Excerpt from Success Magazine

W. Clement Stone was just 3 when his father died, leaving nothing but gambling debts and a widow and son in poverty. At age 6, he was selling newspapers on the street to help support his family. He thought of himself as a “self-builder” and ultimately became a pioneer in personal development, publishing Success Unlimited in 1954, the predecessor to SUCCESS magazine.

Stone documented his philosophies in the personal development classic he co-authored with Napoleon Hill in 1960, Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude. Here are some of his core principles:

• Seek clarity of purpose:
  • “All personal achievement starts in the mind of the individual. Your personal achievement starts in your mind. The first step is to know exactly what your problem, goal or desire is.”
• Develop a positive attitude:
  • “There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.”
• Embrace failure:
  • “With a positive mental attitude failure is a learning experience, a rung on the ladder, and a plateau at which to get your thoughts in order and prepare to try again.”
• Look for the opportunity:
  • “Every great man, every successful man, no matter what the field of endeavor, has known the magic that lies in these words: every adversity has the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit.”
• Know the secret to happiness:
  • “To be happy, make other people happy.”

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By Tom Hopkins

To become and remain a professional in business, you must recognize that you are in charge of your own training and act on that fact.  Build on your strengths and correct your weaknesses.  If you aren’t sure of what to work on first, there is certainly someone in your life who will gladly assist you—your manager, your spouse, your children, a trusted friend.  Here are six skill areas that I strongly recommend you consider developing or strengthening:

Negotiation – Do you consider yourself a trained negotiator?  Trained negotiators can quickly and effectively analyze the details of situations and determine the best route to resolution.  If that brief description doesn’t fit you, make an effort to find a book, tape or seminar on the subject, and then schedule the time to learn from it.

A Second Language – Consider the part of the country in which you live and those people you do business with.  As our country continually redefines itself by its people, be aware of the advantages of being able to communicate with others in their native tongues.  Today’s projections show that both Hispanic and Asian portions of the population are on the increase. To be able to offer your fine services to more people, you must learn more about them, their language and their cultures.

Voice – Since your clients choose to “own” your products or services based on what you say and how you represent them, doesn’t it make sense that you train your voice to give the highest level of professional presentation?  If you’ve never considered voice training before, tape yourself giving a portion of your presentation and then listen to it.  Most of us hate the sound of our voice on tape.  Just imagine how our clients must feel when listening to us.  To project your message with clarity and power, consider at least one session with a voice coach.  They can be found in your local Yellow Pages or through a quick search online.

Public Speaking – Many professionals find that giving short speeches in their communities helps build their name recognition and their business.  Public speaking is also a great way to build your confidence.  Try your skills out by speaking to your child’s class about what you do or a hobby you have.  Teachers love it when the students can learn first-hand about careers. Join Toastmasters International. There are local chapters in just about every city.  They provide excellent opportunities to hone your skills and meet other business professionals with whom you might do business or share referrals.

Memory – Having a good memory is critical to anyone in today’s world, but especially so to those of us who meet many new people every week.  I have learned to make a game of it in my career.  I challenge myself to remember as many people and their stories as I can.  There are some great courses and books written on this subject.  Even if you learn and use only one small strategy, I guarantee you’ll see the benefit of having done so.

Math – Don’t cringe on me here.  I know there is a large percentage of people who hate math.  However, in business, you need to know some basic math skills really well.  How does it look when you take a client to lunch and you have to think really hard to calculate the tip?  Do you think that will raise any doubts about your competency in the client’s mind?  Of course it will. Also, when clients toss out figures in their projections, you have to be quick on the uptake in understanding what that means in your business—quantities of supplies they’ll need, projecting delivery dates and times, etc.  Practice your math skills.  Every time you hear or see a number in a conversation, or even in a bit of advertising, take a moment to work with the number and see what it means.  Compute unit costs for grocery items—$1.29 for 12 ounces.  How much is that per ounce? Don’t stop there.  Play the numbers game often, and you’ll get better at winning.

Choose just one of these six areas and dedicate yourself to improving in it this month.  Then, next month, choose another.  Once you get started on this journey of self-education, you’ll be amazed at what you learn and how simple things can have a powerful impact on your overall success in life.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger

Actor, Governor of California, Winner of 13 world bodybuilding titles and former chairman of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness

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By Les Brown

I believe there are three kinds of people.  There are winners, who know what they want and understand their potential and the possibilities.  They take life on.  Next are losers, who don’t have a clue as to who they are.  They allow circumstances to shape their lives and their self-image.

I believe there is a third group as well.  This consists of potential winners whose lives are just slightly out of alignment.  I call them “wayward winners.”  It may be that they just need to learn how to be real winners.  Perhaps they’ve hit a bump or two that has knocked them off course and they are temporarily befuddled.  A failed relationship, a lost job, financial problems, unformed goals, a lack of parental support, illness – many things can send us off course temporarily.

