This is the bold question that faced me when I first came upon a new success product.

It’s called The Science of Success, and the author asks the tough questions… but also gives good answers!

Why is it we always want success and good things to come easily? There is no ‘magic formula’, and I have come to see that there are certain ways of acting, thinking and just being that cause a person to be successful. The good news is, you don’t have to be ‘born with it’. There’s actually no such thing! If there was, then anyone born into money and opportunity would be successful, and we all know of wealthy kids who are anything but happy and successful.

So, what does it take? Along with the following tips I can offer, the next step would be to check out the Science of Success and decide for yourself.

• Mindset: Can you say unequivocally that you have the mindset for success? If you have then you are well on your way. If you are wondering what this means, think things like perseverance, persistence, open-mindedness, opportunity-seeking, fair and ethical, driven, focused and dedicated.

• Action-Orientation: People who succeed know what they want. They make firm decisions based on intelligent research and knowing their own limits and capacities. Then they ACT. Consistently and with drive and passion. Until the job is done. Period.

• Learning: Despite all that has been said above, people on track for success are life-long learners. They realize they can’t possibly know everything there is to know. They are constantly looking for ways to refine their way of doing things, and rather than resenting someone who has what they have yet to acquire, they choose to learn. They look at someone else’s accomplishment as encouragement in what they can do themselves, and they look to see what they can gain from studying the success of others.

Good luck! (Remember, a wise man once said ‘good luck’ is when preparedness meets opportunity!)

Shauna Arthurs is a writer/editor, and Co-founder/Owner of a network of web-based businesses, including Daily Motivation. Get your daily boost!

Being true to yourself requires courage and conviction in the face of family and friends challenging your actions or ideas.

At times there are unexpected challenges to your choosing to focus your time and energy on achieving your life passions. The challenges often come from trusted family members and friends who can’t see any value in something you believe and know is really important to you.

What I observed from my own experience taught me the importance of not getting caught at the level of the challenge.

Having recently completed the certification training to become a Passion Test Facilitator, I came home quite intent on moving forward to help people create more joy and fulfillment in their lives. I looked around my home environment and realized I needed to find or create a space where I could sit and read or write content for my websites.

This was a major challenge. So, I determined that I would eliminate extra boxes of paper and storage items in one room of my home. The room was quite busy with piles of paper, magazines and lots of items needing further action.

In a nine-day period of time, I managed to empty and recycle the contents of about 20 boxes of mostly paper. The new space created in that room provided the area that I needed to be able to sit and just allow myself to be creative. I was quite elated with what I had achieved and how wonderful the room felt energetically.

When I told a trusted friend about my enormous step forward, I was immediately hit with, “You should be making money. You should be making money.” The statement was repeated about 5 times in a row with no notice of how I felt about what I had accomplished. No attention was paid to my reaction to what my friend was saying to me.

Needless to say, my powerful feelings of having accomplished something that supported my need to make money got zapped in a major way. I became defocused for a short time. My focus on achieving my passion to help others create more fulfillment and joy was diverted by the disappointment I felt when my friend did not share in my powerful feelings created by my accomplishment.

Stepping back from the level of the challenge, I was able to learn some valuable insights. In order to get these insights, I first had to consciously reclaim my power from both my friend and from the situation.

Major Insights Gained

o My energy was zapped when I gave my power away to my friend.

o I was expecting approval and celebration when I’d completed my task. In living life, there is no guarantee that anyone will approve of what I do.

o My friend was not trying to zap my enthusiasm. He was expressing his concern for my financial well-being.

o I was only impacted by my friend’s reaction because I allowed that to happen. Giving my power away just meant that I was working on feeling more confident about having taken those action steps forward.

Choosing to look at this experience to discover what lessons can be learned enables me to take a broader perspective. I know my friend cares about my well being. Nothing has changed my intention to follow my own path forward. I am very clear about what I choose to accomplish.

And, I am truly grateful to my friend for providing me the opportunity to reinforce the clarity of my intentions!

My finding the lessons above plus choosing to stay focused on my top passions enabled me to rise above the level of the challenge. This approach also made it much easier to reclaim my power from my friend and from the situation.

