Just Add Life and Stir

by Jeff Olson (excerpted from The Slight Edge)

The Slight Edge® is the missing ingredient you need for all the self-help books, how-tos and life guides to work.

If you don’t grasp the truth of The Slight Edge, then no matter what health books you read, you’re not going to be willing to do the little things that lead you to a healthy life. No matter what you learn, no matter how many books you read, tapes and CDs you listen to, or seminars you attend, if you don’t absorb this philosophy of simple steps and their compounded effect over time, you won’t successfully apply those things you learn to create the results you want.

The Slight Edge is the book you need to read before you read the health book, the sales book, the investment book, the positive attitude book. The Slight Edge is the book you need to read, highlight and reread along with your fitness class, your career planning, your continuing education and your pursuit of new skills. It’s the book to keep with you as you set out to grow and pursue greater accomplishment, achievement and fulfillment in any area of your life.

The Slight Edge will prepare you to be able to absorb all that other information, guidance and education from all those other books, classes, situations and experiences.

If the thing you want to accomplish—your financial goals, life skills, fitness and better health, better relationships, greater knowledge, professional accomplishment, whatever it is—if that’s the meal you want to eat, The Slight Edge is the enzyme that will enable you to digest it. If your life pursuits are programs you want to run, The Slight Edge is the operating system you need to run them. Whatever pictures you want to create in your life, The Slight Edge is the brush and the paint.

What are you after? What do you want more of in your life? Better health, a feeling of vitality and renewed vigor, to feel the kind of energy you used to feel when you were younger? Richer and more satisfying relationships with your family, friends and colleagues? A happier marriage? Financial freedom and long-term financial security? A greater sense of meaning in your life? More involvement in your spiritual life, or do you want to make contributions to your community, others less fortunate at home or around the world? Is there a new skill, a new sport, a new pursuit, a new career you want to master? A new place you want to move to, places to travel, a different home to live in?

Whatever it is, I want you to have it, and I know you can. That is my passionate belief—and I’ve seen it happen too many times to doubt it. But you need a place to start. The Slight Edge is that starting point. It’s the first ingredient.

After that, just add life and stir.

—Jeff Olson

Made for Success Quote and Commentary

“Review your goals twice every day in order to be focused on achieving them.” —Les Brown



Chris’s Commentary:

Okay, so I don’t know about twice a day (though it couldn’t hurt), but the point is well taken: You should review your goals very regularly. At least three times a week is what I would recommend. If you can put them on a sheet of paper or on the computer where you will see them all of the time, all the better. The first point would be that you have to have your goals written down. Do you? If not, get to it. If you do, then print them out where you can get to them on a regular basis. This will program your mind to focus in on these priorities of yours and you will function more along the lines that you want to.

Action Point:
Take some time today to figure out your goals in at least five major categories. Now write them down. Now put them in a spot where you will be able to review them regularly. Set your computer to remind you to do it if you can program it that way. Enjoy your growth!

The Modern-Day (Real-Life) Indiana Jones

by Vic Johnson
(excerpted from the 2004 Jim Rohn Weekend Event)

One of my life’s most valuable possessions is my journal. Why? Because my journal contains my dreams! And my dreams are my future!

I learned this principle from a story about a 15-year-old boy by the name of John Goddard. John, one day, happened to hear his parents and another adult talking, and the other adult had been telling John’s parents about how miserable his life was and how much he had failed. He wished he was John’s age again and could live his life over and do some things differently.

Well, John heard the anguish in his voice, I suppose, and he made a vow that he was going to do something at 15 years old. So at 15 years old he took out a legal pad and began to write the things he wanted to do in his life, what he wanted to accomplish. Before he was finished he had 127 things on his list. He called it, “My Life List”.

Today, John is in his mid 70s. Of his original 127 goals, John over the last 55-60 years has accomplished 111 of them, plus 400 other ones that he set along the way. And just so you know these weren’t some small goals, here are some of the goals that John Goddard has accomplished that were on his list:

- He’s climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, he’s climbed Mount Ararat; in fact, he’s climbed every major peak in the world.