Wayward winners are not lost souls; they just need some tweaking and coaching and nudging to get them back on course.  A map might be nice.  Many of these wayward winners are easily identifiable because they are always searching.  Right now, there are many wayward winners out there braving rain, sleet and snow because they, too, still believe that they have untapped talents.  They attend motivational seminars and listen to inspirational tapes, and they plunge onward, believing that, sooner or later, they will find their way again.

Other wayward winners have temporarily given up.  They are damaged and disoriented, their confidence badly eroded.  They tend to drift through life numbly.  The friends and relatives and loved ones of wayward winners see that they are out of sync and wonder why they can’t be satisfied, why they won’t settle down.  They wonder how people who have such obvious abilities and great potential can be so disoriented and unsure.

It is difficult for others to understand the rawness of a broken heart or the aching emptiness of an unguided spirit.  You and I know—we have been there.  Wayward winners know that there are possibilities out there, but too often, they feel locked out from them.  Some are afraid to risk anymore because of what they have risked and lost already.  I know now that as difficult as it may be for you wayward winners to do, it is necessary to continue to test yourselves.  Even though you have been hurt before, it is the only way to grow.  We all have the capacity to change, to lead meaningful and productive lives by awakening our consciousness.

You know there will be tough times as you go change your life, so brace yourself, and you will be able to handle them.  When you get into your seat on an airplane, what is the first thing they tell you to do?  Fasten your seat belt.  Brace yourself for the turbulence.  When you decide to move your life to the next level of accomplishment, you must fasten your mental and spiritual seat belts because it is going to be a while before you reach that comfortable level again.  You will reach it, but you must endure the turbulence of change in order to grow.

Try this technique to help you through the difficult times of change and growth.  Find four reasons why you cannot succumb to your fears and your troubles.  Find those deep sources of motivation that can lift you out of the turbulence and above the clouds.  You must change your life because:

• You have not yet tapped the talents given to you.  
• You want to leave something more for your children. 
• You want to live life rather than let life live you. 
• You want to do what makes YOU happy.

It is in these rocky early moments of bringing change to your life that you discover who you are.  In the prosperous times, you build what is in your pocket.  In the tough times, you strengthen what is in your heart.   And that is when you gain insight into yourself, insight that leads to self-mastery and an expansion of your consciousness as a life force in both your personal and professional life.

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Jackie Joyner-Kersee

World record holder in the heptathlon and winner of six Olympic gold medals

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By Brett Penager

“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or whether the doer of deeds could have done them better.  The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly…who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

Teddy Roosevelt, Paris, France, April 1910

Make no mistake about it. It all starts with the Dream.  In every ‘how to be successful’ text ever written, every secret ever shared by the world’s most extraordinary achievers; it starts with knowing your outcome first.

• Napoleon Hill defined it in “Think and Grow Rich” as “Definiteness of Purpose”
• King Solomon, one of the wealthiest men in history wrote in Proverbs, “Man without vision will perish”
• Dr. Stephen Covey wrote in ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’; “Begin with the end in mind”
• On ‘The Strangest Secret’ by Earl Nightingale, he said, “You become what you think about most of the time.”
• In ‘The Secret’, Rhonda Byrne wrote that it is, “The law of attraction.” (what you think about is what you get)

This is the beginning.  Though many people are beginning to understand this, and many more do; then why is it that so few people actually achieve what it is that they want?  Why are the statistics of measurable success so small (less than 10%)?

The answer lies in one simple and easy to understand principle.  It’s called ACTION! Do SOMETHING!  Get off your butt and MOVE IN THE DIRECTION OF YOUR DREAM!  Stop dreaming and start DOING!  In physics, Sir Isaac Newton’s first law of motion states, “An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced force.  An object in motion continues in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.”  It’s also called the ‘law of inertia’.  Bottom line is that the object in motion has to do just that – be in motion.

I’m as guilty as any human being that ever lived of procrastinating and putting off what needs to get done to accomplish a worthwhile dream or goal.  AND, I’m also aware of the reward that comes with overcoming the fear that often times stops us from acting in the first place.  I’ve shared this often and it is so true, “the greater the prize, the greater the price.  And the prize is always greater!”

Ask any of the medalists in the recently completed 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver if the prize was worth the years and years of absolute dedication and work that went into that achievement.  Ask Teddy Roosevelt if it’s worth it.  Ask anyone who has ever paid the price of success if it’s worth it.  They’ll all tell you the same thing.  IT IS.

It starts with the dream.  That anything man can conceive and believe he can achieve.  Start there and get crystal clear on what you desire with all your heart…then get in the Arena, stop dreaming and start doing.  I believe in you…go for it!

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