Essentially I had made two steps forward and one step back. The one step back gave me more awareness of my own inner strength and my focus to continue on my path toward achieving my life passions.

Stay clear, focused and alert to what lessons can be learned as you follow your passions. As you do this, your life passions lead you forward to fulfilling your life destiny. Fulfilling your life destiny brings you more happiness, joy and a true sense of fulfillment.

For more tips and tools on discovering and living your life passions, you are invited to visit http://www.ThePassionTestCoachOnline.com

From Virginia Fischer, The Passion Test Coach

For many years, I was a late riser. I loved to sleep in. Then things changed, because I had to wake up between 6-6:30 a.m. to fix my kids’ lunches and get them ready for school. But last year, when I decided to train for my first marathon, I decided that I needed to start running in the mornings if I was to have any time left for my family.

So, I set out to make waking up early a habit. I started by getting up at 5:30 a.m., then at 5 a.m. When that became a habit, and I had to wake up at 4 a.m. or 3:30 a.m. for an early long run, it wasn’t a problem. And last November, when I decided to participate in NaNoWriMo, I decided to get up at 4 a.m. to write for at least an hour a day. Now that I completed that novel-writing goal, I don’t need to wake that early anymore, but have settled on a happy compromise of waking at 4:30 a.m. Some days, when I’m really tired (if I go to sleep late), I’ll wake at 5:00 or 5:30, but that’s still earlier than I used to wake up.

Here are my tips for becoming an early riser:

Read more posts by Leo Babauta at Zen Habits, including popular ones on keeping your inbox empty, clearing your desk, and the Top 20 Motivation Hacks.

It was a bright spring morning in the city that has earned the name Hotlanta. I sauntered out of my Doraville apartment to downtown Atlanta to join the throng of faithfuls awaiting the arrival the American Idol. The soaring popularity of Democratic front runner for the US presidential election of 2008 Barack Obama and his larger-than-life-profile is what led a New York Times reviewer of his book The Audacity of Hope to give him the title awarded to the winner of Americans popular TV program American Idol.

Obama, an African American whose father is Kenyan and the mother a white American, has gripped the attention of the whole nation as he rose to prominence in the race for the democratic nomination virtually outclassing hitherto uncontested favorite Hillary Clinton.

Obama was to appear at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) this Saturday morning, April 14, for a rally and I was not to be left behind in the mad rush to see this newly minted American celebrity-cum-political-genius. By the time I arrived at Georgia Tech there was already a huge crowd bustling and rocking to the rhythm of music pouring out from the flutes and drums of the Clark Atlanta Marching Band. It was a long wait before the MC for the day appeared announcing Obama’s arrival but she wanted us to shout out loud showing our excitement before she would invite her guest on to the stage.

The MC left the stage treating us to some more music but this time, the sounds of Stevie Wonder’s “Signed Sealed Delivered” played over the giant speakers. Then came the Reverend Dr. Joseph Larry, a civil rights activist, who was to lead us into prayers saying that Obama “seeks spiritual guidance as he wages this campaign to seek executive leadership of this nation.” That is when I picked a pen and started noting down what lessons of personal achievement could be learnt from Obama’s speech.

My first thought is that prayer is important in the pursuit of success. So always seek guidance when setting your goals and when going out to get them. In the words of the late Dr. Norman Vincent Peale “Prayer Releases Power”!

A daughter of former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson then led the gathering into singing the US national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner.

Then came the event that everyone was waiting for. Obama took the stage charging the whole park with pulsating enthusiasm. “Thank you, than you so much”, he chanted, saying that it was so wonderful to have such a mammoth crowd gather to listen to him; “There is something stirring in this country”! He started by saying that the country was yearning for change. As I refocused my mind on the significance of his message to success for the individual, I noted another quote that “we do not believe that we can make a change.” There lies the problem, I said to myself. Most people are not satisfied with their current condition but at the same time they do not believe that they can make a change.

As Obama continued with his eloquent oratory he emphasized the need for people to keep HOPE alive. Yes, HOPE is the eternal elixir that will keep you moving in the face of any odds. He said to an uproar of applause that “ordinary people can do extraordinary things.”