But that’s just one of 500+ for John Goddard.

- He took Marco Polo’s route through all of Asia and China.
- He ran a mile in five minutes, he broad-jumped 15 feet, high-jumped 5 feet, and so on...
- He was the first person to explore the entire 4,200-mile length of the Nile River (that was his number one goal!). When he was 15 years old, no person had ever done it, but that 15-year-old boy didn’t know that; it didn’t matter to him. He put it on his list, and when he did it, USA Today named him the modern-day Indiana Jones. He’s been down not just the Nile River. He’s been down the Amazon, down the Congo, etc.
- He’s been to 122 countries and lived with 260 different tribes.
- He’s explored the reefs of Florida, the Great Barrier Reefs and so on...
- He’s flown 40 different types of aircraft, and still holds civilian air-speed records. Just that alone would be a great life experience; that was just one of John Goddard’s goals.
- He’s read the Bible cover to cover.
- He’s taught himself French, Spanish and Arabic. (Who reading this could not learn a foreign language in the next couple of years?).

And that is just a portion of the more than 500 dreams that John Goddard has accomplished.

I hope we all learn from John Goddard! Here are two major points that were impressed upon me:

1) John Goddard’s goals (dreams) were written down. How many of you have heard that before, to write your goals and dreams down? Because for 20 years I heard it and I had never written mine down, until just three years ago. Brian Tracy says if you’ll write your goals down you have a 100-times greater chance of success. Now I look at that mathematically, and then by an inverse way, from an opposite way. What it says to me is that, if I don’t write my goals down, I only have a 1-in-100 chance of succeeding. Write your goals and dreams down.

2) His dreams were BIG! I’ve found that a small dream will not give you the bulletproofing you are going to need. A small dream won’t protect you when bad times come. A small dream does not have any power at all—it has to be BIG!

So get started today! Go get a journal (or wipe the dust off the one you have) and write down your BIG goals! And then get started on your life story!

—Vic Johnson

Taking Action

by Zig Ziglar

Marc Wright, president of the Kiddie Card Company, is one of the youngest entrepreneurs in Canada. He started his business when he was just 6 years old after listening to some motivational tapes. Following a visit to an art museum, Marc thought he would make some drawings and see if he could earn money. His mother suggested he put his pictures on cards and sell them. He was an immediate success with some rather unique concepts.

Marc knocks on doors and gives his short, but effective sales talk. “Hi. My name is Marc, and I’m freezing! I’m selling greeting cards. How many would you like to buy? Here’s a handful. Just pick the ones you want and pay me what you want.” His cards are hand-drawn on pink, green and white paper. They cover the season of the year, and Marc sells them about three days a week. He averages about 75 cents a card and sells about 25 cards an hour.

His first year in business, Marc earned $3,000, enough to take his mom on a trip to Disney World.

By age 10, Marc had become something of a media celebrity. He appeared on Late Night with David Letterman and was interviewed by Conan O’Brien.

Marc had an idea, didn’t count his birthdays, received some encouragement from his mother, and started his business.

Question: Do you have an idea that’s marketable? If you do, take action!

—Zig Ziglar

The Winner's Edge Coaching Tips

by Denis Waitley

Welcome to the last installment of our current coaching topic. We cannot teach our children self-esteem; we can only help them discover it within themselves by adding positive marks and strokes on their slates. All positive motivation is rooted in self-esteem—the development of which, just as with other skills, takes practice. We are looking at self-esteem as a four-legged chair. Last issue we covered the third leg of the “Self-esteem” chair—a sense of worthiness. The last leg is: A Sense of Control and Competence.

Early in my career in motivational psychology, I thought the chair of self-esteem balanced firmly on those three legs—A Sense of Belonging, A Sense of Individual Identity and A Sense of Worthiness—especially since they involved intrinsic core values. It took much time and research to realize that a fourth leg—one of the most important—was missing.

