions. That puts YOU firmly in control of your own destiny. To do anything less is to hand someone else control of your life.

So that's it. There's no magic potion. Dreams aren't bestowed from above. You have to reach out and take them. All it requires is hard work, strategy and the determination to see it through.

These 5 Lifestyle Strategies worked for me, and they'll work for anyone. Embrace them and you'll be well on your way to creating the life you've always dreamed of.

The Critical Missing Factor

I started this writing process by pouring over the files from past clients - both successes and failures.

From those files, I compiled a list of red flags indicating the failed clients possessed a flawed thinking process. Then on the flipside, I created a list of my most successful clients and what factors helped them achieve that success.

I quickly discovered my most successful clients and I shared a way of thinking - a similar perspective, a philosophy about what really causes success in life and business.

Their thinking literally determined their level of success in everything.

Why This is More Important Than Ever

Here's the good news: This successful way of thinking is not something you're born with - it's something you develop.

If you do have a flawed way of thinking that's holding you back, you can fix it. (And I'll tell you how in just a second.)

This is the idea that shook me awake at 3 am: The fastest, easiest, and biggest leap an underperforming business or entrepreneur could make to improve their results and grow their profits... is to change their thinking.

Or in short, think better.

And in 2012, if you can learn how to improve your thinking, you will definitely have a competitive advantage.

It's more important than ever to be a good strategic thinker - and it's also more difficult.

We're living in the Information Age, where you're inundated with information. As an entrepreneur, you must be able to sift through that information, find what's important, and then maximize that information's value - better than your competitors.

All that takes strategic business thinking.

How to Think Your Way to a Better Business

Most entrepreneurs don't realize there is a process to successful business thinking - just like there's a process to thinking like a medical doctor, engineer or lawyer.

That's why they don't realize that every stumbling block in their business is a lesson. Learning that lesson challenges you to think differently.

But it's more than just painful trial and error. There are shortcuts to better thinking you can use.

Once you hear these shortcuts, you'll not only see more clearly, think more creatively, and plan more effectively. You'll also never make most of the mistakes that plague entrepreneur's lives when they succumb to faulty thinking.

Here are a few of the shortcuts I give my clients...

First, I highly recommend keeping a journal. I've been keeping a journal to record my business success and failures for over 25 years now. It's how I think through everything...and challenge myself to be a better thinker.

What to write in your journal: I'm a visual person so I use diagrams and mindmapping to think through any new projects. I also use my journal to grade my performance on how I did during the week... outline and define goals... and stay the course when I feel like I'm in a rut.

Questions to get you started: For all new clients I always challenge them to answer the following questions in their journals. I ask: "What exactly do you want from your business? What's the absolute minimum necessary to have it? What's the fastest and easiest way to get it?"

The last three questions sound deceptively simple, but they're incredibly important. Trust me when I say knowing the answers to these questions will help you reach success faster than any course or program you can buy.

Because if you knew exactly what you wanted - and the specific steps that would get you there - wouldn't you agree that you would have what you wanted by now?

As I tell my clients: you must focus on the what before you can focus on the how to. You must be clear on exactly what you want, so you can map out the steps to get you there.

So take a moment right now, and start writing down your goals for your business (or your life in general). Then start outlining what it would take to achieve those goals - and the quickest ways to make those goals a reality. Take your time and give your answers some thought.

Remember: Thinking can be your strategic competitive advantage. Don't waste it.

 

How Can One Control the Mental Attitude?
by Napoleon Hill

The starting point of control of the mental attitude is motive and desire. No one ever does anything without a motive, or motives, and the stronger the motive the easier it is to control the mental attitude.

Mental attitude can be influenced and controlled by a number of factors, such as:

(1) By a BURNING DESIRE for the attainment of a definite purpose based upon one or more of the nine basic motives which activate all human endeavor.

(2) By conditioning the mind to automatically choose and carry out definite postive objectives, with the aid of the EIGHT GUIDING PRINCES, or some similar technique which will keep the mind busily engaged with positive objectives, when one is asleep as well as when one is awake.

(3) By close association with people who inspire active engagement in positive purposes, and refusal to be influenced by negative-minded people.

(4) By auto-suggestion through which the mind is constantly given positive directives until it attracts only that for which these directives call.

(5) By a profound recognition, through its adoption and use, of the individual's exclusive privilege of controlling and directing his own mind.

(6) By the aid of a machine by which the subconscious mind can be given definite directives whole one sleeps.

Gaining Small Advantages to Win the Sales Game

Excerpted from Rules of the Hunt

Much like winning a game of chess, succeeding in sales and business rarely comes from one brilliant masterstroke. Both winning at chess and succeeding in sales, business and life itself comes as the result of avoiding pitfalls and gaining an accumulation of small advantages. Advantages that include an understanding of the nuances of human behavior, subtle ways to motivate people and the many small but powerful secrets that successful leaders know.

Business, especially sales and entrepreneurship, is a brass tacks world that requires having insights that are gained only by real-world experience. Some call this street smarts or tricks of the trade but these descriptions fall far short of what I'm talking about.

Here are just a few examples of ideas that will help you succeed.

Let's not do lunch.

You'll get more done over a breakfast meeting than you will at lunch or dinner. The ideas discussed at a breakfast have a greater chance of being implemented that day rather than those discussed at the later lunch and even later dinner.