And then my mind floated to the thought of a gentleman who was born in a city called HOPE in Arkansas. He was a man who kept HOPE in him as he dreamed about becoming the President of the United Sates, in spite of such great odds as the lack of money and having to campaign against a son of the most powerful family in the world, William Jefferson Clinton became President of the United States of American. He then moved on to become one of the most popular faces on planet earth as he spreads millions of dollars helping the sick and under-privileged around the world through the Bill Clinton Foundation.

Continuing with his message of Hope, Obama advised the crowd that with HOPE they can change their challenges into opportunities. And indeed he was telling us something that he knew a lot about. When he started his bid for the Democratic Party’s nomination, he was told by many people that he had a lot of good prospects as a young lawyer and a graduate of Harvard. They told him that politics is too nasty for him to get into. But Obama knows very well that no one can tell him what he should do. Indeed he has risen against the odds to become such a towering figure on the national stage. That is what it takes to claim your place in this world.

Keep HOPE alive with persistence and move forward in your positive direction. No one knows enough to tell you what you should do. Chart your own course out of your dreams and keep on moving.

As Obama proceeded with his speech presenting his program and his plans for a new America, if he is elected into office, he kept repeating one phrase that I finally dubbed his chorus for the day: it can be done! And that word CAN is the greatest tool for anyone who wants to build a great future for themself.

At the end of the rally as the people dispersed a big crowd gathered around Obama some trying to get him to autograph their copies for his book while others like me struggled for a handshake. Indeed it was tough to get to him with his team of security personnel but I did everything with HOPE that I will have my brush with history this day. I stood on my toes and extended my hand across the group that stood in front of me all trying to get to the man. I guess he must have seen the HOPE shining in my eyes that I will surely shake hands with him, he extended his hand to reach out and I had a grab and a warm handshake with Obama! It was the perfect ending for me for such a great day.

Coming home in a train I met two old African American ladies with balloons and other Obama 08 paraphernalia. I wondered what must have been the motivation for them to leave their house this hot morning to come to see Obama. The only answer could be “the audacity of hope”. Curious, I asked one of them “do you think obama will make it to the white house?” Her answer was short, precise and pregnant with meaning: We HOPE!

Yes, HOPE is what keeps Obama going and HOPE is the message he brought us. HOPE is what you need in your pursuit of success in life. With time hope does crystallize into faith, and with prayers even mountains will yield to the determined man who keeps on pushing with the audacity of hope.

I parted with the two old ladies and took the final part of my journey home by bus still ruminating about my encounter with Barrack Obama. His words still ringing in my ears; His concluding words were that we should “kick off our bedroom slippers and put on the marching shoes”!

I’d better put down my pen now and put on my marching shoes to move forward in my positive direction!

Momodou Sabally is the author of “Instant Success: The Ten Commandments of Personal Achievement and The Road to Enduring Riches”, which has been featured on BBC Radio. He has developed a series of articles for instant self-motivation available FREE http://www.mlsabally.com/. His articles will help you generate motivation and enthusiasm for success instantly.

Business owners and professionals who struggle to manage the demands of their work and personal life on a daily basis all have one thing in common: feeling overwhelmed by trying to do too many things for too many people. You can’t be it all and do it all, so it is important to choose wisely. Clarifying your focus is essential.

There is a simple strategy in business that applies to life, as well. Successful businesses have a clear mission statement that guides ALL activities of the business. The mission statement provides clarity of focus.

Consider this: When you want a hamburger fast, you go to McDonald’s. McDonald’s mission statement is: “McDonald’s vision is to be the world’s best quick service restaurant experience.” Their mission statement guides ALL decisions about business activities and keeps the business focused. McDonald’s has never tried to provide a fine dining experience. You don’t go to McDonald’s for a fine dining experience. You go elsewhere when you want that.

Having a mission statement in your business helps you to make the important choices on a daily basis that allow you to stay focused and deliver a quality product or service. The same applies in life.

What is your mission statement for your life? Knowing your purpose in life helps you to “clear the decks” and focus on what is important. Your life purpose helps you to make the decisions on a daily basis about how you will spend your time. Your life purpose clarifies your focus. You can’t do it all, so choose wisely.