There are many reasons why few Americans currently in high school and college believe they were born to win. The supportive extended family—in many cases, even the nuclear family—is disappearing. Role models are increasingly unhealthy. The commercial media bombards young senses ever more insistently with crime, violence, hedonism and other unhealthy forms of escape. But whatever the explanation, constructive citizens and leaders in society cannot emerge and develop without the creative imagination that serves them like fuel—which is why the apprehension, frustration and hesitation I see and hear in the younger generation is cause for concern. At the moment, the future they imagine will help drive neither happiness nor success.

The chair’s fourth leg is self-efficacy, a functional belief in your ability to control what happens to you in a changing, uncertain world. A sense of worthiness may give you the emotional means to venture, but you need self-efficacy, the sense of competence and control, to believe you can succeed. That’s why it is so important to assign responsibility for small tasks to your children as early as possible so they can learn that their choices and efforts result in consequences and successes. The more success they experience, the stronger their confidence grows—and the more responsibility they want to assume.

Give them specific household chores and duties they can accomplish and be proud of. Teach them that their problems and setbacks are just temporary inconveniences and learning experiences. Emphasize it constantly: Setbacks are not failures.

Armed with a view of failure as a learning experience, children can develop an early eagerness for new challenges and will be less afraid to try new skills. Although they appreciate compliments, they benefit most from their own belief that they are making a valuable contribution to life, according to their own internal standards.

In an increasingly competitive global marketplace, each new, young member of the workforce simply must believe that he or she is a team leader, a self-empowered, quality individual who expresses that quality in excellent production and service. With increasing pressures on profit and the need to do more with fewer workers because of e-commerce and changing technology, it is essential that parents and business leaders help raise the value of their children’s and employees’ stock in themselves.

-- Denis Waitley

Your Brain Is the Greatest Computer Ever Created

by Ron White

Have you ever walked into a room and couldn’t remember what you went there for? Have you ever grasped the hand of a potential client and then when the handshake broke, the name seemed to disappear from your memory? Or have you ever left a prospect and as you drove away remembered a key point that you should have shared with them?

Of course you have... we all have. However, I have some great news for you. Your memory is nowhere near as bad as you may think it is. Some time ago, I was a guest at a radio station in Waco. The disc jockey wrote a 50-digit number on a sheet of paper and told his listening audience and then played a three-minute song.

As the listeners enjoyed the song I memorized the 50-digit number. When the song was over we went back live on the air and I handed him the paper. I then proceeded to recite the number forward and then I said it backward. The disc jockey looked at me in utter disbelief, and stunned, he said, “Ron... you are incredible!” I looked him straight in the eye and replied, “You know... you are right!” I said, “Jay, the greatest computer ever created does not come from Dell or Gateway. The greatest computer ever created does not sit on the assembly line of a computer factory. Instead, you and I are the greatest computers ever created. And yes... you are right. I am incredible... but so are you.”

The human memory has the ability to hear a 100-digit number or more once and then repeat it forward and backward. It has the ability to memorize a Shakespearean play word for word or memorize the stats of every baseball player for the last 100 years. And the human memory has the capability to meet 100 people in 20 minutes and recall every single name!

Now, the question is, are you doing these things? If not, the reason is simply that you have not been trained to. Two thousand years ago a Greek named Simonedes developed a memory method called loci. With this method, Simonedes numbered locations in his home. He started in the doorway and then logically proceeded around his home. He reviewed these items so many times mentally that if you asked him what was number 25, he could instantly tell you what piece of furniture that number corresponded to.

These 25 objects were actually mental files for Simonedes. Then, if he had a list of items he wanted to recall, he would place them mentally on these objects in his home. Let’s say that you are a professional who wants to give a speech without notes. Simply turn the key points into pictures and then file them to your “house files.” When you are called upon to speak, simply mentally walk through the house and give your talk without notes.