Lunches are the second choice, but since they occur midday, peoples' energy and attention, to some degree, are winding down, especially after the meal is finished.

A business dinner is excellent if it is strictly a social event. It's far more difficult to stick to an agenda at a business dinner because dinner is associated with end-of-the-day leisure, and alcohol is often consumed.

Don't ask what their budget is; tell them what it is.

I was looking to buy a used truck for my small ranch. I didn't need anything fancy, just something functional for hauling firewood, fertilizer, and feed.

I drove past a used car lot and saw an old Ford truck which looked like a perfect candidate for the job. I stopped and was looking the truck over when a salesman approached. I asked him the price of the truck. He responded by asking, "How much do you want to pay?" Not wanting to play the salesman's games, I thanked him and quickly left.

Similarly, one of the lamest questions I'm asked by vendors while inquiring about their service is, "What's your budget for this?"

My response is always, "I won't be able to formulate a budget until I know what your charges are." I sometimes add, "How will knowing my budget help you determine your price?"

It is always better to tell potential clients their cost early on in a business conversation. This establishes your honesty. You'll quickly learn whether it's in their budget or not.

It's not what you say; it's how you say it!

Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind. — Rudyard Kipling

Persuasive speakers communicate by using positive language. For example, instead of saying, "We can't ship your order until next Tuesday," say, "We can ship your order as early as next Tuesday." What a difference! Put yourself in the listener's shoes. Which version is more appealing? The habit of using positive speech has helped me to achieve more than I ever thought possible. You can practice this skill all the time, too. Practice makes perfect. Use it, not only with prospects, but with coworkers, family and friends as well.

Why Small Bites Trump Multi-Tasking

By Matt White

At a press conference early in his presidency, Dwight Eisenhower was asked for the name of his favorite author. "Harry Sinclair Drago," said Eisenhower.

The reporters looked puzzled. They obviously hadn't heard of Drago, even though he'd written several classics of western fiction, including Suzanna: A Romance of Early California and Whispering Sage.

So they asked Eisenhower for his second favorite. "Bliss Lomax," replied Eisenhower. If nothing else, this proved that Eisenhower was consistent, because that was a pen name used by, you guessed it, Harry Sinclair Drago.

Drago used at least eight additional pen names. He needed all those names because he wrote a lot. Over the course of his career, he wrote short stories, screenplays, articles, and more than a hundred novels. More than three full-length novels a year for 30 years.

When Syracuse University announced that it would be the custodian of Drago's papers, the thing that seemed to fascinate reporters the most was the amount he wrote. One of them asked him: "How did you write over a hundred books?"

"Four pages a day," replied Drago.

One Bite at a Time

Harry Sinclair Drago knew that, often, the secret of accomplishing big things is to break the big task into lots of small tasks. There's an old joke that illustrates the point.

Question: "How do you eat an elephant?"

Answer: "One bite at a time."

You can make it a big bite or a small one. I bet Drago didn't start out writing four pages a day. It might have been as little as one hundred words.

By breaking your big projects into little action steps and doing at least one step a day, you can accomplish great things. Just don't keep all your action steps in your head.

Get Out of Your Head

I've met people who get the "baby steps" concept, but they still don't get anywhere because they never get to the action part. They come up with action steps like "Think about the plot for the novel" or "Analyze marketing options."

Those sound like action steps, but they're not. They don't result in real action. Real action is something out in the physical world that others can witness.

Instead of "Think about the plot for the novel," try "Draft plot outline." Instead of "Analyze marketing options," try creating several specific action steps. They might include: "List three sources of information," "Contact source A," and "Prepare report on costs and benefits."

Make a call. Make a list. Send an e-mail. Write a report. Do something. If you make it visible, you won't fool yourself about whether you're making progress. And to keep things moving, define action steps that are small enough that you're sure to succeed.

Make It Small Enough to Get You Going

You're more likely to succeed at small, easy action steps. So when you're feeling overwhelmed by all the things, or the big thing, you have to do, make your action steps smaller and easier. One clue that you need to break your goal into smaller chunks is when you find yourself procrastinating.

Say that you know you need to get the house painted, but you're not doing anything about it. So make it smaller.

What's the first thing you need to do?

It could be: "Get some estimates."

If getting estimates is still blocking you, make your next action step even smaller. Try: "Call three painting companies."

If you're still procrastinating, choose a smaller step. How about: "Make a list of five painting companies to call?"

At some point, you'll be down to an action step that moves you forward but isn't so big it stops you in your tracks. That gets you moving and gives you momentum.

Savor the Small Wins

The principle of using small wins to build psychological momentum was presented in a Ph.D. dissertation at Stanford University in 1977. The theory: It works because it's a truly brain-friendly concept.

When someone praises you, you feel good because your brain produces a chemical called dopamine. When you praise yourself by checking off a completed action step, you get the same physiological result. As you achieve one small win after another, you find it easier and easier to take the action steps that generate the wins.

One way to keep things moving is to keep score.

At the end of every day, Ben Franklin would ask himself: "What good have I done this day?" You can ask the question: "What have I done today to move my life and career forward?"

Think about the action steps you took today. Think about how they helped you achieve your goals. Savor your victories.

Remember that success usually isn't a result of achieving great big things all at once. Eat the elephant of a big achievement one bite at a time.

Identify the next small step. Make it visible. Reward yourself for achievement. Then identify the next small action step.