What is your life purpose? Simple question. Big answer. Your answer has broad implications for how you run your life and career. Although it may be hard to put words to your life purpose initially, with some reflection, it becomes clearer. Coaching can be helpful in clarifying your life purpose to keep you focused. And, when you work from your life purpose, work becomes effortless. You can’t help but be successful.

Small business and life coach, Sabrina Schleicher, Ph.D., helps you work smarter, experience more success, and have more fun! Get your FREE e-course: 7 INSIDE SECRETS OF ELITE PERFORMERS at http://www.tapthepotential.com

“My mother always told me I’d never amount to anything because I procrastinate,”says comedian Judy Tenuda. “I told her - just wait!”

Have you found that, despite your best intentions, you avoid taking the actions that will ensure your success? If you do, you’re one of a growing number of people having a tough time staying on track.

It took psychologist Piers Steel ten years to conclude that, more than ever before, we are a nation of procrastinators. According to his research, since 1978, the percentage of Americans who think of themselves as procrastinators has risen from 5% to 26%.

Steel attributes this trend to the increasing availability of fascinating and enjoyable distractions, including email, Blackberries, and iPods. Working on goals like exercising daily can be uncomfortable, strenuous, and hard to fit into your schedule. It’s easier to find a few minutes for Freecell than 30 minutes for a walk around the block.

As a business and life coach, it is my experience that there is much that we can do to get past this tendency to delay. I’m working with three clients who are writing books. They’re doing this while working full-time at other jobs. Their creative time is too precious to be frittered away. Nonetheless, they have all succumbed to the temptation to veer off course. They’ve lost momentum by devoting too much time to volunteer commitments and/or by spending too many hours in front of their TV or computer.

Fortunately, through coaching, they have learned strategies for staying focused. They broke their unproductive habits and you can too. Here are 3 tips to ensure that you stop procrastinating and keep moving forward:

1. Clarify — what do you want and why is it important to you?

To break procrastination, you’re going to have to self-motivate. No one else can do it for you. Clarifying what you want and the benefits of achieving it can help move you forward. If, for example, you want to make better food choices - visualize what it will feel and look like once you’re consistently eating fresher, healthier meals. Describe your goal in writing. Be specific. Set a target date for reaching it. Review your goals daily. Share them with friends. The clearer you get, and the more you reinforce your wish, the more likely that you’ll succeed.

2.Underpromise and overdeliver

When you persevere, you stick to your commitments despite the temptation to sidetrack. Even if you stray, don’t give up. Forgive yourself and get back on course. I’ve been coaching a woman who is working on a project. For several years she went into a slump and her work slowed to a halt. Now that Spring has arrived, she’s become more willing to pick it up again. A strategy that she’s found helpful is to ‘underpromise and overdeliver.’ She had to give up the unrealistic expectation that she could jump back in and work the way she had before. Instead, she needed to ‘underpromise’ by making small time commitments (5-10 minutes!) and then stick to them. If she ‘overdelivers’ and works for longer, that’s great - but it’s not required. Using this strategy, she has rebuilt momentum. Because she persevered and didn’t give up, she’s well on the road to completion.

3. Get Support

It’s all too easy to rationalize your way out of showing up for your commitments. To stop procrastinating and stay on track, build an ongoing support system. One of the most effective ways to get quality support is by working with a professional/life coach. Making a commitment to your coach is like making a commitment to yourself. Often, it’s actually more effective. By working with a coach, you’ll take yourself and your work more seriously. You’ll be more productive, stay focused and on track.

A business buddy can also be a helpful source of support. This is a friend or colleague who, like you, has something they want to achieve and who is ready to partner up with you to ensure their success. You and your buddy can meet in person or by phone on a regular basis. You’ll share wins, challenges and help each other develop strategies to ensure that you both keep moving forward toward your respective goals.