For example, I gave a one-hour keynote in Atlanta at a homebuilder’s conference. I wrote my speech out the night before. The first thing I wanted to do was talk about the book How to Win Friends and Influence People. So I visualized the book on my front door and then mentally walked through my house and gave the one-hour talk without notes! That can work for you as well. Anything that you want to recall, simply turn it into a picture, place it on your house files and get ready to be amazed! YOU are the greatest computer ever created!

—Ron White

Be Prepared!

by Jeffrey Gitomer
Excerpted from Jeffrey Gitomer's Little Red Book of Selling

What do you need to know about the prospect’s business to engage? I mean if you just walk in the door and say, “Tell me a little bit about your business,” how unprepared does that make you look? Answer: TOTALLY UNPREPARED. Prepared is going to their website and printing out several strategic pages, reading them, and making notes so you can ask about what you don’t understand, or need elaboration on—not asking about them from TOTAL IGNORANCE.

NOTE: Just so we understand each other, “Tell me a little about your business,” is the third dumbest thing you can say to or ask a prospect. The second is “Let me tell you a little about my business.” The prospect couldn’t CARE LESS about you or your business, and probably already knows enough to not want to hear it again. The first most dumbest? I’ll tell you later. Let’s talk about where to find out information about a prospect and his or her business before your sales call.

1. The Internet. Don’t just look up their site. Enter their company name on Google or other search engines like dogpile.com and see what pops up. There may be an article or other important information. Then enter the name of the person you’re meeting with. Then enter the name of the CEO. Then tell me why you’re not meeting with the CEO. (Just a little jab there.) By the way, if you look up the name of the person you’re meeting with and you find nothing, that also tells you something.

2. Their literature. Even though it’s we-we, it has the basic “brags” covered and may talk about shifts in emphasis and market coverage. It also tells you what they think of themselves and their products.

3. Their vendors. Usually reluctant talkers, but they can tell you what it’s like to do business with them and all about how you are going to be paid—valuable information to say the least. Vendors are a rarely used resource.

4. Their competition. Oh man, talk about dirt, here it is. Just ask casual questions about how they win business—it will tell you what it will be like to negotiate with them. By the way, the more their competition hates them, the better they usually are. Competitors hate the people who take business away from them.

5. Their customers. Customers talk. And they are the real word on delivery, organization, quality, and the subtle information that can give you an insightful competitive advantage.

6. People in your network who may know them. A quick e-mail to your inside group asking for information will always net a fact or two and may just be the bonanza you were looking for.

7. Their other employees. Occasionally the admin will help, but don’t count on it. A better bet is their PR department or their marketing department.

8. The best and least used resource: Their sales department. Salespeople will tell you anything. You can get details you won’t believe.

8.5 Google yourself. Want some pain? Look up your own name. Where are you? What’s your Internet position? Suppose they are looking you up. What will they find? If it’s nothing, that’s a report card on you.

And it’s not just Internet preparation. It’s other research, such as finding mutual friends, calling a few vendors, maybe a few customers. Getting VITAL information as it relates to the buying of your product or service. There’s one more thing in preparation: Be prepared with an objective or two about what you want to accomplish in the meeting.

Proper preparation takes time, but I assure you it’s impressive to the prospect. He or she knows that you have prepared, and is silently impressed. It’s an advantage that very few salespeople use. They make the fatal error of getting all their own stuff ready. PowerPoint slides, samples, literature, business cards—you know, all the same things the competition is doing. Biggest mistake in sales. And almost every salesperson makes it.

And it’s not only preparation about the sale—it’s your personal preparation for sales—your personal training. How ready are you? Get ready baby. Turn off the TV and get ready.

—Jeffrey Gitomer

Life Would Be Easy... If It Weren't for COMMUNICATION Differences

by Connie Podesta

Sometimes it seems that folks just don't get it. No matter what you say or how you say it, they simply don't have a clue - and don't seem too worried about getting one either! It's not their nature to understand; that's just how they "are." Maybe so, but more often than not, the problem is a result of a communication breakdown.