Millie Calesky is a business and life coach who inspires and guides professionals, entrepreneurs, and small business owners to reach for and achieve what they want most. As an inspirational speaker and trainer, Millie addresses audiences on topics related to professional development and self-motivation. She offers free introductory coaching consultations and can be reached by calling 413-655-2555 or through her website http://www.MillieCalesky.com

1. Ambition is the other name of Dream, Every achievement is preceded by a dream and all outstanding Performances/Achievements are preceded by big dreams. So, dream, dream and dream, go on dreaming. Dream big since big dreams realize to big results.

2. Physical impact accelerates the Achievements but Dream is intangible hence it requires to be translated and to be put in black and white so that a Tangible effect is placed before the eyes and the achievement made easy.

3. First Deserve and then Desire. Each one of us has a Spark in him. It is through our intellect, ingenuity and imagination; we should try to bring out the spark in us make us the fittest one to deserve the best one.

4. Success also requires a blueprint before it is achieved. Put first things first. You must know where to Start and where to stop. Begin with the end in mind. Allot time for planning. Planning is the essence of life. Remember—failed to plan means planned to fail.

5. One must know himself first, his strengths and weaknesses. Remember not to settle for less when you have the Potentiality. Build on strengths. Make your decisions more effective.

6. God helps them who help themselves. Do your Best and leave the rest to God, whatever happens will be for the best. Always compare your contribution, not the success with that of others.

7. How your time is spent? Know it first, this is most important. Secret lies in the saying–Early Bird catches the Worms. Time management is the most effective tool to excel in life.

8. Opportunities seldom repeat itself. The secret of success in life for a man is to be in readiness to grab the opportunity when it comes.

9. Do not show your weakness to your enemies, nor even seek relief by communicating your difficulties to your friends if they are not aware of them already.

10. Your success also depends upon the contribution of others. Therefore, have the ability to lead. Have the ability to motivate people working with you. Your effectiveness depends upon teamwork. Inculcate team spirit. Develop subordinates. They will help you to achieve your goals

11. Unlock your mind a bit so that new ideas can come in. Be creative and innovative. Receive the suggestions and advices with an open mind but translate them into action after a bit of critical analysis.

12. Keep your mouth shut. Do listen to others. Talk less, listen more, you will have lesser competitors and enemies to set stumbling blocks in your pavement of success.

13. Try to know everything of something and something of everything. Have the hunger for knowledge. The world needs knowledgeable workers. They cannot be suppressed by any force whatsoever nature in the world.

14 There are three rules for success : the first is : go on. The second is : go on. And the third is : go on, because you are being chased by numeral aspirants and once you pause, they will surpass for success.

15. Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. Nothing is achieved before it is thoroughly attempted.The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests

16. It is a good idea to keep your words soft and sweet as you never know when you may have to eat them. Be polite, prepare yourself for what you want to achieve, know yourself, be cheerful/enthusiastic. Don’t be envious, be honest with yourself, be helpful, and interest yourself in your job.

Thank you for reading and best wishes for your success.

www.jobntradeinfinity.com
www.mtcareersonline.com
www.palnraj.blogspot.com

Note: You are at liberty to display this article on
your blogs, article sites, website or wherever you
intend to do so, provided the immediate upper
portion is left lawfully in tact.

Martha Winslet.

http://www.jobntradeinfinity.com
http://www.mtcareersonline.com

I am encouraging you to work smart, not hard. You may think that less time working on a project is dangerous. This is the baby boomer mind that belongs to an older generation. Less time better spent is a sure guarantee of better creativity. And in a cluttered world, creativity is the competitive edge you need.

Less time working on a project does not mean the absence of investment. It actually means spending more time mastering the art, more time contemplating the action, and then cut to the chase on the project.

Do it once, do it right.

In business I meet many people whose mode for success is tiredness. They tell me how tired they are and then have to leave to go to another meeting. But in that meeting are people who are not tired. Clients who are relaxed, happy, not caffeine charged, who is on the backfoot in that meeting?

Do it once – do it right is an important jump from do it hard.

To achieve the do it once strategy requires that you devote significant time to contemplation before pen goes to paper. In spiritual language we say, “the soul speaks in pictures” – this means that in your “minds eye” the process, production and outcome must be a sort of slide show before you act.

See it in my mind, before I get off my behind.

For me, I find this a very important part of my life. In any area of life, I know that if I can’t see it, then it won’t happen. Sometimes I can’t see it but want it. But then I just can’t act because I know, if my soul wont project it, any action is just robotics that I will have to do twice.

The clearer the picture, the deeper the conviction

Sometimes the pictures you will have in your minds eye will be so clear that you will be confused between actually and reality. You’ll think you are sailing on a boat but really you’re walking the dog in the snow. Be careful where you do this minds eye stuff.

Pictures come to you, not from you

Inspiration is the art of awakening the minds eye. I teach inspiration. There are three layers to inspiration.

In – means it comes alive within you
Spirit – means it’s not in material form
Ion – it comes from outside of you

The soul speaks in pictures. This is true. But any picture you conjure up in your head is not a real picture in this sense. Pictures come to you, not from you. This means the minds eye sees things you don’t – so you, the thinker cannot project the thought into a picture and expect this to be a true inspiration from the minds eye.

You have to become a receptor. Not a projector

Inspirations come to you, not from you. That’s why monks, artists and creative people do all sorts of weird rituals. They are softening their mind for receptions. You do have permission to ask for a certain reception. For example you might need an idea for a new marketing campaign. So, you can sit or walk with the intent of generating a new idea for a marketing campaign. But that’s it. The idea, (it must be a form of picture) must come to you.

Activities that inspire mind pictures

There are certain activities that will inspire mind pictures. A painter might paint with no real intent to finish the art, they are just practicing. The composer might play the old music just getting lost in the simplicity of familiar territory. The movie maker might make love. The business tycoon might swim.

The key, is slowing down

Mind pictures cannot enter a working mind. There are many parts of your brain, the highest is centred in the top of your skull, there is even a place you can put your finger and feel the dent. This place is the receiver of signals. It is always receiving inspiration, but the other 6 levels of the brain make more noise, so it’s hard to get reception when there’s too much static.

Thinking, like learning, worry, emotion, stimulation, tiredness blocks mind pictures.

In my workshops I do exercises to help people quieten their mind. I suggest to them that when their mind is quiet they will have an inspiration. I always suggest that if something comes, during this exercise, these people write them down, because nothing can come, if we are trying to remember the last one. (lower brain). There are always one or two people who complain, “Nothing is coming” – and this is really funny because they can’t break the habit of reaching out to grab things, they can’t sit and let the ball come to them.

Let mind pictures land in your hand.

Mind pictures cannot come to a mind that is trying. To catch a ball that is thrown to you, your job is to hold your hand in the general direction of the ball and allow the ball to “find home” – or in better language, land in your hand. The universe is filled with vibration – again in spiritual language, this is called the “Akash” or the “Akashic Record” – in ancient times it was referred to as the great library of all knowledge. The job of the Thinker, was to learn how to “shut up” long enough to tap into the “AKASH”

It’s a free resource – available to all who are ready

Einstein, Plato, Pythagoras, Shakespeare, Newton, Galileo, Picasso, Miro, Joseph Campbell, Ghandi and anyone else who has left behind something immortal, tapped the Akash. Each one acknowledged that something came to them and this is what caused their genius.

Stupid scientists look for something in a human brain to explain genius, but they are stuck in a prison of material reality. Nothing worth thinking ever came from us, it only comes to us.

The only thing you need to do is “slow down”

Monks call it enlightenment. Artists call it “the drug.” Composers call it the “other voice” mathematicians call it “a moment of inspiration” – the branding is diverse, but we must stay simple. Mind pictures are natural, you get them all the time. The only thing you need to do is “slow down” – This does not mean watch TV. No, that is called speeding up. Slowing down is to do something you love, for the love of it.

For the love of it

To act without desire means to run for the love of running. To walk for the love of walking. To paint for the love of painting. To sing for the love of singing. To dance for the love of dancing. A child can play for the love of it, can you? Without competition with yourself, with others without a goal. I think we lost this art in life. I work all over the world and the only person I ever met who lived for the love of it, was Sri K Patthabi Jois. My yoga teacher in India. He started yoga at the age of 10, practiced for 50 more years, had only 10 students in his yoga school for all those years (he worked full time as a professor at the University to pay the bills) – the only reason he taught and practiced yoga, even at the age of 90 with 500 students paying US$350 each for classes in New York, was because his “minds eye” saw it, so he followed it.