In this digitally inter-connected world, you'd think we could "fix" such basic differences. Unfortunately, it's not as easy as plugging another device into the system. Maybe they're the problem. Maybe you are. We all know difficult people - and, in fact, we can all be the difficult person.

A little background on communication styles can help us understand the issues and learn how to alter our approach to eventually make life a little easier for both parties.

The Basics

Every time we speak, we choose and use one of four basic communication styles: assertive, aggressive, passive and passive-aggressive.

Assertive Communication

The most effective and healthiest form of communication is the assertive style. It's how we naturally express ourselves when our self-esteem is intact, giving us the confidence to communicate without games and manipulation.

When we are being assertive, we work hard to create mutually satisfying solutions. We communicate our needs clearly and forthrightly. We care about the relationship and strive for a win/win situation. We know our limits and refuse to be pushed beyond them just because someone else wants or needs something from us. Surprisingly, assertive is the style most people use least.

Aggressive Communication

Aggressive communication always involves manipulation. We may attempt to make people do what we want by inducing guilt (hurt) or by using intimidation and control tactics (anger). Covert or overt, we simply want our needs met - and right now! Although there are a few arenas where aggressive behavior is called for (i.e., sports or war), it will never work in a relationship. Ironically, the more aggressive sports rely heavily on team members and rational coaching strategies.

Passive Communication

Passive communication is based on compliance and hopes to avoid confrontation at all costs. In this mode we don't talk much, question even less, and actually do very little. We just don't want to rock the boat. Passives have learned that it is safer not to react and better to disappear than to stand up and be noticed.

Passive-Aggressive Communication

A combination of styles, passive-aggressive avoids direct confrontation (passive), but attempts to get even through manipulation (aggressive). If you've ever thought about making that certain someone who needs to be "taught a thing or two" suffer (even just a teeny bit), you've stepped pretty close to (if not on into) the devious and sneaky world of the passive-aggressive.

So now what?

Clearly, for many reasons, the only healthy communication style is assertive communication. Surely you can identify many people in your own life that favor each of the four styles. Most of us use a combination of these four styles, depending on the person or situation. The styles we choose generally depend on what our past experiences have taught us will work best to get our needs met in each specific situation. If you take a really good look at yourself, you've probably used each throughout your lifetime.

Understanding the four basic types of communication will help you learn how to react most effectively when confronted with a difficult person. It will also help you recognize when you are using manipulative behavior to get your own needs met. Remember, you always have a choice as to which communication style you use. If you're serious about taking control of your life, practice being more assertive. It will help you diffuse anger, reduce guilt and build relationships - both personally and professionally.

Take Action!

Begin to pay attention to which communication styles you use throughout the day. How often do you use a communication style other than assertive?

Watch and identify the communication styles some of the difficult people in your life use. Can you begin to notice how others use manipulative techniques to get their way?

-- Connie Podesta

The Hot-Air Factor: How Full of It Are You?

by Jeffrey Gitomer

Sometimes salespeople get a bad rap. Sometimes they create it.

Sales requires self confidence -- but there's a fine line between self confidence and cockiness. A finer line between self-assured and arrogance. And the finest line -- between proud and egotistical.

As a professional salesperson, there's a career of difference between self talk = self performance (the right way) and loose lips sink ships (the ultra-wrong way).

Salespeople are not the most loved group of professionals to begin with. We rank above politicians, tax collectors, and (especially) lawyers, but below dentists and dog catchers. All that a salesperson can hope to do is establish a great reputation, and let that propel him to success.

Since the prospect buys the salesperson first -- reputation is as valuable (and critical) an element as a he or she can have. How is yours?

One bad event, situation, or story can ruin years of hard work. Continuing stories of neglect or overpromising breed career destruction. A salesperson's self-delusion (failure to admit the problem, and thinking nothing is wrong) will make the situation worse.

Sales hot-air can occur at any level. Customers, prospects, bosses and co-workers are all potential victims.

"Come on Jeffrey," you say, "Get to the point. Give me some examples of self-destructive talk -- what is sales "hot-air?" Relax, helium breath, here `tiz.

7.5 examples of Hot Air -- (even though I'm sure none of these apply to you).

1. BTNA -- Big talk - no action. Too much time talking about the sales you're going to make and not enough time making them.
2. Bragging too soon - Before the deal is signed, sealed, and a check delivered.
3. Bragging too much -- No one but you wants to hear it. If you really need to hear yourself -- just make a tape of yourself and replay it in your car until you get as sick of it as others.
4. Bragging at the expense of others -- Beat the competition, but don't beat them into the ground. A variation of this is making someone else look like a fool. Bragging about someone you took advantage of or tricked.
5. Using others as scapegoats to get yourself off the hook -- Better known as covering your butt, or the inability to accept responsibility. Blaming others for your failings is obvious to those listening, and makes a fool out of the teller.
6. Exaggerating the facts -- Each year the fish that got away increases in size. Stay within the parameters of what you know to be true -- or less. Understated is always better.
7. Using insincere words -- Honestly, truthfully, quite frankly, and I mean that, are words that alienate. 7.5 Talking past the sale -- Knowing when to shut up and go home. Employing any one of the above elements after a sale has been consummated -- but before you leave will jeopardize the sale. It's known as "buying it back," and it happens often. The rule of thumb in sales is "less is more."
   

Hot air has interesting negative side effects...
• It wastes everyone's time.
• It's the most unproductive and negative use of your time possible.
• It makes you look like a fool.
• It lowers your respect factor by 100.
• It gets people talking behind your back.
• It prevents advancement.
• It can get you fired.
Who wants that? No one, but these side effects are linked to people with severe cases of hot air.

How do you know if this is you? How do you know if you're blowing hot air? Well, no one is without some guilt. It's hard not to brag if you just made a big sale, and took it out from under the nose of your biggest competitor.

The rules are simple:
• Don't say anything behind anyone's back you wouldn't say to their face.
• Don't say something you wouldn't want said about you.
• Don't say anything you have to remember (lies must be remembered, or you get tripped up with the truth).
• Don't say anything you couldn't say in front of your mom.

The key is to temper your remarks with humility.
Your challenge is to always bring out the good side in your words.
Your challenge is to employ self-discipline in getting past hot-air.
Your challenge is self-rule or self destruct.

-- Jeffrey Gitomer

How Character Sustains Leaders

by Dr. John C. Maxwell

A critical mistake that I made as a young leader was that I used to think that charisma was the most important aspect of leadership. In the beginning, I focused on charisma because I know that leadership attracts, and leadership influences people. Therefore I thought, "Well, if I'm going to influence people I've got to develop charisma in my life." I've been around enough boring leaders to say that is a desire that most of us should have!

What I learned is that character is the most important aspect of leadership, not charisma. Charisma attracts, but character sustains. In fact, I think charisma, in the area of leadership, is overrated.

Character embodies who you really are. It's the inner fiber of your being. It is your inner self in action. It reveals what you are truly made of, it's your substance. Character is, as D. L. Moody said,
"What you are in the dark."

If you have charisma without character, it's only a matter of time before people find you out. Without character you cannot sustain meaningful relationships, and without relationships your ability to lead and influence others is anemic.

So what is it about character that really makes a difference?

1. Character sets you apart.

There was a time when people who lacked integrity stood out from the crowd. Now the opposite is true--charisma can make people stand out for a moment, but character can set them apart for a lifetime.

2. Character creates trust.

Leadership functions only on the basis of trust. If you pull out trust, then you will lose your leadership foundation.

3. Character promotes excellence.

If you lead people, good character sets a standard for everyone who is following you. People will eventually become like their leader. If leaders compromise on their standards, cheat the company, or take shortcuts, so will their followers.

4. Character gives staying power.

During the tough times that all leaders face, character has the ability to carry you through, which is something that charisma can never do. When you are weary and inclined to quit, the self-discipline of character keeps you going.