Hard Work is not Good Management

Try to catch the ball before you run for a touch down. Try to see the future before you set goals to cause it. Hard work is bad management. This, minds eye picture means doing it once, right. It means waiting for the ball to come to you. Trust is required, because sometimes the ball isn’t thrown. Hold your intent. Spend time learning how to calm the lower parts of your mind, and find the activities that allow you the space to hear what is coming to the higher realms, your minds eye.

A story

When I was 5 years old, I stood in front of my class at school, proud to have done my homework, and read from my reader book to the class. I stood there, happy, joyful, that for the first time in my life, a mind picture would be realized. Even in my dreams after my mother died, I saw myself on a stage. Now, here I was on stage for the first time. But, alas, my pants were home made, and poorly sown. The stitching was adrift, my little penis shared itself with the audience. Humiliated I sat down. It took me 30 years before I ever stood in front of a crowd again. But that whole time, that picture repeated itself over and over and over. And now, I get paid to do it. (minus the exposure)

Another story

When I was 18 I saw myself with a woman. 6 months later I met her, she was hitch hiking, I was driving. One of my friends picked her up, while I drove, they kissed. I found it hard to think of any other girl but her. 8 months later, I was invited to a party, and there she was. We eloped a week later, she moved in, we had babies, and lived a happy life. But it finished. One day when I was contemplating the future, she was not in it. I couldn’t see her. Unbeknown to me, the relationship had ended. 3 years later we separated. Did I create the picture of the future, or was I reading it?

Last story.

More than 10 years ago my son came to my workshop. During that program we all did “minds eye” exercises. He joined in at the ripe age of 15 and wrote his picture down. He would sail the world, to the most exotic places, inaccessible by land, showing people the great beauty of the world, the boat would be 120 ft long, he would race in the Americas cup. This vision was so clear, when he spoke about it, every body saw it in their minds eye too. A mere 5 years later, everything he saw, manifested. What he said to me after that was profound.

Seeing the picture of the future, the only thing it changed in him, was now he knew what to say no to. He was offered all manner of sailing jobs, he turned them down, because none of those would lead to this. He knew what to say no to.

Minds Eye

There are people who have mastered the art of tapping the great Akash. They see the future. This skill is yours if you wish it. Learning to tap the Akash means learning to slow down in order to speed up. Learning what to say no to. Learning how to get answers from outside of yourself. These answers do not come from a God. They come from a library, a library that is free for all humanity, unconditionally, without expectations of good, or worthiness. All, man, woman, child, good, bad, of all religious persuasion can, if they choose, access the Akash, and therefore see answers before they hear them.

Live with Spirit

Chris Walker

http://www.chriswalker.com.au Chris Walker is a world leading change agent, an environmentalist and author of more than 20 books. Born and bred in Australia, he consults to people and organisations throughout the world on improved relationships, health and lifestyle through the application of the Universal laws of Nature. The result he offers is that we stay balanced, share loving relationships, work with passion, enjoy success, and live our personal truth. To learn more about Chris’s work and journeys to Nepal, visit http://www.chriswalker.com.au — http://www.chriswalker.com.au

We’re all looking for that edge. That something ‘extra’ that will make us stand out amongst the sea of choices that our clients and customers are presented with.

While watching the 2006 release of Happy Feet, I was reminded that the land of business and the land of Emperor Penguins have much in common.

Let me explain…

In the land of Emperor Penguins, all penguins sing and each finds their own special song (their heart song) to attract their soul mate.

To succeed in business, a special song (your compelling offer) is what attracts new and repeat business to you on a continual basis. Yet, instead of searching for and presenting your unique heart song, many business owners try to duplicate someone else’s.

You’ve seen them; sales pages, brochures, email messages, all claiming to provide you with the ‘magic pill’ when in fact, they look and sound exactly like the previous empty promise made by another vendor.

In business, your compelling offer should not only consist of an unfulfilled need you know your target market has, but should be delivered in a way that is unique to you and your brand.

The hero of Happy Feet, Mambo, can’t sing, not a lick, which is a shock to his clan. So much so, that he is banned from his home because instead of singing like all the other penguins, he dances to express his heart.

Many business owners want to stand out as long as they can still fit in. It’s a belief based on the fear of being different.

Instead of tapping into the unique talents and skills you already posses (and designing your offer around that) you search for a way to take what everyone else is doing and make it slightly different without excluding anyone. Does that sound authentically compelling to you?

The thing is, we’ve all been there in our business. It’s not until you slow down, assess your unique and compelling proposition and then deliver that message with your own brand flair that you cross the hurdle of sameness.

If you’re at all concerned about excluding prospective clients and customers understand this brand truth…your brand is not a perfect match for everyone. Identify your perfect match and then design your message to attract them. You will only exclude those that aren’t right for you and your business. I promise you, this is a much easier model to follow.

The character of Mambo teaches us that only when you truly accept your special talents, skills and quirks will you gain that edge you seek. And who knows, once you do that, you too might start an entire revolution and be the hero of your market!

Here’s to finding your heart song.

©2007 Liz Pabon. All rights reserved.

About the author: Liz Pabon, “The Branding Maven,” is inspiring, motivating and empowering - but most importantly, she’s effective. A speaker and author on the topic of personal branding, Liz delivers insights and principles that are proven to achieve WILD SUCCESS. Liz publishes the weekly Keys 2 Wild Success! ezine. If you’re ready to ATTRACT amazing clients, set yourself APART from the pack, make a lot more MONEY, and have a lot more FUN in your small business, get Liz’s FREE WEEKLY TIPS by going NOW to http://www.thebrandingmaven.com!

Now that Peter F. Drucker has passed on, I feel duty bound to share some of his insights with you, little observations, pointers and gems that simply aren’t in his books or popularly known.

I had the pleasure of studying with the management sage for two and a half years. Much of the MBA I did at the Drucker School of Management, was earned in classes with Drucker, himself.

And I had the pleasure of serving as his informal chauffeur on Saturdays, when many of our classes met.

So, we talked.

One of Drucker’s recurring refrains was to “Study Success.” The idea is simple, really.

If we want to know what customers want, observe what they’re happily paying value for elsewhere, and either imitate that, or spin something off that will deliver even greater satisfactions.

The same concept applies to self-improvement and to getting the most productivity from those we manage.

We should study who is good at what, and ask: “Why?”

Minimally, they and we should do more of that with which we excel, and if possible we should analyze what our super-stars, our “natural leaders” and trendsetters are doing to achieve their exceptional results.

Typically, however, we do the opposite.

Instead of promoting and managing strengths, we obsess over weaknesses, and miss golden opportunities to build on our successes.

For example, nearly every sales or customer service team of any size has at least one standout, a person who seems to always get better results when dealing with customers.

Instead of trying to understand their behaviors, what they do, we turn our heads to underperformers and ask, “Why aren’t they better?”

Recently, major retailer Circuit City announced it was substituting cheaper, less experienced floor personnel for its more costly veterans.

I assure you Circuit City won’t understand or distill the essences of their best reps before firing them.

Why? Because they, along with 99.999 percent of other organizations, don’t study success.

This is the true failing, because without a template, how can they sustain their achievements and pass along their secrets to successive generations of employees?

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is the
best-selling author of 12 books and more than
a thousand articles. A frequent expert commentator on radio and TV, he is quoted often in prominent publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Business Week.
His seminars and training
programs are sponsored internationally and he
is a top-rated faculty member at more than 40
universities. Dynamic, experienced,
and lots of fun, Gary brings more than two decades
of solid management and consulting experience
to the table, along with the best academic preparation
and credentials in the speaking and training industry.
Holder of a Ph.D. from the
Annenberg School For Communication at USC,
an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management,
and a law degree from Loyola, his clients include several
Fortune 1000 companies along with successful family
owned and operated firms. Much more
than a “talking head,” Gary is a top mind that you’ll
enjoy working with and putting to use.
He can be reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.