5. Character extends influence.

Charisma, by its nature, doesn't last long or extend very far. It's like a flash of gunpowder. It produces a quick, blinding light, but then it's gone. The only thing left is smoke. Character, on the other hand, is more like a bonfire. Its effects are long-lasting. It produces warmth and light, and as it continues to burn it gets hotter, giving fuel that burns brighter.

If you're currently leading people, you probably have some measure of both charisma and character. The question is which one are you relying on to lead? The answer can be found in your response to this great question, "As time goes by, does it get easier or harder to lead?"

Without character, leadership becomes harder to sustain. You constantly have to perform to get people to notice you; but with character, as time goes by, leadership strengthens, builds, and continues to attract the people. And best of all, the ones who do come to enjoy your fire stay with you a lot longer than the ones who only want to see a show.

-- John Maxwell

How to Turn Nothing Into Something

by Jim Rohn
(Excerpted from the Jim Rohn Weekend Seminar-Excelling in the New Millennium)

Have you ever wondered how to turn nothing into something?

First, in order to turn nothing into something, you've got to start with some ideas and imagination. Now, it might be hard to call ideas and imagination nothing; but how tangible are those ideas? That is a bit of a mystery. I don't believe that ideas that can be turned into a hotel, ideas that can be turned into an enterprise, ideas that can be turned into a new vaccine or ideas that can be turned into some miracle product, should be called nothing. But tangibly, you have nothing. Interesting! Think of it, ideas that become so powerful in your mind and in your consciousness that they seem real to you even before they become tangible. Imagination that is so strong, you can actually see it.

When I built my first home for my family in Idaho all those years ago, before I started construction, I would take my friends and associates out to the vacant property and give them a tour of the house. Is that possible? Is it possible to take someone on a tour through an imaginary house? And the answer is, "Yes, of course." "Here is the 3 car garage," I used to say, and my friends would look and say, "Yes, this garage will hold 3 cars." I could really make it "live". I would take them on a tour throughout the house… "Here is the fireplace, and look, this side is brick and the other side is stone." I could make it so real… "Follow me through the rest of the house. Take a look through the picture window here in the kitchen, isn't the view great?" One day, I made the house so real that one of my friends bumped his elbow on the fireplace. I mean, it was that real.

So, the first step of turning nothing into something is to imagine the possibilities. Imagine All of the possibilities. One of the reasons for seminars, sermons, lyrics from songs and testimonials of others is to give us an idea of the possibilities; to help us imagine and to see the potential.

Now here is the second step for turning nothing into something, you must Believe that what you imagine IS possible for you. Testimonials like, "If I can do it, you can do it." often become a support to our belief. And we start believing. First we imagine it's possible. Second, we start to believe that what's possible is possible for us.

We might also believe because of our own testimonial. Here is what your testimonial might say, "If I did it once, I can do it again. If it happened for me before, it could very well happen again." So we believe not only the testimonials of others who say, "If I can do it, you can do it. If I can change, you can change. If I can start with nothing, you can start with nothing. If I can turn it all around, you can turn it all around." Then we also have the support of our own testimonial, if we've accomplished something before. "If we did it once, we can do it again. If we did it last year, we can do it this year." So those two things together are very powerful. Now, we do not have actual substance yet, although it is very close.

Again, step one is to imagine the possibilities. Step two is to imagine that what is possible is possible for you. Here is what we call step two - faith to believe. In fact, one writer said this, "Faith is substance." An interesting word: "substance", the powerful ability to believe in the possibilities that are possible for you. If you have faith to believe… that faith is substance, substance meaning "a piece of the real." Now it's not "the real", it's not this podium, but it is so powerful that it is very close to being real and so the writer said, "The faith is a piece of, the substance of". He then goes on to call it evidence, substance and evidence. It is difficult to call substance and evidence "nothing". It is nothing in the sense that it cannot be seen except with the inner eye. You can't get a hold of it because it isn't YET tangible. But it is possible to turn nothing, especially ideas and imaginations, into something if you believe that it is now possible for you. That substance and evidence becomes so powerful that it can now be turned into reality.

So the first step is to imagine what is possible, the second is to have the faith to believe that what is possible is possible for you. And now the third step is to that you go to work to make it real. You go to work to make it a hotel. You go to work to make it an enterprise. You go to work and make it good health. You go to work and make it an association. You go to work and make it a good marriage. You go to work and make it a movement; you make it tangible. You make it viable. You breathe life into it and then you construct it. That is such a unique and powerful ability for all of us human beings. Put this to work and start the miracle process today!

-- Jim Rohn

Set Up a Learning Resource at Home and at Your Place of Business with Both Personal and Professional Development Materials

by Denis Waitley

Every office conference, lunch, exercise, and recreation room should be filled with personal enrichment materials including videos, audios, books, magazines, newsletters, software, TV and internet programming.

Convert a special area of your home into a learning center, especially if you have children. The trend globally is to combine a coffee house like Starbucks, with bookstores like Barnes and Noble, to create a relaxing learning environment. In the twenty-first century, gaining knowledge will blend into our lives as part of our leisure time. There are several ways to create more of an ongoing learning environment at your place of business. Many companies are providing TV and internet access to personal development programming, asking employees to volunteer to read a specific trade or business magazine and clip or scan articles relevant to the organization. Regular e-mail dispersals are also popular.

In today's fast-forward, knowledge-based world, if you're not moving ahead you are falling behind.

Action Idea: Make two files in your computer: one for personal development and one for professional development. Download MP3 files, articles and e-mails that educate and inspire you in these files. You also can scan articles from magazines into these files. Look at these files at least once per week.

Also subscribe to internet based or TV based personal development programming, purchase CDs, DVDs and books for your personal and professional development library.

-- Denis Waitley

What in the World Are You Doing?

by Chris Widener
(excerpted from Jim Rohn's Twelfth Pillar of Success: Legacy, Part Three of the Jim Rohn One-Year Success Plan)

I want to talk with you about leaving an impact legacy. "What is an impact legacy?" you may ask. It is how you impact people and the world around you. You see, many people glide through life and do not make much of an impact. That is unfortunate. Others though, those driven by a purpose and passion for living, are continually making the world a better place and making an impact wherever they go. That's what I believe you want to do.

In order to help you reflect on this during this week, I want to ask you a question: What in the world are you doing?

Here is the typical life - typical, though not everybody does it this way. But for the most part, people's lives generally go something like this:

You're born
You eat and sleep
You play with toys
You go to school
You play little league
You go to school
You learn to drive
You go to school
You leave high school
You go to more school, but you pay for it now
You get a job
You get married
You buy a house
You have kids
You watch your kids eat, sleep, play and go to school
You work, work, and work
You retire
You die

That's the basic life, isn't it? I know there is more to it, but that is about it for most people.

Here is that question again: What in the world are you doing?

I mean, what are you doing besides the typical "enjoying yourself while you are waiting to die" scenario? What kind of impact are you making?

What I believe sets the successful apart is that they don't just live the average life. They don't just pass time. They make an impact. They have something compelling in their life that drives them - something that gives them an answer when they are asked that question: What in the world are you doing?

I'm helping children.

I'm creating a business that supports many families.

I lead a church.

I am defending our liberties.

I am raising great children.

I'm teaching others to improve their lives.

I help people have fun.

I create memories for people.

In other words, successful people always come down to this:

I make an impact and help other people by (fill in your purpose here).

What in the world are you doing?

If you want to be successful, you need to be able to answer that by describing how you help others. Because if you aren't helping others - if you aren't making an impact - you are just taking up space, eating food and waiting to die.

Here's the question for you to answer this week and what to do with your answer:

What in the world are you doing?

If you know, then you are good to go - live it and make an impact!

If you don't know, then maybe you need to reflect on what you are doing, what your life is about, and how you can explode the mundane bubble you may be living in!

The world needs impact makers - so live to be one! -- Chris Widener